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Frequently Asked Questions

Club 3496, District 36, Area 42

Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated: December 4, 2025

Important Note

Historical Content: This FAQ is based on the alt.org.toastmasters FAQ, which contains valuable historical information about Toastmasters International. However, some information is outdated, particularly regarding educational programs. Toastmasters International now uses the Pathways learning experience instead of the older CTM/ATM system mentioned in some sections.

For Current Information: Please refer to the Toastmasters International website or contact our club officers for the most up-to-date information about:

  • Current membership dues and fees
  • Pathways educational program
  • Current Toastmasters International contact information
  • Modern club procedures

What is Toastmasters International?

1. What is Toastmasters?

Toastmasters International is a non-profit educational corporation headquartered in Englewood, Colorado. Its mission is to improve communication and leadership skills of its members and in general. Mainly, this works out to ‘improving public speaking skills’ but there is also a potent leadership and management aspect to the organization if you aspire to reach that level.

2. Is this just a group for people in the USA or for people who speak English?

No. The organization includes approximately 300,000 members in over 140 countries, including Australia, the Bahamas, Canada, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

Toastmasters International publishes materials in English and basic materials in French, Spanish, and Japanese. As translators make themselves available, more materials are translated.

3. How is Toastmasters organized?

All Toastmasters members belong to one or more clubs. Clubs consist of at least eight members and may have forty or more. The recommended size for a club is twenty or more.

Clubs exist in communities around the world, especially in North America, and it’s a rare locality in the United States that doesn’t have at least one Toastmasters club within thirty minutes’ driving time. There are, at present, over 16,000 clubs around the world, and most of them are in the United States.

There are many sorts of clubs: community clubs, military clubs, company clubs, prison clubs, collegiate clubs, and so on. At this time, the majority of the new clubs being chartered are ‘company clubs’, i.e. clubs chartered at and meeting at businesses and organizations, in many cases open only to employees or members of those organizations. Never fear, however; there are thousands of community clubs already in existence as well.

4. Where can I find a club?

If you’d like to visit a club meeting, you can:

  • Use the Toastmasters Find a Club tool on the Toastmasters International website
  • Telephone Toastmasters International World Headquarters at (949) 858-8255 and ask for the locations of the clubs near you
  • Send email to info@toastmasters.org and ask; be sure to include your postal address so the information can be mailed to you

Complete listings for all clubs in the world can be found at www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club

5. Do I have to ask permission before attending a meeting of a club in my area?

Usually no.

If you’re visiting a community club, it might not be a bad idea to let them know you’re coming so they can tell you any details like what time members arrive to eat and what time members who don’t come to eat arrive, but community clubs are almost always open to all and they’ll be delighted to have you come to the meeting.

Clubs that meet at companies and organizations, on military bases, or in prisons are often, but not always, restricted to members or employees of the sponsoring body. These clubs are happy to have guests but you sometimes need to call ahead to get through security or to find out specifically where the club meets.

Unlike some other organizations, where one must have a sponsoring member who invites you to the meeting and introduces you to the group, Toastmasters welcomes all guests. If the club is open to membership from the community, you will usually be offered a membership application at the end of the meeting.

6. Is Toastmasters a social or drinking organization in some regard?

The name “Toastmasters” is a holdover from the founding of the organization, when one of the main types of public speaking a member of society would engage in was after-dinner speaking, a.k.a. toastmastering. It is rare that formal drinking and toasts take place, and these are usually at major banquets or conferences.

In general, though, you’ll find two types of clubs: those that have a meal with their meetings and those that don’t. Clubs that have a meal with their meeting may charge their members for the meals in advance and pay the restaurant in one lump sum or may have members order off the menu. Since breakfast and lunch clubs are popular with the business community, you can often kill two birds with one stone by joining Toastmasters: educating yourself and having a meal with business associates. You’ll also find some clubs that get meeting space by having dinner before their meetings – and half the members wait until dinner is over to arrive. There’s infinite variety to it all. This is one good reason to call in advance.

Many clubs do not have meals with their meetings, though. Quite a few clubs meet after dinnertime in a public meeting room at a bank or library or at a church, have their meeting, and go home.

