📱 Best Platforms
Zoom for weekly club meetings. Slack or Discord for community between meetings. Calendly for scheduling. Google Forms for speech evaluations. YouTube for hosting member speech recordings.
📖 The Hustle
Traditional Toastmasters clubs meet in person on fixed schedules that don't work for everyone. You can create a paid virtual speaking club that offers the same benefits — regular practice, structured feedback, and a supportive community — with more flexibility and a modern approach. Run weekly 90-minute Zoom sessions where members deliver prepared speeches, practice impromptu speaking (Table Topics style), and receive constructive evaluations from you and peers. Charge $50-100 per month per member with 10-20 members. Add value beyond traditional clubs: recorded speech reviews where you give timestamped feedback, workshops on specific skills (storytelling, slide design, vocal variety), and a private community for daily speaking challenges. Market to remote workers, entrepreneurs, and professionals who want speaking practice but can't commit to in-person club meetings. This semi-passive model earns recurring revenue with a single weekly facilitation commitment, and the community aspect creates strong retention.
🚀 First Step
Design a weekly meeting format and curriculum, create a landing page describing the club, recruit 5 founding members at a discounted rate, and run your first meeting on Zoom.
🔑 Keys to Success
- Design a structured weekly format with variety (prepared speeches, impromptu, workshops) — predictability and variety together keep members engaged month after month
- Record member speeches and provide timestamped video feedback — this personalized coaching element justifies the paid model versus free Toastmasters
- Create a private Slack or Discord community with daily speaking prompts — engagement between meetings significantly reduces member churn
🛠 Tools & Resources: Zoom, Slack, Discord, Calendly, Google Forms, YouTube, Loom, Canva