What To Expect As Our Guest

Here is what you can expect as our honored guest.

General elements

First, we want to get you to the right place. We can be a little tricky to find, so head to this link to get directions.
We respect time. We start on time, end on time, and track time throughout the meeting. That is because we respect our time, precious as it is, and your time as well. Our meetings will start promptly at 6:30pm, but please feel welcome to come a few minutes early so we can greet you. If you find yourself running a few minutes behind, please still join us.
We clap. We clap a lot. This is to help show support for our members' efforts and cover transitions when people move around the room. We will clap for you as well.
We also like you. You are encouraged, but not required, to participate. We will ask if you want to participate, and you can say no. We want to find ways for you to participate that work for you. If you are a bit nervous, that is fine and completely normal. We were all first-time guests at some point or another; we remember how that feels and we want you to know we are honored to have you with us. We take delight in helping people try something new.
We respect everyone as well. You will notice we use clean language, listen to other speakers, and encourage them to improve. That is why we are all here, and we will do the same for you.
In short order, you will discover that we are a light-hearted bunch. We work hard during a meeting to push each other to improvement, but we also genuinely enjoy one another and we hope the fun personality of our club makes you comfortable and relaxed.

Meeting format

When you arrive, we will give you a name plate to place in front of you so we all know your name. Dale Carnegie wrote, "The sweetest sound in the world is someone's own name."
As the meeting starts, we will each stand and very briefly introduce ourselves.
The first part of our meeting is called Table Topics, which involves most members giving an impromptu speech for one minute on a topic that is given to them. We will ask you if you want to play along as well. If you prefer not to speak, just tell us when we ask. This is okay… we can take a “no thanks”. We can take a “yes”, too. Even experienced Toastmasters can be rattled by impromptu speaking, but this is exactly why we practice in a safe setting. As such, feel very welcome to give Table Topics your best try even if you are nervous. Trust us, we will be very impressed with your participation.
The second part of the meeting includes the prepared speeches, which our members have worked on prior to the meeting. You will hear veterans, rookies, and everything in between delivering speeches on any topic imaginable.
The third part of the meeting is the evaluations, where each speaker gets constructive feedback on what they did well, and where they could improve. The speakers value your written feedback, too.
At the end of the Table Topics section, the prepared speakers section and the evaluation section, we will vote for who we thought handled his or her talk the best. As our guest, your vote counts too.

As the meeting ends, we will invite you to give us your brief impressions of the meeting. You can tell us if it is what you expected, or what you particularly liked (or did not like) about the meeting. Most of all, be honest and unafraid. We are thrilled to hear your opinion.

We may ask you if you plan to join the club at the end of the meeting. If you are ready to join, tell us. If you have more questions, let us know. And if you need to come back and see it again, let us know that too. We will welcome you back every time.