7. What happens at a meeting?

The format varies slightly from club to club, but the basics include:

  • the business meeting (usually very brief)
  • introduction of the Toastmaster of the Meeting, who presides over the program that day and explains the meeting as it goes along
  • prepared speeches from members (of which more below)
  • impromptu speeches from members (also known as Table Topics, of which more below)
  • oral evaluations of the prepared speeches (of which more below)
  • reports from other evaluation personnel, such as speech timer, grammarian, “ah” counter, wordmaster, and General Evaluator.

Meetings last anywhere from one hour (especially at lunch or breakfast) to three hours (if the club meets infrequently or has long-winded speakers).

8. What’s a “prepared speech?”

When you join Toastmasters (see the “Membership” FAQ) you receive access to the Pathways learning experience, Toastmasters’ current educational program. Each Pathways project calls on you to prepare a speech on a subject of your own choosing but using certain speaking principles. Each project lists the objectives for that speech and includes evaluation criteria. Thus, if you’re scheduled to speak at a meeting, you generally pull out your Pathways materials a week or two in advance and put together a speech on whatever you like but paying attention to your goals and objectives for that speech. Then, when you go to the meeting, you’ll receive feedback from an evaluator. The purpose of the extensive preparation and commentary is to show you what you’re doing well, what you need to work on, and driving these lessons home so you’re constantly improving.

9. What speech projects are there for me to work on?

In the Pathways learning experience, there are multiple paths you can choose from, each with different projects focusing on various communication and leadership skills. Projects typically range from 5 to 7 minutes, and each focuses on specific communication skills such as:

  • Organizing your speech
  • Using body language and gestures
  • Vocal variety
  • Word choice
  • Persuasive speaking
  • Research and knowledge
  • Inspiring your audience

All projects are wide-open for you to choose whatever topic you like. Even if you pick a controversial subject, most Toastmasters audiences will evaluate you on how well you presented your subject, not on whether they agreed with you or not.

For further information about the speaking program, see the “Educational Programs” section below or visit Pathways Overview.

10. What is “Table Topics?”

Table Topics is fun! It’s also terrifying. Basically, it calls on you, the guest or member, to present a one to two minute impromptu speech on a subject not known to you until the moment you get up to speak! A member of the club assigned to be Topicsmaster will prepare a few impromptu topics and call on members (or guests, if they’ve given assent in advance to being called on) to stand up and speak on the topic. Topics might include current events, philosophy, or the wacky.

11. What is Evaluation?

The Evaluation program is the third of the three main parts to the meeting. All prepared speakers should receive feedback from evaluators. During the speech, and after, each person’s evaluator should make written notes and furthermore, plan what to say during the two to three minute oral evaluation. Evaluation is tough to do well because it requires an evaluator to do more than say “here’s what you did wrong.” A good evaluator will say “here’s what you did well, and here’s why doing that was good, and here are some things you might want to work on for your next speech, and here’s how you might work on them.” It’s important to remember that the evaluator is just one point of view, although one that has focused in on your speech closely. Other members of the audience can and should give you written or spoken comments on aspects of your speech they feel important.

12. What’s all this emphasis on time limits?

As noted above, speeches have time limits, Table Topics have time limits (1-2 minutes, usually) and evaluations have time limits (2-3 minutes, usually). This is in order to drive home the point that a good speaker makes effective use of the time allotted and does not keep going and going and going until the audience is bored. In the real world, quite often there are practical limits on how long a meeting can or should go; by setting time limits on speeches and presentations, participants learn brevity and time management and the club meeting itself can be expected to end on schedule.

Time limits are rarely enforced to the letter. In only a few situations will you find yourself cut off if you go too long, and that’s up to the individual club. Most clubs don’t cut speakers off if they go overtime.

It is common for clubs to use a set of timing lights to warn the speakers of the advance of time. All speeches and presentations have a time limit expressed as an interval, e.g. 5 to 7 minutes. A green light would be shown at 5 minutes, amber at 6, and red at 7. In Table Topics, the lights would go 1, 1.5, and 2 minutes respectively. When the green light comes on, you’ve at least spoken enough, though you need not finish right away, and when the yellow light comes on, you should begin wrapping up. If you’re not done by the time the red light comes on, you should finish as soon as possible without mangling the ending of your speech.

