TJ Walker recommends joining Toastmasters for most people, arguing it provides scheduled, low-pressure speaking practice that accelerates skill through repetition. He highlights benefits: a safe place to try new techniques, learn from nearby role models, use video recordings to self-review, and access resources and a speaking-focused mindset. He closes by urging listeners to find their nearest Toastmasters chapter online.
Chapters
I get asked all the time, tj should I join toastmasters? For most people, the answer is absolutely yes. Toastmasters, for those of you don't know, it's an organization run as a nonprofit where people get together quite often weekly to practice speeches, presentation skills, and a no pressure situation because you're not actually speaking in front of your boss or your most important clients or prospects. So the first big reason you should join Toastmasters is it puts something on the calendar where you know you're going to be speaking. And speaking is like any other skill in life. The more you do it, generally the easier it gets, the less tension filled it becomes, the better you get. So simply putting more days on the calendar where you know you're going to be speaking, even if it's just a 60 second introduction, is a good thing. When you look at the best speakers in the world throughout history, some would say in the past, Martin Luther King Jr. Some would say in the recent past, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, currently. What do they all have in common? They all gave hundreds and hundreds of speeches per year. When Martin Luther King Jr. Gave his I have a Dream speech, people don't realize he gave 300 other speeches that year. So that's the first big reason. Just the more you speak, the better you get. Number two, it's a time to practice new things. In no stress. You build a skill by trying out new things. If you've never put your pencil down and your notes down and gesture, this is the time to do it. So it's a no pressure way of actually practicing new skills. Number three, it's a way to learn from other people. If you've never been to a Toastmasters Club, there's going to be somebody there you think is a really good speaker, I promise you. And it's always good to see good speakers in the flesh. It's just a different experience than watching somebody on TV or watching somebody at a political convention. So actually having role models yourself where they're only 5ft away, 10ft away, is a fantastic thing, because then you're talking to them before or after, and you realize this person really isn't any better, smarter, more articulate than I am. I can do what they're doing. So that is a huge, huge reason. The next big reason that you can benefit from going to Toastmasters is what a lot of them are doing now is video recording yourself. I wholeheartedly applaud this. In fact, if you go to a Toastmasters, the way to get the most out of it is just give your cell phone to a friend there and ask them to record every presentation you do. Every time you stand up and talk introduction, table talk, any of those exercises, have them videotape. No one else has to see it but you. It'll be on your phone, private and secure. So that's the next best thing. The next reason is you're going to get resources, you're going to get some instruction, you're going to get their magazine, and you're just going to be thinking about speaking. And anytime you're thinking about stuff, if that's where your mind is, it's going to force you to hold yourself to higher standards. So those are a handful of reasons right there why I think you should join Toastmasters not because you necessarily want to become a professional speaker. Most people in Toastmasters are not trying to become professional speakers. They're trying to speak professionally for anything they do, whether they are running a hardware store, manager of an auto dealership, mid level manager at a large bank. No matter what you're doing or planning on running for mayor, city commissioner, no matter what you do in life, anything you do can be enhanced through the ability to speak effectively. Toastmasters is a fabulous organization to help you do that. So if you do have the interest and a little bit of time, I would urge you to check out your nearest Toastmasters. In fact, just go to their website online, just Google Toastmasters and you can find the nearest chapter to you.
