Meet A Toastmaster

 

I often wonder why fellow toastmasters don’t enter contests – only it seems like such an obvious thing to do to refine our skill.  Should you enter? Of course you should, but what do you stand to gain?

 

It was so obvious to me to enter one year – I thought it would be easy – and then I failed spectacularly and unexpectedly. It’s quite normal for a table topic to go horribly wrong or for the speaker to sit down half way through. It’s not so common in a club speech, and even less common in a contest speech. Three minutes in I put my hand up and told the contest chair I’d had enough, and was going to sit down. I really had. The contest had brought out the worst in me – a lack of preparation, and an attempt to deliver an emotional speech from my childhood really hit home.

 

Emotionally, the speech had the desired effect on me, but not my audience. The message I was hoping to deliver to my audience hit me the hardest, and I dried up, memory gone, a few garbled sentences later and I was done. Should I attempt a rescue and get back on track, or stop my speech right there in the middle? Usually I would always choose the former. Pause, breathe, and deliver the rest of the speech of the cuff – or find a way get back on track.  When a speech goes wrong like this the audience don’t know if you transition in to something more like a table topic. You then appear to be confident and in control. To pull this one off I would need to be in a happy smiley place (my top tips for Table Topics are to smile and be happy). I was agitated and emotional, and that was my downfall. My rehearsal time spent yapping into a mirror did not have the same emotional impact that I experienced from a real audience. And my lack of preparation showed. My nerves loaded the gun and emotion pulled the trigger. 

 

The best bit about these experiences is what you can learn from them. I don’t think I could have prepared for this because I didn’t even know it could happen. And that’s why we enter the contest, so that we can prepare better for the next contest, and fulfil our goals as accomplished toastmasters.

 

For me speech contests are the biggest bang for your buck at Toastmasters. They accelerate learning and the ability to deliver speeches confidently in all scenarios. They can provide you with the world’s greatest confidence boost, or the world’s greatest wake-up call. Which will it be? There’s only one way to find out…

 

Patrick Thomas
VPM – Farnham Speakers Club

 

 

When people first join Toastmasters, their main reason is often to become more confident at public speaking. That was my primary reason too. Another was to be part of a community.

I joined Godalming Speakers in May 2022, a year into running my Leadership and Team Coaching business. Working mostly from home on Zoom, I was getting cabin fever. I needed to get out of the house to meet people and re-energise myself.

At my very first meeting, I joined the Warm-up and even did a Table Topic—well outside my comfort zone. I’d have been happy to observe quietly, but my friend Caroline stood up before me and I couldn’t let the side down! The adrenaline rush after that first experience certainly energised me.

Beyond Public Speaking: Taking on New Roles

Initially, I focused on developing my speaking skills. What I imagined would be a terrifying and lengthy ordeal quickly became easier. As my confidence grew, I took on different meeting roles like Timer, Table Topics Master, Grammarian, Evaluator, and eventually, Toastmaster.

What I hadn’t realised at first was how these roles develop skills beyond public speaking. For example, giving feedback as an Evaluator improves your ability to provide constructive insights. Running the meeting as Toastmaster strengthens organisational and leadership skills. These are critical abilities, and I often recommend Toastmasters to coaching clients who want to boost their confidence in these areas.

Finding My Voice: Joining the Committee

In my second year, I joined the committee as VP of Public Relations (VPPR), which led to some of my biggest “aha” moments. At the time, I was still figuring out social media for my business and procrastinating about starting a blog. As VPPR, I managed our club’s Facebook page and created posts to promote events.

Attending VPPR training and exploring the resources on the Toastmasters International portal helped me develop a social media plan with monthly themes. This structured approach made content creation easier and I also taught myself how to use Canva to create eye-catching graphics. I applied these skills to my LinkedIn strategy, starting with weekly leadership tips. Having a plan and themes to focus on not only saved time but also helped me find my voice on social media.

Taking It Further: Starting a Blog

As my confidence grew, I decided to experiment with creating a blog. Setting up our Godalming Speakers Substack page gave me the perfect opportunity to learn. Using branded graphics from Toastmasters’ PR resources, I created our first newsletter in July 2023, titled Unleash Your Inner Toastmaster.