The only times you’re actually penalized for going over or under time is in speaking competition; in speech contests you must remain within the interval or be disqualified.

Some clubs hold an audience vote for “best speaker,” “best topic speaker,” and “best evaluator” during the meeting and it’s a practice in some clubs to disqualify people who go over or under time from these meeting awards. Check with the particular club to see what they do.

13. Why all this structure to the meeting?

If meetings sound complicated, we’re sorry. Meetings generally are not complicated once you get used to the timing lights in the back and the different roles members of the group play. Since the average club is expected to have 20 or more members, you need a lot of roles for people to play in order to involve everyone. And, since meeting assignments vary from meeting to meeting, everyone gets practice doing everything over the course of several meetings. One meeting, you’ll be assigned to give a speech; the next, you might be timer; the next, you might be the Toastmaster of the Meeting, running the whole show. It keeps you flexible and it keeps you from having to prepare a speech EVERY meeting, which would get old quickly.

14. I’m scared to death of speaking! Why should I look into Toastmasters?

EVERYONE is afraid of speaking. In poll after poll, “public speaking” comes up as more feared than “death.” Public speaking is the nation’s #1 fear. You are no different. Even if you think you’re really good at speaking, there will come times when your heart stops and your palms sweat and you freeze before an audience. Toastmasters can help with that.

Remember that EVERYONE in a Toastmasters club is there because at some point they realized they needed help communicating and speaking before audiences. Almost everyone will remember how wretched they felt when they gave their first speech. You may be startled to find out how supportive a Toastmasters club really can be.

If you’re aware how nervous you are but aren’t convinced that you should do anything about it, stop and think what skill is more important than any other when it comes to getting and keeping a good job?

Think you’re already an excellent speaker? People who think they’re really good sometimes come into Toastmasters and find out how unstructured and sloppy they really are. Being comfortable doesn’t mean that you’re actually GOOD. Even if you ARE good, you can always get better. Toastmasters can give you a lot of skills and keep good speakers improving.

If you still don’t know whether you’d like Toastmasters, why not visit a meeting? If you still don’t think it’s your cup of tea, we’ll still be happy you came by.

15. How is Toastmasters more beneficial than other forms of speaking improvement?

College and high school courses in public speaking usually involve the students sitting through dozens of lectures followed by one or two speaking opportunities. When the speeches are over, you get a grade. Often, you get graded on what you did wrong. This isn’t a way to build reassurance and motivation. Then too, you rarely get much of a chance to practice by doing. You get up at the end of the semester, give your speech, and sit down. Toastmasters is constant reinforcement and constant improvement. You learn by doing, not by sitting there while someone lectures for hours.

For-profit courses such as Dale Carnegie can be very good for their participants. They also cost a lot and when they’re over, they’re over. Toastmasters costs approximately $25 new member fee plus $120 per year (plus club dues, if any) and it can last a lifetime.

16. Where should I go for further information?

See the Membership section, the Educational Programs section, the Leadership section, and the Speech Contests section below. Ask questions in online Toastmasters forums. Contact our club officers. Call Toastmasters International at (949) 858-8255. Write Toastmasters International at 9127 S. Jamaica St., Suite 400, Englewood, CO 80112.

17. Can I send mail to Toastmasters officials via the Internet?

For current contact information, visit the Toastmasters International Contact page or email info@toastmasters.org.

Membership in Toastmasters International

1. How does one go about joining Toastmasters?

First, of course, you must have found a club to join. If you have visited a club and found it to your liking, ask a member (preferably an officer, who is more likely to be able to help you) for an application form.

According to the bylaws all Toastmasters clubs operate under, any new member of a club must be voted into membership by the club. In practice, this rarely happens. Instead, members are welcomed enthusiastically into the club as soon as a standard membership application is turned in with a check for the appropriate dues.

2. How much does membership cost?

Note: Current fees as of 2025. For the most up-to-date information, visit Toastmasters International or contact our Treasurer.

