Q&A

How many hours a week should I set aside for Toastmasters-related activity?

This will vary depending on your level of involvement. If you have a project to complete, this might be a few hours (preferably spaced across a few days). If you're an officer, you may have another hour or two per week. If you're on a committee, you can add another half hour to hour per week. You can also add some incidental time for answering calls and e-mails, updating your status on Easy Speak, etc.

All told, budget a minimum of your meeting time, plus an hour for outside of meeting items.

I don't know what to speak about!

In the speaker resources section in the RDG TM Meetings course, you'll find two worksheets that will help you develop a speech topics list. Make sure you record what ideas you come up with (preferably in OneNote, EverNote, or whatever program you like).

If you can't come up with ideas on your own, consult with your mentor or accountability buddy.

My club doesn't have enough speaking slots for me to get a project done per month. What should I do?

There are a few options if you're in a well-populated club. First, try for every other month. This will slow you down, but should be reasonable. Second, always have your next speech ready to go in case one of the speakers has to back out, which will likely happen at least once a month. That will let you step in more often. Third, you can bring up this issue to the officers, specifically to the VPE. Finally, there's the option of becoming a dual member with another club.

My work or life situation has changed, and getting to my club is difficult or impossible. What do I do?

You can look around for another club and request a transfer from your previous club to one that works better for you.