Babble On meets in the California Secretary of State's office building at 1500 11th Street. Not within walking distance of our club? You are not alone, several members drive to the meetings or use light rail.
If you use light rail, exit at Archives Plaza ("O" Street ). To go to the Rapid Transit Schedule page, click here.
If you need to park, there is a parking garage in the middle of the block on 11th Street between O and P Streets.
Or, there is street (meter) parking. Best bets are:
Q Street between 9th and 12th...these are long term meters and you may even find one with time on it
11th Street between P and Q
N Street between 9th and 13th
What Happens When I Join?
As soon as TM International receives your dues, you will receive your first manual and other informational materials. The manual will outline 10 projects, with specified objectives and goals, for you to complete at your own pace!
You're not in this alone--Babble On will assign you a "coach" to help you learn the various meeting duties and provide guidance through your first few speeches.
Once you have completed the first manual, you will be a Competent Communicator (CC)!
As you can see, you receive a wealth of information and assistance to help achieve your goals!
Toastmasters is not a group of people who practice "toasts" for every occasion! And the Toastmasters program is much more than public speaking.
Toastmasters helps particpants develop speaking, presentation, active listening, and leadership skills in a constructive setting. The skills you learn in Toastmasters help you both at work and at home!
Visitors are ALWAYS welcome, drop by Babble On soon...you have nothing to lose but an opportunity.
The skills you learn in Toastmasters will help you at work and at home!
Table Topics prepares you for thinking on your feet, a useful skill in interviews and when the boss comes by with that "quick question" for you.
Practicing speeches will help you to deal with nervousness and learn how to avoid strings of "ums" and "you knows"!
Evaluating speeches will help you develop active listening skills, and objective evaluation techniques that help with interpersonal skills at home and work.
Lastly, Toastmasters gives you a chance to develop leadership skills as a club officer!
The first thing you will notice is a friendly atmosphere. We are here to help each other as we all improve our listening, speaking, and leadership skills. That support is demonstrated by lots of APPLAUSE!
Next, you will notice the meeting follows an agenda. This helps us stay on schedule and ensures we accomplish everything scheduled for the meeting. In addition to the meeting's major roles, there are smaller speaking roles to give as many members as possible a chance to partcipate.
The meetings are opened by the Club President. During the opening, assigned members will provide a Thought for the Day and a joke. The Toastmaster of the Day is introduced.
The Toastmaster of the Day acts as the emcee and directly presides over the main speaking portion of the meeting. There are typically one to two members who present prepared speeches. The Toastmaster is aided by two other major roles: the Table Topics Master and the General Evaluator. The Table Topics Master asks members questions relating to the theme of the day's meeting. The impromptu questions help us improve our ability to quickly organize our thoughts, be creative, and present coherent responses. Visitors are invited to participate. There is no wrong answer, you are only challenging yourself! The General Evaluator leads the portion of the meeting where we determine how well we have done during the meeting. The members who presented prepared speeches are given evaluations, a grammarian reports on our English usage (as well as "um's" and "ah's"), and an evaluation of the overall meeting is given. Awards are presented to the speakers and the best Table Topics speaker for the day.
The President closes with a brief business meeting to discuss the meeting roles for next week and make club and district announcements.
