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Congratulations on joining NVTM!
In addition to the manuals you received, we have tried to provide you with a fair amount of information to make your membership in our club a rewarding and fun experience.
Here you can find tips in the following categories:
General Tips
- Review the Duty Tips page BEFORE
you have a duty. You may want to print that page out and bring it with you in case you are assigned a duty at a club meeting to cover an unexpected absence.
- Determine how often you want to speak (as well as perform other duties) and contact the VP of Education. They are responsible for scheduling you in your various tasks.
- If you want to speak and are not yet on the schedule (or not scheduled to speak) get a copy of the schedule (from the VP of Education). Each week, contact the TM for that week's meeting and tell them that you would be
happy to speak (or perform another duty) if they need someone.
Mentors
- Mentors are available. Contact the VP of Education for information on how to get a mentor. But please remember the following:
- A mentor is just another club member. It is not their responsibility to contact you. They are a resource for you to use if you need it.
- They may contact you anyway, because they want to support you. Let them know what help you want and see if they are comfortable. If not, ask them if they can recommend a TM member who may be able to help.
- There are members listed in the Mentor page of the web site who have agreed to be available to anyone who is interested, on a temporary basis.
Table Topics
- From the day your membership is completed, it is very likely that you will be called. In fact, it is likely that you will speak responding to a Table Topics This is one of your best tools in Toastmasters. Is there a
possibility that, at some point in your life, you will be at a meeting and will be asked to say something about what you do, with little to no time to prepare?
How well will you do? Table topics helps you prepare for those moments when you only have 1-2 minutes to speak, yet you need to come across in a positive manner.
- In the Duty page, you will find a section on table topics. Take a moment to look over that topic (especially the information on the practice site).
Your first speech (your Ice Breaker)
- Your first speech (also known as your Ice Breaker) will be from the manual that should arrive shortly after you joined the club.
It is sent from the Toastmasters Headquarters. Alternatively, you may receive a manual from the club. If you do, please return the manual you receive in the mail to the club.
- Try to find a mentor (either by asking someone or talking to the VP of Education). They should be happy to help you with tips and ideas.
- Try to have an opening and close that fit together and are well memorized. For example, you might start with something like:
"I am not what I appear to be"
and then end with :
"I so, now that you all know me better, you might also agree that I am not what
I appear to be"
See how the opening statement (and maybe the title) match the closing statement.
Your mentor might be able to help you with this.
- Remember, we are your friends. Relax and just tell us about yourself.
- The purpose of this speech is for you to tell us about you. Since you have been you all your life, you know more about you than anyone else. This may sound silly, but, if you think about it, it makes sense for you
to start with a topic that you know well.
- While the manual will explain much of what you need to know, try to include:
- Where you were born
- A little about your parents and siblings
- Your life growning up
- Where you went to college
- What type of work do you do
- Your present status (job, family, kids, etc.)
- Hobbies (current and past)
- If you think about some of these things, you will probably find it difficult to keep your speech within the 4-6 mintute timeframe.
- If you feel you need notes, remember that you know the details. So only include key words in an outline format. So you might have:
- Born
- Parents worked at
- I went to school
- I graduated and
- I met my husband (wife) at
- etc.
- Don't have more in your notes than you need. If you look at the list above, you know what else is needed, all you might need is a reminder of what order you may want to tell us these things.
- If you do use notes, make sure you have the key points printed in a large enough font that you can read them easily from a distance. Then put the notes on the lecturn and just refer to them when you need them.
Feel free to contact the webmaster with any other tips that you think would be good to have here.
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