Midtown Clayton Toastmasters was founded on October 1, 1944 in St. Louis, Missouri.
We are the second oldest club in the District 8 Toastmasters; the second-largest community club in the district; and the 283rd club of over 16,000 Toastmasters worldwide.
Together, we provide a supportive and positive learning experience where you, as a member, are empowered to develop your communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth.
What happens when you attend a club meeting?
The club experience at the St. Louis Toastmasters club in Midtown Clayton is very lively. Like many first timers, you may be nervous about visiting our club and wonder if you’ll be asked to speak.
We’ve been where you are, and we’re glad you came. You are graciously asked to say a few words, but never forced to speak unless you choose to. The environment is extremely warm, and we have a brief time of “meet and greet” in the first 10-15 minutes.
You don’t have to know anyone to visit or join our meeting. In fact, you don’t have to live or work nearby to attend since we offer both online and in-person meetings. You are free to attend two meetings before joining, so you can see if our club experience is right for you.
Our meeting starts promptly at 7:15am, and we move through the agenda quickly, but systematically.
The Toastmaster of the Day (aka facilitator) welcomes everyone and shares the agenda. He/she introduces the grammarian, who gives the word of the day and its meaning and monitors our grammar. We’re encouraged to use the new word as we participate in various roles, which in turn expands our vocabulary.
The Toastmaster then introduces the general evaluator, who introduces the speakers.
The speakers present their speech, keeping it 5-7 minutes long. A volunteer timer monitors each speaker’s time and counts any filler words. We cast anonymous votes for the best speaker. As a guest, you can vote too.
An evaluator then evaluates each speaker, providing positive feedback on what they did well and any areas for improvement. Each evaluator speaks for 2-3 minutes. We again vote anonymously for the best evaluator, and you’re welcome to vote as a guest here as well.
We then move to Table Topics, an exciting time of the meeting where everyone gets a chance to speak. As a guest, you don’t have to participate in this session unless you want to. Topics may relate to a theme, a season, or whatever the Table Topics Master has in mind. This keeps everyone on their toes because we never know what might happen. Each person is encouraged to speak for 1-2 minutes during this session.
Once we finish Table Topics, everyone votes for the best table topics speaker.
The evaluator then calls for the grammarian and timer reports, followed by a general evaluation of how the meeting went overall. The evaluator touches on what we did well and any areas for improvement for the next meeting.
As the meeting comes to a close, you as a guest are asked to say a few words and give us your feedback. Again, no pressure.
We then move on to any announcements and share the winners for the day — best table topics, best evaluator, and best speaker.
Our online meetings end promptly at 8:30am, but we’ll follow up with you in case you have additional questions. Our in-person meetings also end at 8:30am, but we’ll have additional information on hand if you want to sign up.