Speakers Hive - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What is Speakers Hive?

Speakers Hive is a non-profit community which helps its members to become better communicators and leaders. 

We provide a safe peer-learning platform for our members to continuously prepare, practice, perform and learn. 

2. How can I join Speakers Hive?

You can register yourself as a guest from our website - https://www.speakershive.org/join-us. Our membership team will get in touch with you. 

We will add you to our members Whatsapp group, where you'll get notifications about our future meetings and educational workshops.  

You can attend our meetings as a guest and then decide to become a member, later on.

3. What do you do in Speakers Hive?

The members of Speakers Hive (aka "Hivers") meet every week to practice their speaking skills and get feedback from peers. The organizers/volunteers for the weekly meetings, get to develop their leadership skills.  

4. What happens in the Speakers Hive meetings?

Our members play a variety of roles which involve speaking, observing, listening, thinking on the feet and giving constructive feedback.

The meeting organizers get to practice leadership skills such as planning, delegating, organizing, coordinating, executing, managing conflicts, motivating and delivering results.

You can see what happens in our meetings in our Speakers Hive Youtube Channel

The meeting has 3 segments:

1. Hive Talks: Members will come prepared with a speech based on specific objectives and deliver them at the hive meetings (3 - 5 mins duration speeches)

2. JAM Talks: Random speakers (preferably, the ones who have not signed up for any other speaking roles) will be given a topic and asked to speak for about 1 - 1.5 mins

3. Peer-Reviews: Reviewers will share critical, constructive and concise feedback for the Hive Talks Speakers for 1 - 2 mins.

We do not have an instructor / trainer facilitating the meetings. Members get mentoring / coaching support from experts in the community during their role preparations and rehearsals.

5. Why should I join Speakers Hive ?

Speaking is a skill that is similar to cycling or swimming. You cannot learn it by reading a book. Through continuous participation and practice, Speakers Hive members build their confidence to deliver impactful presentations, contribute effectively to group discussions and brainstorming sessions, and speak with clarity in job interviews.

Organizers of the weekly meetings learn to collaborate with teams and develop leadership skills to drive results — whether in corporate settings or community initiatives.

6. Is Speakers Hive free ?

Though we are a non-profit entity, we do have some operational / administrative expenses. We will collect a nominal fee of Rs.600 for every six months. Members who reach an educational milestone will get a certificate from Speakers Hive. 

The individual Hive chapters (specifically the ones that meet in-person) may collect additional fees to cover the operational costs such as rent for the meeting venue, refreshments, organizing special events/contests etc., For example, our offline chapter in K.K. Nagar, collects an additional Rs.2000 for six months to cover the hall rental expenses, printed manuals/certificates etc.,. Members registered for offline meetings, can also attend the online meetings for free. 

7. Do you have certification programs for communication and leadership skills development?

Yes. We have a well-defined curriculum with two tracks - Speech Mastery and Leadership Mastery. Each track has 4 stages (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Professional). Each stage has 2 levels (Level 1 and Level 2). 

Each member will complete several communication and leadership assignments/projects during their educational journey to earn a certification. More details in our website https://www.speakershive.org/certification-programs.

All members will get the soft copy of the speech / leadership manuals. Additionally, offline members will get printed copies of the manual.

8. Is this community run by a trainer or a group of trainers?

No. The Speakers Hive community is driven by like-minded volunteers who want to develop their communication and leadership skills. The community is organized into multiple groups (aka Chapters). Each Chapter would have 20 - 30 registered members. The chapters are managed by the respective Hive Officers - elected by the members of the chapter. Once every 6 months, we conduct elections to select new hive officers, providing equal opportunity to everyone to develop their leadership skills.

9. In addition to earning a certificate, do I get to benchmark my skills with other members?

Yes. We conduct speech contests once every 6 months in all chapters. The top contestants (selected by a group of judges) from each chapter, will advance to the Zonal level. Right now, we have two-levels of contests (one at the chapter-level and another at the zonal-level)

10. Will get I any support / guidance to do my projects?

Yes. Each member will be assigned a mentor (who is also a peer, but with more experience). The mentor helps their protege in planning / preparing and performing their roles in the Chapter (both speaking and leadership assignments). The Hive Officers will also be available to help you out.

11. How many Speakers Hive Chapters are functioning currently?

You can find the list of Speakers Hive Chapters from our website https://www.speakershive.org/join-us

12. I've decided to join Speakers Hive. What should I do?

You can pay the fees and register yourself as a member from our website https://www.speakershive.org/join-us. Our membership team will get in touch with you and add you to our members' Whatsapp group. You'll get notifications about the various speaking and leadership roles available in our weekly meetings. You'll get support from our mentors, too.