An introduction to my Toastmasters experience

Public speaking has been an area of growth for me ever since I took an active role in practicing and developing the relevant skills. I’m not an exceptionally talented orator, but I’ve been able to see a marked difference in my own progress as a speaker. Toastmasters has been a place where I can practice those skills among peers who share the same goals in an environment conducive to learning and experimentation.

I have been a member of Mountain View Toastmasters (MVTM) since the winter of 2019, and am the club secretary for the current term. I’m working on a Pathway on Innovative Planning — a series of projects that exercises the skills needed for public speaking and leadership. This blog post is spurred by an elective project called Write a Compelling Blog. I chose to do this project because it aligns closely with my goals and interests this year. Perhaps this is the catalyst to kick off my dreams of being a prolific blog author.

This series of posts will be a broad slice of my Toastmasters experience. In no particular order, here are some of the topics that I’d like to write about:

• Functionary roles and their purpose
• Being a Toastmaster at MVTM
• Writing a speech script
• Practicing a speech from an outline
• Writing and rewriting a speech
• Giving evaluations
• An overview of my Pathway progress so far
• Taking notes and my process as Secretary

I look forward to a fresh perspective on my old documents and recordings, as well as the time to crystalize ideas onto digital paper. I hope you’ll find these posts worth the few minutes to read through. Make sure to check out my page for Toastmaster related things! Until next time 👋