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Dear Prospective Toastmaster,

Welcome to Toastmasters and the Last Word Toastmasters Club!

Toastmasters International is the leading organization in the world devoted to helping people develop and enhance their communication and leadership skills.

These skills can be applied to our everyday business activities as well as to our personal lives. Toastmasters International has more than 130,000 members in over 50 countries. To help you enjoy and understand what Toastmasters is all about, we have prepared this brief overview of our program.

A typical Toastmasters meeting contains six parts:

In the first segment the President calls the meeting to order and club business is conducted. The Toastmaster of the Day is introduced and is the person responsible for ensuring a well run meeting. The Toastmaster acts as a genial host to smooth the transition between program participants and segments.

In the second segment, the Toastmaster introduces and explains the different speaking roles in the meeting. Members of our club take turns filling these various speaking roles which include Joke or Thought of the Day, Word of the Day/Grammarian, Timer, Speakers, Table Topic Master and Evaluators. Most activities in a Toastmaster meeting are timed and individuals must complete their assignment within defined boundaries.

The third segment of our program consists of formal speeches. Most of the speakers give a prepared speech from a basic or advanced Communication and Leadership manual provided by Toastmasters International. Each assignment in the manuals focuses on a specific communication and/or leadership skill that allows members to advance in ability and confidence as they progress through the manuals. Each speech has a specific set of objectives and time limit based on guidelines set forth in the manuals.

The fourth segment of the program is known as Table Topics where we learn the techniques of impromptu speaking. Table Topics develops our ability to think on our feet, organize our thoughts and express ourselves in a clear and concise manner. Considering that more than 90 percent of the time we spend communicating each day is in informal discussions, it is easy to see why being effective in impromptu speaking is important.

The fifth segment of the program is the evaluation segment. This is especially important because outside of Toastmasters it is rare to receive immediate, constructive feedback that we can learn from. Each speaker is assigned an evaluator who comments on how well the speaker met the objectives of the assignment and makes suggestions on how the speaker might improve their communication skills. In addition to the formal evaluations each member of our club, and our guests, are also encouraged to provide written feedback to the speaker, giving their individual assessment of the speaker's performance.

In the sixth segment of the program the meeting is turned back to the President for announcements and closing remarks. At the end of the meeting we invite our guests to give us their impressions and comments on our meeting -- not in front of a group but rather one on one.

Especially important is the fact that The Last Word Toastmasters allows us to practice communication and leadership skills in an enjoyable, supportive and non-threatening atmosphere. So, we invite you to sit back, relax, watch and listen to a Toastmasters program in action.

Should you require further information on Toastmasters International and our club in particular, please feel free to speak to any member of our club or contact one of the current club officers listed on the Officers page. An excellent source of additional information and newsletters for Last Word Club and Toastmasters International can be found at our web site. Come and visit us!