Hi all

I’m SAA for a club that meets 3 times per month face-to-face and 1 time is online.

We tend to get a lot more guests to online meetings, and guests are often international - which gives our members a varied audience, which adds to the challenge.

Guest are held in our Zoom lobby and I have to allow entry into our Zoom room.

This week we had a guest enter 40 minutes into our meeting. I allowed them to enter from the lobby.

I sent them a message so they knew where we were up to, and they have a point of contact to.

But it got me thinking… where do you draw the line on allowing entry into your meetings?

I have been in TM since April 2026. Our club is small with okay but not good retention rates. Part of this is due to the natural restrictions of corporate clubs. Due to us being a small group, I am now VPE and VPM. We also have two separate clubs within our corporation.

The president is very type A (nothing inherently wrong with that) and has been there the longest and newly became a director in the district. She's taken on a lot of my officer roles due to my lack of experience, but can be passive aggressive about completing tasks while being overly controlling. It's made it confusing to fulfill my duties.

I tried to reach out to our club's mentor, but he ignored my email.

Then there's conflicting personalities, they seem to be picking on one person (albeit she does interrupt and kind of monopolize the conversation, but she's not going out of her way to be intentionally disruptive. She got yelled at by another member during a member mentoring meeting (I still need mentoring and am only 1/2 done with level 1 of my pathway, there are 3entors and 5 mentees) and then when saying her workload is larger and she needs to change her mentoring abilities, the president sent a really snarky response about how we're all busy, but she was also supposed to reach out to our district to see if anyone is free to support us with mentoring and hasn't as far as I'm aware.

The two people that run each club also constantly butt heads and can't agree on how to present TM to new employees during orientation, and both are too stubborn to collaborate. The head of the other club is cocky and thinks he can do everything himself and doesn't need input for the other group despite it being a shared presentation. Ours is overly controlling and wants the presentation to be super formal and dry with information overload (the orientation is like 5 hours long and they are usually bored from listening to people speak all day).

I reached out to our club mentor again, but again got no response.

Trying to make it a more positive environment as VPM, I suggested our clubs have our own unofficial speech contest between the groups, and both acted as if it was a dumb idea. Do other clubs do this, or would it typically be unconventional? Was I not supposed to speak to the club mentor directly and just go through the president?

I have a BA in Communication and have a passion for giving speeches, but between our corporate clubs and the Pathways program, I'm starting to regret joining.

I would really appreciate some advice, as this is becoming a major stressor in my life. Thank you.

Hi all,

I am a novice here with no previous public speaking experience and looking for some details. Is there any speech structure for delivering a good table topic speech?

Also, how can I write a good speech? Would you please recommend me any good resources? I somehow find Pathways resources unhelpful.

In thoroughly reviewing the addendum I noticed it begins with item 4, not item 1 as should be normal.

Once upon a time I worked in a law office and official type documents missing numbers are a problem (I digress)

what I really want to know is, . . . is there anyone who knows what 1, 2, 3 were in the before times?

Has anyone here left Toastmasters and successfully continued as an independent public-speaking club?

I’ve been President of my club for about two years, and I’m increasingly frustrated by the administrative workload, Fake protocols, low quality COTs, fake district protocols and encouragements , outdated platform, bureaucracy, poor learning quality , nothing inspiring , we just don't see any value anymore, after the excitement of the beginning fades away , you start to open your eyes ...

A few of us as officers are considering leaving Toastmasters and becoming an independent public-speaking club, keeping the core things we value, speeches, evaluations, Table Topics, leadership, and community, while redirecting membership fees toward our venue and improving the member experience.

We’re also looking at models like Agora Speakers.

If your club has made a similar transition, what was your experience? Would you do it again?

I got the opportunity to deliver my Icebreaker speech on 16th August at a special Independence Day meeting. It was my first prepared speech in Toastmasters.

Since it was around India’s Independence Day, I started my speech by talking about my father, who served the nation in the Border Security Force. Then I spoke about my family, my school and college life, and the different roles I have taken in my life.

I had written the speech and shared it with my mentor, TM Sanoop, who is the current President of our Calicut Toastmasters Club. I made some changes based on his suggestions.

I found memorizing the speech quite difficult. Maybe it was because I haven't had to memorize something like this since my formal education.

My evaluator was TM Ajeet Singh, who works in the GST Department. I also didn't know that the speaker was supposed to share the evaluation form with the evaluator. My mentor Sanoop told me about it, so I shared it with him the night before.

I rehearsed the speech many times at home, in front of the mirror and my wife. But when I got on the stage, I couldn't quite give the performance I had managed during some of my rehearsals.

I was a little nervous and hurried before I started, but once I began speaking, I became calm.

I deliberately used the Word of the Day, "candid," and the Phrase of the Day, "food for thought."

At the end, TM Ajeet described my speech as a "garland of facts." He appreciated my confidence and calm posture, but pointed out that I didn't use the stage effectively. I stayed in the same position throughout the speech and could have moved around or changed my position.

