Toastmasters Activities And Events
Toastmasters activities and events operate mainly at 4 levels according to its organisational structure.
- Club Level
- Area Level
- Division Level
- District Level
Click here for Toastmasters District 80 Calendar 2022-2023
Table of Contents
Club Level
Toastmasters clubs are the most fundamental building blocks of Toastmasters International. The activites and events organised at the club level are as follow:
- Chapter Meeting
- Club Executive Committee Meeting
- Club Speech Contest
- SpeechCraft Workshop (optional)
- Any kind of Workshop (optional)
- Public Outreach Campaign (optional and can be done at Area and Division Level and/or at Toastmasters Awareness Month)
Club Chapter Meeting
The Club Chapter Meeting is the most essential activity where every toastmaster is involved in. It is where they train up their public speaking skills. If a toastmaster wish to keep his involvement to the minimal, this will be the only activity that he will participate in. Nevertheless, if a toastmaster wants to develop and grow in his public speaking and leadership skills, he/she should participate in more activities at every level.
Club Executive Committee Meeting
The Club Executive Committee Meeting is where the Club Executive Committee Members meet to organise the programme for their chapter meetings as well as plan their goals and action plans. They also discuss what other activities they would want to organise to grow their club membership as well as to train the public speaking skills and develop the leadership skills of their members.
Most Toastmasters Clubs hold their Club Executive Committee Meetings once a month particularly for those clubs that only have one chapter meeting per month. There is no strict adherence to how often the meetings are to be held but left totally to the Club Executive Committee’s decision.
Club Speech Contest
An active Toastmasters Club will hold at least one Club Speech Contest annually, namely the International Speech Contest. The winners of the club contest will represent the club in the Area Speech Contest.
SpeechCraft Workshop
The SpeechCraft Workshop is a club recruitment event where members from the public are invited to enrol for the workshop where they will learn some fundamental skills of public speaking for a reasonable fee as decided by the club. The workshop usually comprises 4 to 5 sessions held once per week. Before the commencement of the SpeechCraft Workshop, the club will have to carry out a publicity outreach to recruit members of the public to enrol for the workshop.
Other Social Activities
All work and no play make Toastmasters Club a dull club. Not every Toastmaster activity is about public speaking. Club members also organise outing events like karaoke sessions, dinner outings and any kind of social gatherings to build the cohesion and camaderie among the club members. The frequency and nature of these social activities are decided by the club’s executive committee and the club members.
Area Level
The Toastmasters activities and events organised at the area level are as follow:
- Area Council Meeting
- Club Officer Training
- Area Speech Contest
Area Council Meeting
The Area Council Meeting is for the Area Director and each club’s Presidents, Club Vice President Education and Club Vice President Membership of that area.
The main agenda of the Area Council Meeting is to discuss the individual club’s goals and plans in the Distinguished Club Programme. It is an opportunity for the Area Director to meet the club presidents and vice presidents and for networking purpose.
Club Officer Training
Every term (6-month period), there will be a Club Officer Training held at the area level where all the Club Executive Committee members are greatly encouraged to attend. The Area Director and some other District Officers will be present to conduct the training session. The training will focus on the roles of Executive Committee members and there will also be discussion on the challenges faced by the Executive Committee in running and growing their clubs.
Area Speech Contest
At the Area Speech Contest, winners from individual clubs of the area will represent their clubs to participate in the speech contest. The winner of each Area Speech Contest will move on to represent their area in the Division Speech Contest.
Division Level
The Toastmasters activities and events organised at the division level are as follow:
- Division Council Meeting
- Division Speech Contest
- Achievers’ Day
Division Council Meeting
The Division Director will meet the respective Area Director under his/her division in the Divsion Council Meeting to discuss the progress of the respective clubs in his/her division. Subject under discussion includes:
- club growth,
- chartering of new clubs,
- individual club’s progress towards achieving of the Distinguished Club Programme,
- events organisation such as workshops, Division Speech Contest, Achievers’ Day, etc.
Division Speech Contest
At the Division Speech Contest, winners at the Area Speech Contest from their respective area under that division will compete to be the best speaker of their division. The winner will move on to represent his/her division in the District International Speech Contest.
Achievers’ Day
Achievers’ Day is a divison level dinner and dance where awards and recognitions are given during the gathering to clubs and toastmasters that have earned significant achievements.
District Level
- District Council Meeting (twice per year)
- District Officer Training
- District Executive Committee Meeting (at least 4 times per year)
- District Annual Conference (District 80 Annual Convention)
- District International Speech Contest held at the annual District Conference
District Council Meeting
The District Council Meeting is held for the District Officers and the Club Presidents and Vice Presidents. The purpose is to elect future District Officers and other administrative matters concerning the district and its clubs such as goals, plans and growth.
District Officer Training
At the District Officer Training, District Officers have their own training in several areas, particularly in conducting quality speech contests, establish and support new clubs.
District Executive Committee Meeting
The District Executive Committee Meeting is only reserved for the District Officers. Unlike the District Council Meeting, this meeting does not include the Club Presidents and Vice Presidents. In this meeting, goals of club, area, division and district as well as other district business are discussed.
District Annual Conference
The District Annual Conference is the highlight of all Toastmasters events of the district. There will be dining, workshops, invigorating speeches and speech contest. The District International Speech Contest where all the winners from the various divisions of that district will compete to be the district champion speaker.
Toastmasters International Convention
The International Convention is the equivalent of the District Annual Conference that is held by Toastmasters International where toastmasters from all over the world can participate in. The winners of all the different District International Speech Contest will compete to be the World Champion in the World Championship of Public Speaking held during this convention.
Workshops
Apart from all the above toastmasters activities and events that have been mentioned, workshops can be organised at any level be it at the club level, area level or division level.
Individual clubs may organise workshops that either invite members from other clubs or perhaps even members of the public to learn how to prepare a humorous speech, carry out a speech evaluation, use of body language in speeches, how to give an impromptu speech, etc. Usually for such workshops, a guest toastmaster who is an expert in a particular field is invited to conduct the workshop. He/she could be a past champion in the Humorous Speech Contest if the workshop is on “How to Prepare a Humorous Speech”. Perhaps he/she could be a professional trainer in body language if the workshop is on “How to Develop Better Body Language in Public Speaking“. The trainer can either be a toastmaster or a non-toastmaster, but more often than not, it is a toastmaster. These workshops are conducted mainly for the training of toastmasters in general as well as for toastmasters to fulfil the requirement of certain project crtieria for which they are working on. Apart from that, it is also for different clubs to intermingle and network with each other. For larger scale workshops, they are usually organised at the area and/or division level by the District Executive Committee. The following are some examples of workshops.
- Club Growth Workshop
- Judges Training
- Speech Contest Training