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March 19, 2021 1:14 pm
Help. Is toastmasters worth the money and time investment? Why?
2 Replies
March 20, 2021 11:19 am
Depends upon your objectives, your time commitment and time horizon. For me, it was a very good experience and helped my career immensely. My particular objective was better communication/presentations, rather than public speaking per se.
Some aspects to consider:
- For me, the 'secrect sauce' was continal practice in front of a group, with weekly repition. In my TM group, every attendee stood and spoke, even if for 1 minute, at each meeting-but not all groups do this, see TM group selection discussion below.
- The TM program is not one-and-done; You should plan to give it a year of weekly meetings (with allowances for vacation and travel, etc) to achieve the first level of competency. (if you need faster results, I recommend a different venue or a personal coach)
- Many TM groups can have different meeting formats (1- or 2-hour) and meet at different times (b'fast, lunch, dinner), and different personalities. Visit 2-3 TM groups as a guest to see what works best for your goals. I went to a 1.5 hour evening/dinner group, which in my opinion, was more relaxed, and less time sensitive, than breakfast or lunch groups, where you were always looking at your watch).
- Get a buddy to join with you. Makes it tougher not to attend.
- Finally, once you complete the program, volunteer for any public speaking or class instruction you can find, in order to practice those new skills!
Good luck with your program.
March 24, 2021 10:06 am
HELPFUL. Thank you. I came across a blog with pros/cons, too. https://blog.jvf.com/what-i-hate-about-toastmasters/