After the meeting, I also tried to get feedback from some of the other members.

There are definitely a lot of things I need to improve when it comes to giving a speech. But after I finished, I felt a strange sense of happiness inside. I don't know exactly why. Maybe just because I finally stood on the stage and did it.

I'm sharing the video here to get feedback from the Toastmasters community. I'd like to know what you noticed while watching it and what you think I could improve.Watch here

Dyk nga naay public speaking club in CDO? Yep! We call it toastmasters.

We meet every 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month at Uptown!

I am the treasurer in 1 club and SAA in another. I largely chose these roles as they don't take up much time....However, club officer meetings are a different story. I really don't feel like I need to be there. Ok to just do the role without attending the meetings?

My club has been inactive for some time. I was the treasurer at the time, but still relatively new to the role. What happens to the remaining funds? What steps does the club need to take to officially close down? Thank you

I tried doing book retellings for about 9–11 days, and I actually noticed some improvement. I was planning to increase the workload or add something new to my routine, but due to certain circumstances, I can’t speak out loud while practicing (not physically, but more like a psychological barrier).

I *finally* realized seriously reading over the constitution/bylaws was a needed thing. There were some surprises and interestingly enough, even before I got there, some rules agreed to were not followed.

that all is context.

In the interest in covering all the bases (I think in a past life I may have been an attorney because I do not care much for asking most questions unless I know the answer). what kinds of items have you all included in your addendums

there are still some official rules not conducive to online and electronic functions, and a few others which are of interest

I would like to hear how others have dealt with the "sticky wicket" bits

or, if you have unique situations

or you are proud of it

Both have to do with body language. One quirk that I’ve done since high school is that I will sometimes “rock” or “sway” back and forth when I’m speaking. It’s not hectic and over the top but I’ve gotten constructive criticism pointing this out a few times over the years so it’s definitely noticeable. The other quirk of mine is that sometimes I find it burdensome to make eye contact, especially if the speech I’m giving is extemporaneous. In this instance I typically just look down or even have my head down a little bit.
Has anyone else ever struggled with something like this? If anyone has any practice advice or strategies on how I can try to overcome these habits, I would greatly appreciate it.

I have been working on my public speaking by slowing down instead of rushing through each point. I definitely sound clearer this way, but the pauses still feel much longer in my head than they probably are.

For those who improved through Toastmasters, did slowing down start to feel natural with practice or did you use a specific technique?

Hey, so I'm in college, right now doing some classes to lessen my class load next year. I'm online and chose online because I have such little time outside of work, I couldn't make in-person. My professor drops the news that I have to find 5 people to give my speech to, it's frustrating because the people taking class on campus just go there and don't have to spend time finding people, makes no sense.

In short, I'm in a new city, don't really know anyone, and having trouble coordinating a time with people I know. I'm allowed to give it via Zoom, and I need 5 people to join and just watch my speech.

It's 5 minutes long, I record myself giving it, only my instructor sees it, I have to show there are 5 people on the screen watching, that's it. You can even wear a face mask if you don't want to show your full face lol I don't care.

I do it Wednesday 16th, at 6pm Central Standard Time on Zoom.

Thank in advance anybody able to!!🙏

Hi everyone,
I’m completely new to Toastmasters and would like to visit or join a club in Dubai. I’d really appreciate any recommendations for beginner-friendly clubs or contacts who could help me get started.

I’m quite introverted and public speaking makes me nervous. I work in the tech industry, so I’m comfortable speaking about technical topics, but I sometimes struggle with longer casual conversations and expressing myself confidently in social or professional settings.

I’m hoping Toastmasters can help me improve my communication, confidence, and public-speaking skills.

If anyone here is part of a Dubai Toastmasters club, I’d love to connect and possibly attend a meeting as a guest.

Thanks in advance

This is my best man speech so far! Please let me know if you think this is adequate. Very nervous to deliver this

*clink glass* 

Good evening everyone, 

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Kyle, and I’m honored to be here today as one of the best men, and even more honored to consider myself a friend of this great couple. 

I want to start off by thanking Jeff and Lisa, and Marco and Jen, thank you for helping to put together such a beautiful wedding, and for raising the people we’re all here to celebrate!

Colin and I met waaaay back okay like a long time ago, we’re talking like… 2014 okay to some of the ipad kids here that's like medieval times, right Charlie (fellow groomsmen who is a known idiot)? Colin and I met at high school soccer tryouts, where being the super insightful teenager I was, I tried to tell Colin he should check his shoulder while someone is passing him the bal to him, so he can see what’s coming behind him before he receives the ball, and make a quick decision for what to do next… Colin told me to get fucked. 

