The Mission of Boca Raton Toastmasters is to provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment in which every member has the opportunity to develop communication and leadership skills, which in turn foster self-confidence and personal growth. What to Expect Today you may be more comfortable communicating by electronic mail or telephone than communicating face-to-face. Speaking to large or small groups, or even one-to-one, may intimidate or frighten you. In Boca Raton Toastmasters you will learn how to effectively formulate, express, and sell your ideas and yourself and control that nervousness you feel when called upon to speak. You will improve your listening ability by orally evaluating other people's speeches, and you will learn leadership skills along the way. You will be assigned a mentor who will assist you in developing your speaking and leadership skills. See "Mentoring: An Important Part of Club Membership" further down this page. Communication Skills: During Club meetings you will build "quick thinking" skills as you give one-to-two-minute speeches on general subjects during Table Topics. You'll introduce speakers, conduct meetings, and perform other roles that will give you plenty of practice in a variety of communication experiences, but your greatest learning will come from preparing and presenting speeches based on the projects in Toastmaster manuals. You will receive verbal and written feedback on every speech you present. These speech evaluations have one purpose: to help you become a more effective speaker. Leadership Skills: You'll build leadership skills when you organize and conduct Club meetings and motivate others to help you. Leadership skills can be developed by being a Club officer, formulating and implementing plans to help Club members' needs. You may also complete the High Performance Leadership program, working on a leadership project related to your personal or professional life. Serving in leadership positions at other levels of the organization also will help improve your leadership skills. Walter Bald, President Meeting Information   We meet each Tuesday, from 7:00PM-9:00PM at the Count De Hoernle Pavilion  (The Old Train Depot) located at 747 S Dixie Hwy, Boca Raton, Florida. This is on the west side of Dixie Highway, just north of Camino Real. See map below.   As a guest at our meeting you may observe what takes place without having to participate. In this way you will have the opportunity to enjoy the Boca Raton Toastmasters' experience and determine if you would like to be a member of our Club.  Contact for questions:  Walter Bald 561-702-5997 10 AM - 9 PM Email: Wbald611@bellsouth.net Map to Our Meeting Location   ___________________________________________________________________________________ SAMPLE MEETING AGENDA    CALL TO ORDER –The meeting is called to order by the Sergeant at arms who introduces the person giving the “Inspiration.”   INSPIRATION – A brief story, quote, anecdote, or idea that is inspirational. The inspiration person introduces the President.   PRESIDENT – The President conducts the business portion of the meeting and then introduces the Toastmaster.   TOASTMASTER 1.        Introduces the Ah Counter, Grammarian, and Timer. (See “Job Guidelines” below for more information on each position mentioned in this agenda.) 2.       Conducts self introductions. 3.       Introduces the Table Topics Master.   TABLE TOPICS MASTER – The Table Topics Master conducts extemporaneous speeches for people who are not giving prepared speeches or verbal evaluations of prepared speeches. This insures that everyone gets to speak at all meetings. Table Topic speeches are from one to two minutes. 1.      Gives the subject for a speech and then calls on a member to come to the lectern and give a one to two minute speech on the subject. 2.      Asks the Timer if all speakers spoke within the time limit. 3.     Asks the members to vote for the best table topic speaker who met the time limit. 4.     When Table Topics are finished, the Table Topics Master returns control of the lectern to the Toastmaster.   TOASTMASTER 1.      Introduces the speakers who are giving prepared speeches. After each speech a minute of silence is observed for all members to write a brief evaluation of the speaker. These evaluations are given to the speakers at the end of the meeting. 2.      Asks the Timer if all speakers spoke within their time limit. 3.      Asks the members to vote for the best speaker who met the time limit. 4.      Introduces the General Evaluator.   GENERAL EVALUATOR 1.    Explains the purpose of evaluation. 2.        Introduces the evaluators who give two to three minute verbal evaluations of each speaker. One verbal  evaluation is given for each speaker. 3.       Asks the Timer if all evaluators spoke within the time limit. 4.    Asks the members to vote for the best evaluator who met the time limit. 5. Asks for reports from the Ah counter and Grammarian. 6. Gives an evaluation of the entire meeting. 7. Returns control of the lectern to the Toastmaster.   TOASTMASTER 1.       Gives awards for the best Table Topic speaker, best evaluator, and best speaker. 2.       Returns control of the lectern to the President or closes the meeting.   PRESIDENT 1.      Conducts any final business or makes announcements. 2.      Closes the meeting. _________________________________________________________________   Mentoring: An Important Part of Club Membership   WHAT is mentoring? Every successful club has one thing in common – successful, experienced members. By using this experience in a mentoring program, both the new members and the experienced members gain from their interaction. The new members will progress faster by benefiting from the experienced member's knowledge, and the experienced members will benefit from the teaching/mentoring experience.  WHO can be a mentor? A mentor is a more experienced member. This is usually someone who has successfully completed at least five speeches, which is half of the Toastmasters basic manual, and who takes a personal interest in helping another member. Mentors serve as role models, coaches, and confidents by offering knowledge, insight, perspective, and wisdom that is useful to other members. A mentor can help a new member become familiar with our Club or can assist a more experienced member in learning special skills.  WHY have mentors? Mentors serve as club ambassadors who help retain new members by welcoming them and making their experience with the club the best it can possibly be. Mentors help the process of membership to be exciting without being overwhelming.  Those of us who have benefited from Toastmasters membership want to see the club remain successful and thrive by continuing to recruit interesting, motivated members. More members will provide a diversity of talent, make our club more interesting, and insure our financial security.  Mentors support new members in the following ways: 1.      Build a personal rapport with the new members. Discuss your own personal experiences as a Toastmaster, and relate some of the benefits you have experienced. 2.      Discuss the new members' needs and expectations. 3.      Discuss the effort and commitment needed to meet these goals. Emphasize the need to prepare diligently for each manual speech, to attend meetings regularly, and to participate fully in club programs and activities. 4.      Monitor new member's performance and progress. This is the ongoing role of the mentor.  As a mentor you will find you are just as proud of the new members’ accomplishments as you are of your own.  WHEN to be a mentor or get a mentor? Now! Be an “all you can be” Mentor or get a mentor now!  HOW: If you need a mentor or want to become a mentor contact Mentor Chair Cynthia McGuire, 404-408-9034, dealerconsultant@hotmail.com _________________________________________________________________ Job Guidelines and Protocol Sample Meeting Agenda Meeting Guidelines and Protocol Meeting Outline Timing Template Inspiration Guidelines Toastmaster Guidelines Timer Guidelines Ah Counter Guidelines Grammarian Guidelines Small Tip Guidelines Table Topic Guidelines Speaker Guidelines General Evaluator Guidelines Evaluator Guidelines Toastmaster Preparation Guidelines Meeting Minutes Template Competent Communication Manual Speech 1 Speech 2 Speech 3 Speech 4 Speech 5 Speech 6 Speech 7 Speech 8 Speech 9 Speech 10 Additional Toastmasters Information FAQ Club Blog Boca Raton Club Division 47 Toastmasters International