Is Toastmasters Worth It? The 5 Best and 5 Worst Things About the Program
If you've ever considered joining Toastmasters, you've probably wondered whether it's truly worth your time and money. As a long-time member, I can tell you the answer is a resounding yes — but that doesn't mean the program is perfect. In the spirit of full transparency, here are the five best and five worst things about Toastmasters, drawn from my personal experience and from watching friends decide whether the program was right for them.
The Five Best Things About Toastmasters
5. Leadership and Development Opportunities
Many people assume Toastmasters is exclusively about public speaking, but there's so much more to it. Every club has its own executive team — a president, a treasurer, a vice president of marketing and communications, and several other roles — all responsible for organizing and running the club. Members are encouraged to step into these leadership positions each year, and what you come to realize over time is that Toastmasters doesn't just sharpen your speaking skills; it makes you a better leader.
4. It's Cost-Effective
Yes, there are membership dues that come with being a Toastmaster. However, compared to many professional development programs and clubs, the fees are remarkably reasonable. Dues vary depending on your region, but in my personal experience, the value I've gained from Toastmasters far outweighs the financial commitment. For what you get — regular practice, feedback, leadership experience, and a supportive community — it's one of the best investments you can make in yourself.
3. It Significantly Reduces Public Speaking Anxiety
This is the reason I joined Toastmasters in the first place. At my 9-to-5 job, I was asked to speak in front of a group of about 60 people once a month. The anxiety was relentless. About two weeks before each presentation, the dread would set in and stay with me until the speech was over. I'd get through it fine, enjoy about two weeks of peace, and then start worrying about the next one. If you do the math, I was spending half my life stressed about public speaking.
Joining Toastmasters changed that dramatically. Through regular repetition, public speaking stopped being something terrifying and became something I was simply used to doing. That shift in mindset was life-changing.
2. Constructive Feedback at Every Meeting
What makes Toastmasters unique is that every single role within a club meeting is evaluated. You receive real-time feedback from fellow members who highlight what you did well — boosting your confidence — and point out areas for improvement that you can work on at your next meeting.
This is incredibly valuable because we often don't recognize our own weaknesses. You might not realize you have a distracting habit on stage or that you lean on a particular crutch word. Having a room full of people who are ready and willing to help you grow by pointing these things out is one of the greatest benefits of the program.
1. Practice and Repetition
The number one best thing about Toastmasters is the opportunity to practice — consistently and frequently. Every meeting, you get the chance to stand up and speak. The goal is for every attendee to speak at every meeting, which means you could be getting reps once a week or once every two weeks.
I always compare public speaking to working out. You can read all the books and watch all the content you want, but until you actually put in the reps, you won't see significant improvement. It's exactly like the gym: learning weightlifting theory won't build muscle. You have to lift the weights.
And on the flip side, I've heard people say, "I went to Toastmasters years ago — I don't need to go again." That's like saying, "I worked out years ago — I don't need to go again." Your body doesn't maintain its shape over a decade, and neither do your speaking skills. When I go an extended period without attending meetings, my abilities absolutely get rusty.
The Five Worst Things About Toastmasters
Now, you might be thinking: what could possibly be wrong with this program? The reality is that I've brought friends to meetings, and not all of them chose to continue. Some loved it; others decided it wasn't for them. Here's why.
5. The Repetitiveness
Toastmasters meetings follow a reliable structure: the Toastmaster introduces the meeting, there are roles like the Grammarian and the Humorist, then prepared speeches, table topics, and evaluations. This structure is great — it makes it easy for members to know what's coming and to prepare for their roles.
But the downside is that every meeting follows essentially the same agenda. You'll hear people explain what each role is and why it exists in Toastmasters, which is wonderful for newcomers but becomes repetitive for members who have been attending for years. It's the same descriptions, meeting after meeting, simply delivered by different people.
4. Membership Fees (Yes, They're Still a Barrier)
I know — I listed low cost as one of the best things. And it's true that Toastmasters is affordable relative to many alternatives. But everyone's financial situation is different. Each club is required to send a percentage of its dues to Toastmasters International, which is a mandatory cost. For some people, even paying once a year or once every six months may be prohibitive. The program isn't free, and that reality can prevent some people from joining, which is a genuine downside.
3. Inconsistent Feedback
While constant constructive feedback is one of the program's greatest strengths, the quality of that feedback can vary. Evaluations are given by fellow club members — some highly experienced, some brand new. Just because someone tells you to change something about your speech doesn't mean they're 100% correct. It's their opinion.
As Toastmasters, it's important to understand this nuance. All feedback is worth receiving and considering, but you need to decide for yourself how to apply it. The inconsistency that comes from being evaluated by members at vastly different experience levels is something to be aware of.
2. Limitations and Restrictions
This one has two dimensions. First, there's the physical limitation. Many clubs — including mine here in Kelowna, British Columbia — moved to hybrid meetings during COVID. While this has been fantastic for inclusivity, it restricts speakers to a small area in front of a camera. If you watch professional keynote speakers, many of them utilize the full stage, move around, and even walk into the crowd. Being confined to a small box takes away a powerful element of public speaking.
Second, there's the structural limitation. Some club members are very committed to maintaining the formalities and rules of Toastmasters, which is understandable — structure matters. But too much rigidity can stifle creativity and spontaneity, which are qualities that make great speakers truly memorable. When a meeting becomes overly formal, it can hold members back rather than push them forward.
1. The Comfort Trap
This is my number one concern about Toastmasters: comfort. Many members — myself included — become so familiar with the format, the structure, and the roles that we stop challenging ourselves. We show up, answer a table topics question, sign up for a role we've done 50 times before, and go through the motions.
For example, I know there's significant room for growth in the Pathways program that I haven't fully explored. That's on me. But the broader point is that long-time Toastmasters members can easily settle into a comfort zone that limits their development. And for anyone aspiring to deliver hour-long keynote speeches, getting too comfortable with the standard five-to-seven-minute Toastmasters format can make it difficult to expand beyond that framework.
The antidote is self-awareness — recognizing when comfort has replaced growth and deliberately pushing yourself to try something new.
The Verdict: Do the Positives Outweigh the Negatives?
Absolutely. The positives clearly outweigh the negatives, and I'll admit that the "worst" items on this list required some nitpicking to compile. Toastmasters remains one of the best things you can do to improve your public speaking skills, build leadership experience, and reduce the anxiety that holds so many people back. The negatives are real, but they're manageable — and none of them should stop you from giving the program a genuine try. If you've been on the fence, I encourage you to visit a local club, attend a meeting, and experience it for yourself. You might just discover that Toastmasters is exactly what you've been looking for.