Getting Setup

Having a binder or folder with some essential resources will help you throughout your Toastmasters career. I recommend having the following put into a 1" or larger binder to take with you to every meeting:

• A copy of your goals, to remind you of them.
• Your manuals or printed evaluation materials.
• Red, yellow, and green folders, in case you need emergency timer flags.
• Blank paper and pens. 
• Note cards (large index cards are good). These are useful for impromptu speeches or Table Topics activities.
• Meeting role worksheets if your club does not stock these.
• Cheat sheets for meeting roles if you need them.
• Whatever else you find useful, inspiring, motivational, or just fun.

You will inevitably have digital materials to manage as well. I recommend OneNote or EverNote for keeping notes, which can include the following:

• Speech ideas and topics
• Speech notes
• Story file (a place to keep stories for later use)
• Joke file
• Miscellaneous

A folder system on your PC is also useful for maintaining Toastmasters documents, such as the worksheets and checklists you can download from these courses.

Now that you're setup, it's time to learn about other aspects of getting started in Toastmasters.