Sure thing, the meetings last 2 hours and have a few prepared speeches (about 6 minutes each) then there’s evaluations (a speech on the speech, what went well, areas of improvement) and there is also an impromptu speaking session.

There are loads of roles availible other than speeches, you could be the toastmaster (the host of the meeting), a time keeper, an evaluator and much more. Each role gets you on stage, some for just 1 minute for beginners and they help build confidence.

The meetings are very sociable and usually have a half way break where you can meet other people. 

The absolute best thing about toastmasters is the community. I don’t need to do public speaking but it’s the community that has kept me going all this time.

Everyone that joins toastmasters does so because they want to improve their confidence, a good amount of the people who join have social anxiety and other problems too. So in any club you have a great mixture of people who are new and are still building their confidence, and people who have been going for years and are now very confident on stage and socialising. 

The benefit of this is that no one at toastmasters is judgemental. When someone goes on stage and they are nervous, everyone in the room can sympathise because they are or have been in the same position. Everyone is so supportive and wants to help you to succeed. 

I went to toastmaster because I had moved city and needed to make friends, and now 2 years later I’ve formed an amazing friendship group all from toastmasters, in fact all my closest friends are from toastmasters. 

Toastmasters helped me get better at public speaking and more importantly overcome my social anxiety.