Upon joining Toastmasters, you will find yourself paying:

  • A new member fee (currently $25.00) that every new member must pay in order to receive educational materials
  • Semiannual International dues (currently $60.00 per six-month period, or $120.00 per year)
  • Club dues, if any (Goddard Toastmasters charges $6.00 per year)

All Toastmasters clubs are billed in March and September for semiannual dues for their members who wish to remain members for the next six months. If you join in between those periods, you submit a pro-rated share of the dues.

Clubs usually charge dues on top of the world dues. This is so they’ll have money in the treasury for expenses. It’s up to each club what they want to charge.

3. Can I belong to more than one club?

Yes. This is called “dual membership” even if you belong to more than two clubs. When you join the second club, of course, you don’t need to pay the New Member fee because you don’t need a second set of starter materials.

4. If I belong to more than one club, do I have to pay full dues for each?

Yes. If you belong to more than one club, you must nonetheless pay full dues for each club.

5. Are my dues tax deductible?

In the United States, they are – IF your job is of a sort that requires or necessitates good communications skills. In other words, it must be an educational expense to be tax deductible. Toastmasters International will send you complete tax deduction explanations if you request them to do so.

6. What do I get for my dues?

Your semiannual dues paid to World Headquarters goes partly for a subscription to the Toastmaster magazine (which, to be honest, is an excellent magazine), partly to support development of new educational programs (including the Pathways learning experience), partly to support operations at World Headquarters (i.e. the staff who process membership applications, educational achievements, new club applications, etc.), and partly to support your local District organization.

7. What do I get for my New Member fee?

Your New Member fee gets you access to the Pathways learning experience, Toastmasters’ current educational program, which includes multiple learning paths focusing on communication and leadership skills.

8. If I want to drop out of Toastmasters after joining, what do I do?

Simply wait for March or September to arrive and don’t pay your dues again.

It’d probably be a good idea to let your Vice President Education know to stop scheduling you for speeches, though.

9. How receptive are clubs to new members?

Since most people are genuinely terrified of public speaking, Toastmasters has its hands full recruiting members. There’s virtually no chance that you won’t be enthusiastically welcomed into any club you join and immediately be considered one of the gang.

Occasionally, however, people get into bad situations, but the same is true of ANY organization. There are jerks everywhere. Toastmasters probably has its share. For this reason, it’s a good idea to visit ALL Toastmasters clubs in your area before deciding which one you want to join.

If a club that you visit turns out to be full of jerks, please don’t assume that this is true of the entire organization. Once in a while, people come to forget that they’re part of a larger organization and act as though the message and mission of Toastmasters doesn’t concern them. Please nod, leave, and visit some other club. This is definitely the exception, but we cannot honestly say that it never happens.

10. If I join, will they make me speak right away?

No. You will not be asked to speak unless you’re ready to. If you feel more comfortable waiting a few months, that’s fine. Most clubs attempt to arrange the meeting schedules in such a way that most members are involved in some capacity at each meeting, so you’ll need to let them know what your wishes are.

Educational Programs

Important: Toastmasters International now uses the Pathways learning experience. The information below about CTM/ATM is historical and refers to the older educational program that was replaced by Pathways.

1. What should my main objective be as a new Toastmasters member?

Well, there are two “right” answers to this question. The first is that your main objective should be to attend every meeting you can and participate to the fullest, helping yourself and the other members of the club to become better communicators. The other “right” answer is that you should be working toward completing Pathways projects and earning educational awards.

Current Educational Program: Pathways

Toastmasters International now uses the Pathways learning experience, which offers multiple learning paths focusing on different communication and leadership skills. Each path contains multiple projects that help you develop specific skills. For more information, visit Pathways Overview.

Historical Information (CTM/ATM System)

The following information refers to the older educational program that was replaced by Pathways:

2. What does CTM stand for?

It stands for “Competent Toastmaster.” The CTM was the basic speaking certification offered through Toastmasters under the older educational program. Many members joined, earned their CTM, and dropped out of the organization. It was the basic “diploma.”

3. What do I have to do to earn a CTM?

This refers to the older program. Under Pathways, you work through different learning paths and earn various educational awards.

