Fear of public speaking is the most common fear for people in today's society. At Parliament Hill Toastmasters, we remove that fear by providing a mutually supportive and positive environment in which to practice your public speaking, communication, and leadership skills.

Very few people are naturals at public speaking, communication, and leadership. Even for the most talented, practice makes perfect and the best learning comes from making mistakes and observing others. At Parliment Hill Toastmasters, you can practice without fear of making mistakes, and also  observe more seasoned members to learn from their example.

The Toastmasters Program 

When you first join Toastmasters, you are given a goal: the goal to become a Competent Communicator (CC). The CC program takes you through 10 speeches, each 5-7 minutes in length (except the final speech, which is 8-10 minutes), with each speech building on the skills you developed in the previous speech. How quickly you achieve the goal of becoming a Competent Communicator is up to you. Some Toastmasters achieve their CC over the course of several months, others take years. This low-pressure approach is another aspect that makes Toastmasters such an attractive learning environment.

Once you achieve your first goal, the journey is not over. You can continue to progress by pursuing your Advanced Communicator (AC) Bronze, Silver, and Gold Levels. At the ATM level, your required speeches are generally longer and more complex. Your speeches also target a specific theme or skill, such of The Technical Speech, The Entertaining Speaker. or Interpersonal Communications.

Alternatively, you can follow the Leadership track and pursue the Competent Leader (CL) and Advanced Leader (AL) Bronze and Silver levels of achievement.

The highest level of achievement is the Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM). To become a Distinguished Toastmaster you need to achieve both the Advanced Communicator Gold and Advanced Leader Silver levels.

Toastmasters Magazine

All Toastmasters receive in the mail the magazine Toastmasters. Released every month, Toastmasters is a high quality glossy magazine that is full of articles about how to improve your public speaking, communication, and leadership skills, as well as information on upcoming Toastmasters events such as the annual International Toastmaster Conference.

Past issues of Toastmasters are available on the toastmasters.org web site.