Towns of York Toastmasters

Becoming a Member

If you would like to...

• Communicate more effectively with family, friends and co-workers.
• Improve your effectiveness in business meetings.
• Develop stronger leadership and management skills.
• Express your ideas more clearly and convincingly to individuals or groups of any size.
• Increase your confidence hosting or speaking at social functions.
• Deliver more meaningful and powerful presentations.
• Grow as an individual in a warm, friendly and professional environment.

... and you answered "YES" to any of the above, then the Towns of York Toastmasters is for you!

Membership Dues

The annual membership fee (2009/10 Term is currently $144 Cdn ($12 per month). Membership fees (which are tax deductible for self-emplyed business owners) are pro-rated for new members joining in the middle of a fiscal year, which runs from October 1st to September 30th.

There is a $40 one-time fee for new members from Toastmasters International for membership setup and the introductory Toastmasters manuals.

The Toastmasters experience will provide you with the best investment that you ever made in your personal and career growth.

Still need more information? Please Contact Us.

How Long Should You Speak?

In many Toastmasters clubs, the meeting agenda and timetable is controlled by the Toastmaster, but at Towns of York, it is the responsibility of the Chairperson. The general idea is to start and finish on time. The majority of our meetings follow a two hour schedule, and many of our members have other responsibilities that require a 9:00 pm departure.

There are two equally important elements that affect the timing of a meeting. The first is how well the Chairperson plans and executes the timing of the meeting. The second element is whether or not speakers know and stick to their allotted time.

The two most mistakes that new Toastmasters make when planning agendas are:

1. Attempting to squeeze in two much - you can't fit a 2 1/2 hour meeting into two hours!
2. Forgetting to allow for transitions.  If a speech project is 5-7 minutes, then you should allow a minimum of 8 minutes and preferably 8.5 to 9 minutes. To stay on time you must allow for: the 30 to 45 seconds required for the intro, the 30 seconds the speaker needs to walk to the front of the room and get started; the time necessary for toastmaster come back to the front of the room, shake the speakers hand, allow the speaker to sit down, and the applause to die down.

Here is a guideline that will help you understand the mechanics of timing each of the scheduled elements. Keep in mind that it is up to the Chair to set the schedule and we do deviate from this guide. Always confirm your speaking time with the Chair, and give it your best effort to hit the mark.

Each meeting follows an agenda with different members taking on different roles at each meeting. Each role is designed to provide a structure for practicing various speaking, listening, thinking and leadership skills.  These roles should be thought of as drills that you perform to become an effective speaker and leader, much the way a musician might practice scales, a basketball player practice free throws or a karate master repeat katas.

The roles are easily learned, but total mastery is a never ending process. This allows you to work at your own pace to increase your skills and confidence. You will learn and grow the most by challenging yourself based on your skill and experience level.  For example, someone who has little experience and and who is afraid of public speaking might find simply reading off prepared notes may be a stretch.  If this is where you are at, then that's just fine because you are stretching yourself.  However, once you progress and your confidence increases, you should "raise the bar" - perhaps by working from point form notes or even no notes at all.

Unlike many situations in the workplace or "real life" where mistakes are punished, the Towns of York Toastmasters provides a safe and supportive environment.  There are no grades or marks, and the only failure is the failure to participate.  Optimum learning occurs at what is called the "growing edge", where you are not perfect, so if you are not making mistakes, then you are not challenging yourself enough.

All roles are normally assigned in advance, but occasionally last minute vacancies are be filled on meeting night.

The meeting roles are as follows:

1. Chairperson
2. Invocation & Toast
3. Jokemaster
4. Table Topics Master
5. Toastmaster
6. Speaker
7. General Evaluator
8. Evaluator
9. Grammarian
10. Timer / Ballot Counter
11. Quizmaster
12. Quotemaster
13. Cleanup
    Cleanup after the meeting is the responsibility of EVERYONE at the Towns of York!  It only takes a moment, and greatly reduces the burden on the club executive.  Please be courteous to our hosts by placing any trash or old papers in the garbage and by returning chairs and tables back to their original spots. Your thoughtfulness and assistance is GREATLY appreciated. Thank you in advance!

If you are not going to be able to attend the meeting and fulfill your role, PLEASE notify the chairperson of your replacement by noon on the Tuesday before the meeting. It is your responsibility to find a replacement for your position on the agenda. It is recommended NOT to rely on e-mail to secure your replacement. The most successful way to find a replacement is to pick up the phone and make a few calls to other Toastmasters who would welcome the opportunity to take on your role. Once you find your replacement (or if you are unsuccessful after a reasonable attempt), please call the Chairperson immediately so he/she may make any necessary adjustments to the agenda.