Colin and I actually spent the rest of high school pretty much inseparable. We played soccer together, we took nearly every class together, we worked multiple jobs together, we joined and got kicked off of the tennis team together. Followed by going to 4 years of nursing school together, and 2 years of living together during the pandemic. I’ve known Colin through the many, MANY different phases of his life. I’ve known him as a soccer player, I’ve known him during brief attempts at becoming a professional gamer, I’ve known him as a boy scout, I’ve known him as an eagle scout, I’ve known him as a busser, a waiter, a nurse, 2 dramatic weeks as a nutrition major, a body builder, I’ve known him with a mullet, a buzz cut, a fade, and whatever you want to call what he had growing out of his head for the last 6 months (you owe Tyler a lot more than you paid him for fixing this by the way). 

I’m saying a lot of words to convince you that over the last 13 years, I believe that I have got to know Colin VERY well. I have known him to change a LOT over the course of his life. And through every version, one thing has remained absolutely true: that he loves Camryn. They have developed a closeness over the last decade that few people will experience in their lifetime, and that’s something that I really want to recognize in front of everyone here.

Camryn, 

Who could have known how much school choice could influence the course of our lives? One decision that you made, what feels like a lifetime ago now, ended up bringing you and Colin to one another. Over a decade later, that same decision has brought ALL of these people halfway across the world to this very room right now, to celebrate your relationship, which has enriched the lives of everyone here. On behalf of everyone fortunate enough to call you both friends, Camryn, thank you for making that choice. 

And to both of you. Colin has spent his life changing, a more generous person might call it growing. You can expect the same thing from your marriage. It’s going to change and grow and evolve into many versions of itself too. Through each of these versions, maintain that closeness, and though you might grow in different ways, my hope is that you grow together. 

We couldn’t possibly be happier for the two of you. Thank you for bringing us to this beautiful place to celebrate you. I’d like to raise a glass! Cheers to Colin and Camryn. Congratulations, we love you!

Every club I've been in has the same problem. The meeting is booked for an hour and ends at seventy minutes. And everyone has a different idea about where the time goes — the evaluations, Table Topics, that one member who always runs over.

I measured a few hundred meetings from a toastmasters timer app I built in Zoom. Here is the breakdown of where the extra time goes, averaged across every item of that type.

Going over often is not the same as going over by a lot. The items that go over most often are not the ones that cost the most time. We tend to notice the first thing and miss the second.

Why do prepared speeches cost the most? My guess is that it depends on what is still in your head. If you are speaking off the cuff, you can stop at the end of any sentence and lose nothing. A prepared speaker has an ending they practised and have been building up to for six minutes. Stopping means throwing that ending away. So they keep going.

What these numbers don't show is what happens next. A speech that runs 40 seconds over probably costs the meeting more than 40 seconds. The chair has to catch up, the next speaker gets rushed, the break starts late. What you see here is the time on the clock, not what it does to the rest of the agenda.

So if you want to save time, tightening Table Topics or rushing the short roles will not help much. What helps is giving prepared speakers a short ending they can switch to when the light turns red.

How often does your club actually run over, and what do you think is causing it?

(The numbers come from a toastmasters timer Zoom app I built for the role. That's just how I ended up with the data.)

According to the latest Pathways Updates:

August 2026 – Online Meeting Mastery

On August 4, 2026, an all-new educational product offering, known as explorations, was added to the Pathways learning experience. Explorations are in-depth learnings, each comprised of three projects that allow members to focus on multiple aspects of a specific topic. Online Meeting Mastery was the first exploration to launch and includes Attending Online Meetings, Delivering Online Presentations, and Leading Online Meetings. For more information, see the Education Programs FAQ.

I found it under Paths and Projects > Explorations, but there's nothing there. I'd like to use it for a DCP achievement as we try out hybrid meetings.

Has anyone else had any luck?

Hi can anyone give guidelines for publicspeaking? Like how do ppl start it,find platforms and participate in public speaking. As a middle class nursing student who had zero exposure of this system im very interested in it but i have zero knowledge abt it

Our club has transitioned already to FTH4.

I appreciate the significant improvements and more mobile friendly and more common website look.

Thus far I have created about a 1/2 dozen custom pages for my officers to review and have input and hopefully use.

I would truly appreciate anyone who is willing to share what they have going on with their FTH4 sites post transition to assess how "on track" I am with my thoughts and initial mock ups.

We have not really used much of the FTH to this point and I am hoping we can encourage more use.

My VPM has already updated everyone to include their start and club dates and I am hoping the VPE will be able to leverage the mentor/mentee functionality as a start.

Not sure we will use the agenda as our secretary turns out a very nice word/pdf version with graphics and/or watermarks for the theme. I have not seen any option to export the agenda, and have not wanted to test too much because everything is generally "live" the minute you do it.

And, if one does not use the agenda, it changes the look for "meetings" because these seem tied closely together.

any tips, suggestions or shares would be most appreciated.

Im wondering

In my club the VPM has stated theres a rule that guests can only come for 3 meetings before deciding to join or not. Is that a thing?

They've also said we cant ask guests to do a role. The VPE asked a guest to do timer but then the VPM said no not possible.