You had to complete the Communication and Leadership (C&L) manual, which in effect meant you had to work your way through the ten speech projects contained therein. When you finished your manual, you’d complete the registration information in the back of the manual and send it in to World Headquarters.

4. Do I have to give all the speeches at Toastmasters club meetings?

No. So long as you are giving the speech to an audience with at least one Toastmasters member in attendance, and so long as a fellow Toastmaster completes the evaluation for that project, you may count that speech toward your educational goals.

5. Do I have to work through the projects in order?

No. You can do the projects out of order if you like. It is recommended that you follow the order given since the projects progress upwards in difficulty but if you have a speech idea or opportunity that better suits one of the later projects you may skip over earlier ones and do that one first.

Note: Under Pathways, you typically work through projects in order within a path, but you can choose which path to pursue based on your interests.

6. What’s the ATM?

ATM meant “Able Toastmaster.” It was the next level of Toastmasters achievement after the CTM under the older program.

Note: Under Pathways, there are different educational awards and recognition levels. Visit Pathways Overview for current information.

7. What advanced materials are available?

Under Pathways, there are multiple learning paths you can choose from, each focusing on different communication and leadership skills. For more information, visit Pathways Overview.

8. Other than Pathways, what educational opportunities are there in Toastmasters?

Well, there’s leadership development through serving as club officers and district officers. Toastmasters International also offers various leadership development resources and opportunities. For more information, visit Toastmasters Leadership Development.

9. What is a DTM?

DTM stands for “Distinguished Toastmaster.” The DTM is the highest level of certification awarded by Toastmasters International. Under Pathways, the requirements for DTM have been updated. For current DTM requirements, visit Toastmasters International or contact our club officers.

Leadership and Organization

1. What leadership opportunities within the club are open to me as a member of Toastmasters?

All clubs have a staff of club officers. These are elected once or twice a year, depending on whether the club meets weekly or every other week (or monthly, etc.). Clubs that meet weekly usually elect for six month terms. Elections usually take place in May for the term July 1 to June 30.

Club offices (and their rank within the club) are as follows:

  • President - chairs meetings and supervises all other officers
  • Vice President Education - schedules meeting assignments and works with members to see that their needs are met
  • Vice President Membership - runs club membership drive and also works to keep members satisfied and happy
  • Vice President Public Relations - makes sure club meeting listings appear in the media, puts posters up, etc.
  • Secretary - sends correspondence on behalf of the club, keeps club records and minutes
  • Treasurer - handles financial affairs, such as dues and purchases
  • Sergeant of Arms - sets meeting room up, puts stuff away, greets guests, etc.

Club offices are open to ANY member. There is no reason why a new member cannot run for President without serving in any other club office.

2. What leadership opportunities are open to me OUTSIDE the club?

You can serve as Area Governor, Division Governor, District Secretary, District Treasurer, District Public Relations Officer, District Lieutenant Governor Marketing, District Lieutenant Governor Education and Training, District Governor, International Director, International Vice-President, or International President. To explain what all these mean, you need to know more about each level.

3. What is an Area?

Clubs are grouped into Areas of three to eight Clubs. Each Area has its own Area Governor, a member of one of the clubs appointed by the District Governor to serve the Area. Area Governors are usually, but not always, members of a club in the Area they are responsible for.

Areas have Area Speech Contests several times a year, with winners from the Club levels going on to the Area Contest. The winner of the Area Contest goes on to the Division.

4. What is a Division?

Areas are grouped into Divisions. Divisions may be as small as one Area in size (rarely) or as have five, six, or more Areas. Each Division has its own Division Governor. Division Governors are usually members of clubs within their Division and are elected once a year at the Annual District Business Meeting. The Division Governor works with his Area Governors to motivate the clubs to high membership and to have good, effective educational programs.

Divisions have Division Speech Contests several times a year, with winners from the Areas coming together to compete. The Division winners go on to the District level.

5. What is a District?

Districts in some cases are equivalent to “states” and in other cases are smaller or larger. If you think of a District as “the state organization” you won’t be too far off. Districts are comprised of several Divisions. Districts are the main level of organization outside the Club; Areas and Divisions are sub-units of the District.

