::deletes Jesse::

IIRC, our own Billytea is a member.

I am indeed, though given my history with the FAC, this may not settle the matter.

Anyway. It's a public speaking club. It gives people a safe venue in which to give speeches and get peer feedback, and a program to work through different aspects of speechcraft.

I had considered joining Toastmaters at one point, but the uberserious turned me off.

This baffles me. I've been a member of several TM clubs, and never encountered anything like this. What do you mean by uberserious?

It basically sounds like Toastmaster's needs 6 people to do every month what 1 English teacher does every day.

Um. No.

Um. No.

I'd hope that's the case, given that I know it's been an important thing for you -- on the other hand, they seriously need someone to include moar fun and less Robert's Rules in their website and wikipedia page.

BT, for me it was the titles, and repeating everyone's titles, and clapping people up and down to the stage, and all the letters after everyone's names, etc. Just set me twitching.

Unrelated to that, I was reading through the suggested table topics guide and their suggestions were all weirdly inappropriate, for a work setting anyway. Very strange.

People have had fun at the two we've had so far though.

Oh, BT, I was being snarky, and I think it came out snotty. Sorry.

It sounds more like what I WISH had happened in all my classes in which I had critique circles. in reality, all too often feedback was like "OMG, he didn't die giving that speech! 100%!!"

Take off the marshmallows and I'd be all over that "cake". Stuffing, good; mashed potatoes, good; sweet potatoes, good. Heck, substitute cranberry sauce for the marshmallows, yum.

I interrupt the disturbing "cake" talk to ask: When Queen E 2 dies, Camilla Whatherface will not be Queen, right? She'll be a Consort, er, Consortess?

I know it's a constitutional monarchy, so it's pretty irrelevant, anyway, but since Prince Albert and Prince Philip were Princes in their own rights, and didn't become King upon marrying the monarch, it goes the same way for a woman, right?

Queen Consort, I think.

BT, for me it was the titles, and repeating everyone's titles, and clapping people up and down to the stage, and all the letters after everyone's names, etc. Just set me twitching.

That would set my teeth on edge too. I've never come across it, though; I suspect it was club-specific (or at least a cultural thing). Well, except for clapping of course. I applaud speakers anywhere else, I'm not going to be less courteous tosomeone who's trying to learn.

Clubs do vary widely. I attended one club that IMO was barely a speaking club. They met over dinner, and there were a couple of speeches, but the evaluations did nothing to help them improve. It was mostly an excuse to socialise. The club I joined in Philly was more uptight, but still pretty friendly. The club I belonged to at uni was hilarious, and having most of the membership being lecturers gave it an interesting culture. My current club is the most effective I've found at nurturing speakers - it's long established and does very well at attracting new members. It runs youth programs for a couple of local schools, and occasionally does speechcraft courses for the public. The club closest to my home is smaller and more intimate.

they seriously need someone to include moar fun and less Robert's Rules in their website and wikipedia page.

Yeah, my club cut down business sessions to four times a year, because who enjoys that? Although, at my uni club, the business sessions were frequently hilarious; I remember a couple of meetings where the business session was the highlight.

This page agrees with ita, but then uses Queen X, consort of Y down at the bottom of the page: [link]