Whenever someone used to say “training,” instinctively I thought of the awful diversity training corporations make employees take to prevent lawsuits. In the last few years I’ve gained a more open mind on the subject. This change is not because the force-it-down-your-throat-diversity-classes have got better (they haven’t), but because of some amazing courses I’ve taken at Toastmasters, especially the officer training. You should at least consider any training opportunity without knee-jerk rejecting it, especially if it will be presented in a halfway decent manner and is affordable.

Most Toastmaster training courses are much better than “halfway decent.” And the price is hard to beat - from free to five dollars for one to four hours worth of (mostly) very high quality material. The training is offered in January and February and July and August, corresponding with the beginnings of six month Toastmaster officer terms. The courses will be a mix of information for any Toastmaster (what does DCP mean?), courses tailored to individual officer roles such as the treasurer, and general speaking/leadership advice.

Below are some reasons you should make yourself go to the Toastmaster officer training even if you don’t want to:

• Socialization - You’ll meet people not only with similar interests but those who are motivated to drag themselves to the class too, so it’s fun just for its own sake. Personally I’m reminded at training I’m not the only hopeless smartass in this organization.
  
• Knowledge Beyond Toastmasters - I don’t believe in Toastmasters for Toastmaster’s sake and your trainers will likely agree with me. What you learn about speaking, leadership, etc at officer training will likely be useful outside your club.
• Entertainment - The best presenters will make even the most inherently dry subjects (think the intricacies of being a treasurer) as entertaining or more than most of what’s on TV.
• Learn How to do training - Very few Toastmasters are professional trainers. They’re people like me who just try real hard. Most of them do a good job and some are phenomenal. You aren’t going to learn to be a professional trainer watching amateurs and certainly not given you’ll only attend officer training twice a year. But you can become a better amateur trainer yourself watching good amateurs.
• DCP - In Toastmasters, we have a Distinguished Club Program (DCP) which tracks the health of clubs based on a scale from 0-10. Having at least four of seven officers trained is needed to get one of those points. Do you have no clue what the DCP is or why you should care? Well, you need to go to training since it’s the fundamental yard stick of a good club (you care about your club being good, right?) and because they’ll explain it ad nauseam.

I know a number of non-officers attend these because they are so useful and enjoyable. You should check with the people running the training whether non-officers can attend if you’re really interested. Your hosts will be flattered to have more attendees and will likely accommodate you, but sometimes space may be tight.

How do you find out when and where officer training is being offered? Ask your club president or check out your District website/newsletter. You can find out your District number here.

Don’t assume any training will be awful. Especially if it’s cheap, check it out for yourself.