California has several Districts because there are so many clubs there. North Carolina, on the other hand, is a single District. England and Scotland and Ireland are one District all together, and Australia and New Zealand comprise several Districts. Smaller countries with only a few clubs each are Unincorporated clubs which report directly to World Headquarters instead of to Districts.

Each District has its own set of officers, most of whom are elected at the District Spring Conference (or Fall Conference in the Southern Hemisphere). The officers include: District Secretary, District Treasurer, District Public Relations Officer, District Lieutenant Governor Marketing, District Lieutenant Governor Education and Training, and District Governor. The last three are always elected and the first three are elected or appointed depending on local preference.

And yes, Districts have their own District-wide goals. The various District officers work with the clubs, Areas, and Divisions to build membership, start new clubs, promote educational achievement, and so forth.

Districts have speech contests several times a year, as the Division winners come together at the District Conferences to compete for the District crowns.

6. Whoa! That sounds complicated!

It is, but that’s the price you pay for:

  • having enough offices to fill that a lot of people get the opportunity to serve, and
  • having enough officers on the spot to help out clubs that have problems (e.g. low membership).

7. How do I get to be a District officer?

If you want to be an Area Governor, show up at a lot of events outside your club and get to know the people around your District. Work hard within your club. Eventually, you’ll be considered for appointment as an Area Governor. It doesn’t hurt to ask the people who are running for District Governor to consider appointing you. If you want to be a Division Governor or other District Officer, you’ve usually got to run for the office. Each club in a District gets two votes and the clubs that have representatives at the Spring Conference vote and decide who’ll serve for the next year. Terms always run July 1 to June 30, by the way, so elections are usually held in April or May.

Another good way to get to be a District officer is to volunteer to help a District committee. You don’t get DTM credit for helping a committee or serving as a District committee chair, but you get known and that’s usually all it takes to get asked to serve the next time around.

8. What levels are beyond the District?

Technically, none – just Toastmasters International. The Districts do get together for Regional Conferences, but the Regions are not formally constituted bodies. They’re just groupings of Districts. Each Region is entitled to representation on the Board of Directors of Toastmasters International in the form of International Directors who serve terms on the board.

9. What’s the World Convention?

The World Convention takes place each year. The main feature of the Convention, other than presentation of awards for effort during the preceding year, is the Annual Business Meeting, at which International officers are elected and policies are made and changed.

The clubs have the voting strength at the world level, with two votes each. Districts often wind up voting the proxies for clubs which don’t make it to the Annual Business Meeting.

10. So the Board of Directors and the President and Vice Presidents make all the decisions about dues and so forth?

Yes and no. Any proposals they wish to see adopted that constitute actual changes to the constitution and bylaws of the organization require a vote by the assembled clubs, with each club having two votes. As above, the District officers gather proxies from any clubs that aren’t going to be at the annual business meeting.

11. What do I get for serving as an officer?

If you serve as a club officer, you earn credit toward educational awards. If you serve as a District officer, you earn credit toward a DTM. Service on the International level doesn’t earn you anything in particular because you’ve usually already earned everything there is to earn by that point.

But, more importantly, you get tremendous leadership experience. With everyone a volunteer and no club HAVING to do what its District officers suggest, you have to develop powerful persuasive abilities to guide the clubs and members in the right direction.

Toastmasters International Speech Contests

1. What’s all this about speech contests?

In order to provide for people who enjoy competitive speaking, and in order to showcase the best, Toastmasters clubs hold speech contests as many as five times a year. Each contest starts at the club level and works its way up through Area and Division to the District. Some contests go on to Regional and one goes on to the World Convention.

The contests are:

  • Tall Tales - 3 to 5 minutes in length. A tall tale, which must be original (you can’t use someone else’s material). Goes as far as the District level in most Districts.

  • Table Topics - 1 to 2 minutes in length. Impromptu speaking. All contestants are taken out of the room and brought back in one by one to speak on the same topic, which should be general in nature and not require specialized knowledge which some contestants might have while others might not. Since no contestant hears the topic before his turn to speak on it, you can judge their impromptu speaking abilities by the way in which each person’s effort stacks up against the others. Goes as far as the District level in most Districts.

