I Quit Toastmasters but it Might be Right for You

Somebody on Twitter asked about Toastmasters recently. I went for few months last year and it wasn’t right for me. But maybe my thoughts on Toastmasters can help somebody decide if it is right for them. It comes down to what you’re looking to get out of it.

There are several reasons somebody might join Toastmasters. Obviously, the majority of people join because they want to improve their ability to speak to groups. Maybe some have real difficulty with addressing groups. Maybe some need to be exceptional speakers for their job. Maybe some actually want to become professional speakers. Or maybe some are already accomplished speakers and are looking to help others on the path. If you want to join Toastmasters for any of those reasons, you are in the right place.

I wasn’t really interested in improving my speaking. I was interested in two other things: writing and randomness.

I felt that by having something fairly significant to shoot for like a speech every few weeks, the whole process of writing would somehow feel more official and “writerly” — that having the deadline would motivate me, and that the act of honing and polishing a single piece for four weeks would improve my writing.

The thing is that all one has to do to be a writer is write. You don’t need a mahogany desk, a fountain pen, a Toastmasters speech or anything else. Just write, write, write. Then write some more. You are now a writer. Keep it up and you’ll become a better writer. It didn’t seem like writing for the speeches added anything of value to that process.

I was also hoping that Toastmasters would add some randomness to my week. Ben Casnocha explains it here:

One of my life principles is to expose myself to as much randomness as possible.

I firmly believe that if we keep our mind open and explore the unknown, good things will (eventually) happen. If I reflect on some of the best things in my life they are more a result of random events (which I took advantage of) than a concerted effort towards any single outcome.

An ultra-precise friend recently sharpened this philosophy: Expose yourself to bulk, positive randomness and be ready to take advantage of it.

Toastmasters is fairly routine. It’s a great environment for building speaking skills. But there aren’t a lot of unknowns of the kind suggested above.

Ultimately there are only so many hours in a week and you have to decide how to invest them. For my goals, Toastmasters simply wasn’t the right way to invest them.

You will meet great people at Toastmasters. And the whole Toastmasters process seems like it works very well to build people into engaging and compelling speakers. So if that is your goal, Toastmasters is probably a good fit.