A Toastmasters Primer

Toastmasters International is the world'€™s largest educational organisation committed to public speaking, communication and leadership skills development. It is a non-profit organisation staffed almost entirely by volunteers. The only paid staff are a few administrative staff to help service the clubs and the World President at Headquarters in California. 

Toastmasters International Vision

Toastmasters International empowers people to achieve their full potential and realize their dreams. Through our member clubs, people throughout the world can improve their communication and leadership skills, and find the courage to change. 

History

The organisation was started by Dr. Ralph Smedley in the 1920s. He had always held a fascination with speech making and how to conduct meetings.  As a senior executive of various YMCA clubs around the US, he started running  meetings to help both boys and men improve public speaking and meeting skills. The participants would take turns making speeches and evaluating them, as well as presiding at the weekly meetings. This is a format that survives to this day.

The participants described themselves as Toastmasters because the activities resembled a banquet with toasts and after-dinner speakers. 

After a few false starts he eventually established what is regarded as the first '€˜proper'€™ club in 1924 in the YMCA at Santa Ana, California.  As such, the first Toastmasters meeting was held at the club on 22nd October, 1924. This club is still today club number 1. 

The success of the club was such that soon many other clubs were set up. By 1930 there were 30 clubs including one in Canada. This is when the association was incorporated in California as a non-profit corporation and was called Toastmasters International. 

It quickly became clear that, rather than passing on his methods by hand each time, it would make sense to write manuals. In the late 1920s the first manuals were written as the Manual of Instructions and Ten lessons in Public Speaking. 

In 1941, aged 63 Dr. Smedley retired from the YMCA to devote his entire time and energy to the Toastmasters organisation. In 1950, Dr. Smedley added a second more advanced speaking manual 'Beyond Basic Training' and renamed his original as Basic Training. 

Many people will know of the famous book '€˜How to Win Friends and Influence People'€™ by Dale Carnegie written in the 1930s. It is no surprise to learn that Dale Carnegie and Dr. Smedley were friends and shared many of the same values and ideas. 

Dr. Ralph Smedley continued to be involved in the design of the educational programmes and Toastmaster ceremonial duties up until his death in 1965, aged 85. 

Today

Today there are over 200,000 members worldwide in more than 10,500 clubs and 90 countries. Whilst the majority of clubs are open to the public, many of the world'€™s largest organisations now realise the value of the programme and host their own clubs for their employees. World leading companies such as UBS, Rockwell, Kraft, Pitney Bowes, Marsh, Citigroup and Cisco all host Toastmasters clubs. 

The educational programme has also continued to develop. While many of the basics that Dr Smedley espoused are timeless, there are new challenges facing today's speaker. As a result, the Toastmasters organisation has updated its programme. It now offers fifteen advanced speaking manuals covering the use of humour, telling stories, how to speak on TV and many others. This is in addition to the 'basic' manual (now called the Competent Communicator manual). 

Additionally, the organisation has developed a greater emphasis on leadership. Listening skills, giving constructive feedback, and meeting management skills are critical skills for today's leader. Toastmasters helps members with all of these and many other skills besides. In 2006, a new programme for leadership training and development was launched based around the new Competent Leader manual. 

The Toastmasters programme is today recommended by many of the leading thinkers on organisational and personal development including Tom Peters and Tony Robbins.   

To learn more about Toastmasters International please visit the world HQ site at www.toastmasters.org