  • Evaluation - 2 to 3 minutes in length. A target speaker gives a speech which all the evaluation contestants are to evaluate. The contestants are taken from the room and given five minutes to prepare their speeches and make notes. Then, their notes are taken away and they are brought back into the room one by one (at which time the contestant gets his notes back) to deliver their oral evaluation of the target speech. Since no contestant hears what another said about the target speech, the judges can compare the analytical abilities of the contestants. Goes as far as the Regional level in some Regions.

  • Humorous speech - 5 to 7 minutes. Humorous speaking, which must be original. It’s supposed to be a speech, not a monologue, and it MUST be original. It should also be “clean.” So-called “blue humor” will get you zero points in the “appropriateness” column of the judges’ forms. In other words, it should be a five-to-seven minute speech with a lot of humor value, but ALSO displaying good speechmaking abilities. Goes as far as the Regional level in most Regions.

  • International Speech - 5 to 7 minutes. Any topic at all, so long as it’s original. Can be funny, serious, whatever. It should be the best speech you can give, and it must be original. The reason this contest is called “International Speech” instead of “General Speech” or “Miscellaneous Speech” is because it’s the only one of the contests that goes as far as the World level. Each year, winners from the Regions compete at the World Convention in the World Championship of Public Speaking.

2. How do you pick the winners?

Each contest has a set of rules which mandate originality and lay down the procedures. If you go over your time limit by thirty seconds, you’re eliminated. If you go UNDER your time limit by thirty seconds, you’re eliminated – except in Table Topics, where you must speak at least one minute, no less. Out in the audience, there’ll be a set of judges, scattered among the audience, each with a points form that they use to rate you against what a winning effort should be and how you stack up against the others. There’s a different form for each contest, since each contest involves different skills.

3. Who gets to compete?

Any member in good standing (i.e. you’ve got your dues paid) can compete when the contests come around – except for current District and International officers and candidates for same – except for the International Speech Contest. To compete in the International Speech Contest, you must have given at least six Pathways projects (or equivalent under older programs). This requirement is intended to prevent professional speakers from joining Toastmasters out of the blue solely to compete toward the World Championship of Public Speaking. District and International officers are barred so the judges won’t be swayed by their titles.

4. When do the contests take place?

It varies from District to District. Some Districts have two contests in the fall, one in the winter, and two in the spring. Others have two in the fall, two in the winter, and one in the spring. All that matters as far as Toastmasters International is concerned is that all Districts must have held their Evaluation, Humorous, and International Speech contests by the time the Regional conferences roll around.

5. What do I get if I win a contest?

At the club level, sometimes all you get is a handshake and some applause. By the time you’ve gotten up to Division and District levels, you’re getting some fairly impressive trophies.

6. My District has different rules for the various speech contests. Is this permitted?

Any District which holds speech contests must use the official Toastmasters International rules and Districts are not permitted to change the rules as published by Toastmasters International in any way.

This policy of course doesn’t apply to contests the District has invented on its own, but for the official contests (International, Humorous, Table Topics, Tall Tales, and Evaluation), if your District has changed the time limits, eligibility requirements, or policy regarding originality, they’re in the wrong. If they don’t believe this to be the case, ask them to contact Toastmasters International World Headquarters themselves. They’ll be swiftly corrected.

Contests are fun, but it’s important to run them the same way everywhere around the world. Fairness and a level playing field aren’t just luxuries. They’re required.

7. Hey, what about the Debate Contest or the Interpretive Reading Contest or some other contest you didn’t mention?

Districts can hold whatever contests they want in addition to the official International contests listed above. However, these vary from District to District and it would not be possible to list all the various speech contests held throughout the world of Toastmasters here in this FAQ.

Contact Information

Toastmasters International

Goddard Toastmasters

Find a Club

For the most current information, please contact our club officers or visit the Toastmasters International website.

Source: Updated December 2025 for NASA Communities site. Based on historical alt.org.toastmasters FAQ with current information added.