Toastmasters International is a non-profit organization that helps individuals develop communication, leadership and public speaking skills through local member clubs. It was founded in 1924 and has over 11,500 clubs in 90 countries. Meetings involve prepared speeches, table topics, and ratings. Toastmasters offers two training tracks, Communication and Leadership, with four levels in the Communication track and three in the Leadership track. There are also district-level events, regional conferences, and an annual international conference. Membership is open to anyone over 18 regardless of gender, ethnicity, nationality or similar criteria.
Toastmasters International (TI), often known simply as “Toastmasters,” is a worldwide non-profit organization that helps individuals develop communication, leadership and public speaking skills through its local member clubs. Toastmasters developed from a single club. This club is now known as Smedley Club Number 1, founded by Ralph C. Smedley on October 22, 1924 and held at the Santa Ana YMCA in the state of California. Toastmasters International was incorporated on December 19, 1932.
Currently, there are over 11,500 Toastmasters clubs located in over 90 countries, most in the United States and Canada. Local clubs can have from six to 40 members and can meet weekly, biweekly or monthly. At club meetings, members practice public speaking and exchange feedback. Except for a paid staff of approximately 60 at world headquarters, TI is run entirely by volunteers.
Toastmasters membership was originally open only to men, but today it has a non-discrimination policy that allows anyone over the age of 18 to join. Women were first admitted to Toastmasters clubs in 1973. In rare cases, people under 18 are admitted, although they may not officially join until their 18th birthday. Toastmasters sponsors groups that help teach communication and leadership skills to children as young as 18. Gavel Clubs are aimed at teenagers, while the eight-session Youth Leadership program is for younger school-age children.
In some cases, Toastmasters clubs may have limited membership, but only under certain conditions. Club membership may be limited to members of a company or those who have already advanced beyond a certain level in Toastmasters. No restrictions based on gender, ethnicity, nationality or similar criteria are allowed.
Toastmasters meetings last at least an hour and can last up to two hours. There are three main parts to any meeting: prepared speeches; table topics, where members practice speaking extemporaneously on previously unfamiliar topics; and ratings. Each meeting is led by a Day or Evening Toastmaster. Evaluations are led by a General Evaluator, who invites individual evaluators to give their evaluation on the prepared and extemporaneous speeches.
Support reports are another part of Toastmaster ratings. There are three helpers: a grammarian, who keeps track of grammatical errors, awkward phrasing, mispronunciation, and sometimes positive use of language; an Ah counter, which counts every instance of “ah,” “um,” and similar space fillers in a member’s speech; and a timer, which times each table’s speech, assessment, and topic response.
Toastmasters offers two training tracks, Communication and Leadership. Upon completing both tracks, a member earns the title of Distinguished Toastmaster. New members receive booklets with projects that must be completed to progress through the levels in each track. The Communication track has four levels: Competent Communicator (CC), Advanced Communicator (AC) Bronze, AC Silver and AC Gold. The Leadership track has three levels: Competent Leader (CL), Advanced Leader (AL) Bronze and AL Silver.
While the majority of Toastmasters activity takes place at the club level, there are also at least four district-level events a year, annual regional conferences, and one annual international conference. At regional and international conferences, awards are presented to clubs and individuals. Also held at the international conference is the Toastmasters’ International Speech Contest, the only Toastmasters contest that goes beyond the district level.
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