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The Competent Toastmaster Program
The primary Toastmasters speaking program is called the Competent Toastmaster (CTM) and consists of
10 speeches. Below is a short description of each assignment including how long the speech should
be.
As part of your membership, you receive a CTM manual with details about the presentation you are to
make, suggestions for topics and organization, and a page for an evaluation of your speech. Each of
these assignments focuses on some particular area of good public speaking, for example,
organization, visual aids and gestures.
The Competent Toastmaster Program speeches are:
- The Ice Breaker (4-6 minutes)
- To begin speaking before anaudience; to help you
understand what areas require particular emphasis in your speaking development; to introduce
yourself to your fellow club members.
- Be In Earnest (5-7 minutes)
- To convince the audience of your earnestness, sincerity
and conviction on a subject you thoroughly understand; to confront and control any nervousness you
may have.
- Organize Your Speech (5-7 minutes)
- To organize your thoughts into a logical sequence
that leads the audience to a clearly defined goal; to build a speech outline that includes an
opening, body and conclusion.
- Show What You Mean (5-7 minutes)
- To learn the value of gestures and body movements as
part of a speech; to explore the different ways of using body language; to develop a sense of
timing and natural, smooth body movement.
- Vocal Variety (5-7 minutes)
- To explore the use of voice volume, pitch, rate and
quality as assets to your speaking; to apply the principles of a well-developed voice to a
particular speech.
- Work With Words (5-7 minutes)
- To gain an understanding of the functions and uses of
the spoken word. To select precisely the right words required to communicate your ideas clearly,
vividly and appropriately. To avoid common mistakes on word use.
- Apply Your Skills (5-7 minutes)
- To bring together and apply the communication skills
you have learned in the preceding projects; to organize your speech in a logical manner, following
one of the suggested outlines; to research the facts needed to support your speech.
- Make It Persuasive (5-7 minutes)
- To present a talk that persuades the audience to
accept your proposal or viewpoint; to achieve this persuasive effect by appealing to the audience's
self-interest, building a logical foundation for agreement, and arousing emotional commitment to
your cause.
- Speak With Knowledge (7 minutes +/- 30 seconds)
- To gather accurate, up-to-date
information on a subject so you can expand your knowledge and that of your audience; to write a
speech based on the insights gained from your research; to read the speech before the club in an
interesting, lively and meaningful manner.
- Inspire Your Audience (8-10 minutes)
- To understand the mood and feelings of your
audience on a particular occasion; to put those feelings into words and inspire the audience, using
all the techniques you have learned so far.
The Able Toastmaster Program
When you have completed all the above speeches to earn your CTM, you can
choose three manuals at no charge from the Able Toastmaster program (ATM).
To earn an ATM, you must complete the assignments from two manuals and
give some special presentations for Successful Club Leadership. The ATM
manual speeches are longer than the CTM program and allow for more
in-depth research into a topic.
The topics available in the ATM program are:
- The Entertaining Speaker
- Speaking to Inform
- Public Relations
- The Discussion Leader
- Specialty Speeches
- Speeches By Management
- The Professional Speaker
- Technical Presentations
- The Professional Salesperson
- Communicating on Television
- Storytelling
- Interpretive Reading
- Interpersonal Communication
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