I want to tell you how Speechcraft helps current club members become better speakers and leaders while growing membership. Speechcraft is a structured public speaking workshop run by a Toastmasters club to introduce non-members to the fundamentals of effective communication and leadership.

Once the club has decided to sponsor the Speechcraft program and an individual has been chosen to lead, other members serve as mentors to the Speechcraft participants and volunteer to speak. Educational speeches illustrate aspects of public speaking relevant to the Speechcraft project for the next week.

Of course, every meeting will have table topics and evaluations and potentially a short business portion of the meeting. This gives the Speechcraft member an idea of how a well-run Toastmasters club is organized.

Working with non-member Speechcrafters requires something from the current members. We current Toastmasters are accustomed to how our meetings are run, and we all know what to expect. When we suddenly have a group of unknown people join in the meetings, there are always a few surprises. These surprises allow us to grow, too!

What I have learned while volunteering and running speechcraft programs are qualities that are useful not only in Toastmasters but also in my work life. Patience, empathy, and the ability to break down complex concepts into manageable steps come to mind.

Working within the framework of the Toastmasters Speechcraft program not only helps non-members become better speakers, not only helping the club when they ultimately join the club, but it also helps the current Toastmasters gain valuable qualities that will help them become better speakers, leaders, Toastmasters, and better men and women.

If you want to learn more about Speechcraft, check out my article in the September-October issue of this newsletter, where I told you how my club went from over 70 members, down to 18 members, many of whom didn’t show up each week, back up over 30 with robust participation, all because of Speechcraft.