At Castanet on July 22, 2024 there is a balanced article by Wade Paterson titled The pros and cons of Toastmasters. It is accompanied by a 13–1/ 2 minute YouTube video titled BEST and WORST Things About TOASTMASTERS. Wade is from Kelowna in southeast British Columbia and has been a Toastmasters member for a decade.
His five pros are:
1] The constant practice
2] Constructive feedback
3] Reduction of speaking anxiety
4] Affordable cost
5] Leadership and development opportunities
His five cons are:
1} You can get too comfortable
2} Limitations/formalities
3} Inconsistent feedback
4} It’s not free
5} The repetitiveness
The cost is indeed quite affordable. International dues are just U.S. $10 per month. Semi-annual international dues are U.S. $60, with a new member fee of U.S. $20. There also possibly are club dues to cover items like supplies and rental of a venue.
Under You can get too comfortable, at 12:10 in the video Wade says:
“We know that Toastmasters is always five to seven minutes.”
That is not quite true. At Level 4 in the Pathways educational program there is an elective project titled Question-And-Answer Session (Item 8413) where the speech and the question-and-answer session together must take 15 to 20 minutes.
And at Level 5 there is a project titled Prepare to Speak Professionally (Item 8509) that calls for an 18-to-22-minute keynote-style speech. It is required in the Presentation Mastery path, and is an elective in the other ten paths.
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