We suggest that new members do their first speech ("Ice breaker") as soon as they can muster up the courage. Prior to your first speech the Timer/Ballot Counter, Grammarian, Quotemaster, Jokemaster, Quizmaster, Invocation & Toast and Table Topics Master roles are excellent for building confidence and speaking skills. Once you gain experience you can progress to the Toastmaster, Evaluator, General Evaluator and Chairperson roles.

Every organization has people who need to develop their presentation and speaking skills.

Toastmasters International has developed this program especially for organizations interested in developing their employees speaking skills in-house. In some organizations the program is offered to employees at large and in others the program is specific to an operating department.

Speechcraft enables you to bring the Toastmasters experience inside your business. It is a six to eight week program that is delivered at your premises for a nominal fee. Experienced Toastmasters assist in the initiation of the program then gradually train your employees to run meetings themselves.

A typical meeting incorporates impromptu and prepared speeches, speech evaluations and other meeting roles designed to enhance the speaking and listening skills of all participants. In some organizations this is offered as an entry point to a more comprehensive employee leadership program.

Participants experience the challenges of learning the basics of public speaking including such areas as impromptu speaking skills development, structuring an effective speech, using vocal variety and gestures while speaking as well as ensuring that your speaking delivers a clear message, to name a few.

At the end of the program it is possible for your organization to establish an ongoing Club in house if you choose to do so. Even if you do not continue the program in house the results are often transformational for the participants. We often witness dramatic improvements in the participants including understanding how to structure a good presentation or speech, speaking with confidence, improved language skills and learning how to run effective meetings among others.

Please contact us soon to find out how you can incorporate this cost effective program into your personnel development programs.

The Towns of York Toastmasters meets at:

Hollandview Trail Retirement Community
200 John West Way
Aurora, Ontario

on the 2nd, 4th & 5th Wednesday of every month from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM (Sharp!)

Open a New Window with Full Size Map & Get Driving Directions

Entrance to the building is maked below:

Harvey Mackay

Best-selling Author of "How to Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive"

“I’ve never met anyone who didn’t think Toastmasters was super valuable to their career. We gain self-esteem, self-confidence, assertiveness. This makes us better salespeople, better managers, better leaders.

“I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for my dad pushing me over the threshold, pushing me to join Toastmasters. I had no idea whatsoever that some day I’d speak to Fortune 500 companies every week. Had I not been a good speaker, there isn’t one chance in a hundred that I would have ever written a book. So it started with Toastmasters.”

Peter H. Coors

Chairman of the board of the Molson Coors Brewing Company in Denver

“As my career grew with the company, I needed to develop my communication skills more and more…I’ve learned a great deal about speaking and listening and now realize the importance of the overall program. For me, it took getting into a formal organization – such as Toastmasters – to understand what total communication is all about.”

Captain James A. Lovell

Former United States Astronaut

""I found Toastmasters an excellent means of improving my speaking ability..... I feel my membership in Toastmasters International was very important in my later success....."

Debbi Fields Rose

Founder – Mrs. Fields Cookies

“I’d never thought of myself as a great communicator, and that’s one of the reasons I got involved in Toastmasters. The idea of getting in front of a group, not as Mrs. Fields but really as Debbi, made my knees shake and I’d get all dry-mouthed. But the Toastmasters group understood. Here’s a place where you can learn, grow, develop – and where other people are doing and feeling the same thing.”

Linda Lingle

Governor of Hawaii

“Toastmasters is the best and least expensive personal improvement class you can go to. Anybody who begins and sticks with it for any length of time ends up a better speaker. As a result, they build confidence, and are able to do their jobs better.”

Tom Peters

Co-author of "In Search of Excellence"
and
"A Passion for Excellence"

This is an excerpt from Tom Peters book "The Pursuit of WOW", © 1994.

"Join Toastmasters. Oral communication skills count. Enormously. A lot of managers aren't bad public speaking. But "aren't bad" ain't good enough, not if you're wise -- and especially these days, when jawing with the same old gang from year to year is becoming rare. Height and hair color may be in the genes. Public speaking isn't. It's a skill that can be studied, polished, more or less perfected. (Look at Bill Clinton, who went from putting the nation to sleep at the 1988 Democratic Convention to winning bipartisan kudos for his forceful 1993 inaugural address.) You can not only get good at it, you can get damn good at it. And it makes a heck of a difference.....

.....One (good) answer to the public speaking problem / opportunity is Toastmasters. They do a fabulous job of helping people shape up their communication skills. If you've got any questions about your speaking ability (and if you don't, you've probably got a problem), think about joining Toastmasters.

Please don't just take our word for it, come to a meeting as our guest!

The Role of Chair is better considered as a leadership role than a speaking role. The objective is to prepare for and facilitate the smooth and timely running of the meeting. The Chair should strive to create an environment that is conducive to learning, achievement and having FUN!