The safe space of our club’s social media platforms allowed me to experiment and build skills that directly benefited my business. Learning tools like Substack and Canva saved me time and money. By starting with free resources, I avoided costly mistakes like unnecessary app subscriptions or ineffective advertising.

Volunteering for Learning, and Growth

Being part of the Godalming Speakers committee taught me that when we all contribute, we create something much bigger—in the club and within ourselves. Volunteering for a committee role not only helps the club thrive but also provides invaluable personal growth opportunities. Roles like VPPR, Secretary, or Treasurer come with built-in learning experiences that extend far beyond the Toastmasters meeting room.

If you’re considering a committee role, I encourage you to give it a try. The skills you develop—from planning and organising to creative thinking and leadership—will serve you in all areas of life.

Ready to Take the Leap?

If you’re already in a committee role and want to share ideas, or if you’re curious about volunteering, let’s connect! Together, we can make an even bigger impact. Toastmasters isn’t just about speaking—it’s about discovering new skills, building confidence, and creating a supportive community.

So, what’s stopping you? Take the first step toward something extraordinary.

Sue Scott
Leadership & Team Coach
Godalming Speakers VPPR

My home club is City of London Toastmasters. At various points I’ve also held dual membership at a variety of other wonderful clubs in London and I became a Distinguished Toastmaster in 2018. I love competing, having reached District finals 9 times across different contests and winning Evaluation in 2016. I’m a management consultant at KPMG, where I currently head up designing solutions for managed learning services for clients across the globe. So, developing myself and creating the platforms for others to learn and grow has always been central in my career.

 

This year, I’m supporting the District as Club Coach Lead. If a club has been facing some challenges in membership numbers or need support, I match them to an experienced Toastmaster who helps the club rebuild its membership and improve the overall quality of the club experience. The coach works closely with club officers and members to provide guidance, enthusiasm, and structure within the club.

 

Recently, my home club celebrated its 29^th anniversary in November. As the current longest serving member I’m still in touch with many of the former Club Presidents and it was a joy to invite 7 of them back to a special in-person panel discussion during our club meeting. They shared their leadership lessons and what this club has meant to them. The three things I took away were:

 

1. Each Club President brought their unique personality to the club. They introduced and tested innovations and improvements to the club. Toastmasters is not only a safe space for members to practice their public speaking skills, but also a safe space for people to grow their leadership skills.
2. We recognise the courage it takes put yourself out there. All our past Presidents started at the back of the room, eventually getting more and more involved in the meetings until one day, they became the person to stand at front and open every meeting. The importance of encouraging people to get involved and have a go is paramount.
3. We’ve always been a very social club. Going to the pub post meeting, the annual Christmas curry get-together and we’ve recently introduced snack and chat and the end of the meetings. Countless friendships have formed in a community where people want to support each other to succeed in their goals.

 

Coming back to club coaching, Toastmasters is an amazing place, and we want to support every club to help serve its members. Becoming a successful club coach gives you a credit towards your Distinguished Toastmaster award and gives you enormous satisfaction in helping a club succeed and secure its own legacy, I would recommend any Toastmaster to consider it.

When our D91 PDQ, Debbie Williams, asked me whether I could do her a favour I jumped at the chance … as long as that chance was something I had not yet done within my 15 TM years of experience. Debbie knew her target and that I could handle the role which I discovered had the rather grand title of Corporate Club Officer Training Lead!  

Well, the only formal training I ever had was as a barrister and I never practiced it! Which is strange as I feel that I have done pretty well in life reinventing the wheel for myself – everything I have done is without a formal qualification.  Instead, I have had curiosity, passion and persistence. I wouldn’t say that always works but the failure that inevitable cropped up in my life only bolstered the persistence and built in resilience as well.  

So, when I champion Toastmasters it is not only living proof that curiosity, passion and persistence can work for me but from my perspective I have seen very many other people who have been transformed by pushing themselves outside their comfort zones and changing the path of their life.  

Which brings me back to why I was someone who could enjoy putting together the Corporate COTS. I have been in the classical music world since the 1990s and part of what I did when I was an agent, looking after the careers of international concert artists, was promoting and producing concerts in many London venues as well as a few abroad and a small number of orchestral tours. Added to that, with a second passion being theatre, I produced a couple of plays on the London fringe. Now, in the immediate present, I am very involved with the production of a multi-concert music festival in Italy. Curiosity, passion and persistence still prevail.