FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions) How many meetings can I attend before joining? You can attend meetings as many as you want for FREE and enjoy entertaining speeches as often as you like before joining. You will not be able to practice and improve your own speaking skills, however, until you join the club. What are the membership requirements? You have to be a single adult. I heard that a few members are married. How is this possible? All new members must be single, but if a member gets married they may continue their membership. If you are married, you can still visit, you just can't join. Besides, we videotape the meetings so it would be pretty easy for your spouse to find out you were here. I am married but I would still like to improve my leadership and presentation skills. Is there a Toastmaster's club that married people can join? Yes, there are several clubs in the Houston area. Most of them have no marital status requirement. You can pick a club based on area of town and meeting day or time. Use Toastmaster International's club locator. Videotape! What's up with that? Many people have habits which detract from a good presentation. People may shuffle their feet, swing their arms, or rock back and forth and not even realize it. The video allows people to critique themselves in the privacy of their own home. Once a speaker is aware that they have a bad habit, then it makes it easier to eliminate it. Also, members may check out videos of past meetings to see interesting speeches that they may have missed. I see "CTM" or "ATM-B" after member's names. What's that? There are different levels of achievement in the Toastmasters organization. You start off as a regular Toastmaster. Once you complete the 10 speeches in the "Communication and Leadership" manual, you will earn the rank of Competent Toastmaster (CTM). After you achieve the CTM, you will use the advanced manuals. Each advanced manual has 5 speeches. Once you complete 2 of these manuals, you will earn the rank of Advanced or Able Toastmaster at the bronze level (ATM-B). 2 more manuals will earn you the ATM Silver (ATM-S). After that is the ATM Gold (ATM-G) which requires finishing 2 more manuals. There is also the Leadership track. These levels require holding officer positions within the club, helping build the club and helping out fellow Toastmasters.