Where You Can Learn Public Speaking by Angela Lansbury, PR for HOD Speakers' Club

WHERE CAN YOU LEARN FOR FREE

 You can learn public speaking from Toastmasters International clubs all over the world. Just search for your nearest club. Many, most, community clubs will let you attend three meetings for free.  I joined up, by paying my year's subscription, at break time during the first meeting I attended in 2004 and I have been a member ever since. You are welcome to come along to HOD which meets in South Harrow in a room at the church annexe conveniently near the tube station and a bus stop.

I am currently a member of three clubs, and on the committee of HOD which meets in South Harrow. 

If you are already a member of Toastmasters, I recommend joining a second club. Being a member of HOD means I get to hear about meetings elsewhere. I can get feedback about my speech ast my home club, vastly improve the structure, and presentation. Then I can go to another club and perform my polished speech.  I can even go online and find a club near a holiday destination, or go to a hybrid meeting, or ask my club to go hybrid if I am ill or away for a long time. 

You can watch a contest during contest season, hearing a 5-7 minute humorous speech, or two or three speeches, or more. at a contest meeting in the autumn. A second contest is on, table topics, impromptu speeches, no longer topics on questions picked from a table but from a sealed envelope. 

The next big events include the regional contests. You can watch online the winner from the previous years' international contests. If that inspires you, make a point of coming along to a meeting at HOD, if you are anywhere in London.

HOD is a small club, so you get a high chance of speaking at every meeting, and performing a speech, and getting a mentor for at least three speeches.

You also get all kinds of opportunoties to practise leadership for your work or social events, learning how to evaluate a speech, use props, edit slides, use the stage, appear on focus and centrally on screen in Zoom, not use too many ums and ahs.  

Once you join, you get an outline of your first speech, and can sign up to learn about presentation, or humour, or other subjects. Everything from telling your life story to handling a difficult audience.

But you don't have to do anything at your first meeting. Just come along and watch and enjoy the entertaining speeches, and insightful feedback.

Dates for your diary. Meetings in October include Thursday 1st October, 2026. Anniversary Open House - but you must sign up for catering and seating, celebration Tuesday 27th October 2026. You can find us on Toastmasters International Find a Club or for a specific event look at Meetup or Eventbrite.

You will also find out about us from LinkedIn.

https://hod.toastmastersclubs.org/

https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club?

https://www.facebook.com/HODspeakers/

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