About Us

Toastmasters is a non-profit educational organisation. In its many Clubs, members learn communication and leadership skills by speaking and working with others in a warm and friendly environment.

At Toastmasters, members learn by speaking to groups and working with others in a supportive environment. A typical Toastmasters club would charter with 20 members. The Club would meet once a week or once a fortnight from one hour to about two and a half hours, depending on the club.

Each meeting gives everyone an opportunity to practise:

1. Conducting meetings. Meetings usually involve short business session which helps members learn basic meeting procedures.
2. Giving impromptu speeches. Members present one-to two-minute impromptu speeches on topics chosen at random.
3. Presenting prepared speeches. Members present speeches based on projects from the Toastmasters International Communication and Leadership Program manuals. Projects cover such topics as speech organization, voice, language, gestures, and persuasion.
4. Offering constructive evaluation. Every assignment carried out in a Toastmasters meeting is evaluated - feedback is given on how well the assignment was carried out and points given for improving the presentation.
5. Prepared speeches - evaluators are assigned who give constructive feedback pointing out speech strengths and offering suggestions for improvements.
6. Toastmasters is not just about public speaking - A Toastmasters club does not merely give the opportunity to become better public speakers and overcome the fear of public speaking - it is only part of the whole - Toastmasters is about " networking and we all know that networking is the best way to get a job.
7. Toastmasters is self fulfillment through
• overcoming fear,
• fortifying courage,
• become more self aware and
• listening open-mindedly to others
8. Develop stronger interpersonal skills by
• building friendships and alliances,
• enhancing leadership skills,
• offering and receiving points for improvement diplomatically and
• learning how to resolve disagreement constructively.
9. Toastmasters also strengthen their minds by
• exercising their intellect
• sharpening their logic and reasoning,
• increasing their vocabulary,
• experiencing diversity, and
• learning how to express important ideas concisely.
10. All these skills are important in their own right and most sought after by employers.
11. Public speaking in Toastmasters is not an end to itself but a means for a career advancement and personal success.
12. Business and graduate schools charge student thousands of dollars for skills we all learn for a minimal amount in Toastmasters.
13. Toastmasters is not for everyone, neither is it just for people interested in public speaking but also for those interested in career advancement - great executives are not born, they are made in organisations like Toastmasters -Steve Brandon
14. Mark Latham, leader of the Labour Party, was a member of Mt Pritchard Toastmasters in 1983-1984

-  The History of Toastmasters International
-  The History of Mt Pritchard Toastmasters Club