The Duties of the Chair are:

1. Set the agenda
2. Confirm with your “Staff”: the Toastmaster, General Evaluator and others
3. Prepare to recognize any "milestone" achievements
4. Run the meeting on time and on schedule
5. Close the meeting

1.  Set the agenda

• Choose the theme and word of the evening and then advise your “staff” as soon as possioble so that they can be prepared. The Jokemaster, Table Topics Master, Quizmaster and person doing the Invocation and Toast need to know this information so that they can prepare their parts in concert with your theme.
• Assign the times for each section and prepare the agenda. Use a previous agenda if possible. You can download a model agenda from the website.
• Once you have confirmed the positions on the agenda, create a hard copy and make copies for everyone on the meeting night. (Typically about 25 to 30)  You should delay printing as long as practical to allow you to incorporate last minute changes in the final printed copy.

2.  Confirm attendance and preparedness with your “Staff”

• Confirm with the Toastmaster that it is their job to coordinate and if necessary schedule speakers for the evening. They must also contact the speakers so that they can prepare an introduction for each in advance. Introductions are an important part of a speech and are typically not treated as such. It helps to prepare the audience for the type of speech. The Toastmaster must confirm with you the number and names of committed speakers in a timely manner. It is also their responsibility to find alternate speakers, in coordination with the VP Ed if a scheduled speaker is not able to attend the meeting. It is the responsibility of the Toastmaster to assign the speaker order on the agenda – this can be done in collaboration with the chair. (Remember that Ice Breakers are given priority over other speeches and are typically scheduled first on the speaking roster!)
• Confirm with the General Evaluator that it is their job to coordinate and if necessary find evaluators for the speeches. They must also liaise with the Toastmaster to assign appropriate evaluators with speakers. Evaluators should contact their respective speakers in advance to determine not only their speech and speech requirements but any special goals that the speaker may have. Remember that manuals are a guideline. The evaluator’s mission is to facilitate a speaker's comfort, confidence and then competence.
• Confirm with Table Topics Master the Theme and Word of the evening.
• Confirm with the Educator if one is to be called upon. These are sometimes alternated with business meetings or used if there are only a small number of speakers.
• Confirm with minor function “staff”:
  • Invocation and Toast
  • Jokemaster
  • Quotemaster
  • Grammarian
  • Quizmaster
  • Timer / Ballot Counter

3.  Prepare to recognize  "milestone" achievements

Check with the VP Education if any of the speakers, either educators or prepared speeches, have reached a level of recognition such as an Icebreaker Pin, CC, AC, CL, AL or DTM. If so, prepare to award them a pin, or name badge that the Secretary should have ordered. At the end of the meeting and prior to bestowing the reward, call the current executive to the front. Announce the person and the achievement. Then detail the effort and milestones required to achieve the goal. This is important as it reinforces for guests and members that we work to goals and that these goals are not trivial, but achievable for all.

4.  Run the meeting on time and on schedule

• Arrive early (half an hour is best) to confirm the presence of ALL participants. You need time to find replacements if necessary - it is recommended to get help from the VP Ed and other long standing Toastmasters.
• Ensure that the room is set up properly. Check that the three ribbons and any other awards you need have been placed at the lectern for you to hand out at the end of the meeting.
• Ensure that a Roy Bannon Spark Plug Pin is at the lectern. It is your decision and yours alone, as to who contributed a little extra “spark” to the evening’s meeting. It is not necessary to hand out a Spark Plug Award if you cannot decide on a recipient.
• Confirm with the Sergeant at Arms that the meeting will start precisely on time. If not, the Sergeant at Arms is to announce any delays if necessary.
• Open the meeting and follow your agenda.  Your opening remarks should be limited to 1 or 2 minutes to set the tone for the evening and introduce the Theme and the "Word of the Day".
• Have fun and give the meeting your own special flavour.

5.  Close the meeting

When the General Evaluator has turned the meeting back over to your control:

• • While votes are being tallied, invite comments from guests and announcements (such as verification of next week’s program).
  • Award ribbons for Best Table Topics, Best Evaluator, and Best Speaker
  • Request the Quote from the Quotemaster
  • Adjourn the meeting.

The role of Toastmaster is like "training wheels" for the Chairperson role, so it is suggested that newer members perform the Toastmaster role first as preparation for their role as Chiar. 

Tips and Other Important Points

• You should also contact the President to find out if a business section should be included in the agenda.
• Confirm all roles ahead of time and work with the Toastmaster (Responsible for the Speakers) and the General Evaluator (Responsible for the Evaluators) to ensure a successful meeting.  If you have  cancellations make a few calls and attempt to obtain a replacement if the person hasn't arranged for their own replacement.  In the event of difficulty contact the VP  Education for assistance/guidance.  Remember to print the agenda and bring it with you to the meeting.
• Arrive early to give yourself time to get settled and arrange for any last minute replacements.
• Keep your opening remarks brief (1 to 2 minutes) - you should NOT make a lengthy speech.
• Relax, and have fun!