Toastmaster contests are progressive in that the winners advance to the next level of competition. Most clubs have a local contest. Those winners compete in their Area. Area winners advance to their Division and the six Division winners compete in the District 8 contests. Some of the contests stop at the District level. Toastmaster contests are for the most part open events and visitors are welcome. There may be a nominal registration fee used to defer costs. When contests are conducted with a meal, the cost of the meal is a personal expense. "Only modification to open contests are those held in restrictive facilities which require advance notification of attendance (correctional centers, some government, and some corporate facilities)."

Two contests are held each Spring: International Speech and Evaluation. The International Speech Contest has several restrictions on the competitors, the primary one is they must have completed six of the basic manual speeches. The Fall contests are: Table Topics and Humorous Speech.