When: Meetings are held on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month throughout the year at 7.00 pm. If there is a fifth Tuesday in the month, we often have an additional meeting.

Where:  Our venue is Jurys Inn, 80 Jamaica Street, Glasgow, G1 4QG. View map

If you'd like to attend as a guest, please contact us (or simply turn up!). We start our meetings at 7.00 pm prompt, so most people arrive around 6.50 pm.

What happens at a meeting?

The first objective of the club meetings is to improve our communications skills. The aim is that everybody who comes will have an opportunity to speak in public, and can listen actively to the other speakers. Guests are under no obligation to speak if they don't want to.

The meeting is made up of two halves. The first half is usually taken up with impromptu speaking. The impromptu speaking session is called Table Topics. These are questions posed to members of the club (and guests if they wish to participate), who speak about the topic for up to 2 minutes. The second half is taken up with prepared speeches and evaluations.

The prepared speeches are taken from the Toastmasters Manuals. The first Manual is the Communication Manual which is a course made up of ten speeches. The first speech is "The Icebreaker" which involves introducing yourself to the club in a speech lasting 4-6 minutes. The other speeches include, "How to Say It" and " Inspire Your Audience". Even though the tasks have specific objectives, members are free to talk about any subject they wish (without being offensive). We normally aim to have two or three prepared speeches each evening.

All performances at the club are evaluated. An experienced member of the club will give feedback on how the speaker came across to the audience. An evaluation slip will be completed by each member of the audience for the speaker to read, and therefore learn from their efforts. If you come as a guest, you will be able to evaluate whether you think Toastmasters is right for you. So come along and enjoy the evening!

A Glossary of Toastmasters Terms:

The Sergeant-at-Arms - welcomes guests and members as they arrive. He will also take your address and arrange for you to be put on our mailing list, if you wish.

The Toastmaster - introduces the speakers. Like a chairman, the Toastmaster has to direct the meeting, ensuring that everyone applauds in the right places, and that the audience is aware of what is happening next.

The Timer - will record the times for each of the speeches. The green card showing is a warning that the time limit is approaching. The amber card reminds the speaker that there is only 30 seconds left, and the red card means the speaker should finish promptly.

The Table Topics Master - has prepared about ten questions in advance of the meeting which will be posed to members of the club during the first half of the meeting. These questions should be such that they give speakers the opportunity to say something worthwhile within 2  minutes.

The "Ah" Counter - will be listing the "ahs", "ums", "errs" and other verbal crutches used by speakers. At the end of the evening, s/he will list the members who can improve, and those who were word perfect.

The General Evaluator - has to analyse the meeting as a whole, and give feedback to the speakers who made evaluations during the evening.