FAQ

What is Toastmasters?

Toastmasters International is a non-profit organisation, founded in 1924 in California, to make education in communication and leadership skills accessible to everyone. Worldwide, Toastmasters has around 300,000 members, and New Zealand is the country with most members per capita!

Our mission is to provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth.

What happens during a meeting?

Other clubs sing, play musical instruments or drama. At Toastmasters, we speak. Our meetings have a segment with prepared speeches that could be academic, humourous, inspirational, … We have impromptu speeches (aka Table Topics) that teach us how to think on our feet and speak at the same time – great practice for situations like job interviews or Q&A sessions! And we have lots of constructive feedback for everyone, which we also deliver in the form of evaluation speeches!

Will I have to speak?

Nobody is forced to speak at our meetings, of course. If you visit our meetings, we’ll happily give you the opportunity to participate in our 120-Second Impromptu Speech Challenge, or you may alternatively introduce yourself to the club and just say a few words about yourself. Or sit back in your chair and watch everything from your seat in the audience without speaking at all!

Can anyone come and visit?

Yes, guests are always welcome to visit our meetings for free, no matter whether you’re a student, staff or a local resident with no particular affiliation to the university. We suggest you visit us at least twice or three times. No two meetings at U-CAN-SPEAK are the same, so make sure you experience our club not just once to get the best impression of what we do!

Contact us | Our location | Agenda for our next meeting

How much does it cost?

No doubt, U-CAN-SPEAK is the most cost-effective way of improving communication and leadership skills. As Toastmasters International is a non-profit organisation run by volunteers, we only have minimal expenses and don’t have to charge rates like commercial public speaking seminars or your tuition fees. We’re even far cheaper than other Toastmasters clubs 🙂

• Guest who want to become a member get to do there icebreaker before deciding whether to join.
• $30, and Membership subs: $60 (students) / $70 (non-students) every six months
• Note: The six-monthly Toastmasters membership cycle begins in April and October each year. If you join some time in between, your subs will be pro-rated. For example, if you start in July, you will pay for July, August and September = $30 if you’re a student or $35 otherwise.

How do I join?

Just visit our meetings and ask for a sign up form!

What happens next?

You can give your first speech! This ‘Ice Breaker’ speech gives you the opportunity to talk about yourself for a few minutes. The idea of this project is that you give a speech your way and an evaluator will give you feedback on your existing speaking skills and suggest areas to work on next.

• Start preparing your Ice Breaker speech now!
• Contact our VP Education to check when the next speech slot is available. If you like, ask our VP Membership to assign you a mentor. Your mentor is a more experienced member who is there to answer all of your questions and to give you further tips and feedback.