Welcome to Public Speaking!

How to Begin

While this is primarily a handbook for members of Toastmasters, the principles here will help you become better at speaking no matter which platform you choose.

If you're not a Toastmaster, you may be looking for the following essays:

Managing your FearChoose Speech Topics EasilyHow to Structure Speeches

Why make a handbook for Toastmasters?

Toastmasters is a long-standing organization, and as with any organization that lasts long, it has its own culture, jargon, and insider information.

It can be confusing to have a ton of information thrown at you, and while there are several resources, guides, and training materials for all that you can accomplish in Toastmasters, I didn't find a consolidated effort.

More importantly, I didn't find one that resonated with me.

I've been in Toastmasters since 2016, and I've learned a lot in that time. I've also trained a whole lot of people in whatever I've learned. For your benefit, I've consolidated that experience here.

This is your handbook to getting everything you want out of Toastmasters. It's a culmination of all that I have learned, and everything I continue learning. I hope you use this to go from beginner to badass in your own way.

Why is this called The DIVA handbook?

Beyoncé has famously reclaimed the word "diva" to mean someone who is a hustler.

70% because DIVA is a play on DIVision A, my jurisdiction in 2019-2020 as District 92's Division A Director.

But also 30% because Divas are fierce, confident, and self-assured, 3 traits that we could use a lot more of. I hope you find your authentic, confident, and badass self in Toastmasters, and if this handbook helps even a little, it has done its job.

How Complete is this Handbook?

I've removed a number of articles that were incomplete or not good enough. Anything you can see in the navigation is good enough to use. Articles with asterisks (*) are coming in the next update.

Eventually, this page will have a function-based table of contents. The content is divided into sections according to which entity benefits along with you.

• THE SELF is purely for you and your understanding of fundamentals.

• THE CLUB is your first foray into leadership, learning how to manage your club.

• THE COMMUNITY is for when you're ready to step out of your club and start getting involved with higher leadership.

• THE CONTESTS are for when you're ready to compete against the best, and try to make a name for yourself as an expert speaker.

You can get into these in any order you like. This categorization is simply my recommendation.