SPEECHCRAFT Can Change Your Life

Speechcraft is a program designed to help you develop public speaking skills. You will learn these skills during four, six, or eight one to two hour meetings (the number and length of meetings will be announced by the program coordinator). During each meeting you will learn and practice speaking and evaluation skills, and you will have the opportunity to learn from experienced speakers.

You will learn and practice in a friendly, non-threatening environment, not in a classroom. There are no instructors or professors, and you won't be "graded" on your work and progress. You will be learning these speaking skills with other people who are there for the same reason you are. You will be guided in your learning by people just like you, who once feared public speaking and have successfully developed their public speaking skills. Together you will help one another grow and develop as speakers. And, best of all, you will have fun as you learn.

Keep in mind that your progress in the program depends on the effort you put into it. If you prepare for each meeting and participate actively, you will enjoy improved speaking skills and increased self-confidence that will benefit you in all areas of your life.
 

Miranda Toastmasters SPEECHCRAFT Courses

Miranda Toastmasters Club has a long history of conducting successful Speechcraft courses. The courses are conducted separately from our club meetings, as we generally have 12 students on each course. We have found that 12 students is an ideal number for a Speechcraft course. Any more than 12 makes it difficult to get through all the activities and finish each meeting on time, as we like to have all our students participate equally each night.

Miranda Toastmasters Speechcraft courses are an 8 night course, generally conducted Wednesday nights, for 8 consecutive weeks. The flow of enquiries about Speechcraft enable us to schedule 4 courses each year, which roughly coincides with each yearly quarter.

Each night of the Speechcraft course starts promptly at 7.00pm and finishes at 10.00pm.

A specially personalised Miranda Toastmasters Club Speechcrafter Folder is provided for each student on the first night. Included in this folder is the Toastmasters International Speechcrafter's Handbook. This handbook contains six speaking projects, which cover the basic elements of public speaking. The folder also contains a letter of welcome, a schedule of events for the course, an agenda for the first night, other educational material, an exercise book and a Toastmasters magazine which is published each month and distributed around the world.

A typical night on the course will have at least one educational presentation, immediately followed by a demonstration speech on the same project as the presentation. These are performed by Toastmasters from our club, and sometimes visiting Toastmasters from other clubs. There will be practice in impromptu speaking, a session known as Table Topics, involving both Toastmasters and Speechcrafters. Somebody will be appointed to bring enough topics to each meeting, so that everyone in the room has a turn at impromptu speaking. The Speechcrafters will give a speech each night (except the first night). Other activities for the Speechcrafters include proposing a toast, introducing a speaker to an audience, and later in the course, evaluating fellow Speechcrafters speeches.

The Table Topics session is not a test on general knowledge, it is simply a session where everyone can practice answering a question without notice in front of a group, and speak on the subject for 60 seconds. This session is always a lot of fun.

Just about everything we do during the night is evaluated. The evaluations are friendly and helpful, giving praise for things done well and suggestions for improvement. Evaluations are not critical in any way, they are done in such a way that leaves the recipient feeling good about the him/herself, and looking forward to having another crack at it during the next session. The evaluations play a very important part in the success of each Speechcraft course, and in fact, Toastmasters meetings.

The 6 speaking projects in the Speechcrafter's Handbook, except for the time requirements are much the same as the first 6 of the 10 speaking projects in the Toastmasters Competent Communication manual. You will receive this manual if you join a Toastmasters Club following your Speechcraft Graduation. However, working through the Speechcrafter's Handbook each session of the course will quickly convert participants from being nervous and uncomfortable, into someone who can speak to an audience with confidence and style. Although not mandatory, it is highly recommended that you join Miranda Toastmasters Club, following graduation from a Speechcraft course. By doing this, your communication skills and self-confidence will continue to improve to levels that you never thought possible.