Ipswich Electrifiers Speakers’ Club is for people who want to improve their speaking, confidence and leadership skills. Whether you want to speak for business or as part of your job, for leisure or social occasions, our supportive and friendly atmosphere encourages you to “give it a try”.
We are a member of a large group of clubs called Toastmasters International.
If you would like to attend a meeting please contact us or Click here to join our WhatsApp group to receive notifications about Ipswich Electrifiers meetings. Guests are very welcome to join any of our meetings.
When do we meet?
- Meetings are held every other Thursday throughout the year.
- Our meetings are held on alternate Thursday evenings from 7pm to 9:00pm, most members arrive around 6.45pm.
Where do we meet?
- We meet at Castle Hill Community Centre, Highfield Rd, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP1 6DG
Who can attend?
- Guests are very welcome to attend any of our meetings, free of charge, to get an idea of what happens at Toastmasters meetings, and to meet our members
- Meetings are open to any members of Toastmasters International
What happens at Toastmasters meetings?
Our standard meetings follow a common structure with each section in order.
Introductions
We all introduce ourselves at the start of each meeting. It gets us warmed up, makes it easier for newcomers to learn names and learn more about the roles each member is taking that night. Don’t worry, it’s not a five minute networking pitch, tell us your name and if you’d like to answer the question of the evening please do so.
Table Topics
This is an impromptu speaking session where topics are provided on the night. Speeches can be up to two minutes, we do try to include as many people as possible but there’s no obligation to take part.
Club Business
Three to five minutes to hear from our president and to discuss any upcoming club business.
Networking break
A chance for refreshments and networking. Please ask as many questions as you want to.
Prepared speeches
The second half of the meeting is devoted to prepared speeches. Members work from projects selected from the Toastmasters International education program. This enables you to build up a wide range of skills based on your own personal goals.
Evaluations
A key part of our meeting is the friendly and supportive feedback on the speeches and roles taken that night. All members learn to deliver and receive this feedback, there is no instructor in our meetings, we are all here to learn and support each other
Toastmasters meeting roles
The success of any meeting relies on certain roles being performed and our meetings are no different. Each meeting there will be one of our members in each of the following roles:
Toastmaster
Chairs the meeting including introductions and awards presentations.
Sergeant at Arms
Organises the meeting room and opens the meeting
Wordmaster
Provides a word of the day and gives feedback on words and phrases used in the meeting. Some clubs refer to this role as the grammarian.
Table Topics Master
Runs the table topics session, providing topics and encouraging participation.
Topics Evaluator
Gives feedback on the topics session and the successes of those who have risen to the challenge
Timekeeper
The timekeeper’s job is to keep speakers and role takers informed on the time taken and to help them keep to time.
Speech Evaluator
Each prepared speech is evaluated by a speech evaluator who will provide feedback based on the aims of the project. They may also provide additional comments on aspects requested by the speaker.
General Evaluator
Provides feedback to the evaluators and other roles that have not been evaluated.