Top 10 Lists

This page has Top 10 Lists compiled for fun and information from a variety of Toastmaster resources.

Top 10 uses for a Lecturn

1. To hold speaker notes
2. To hide a prop
3. To give a speaker something to thump for emphasis
4. To give a speaker something to hold on to when nervous
5. To give a speaker something to write on
6. To give a speaker something to lean on
7. To give a speaker something to hide behind
8. To use to pin or tape something to for display purposes
9. Somewhere to put your pen or glasses while speaking
10. To use as the centre of the speaking area

Top 10 Ideas for Inter-Club Activities

1. A holiday party where one of your members hosts the party, and invites Toastmasters from other nearby clubs, as well as dignitaries nearby.
2. Have a golf tournament
3. A Christmas party
4. A progressive dinner
5. Have a joint meeting
6. A "toasting" contest at a joint meeting between two clubs. Each club had designated several contestants and pre-selected the topics / themes to be used, and each contestant in turn gave a toast which was judged. The club with the most points won the contest.
7. Have a demo meeting in a local mall, or other place during Toastmasters week
8. A speaker/evaluator exchange, each club sends at least a speaker and evaluator to the other club's meeting. The speaker is evaluated by a member of the other club while the evaluator evaluates a member of the other club.
9. At contest time, use judges from the surrounding clubs
10. Have a banner raid  - there are some rules!

How to keep Toastmasters in your club

1.  Involvement - keep in contact with all club members and guests - use the phone-  discuss their aims and goals. Plan to accommodate their needs.  Monitor/mentor progress towards achievement of goals

2.  Arrange social functions to draw the club together -  barbeques, dinners, pizza evenings etc

3.  Programme members well in advance for the various club meeting
roles and speeches

4.  Programme members well in advance to ensure club and member educational, leadership and management goals are achieved

5.  Ensure that evaluations are friendly, useful, meaningful and constructive with practical feedback

6.  Make sure everyone speaks at each meeting and always give guests an opportunity to participate

7.  Give members an appreciation of the overall organisation and where they and the club "fit in"

8.  Appreciate and recognise members' achievements

9.  Look after "long-term" members and utilise the experience and skills they can provide

10.  Follow up on guests before the next meeting

Top 10 things to do with a Toastmaster's Magazine

1. Read it the day you receive it
2. Give it away to a friend to read
3. Give it away as a gift
4. Use it for researching your next speech
5. Use it as a resource for educationals
6. Leave it in public places for others to read
7. Write an article for publishing, then keep the published copy
8. Find Toastmasters contact information in it
9. Refer to it often for inspiration
10. File it for future reference

Top 10 ways to achieve Toastmaster success

1. Always give a manual speech
2. Evaluate other speakers often
3. Mentor a new member
4. Participate in table topics often
5. Give an educational speech
6. Assist with a speechcraft course
7. Enter speech contests
8. Chair a club meeting
9. Introduce a speaker
10. Visit another club as a guest speaker

Top 10 ways to widen your Toastmasters horizons

1. Be a speech contest judge
2. Attend Area Speech Contests
3. Become a club officer
4. Organise a membership campaign
5. Attend a Division or District convention
6. Contribute an item to the club newsletter
7. Be an evaluation contest test speaker
8. Promote Toastmasters at your workplace
9. Participate in an inter-club debate
10. Sponsor or mentor a new club

Top 10 reasons why your club should run a Speechcraft Course

1. You get to meet and know new people eager to learn public speaking skills
2. You get a larger audience for speechcrafters to deliver speeches to
3. Existing members can practice evaluation skills with new members to evaluate
4. Exciting fast-paced meetings with a variety of new speakers and topics to listen to
5. Opportunity for existing members to give educationals and gain CL and ATM-Silver credits
6. Gain chairmanship skills by chairing speechcraft sessions
7. Existing members can get involved in a variety of new tasks - organising, leading, mentoring, evaluating
8. Speechcraft Coordinator gains credit for ATM-Gold
9. Speechcraft mentors gain credit for ATM-Gold
10. Club gains new members by signing all speechcrafters up for 6 months membership

Top 10 reasons why you should complete your Competent Communicator Award

1. Set realistic goals with a timeframe
2. Boost your self esteem with a sense of accomplishment and get 2 Advanced Manuals Free
3. You get to put the letters "CC" after your name, and use them on your CV
4. Enjoy the achievement of learning new skills with each new speech and evaluation
5. Become a role model and inspiration for others
6. Be recognised by your employer in your professional development plan
7. Learn from evaluations to help improve your speaking style
8. Practise giving speeches within time limits, a precious business skill
9. Improve your research and analytical skills when looking at topics and resources for your speeches
10. Show your leadership skills by seeking roles where you can demonstrate your public speaking skills

10 reasons why you should achieve multiple Competent Communicator Awards

(ideas from posts on the Toastmasters newsgroup)

1. Since I wasn't perfect the last time, I try to do better next time.
2. If we don't practise the basics, old, bad habits creep back in.
3. It helps me keep my skills sharp and hone them just a bit more.
4. A basic manual project can let me focus on one area of public speaking that advanced manual projects often don't allow.
5. It shortens the turnaround time on speech projects. Often, advanced manual projects require quite a bit more work to develop than C&L manual speeches.
6. C&L manual projects are great for bench-testing techniques and approaches that I will later use in other projects - often advanced manual projects such as using Powerpoint and other programmes with a datashow projector.
7. I'm able to do "theme CCs" where every speech is on the same theme.
8. When I get an idea for a speech, I want to give that speech. I can always find a project in the basic manual that fits whatever speech idea I have.
9. I can spread the wealth, giving the CCs to a different one of my clubs each time.
10. I can develop ideas from other speeches I've heard into my own presentations.

Top 10 ways to keep Toastmasters Beyond CC

There are plenty of opportunities for Toastmasters who have just completed their first Competent Communicator Award to continue with their membership and progress through the Educational and Leadership programme. 

Here's the top ten things Advanced Communicators can do while continuing membership:

1. Coordinate a speechcraft course
2. Present Educationals for Advanced Communicator awards
3. Become a Club or District office holder
4. Mentor new members
5. Create and utilise a personal development plan
6. Participate in club speaking contests
7. Become a judge for club and area contests
8. Attend Division Conferences and District Conventions
9. Organise Toastmasters Week activities
10. Assist the TLI Officers to present workshops

and finally number 11 - start another CC manual (see above for more ideas)

It's also important to:

• introduce members to the advanced manuals at speech 5 and promote advanced manuals as they near completion of their CC
• encourage them to go "beyond the club" in their endeavours, and seek speaking opportunities in other areas
• encourage familiarity with what the Toastmasters program is all about and its composition
• promote the benefits of the advanced program using the Area Governors and other experienced Toastmasters
• have them read and complete the back page of CC manual where the program checklist is printed
• have social events to which all club members are invited - dinner/coffee