The Edinburgh Speakers Club was formed in September 2008 and is a member of the Association of Speakers Clubs (ASC).  The club is a forum to practice public speaking in a friendly and supportive atmosphere.  The club is drawn from a variety of age groups and backgrounds, many members had no experience of public speaking before joining the club.

The club meets every two weeks from September to May to speak and evaluate each others speeches. We practice both formal speeches and impromptu speaking (topics).  In a "normal meeting" (which account for 90% of our meetings) there are two formal speeches followed by an evaluation of each speech we take a refreshment break and then there is a topic session, in which each member is asked to speak on a different topic for 2 to 3 minutes.  The meeting ends with a general evaluation in which one member offers an opinion on the success of the night and specifically on the performance of the chairman, evaluators and topic speakers. 

Other kinds of meetings that the club have held include:

• Formal Debate
• Reading Evening
• Just a Minute
• Balloon Debate

Regardless of the format, each meeting begins with a short business session which deals with matters such as correspondence with ASC and other clubs, club funds, the programme, materials organisation of social events.  As well as giving speeches members are also able to try their hand at evaluating others, chairing meetings and chairing a topics session.  And so members develop a range of skills not just in speaking.  The aim of the club is to help people improve their speaking by supporting people and providing a forum where everyone wants the speaker to succeed. 

We hold two social events each year. In November our Annual Dinner is a black tie affair where a few members get to try out there after dinner speaking.  The second event is our end of session social in May, which is an informal get together and a chance to socialise without any speaking at all. 

The club is run by a committee of up to eight people who are elected at our AGM in April.  For details of the current committee along with contact details see the committee page.