The best way to learn about Toastmasters is by attending a meeting. But if you want to know what you’re getting into, Toastmasters is an organization dedicated to thinking, listening, and public speaking. It is made up of over 10,000 clubs worldwide and over 220,000 members. While Toastmasters is best known for public speaking, it’s about much more than that.
 

Clubs and Meetings

The main building block of Toastmasters is its member clubs. Clubs meet anywhere from once a week to once a month. If you are in a good club, it can serve as a second home.

Each meeting has three parts:

• Prepared speeches - members will give prepared speeches on any subject. These talks typically last five to seven minutes. While Toastmasters International has a basic speech manuals to help guide the speaker, they do not write the speech out or even provide the topic. Instead each speech has a broad purpose, like “use props” or “use more vocal variety,” allowing for plenty of room for creativity.
  
• Evaluations - each speaker who gives a prepared speech is assigned an evaluator prior to the meeting. The evaluator will speak for two to three minutes, giving constructive feedback on what went well and not so well. A wise Toastmaster once said, “If you give a speech and don’t receive an evaluation, you might as well have walked into your garage and given the speech to your car for all the good it will do you.”
  
• Table topics - members speak on a topic extemporaneously for one to two minutes to practice quick thinking and grace under pressure. The topics they are asked can be benign, like “Talk about the pet you had when you were a kid.” Or they can be vicious, like “You’ve got drunk and thrown up on your best friend’s wife. Talk your way out of it.”
  

Many clubs have time for socialization before, during, and after the meeting.

Benefits
 

Toastmasters is a great place to learn about and practice the arts of:

• Thinking
• Twisting arms
• Listening
• Compromising
• Leading
• Giving feedback without being a stupid cheerleader
• Begging without losing dignity
• Being a smartass
• Giving feedback without being vicious
• Gaining self-confidence
• Making friends
• Living
• Speaking

I put speaking last for a reason, even though it’s what most people think of when they think Toastmasters. I am an engineer and the expectations of my oratorical skill are quite low. If all I could get out of Toastmasters was learning to speak better, I would have quit once I passed the “I’m not throwing up on my shoes” phase.

Thinking about joining Toastmasters?
 

Most clubs, especially community ones, are always looking for new members. Clubs always need new members due to natural attrition. If the club is worth its salt it will always warmly welcome you if you visit.

There is more information about Toastmasters, finding a club, and general background for the non-Toastmaster here.