About

About Toastmasters International

Toastmasters International is a nonprofit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of clubs just like The First Toastmasters Club of Madagascar. Headquartered in California, the organization’s membership exceeds 345,000 in more than 15,900 clubs in 142 countries. Since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped people of all backgrounds build confidence as speakers and leaders.

“Toastmasters is the best and least expensive personal improvement class you can go to. Anybody who begins and sticks with it for any length of time ends up a better speaker. As a result, they build confdence and are able to do their jobs better.

Linda Lingle, Former Governor of Hawaii

Better Speakers and Leaders

Toastmasters is the best way for anyone—whether a working professional, student, stay-at-home parent or retiree—to improve his or her communication and leadership skills. Members overcome the fear of public speaking and learn skills that aid them in becoming more successful. Toastmasters creates better listeners and stronger team members and leaders who can comfortably give and receive constructive evaluations.

How Toastmasters Works

At Toastmasters, members learn by speaking to groups and working with others in a supportive environment. A typical Toastmasters club is made up of 20 to 30 people who meet once a week for approximately an hour. Each meeting gives members several opportunities:

• Conduct meetings Members learn how to plan and conduct meetings.
• Give impromptu speeches Members present one­ to two minute, impromptu speeches about assigned topics.
• Present prepared speeches Members present speeches based on projects from Toastmasters’ communication and leadership program. Projects cover topics such as speech organization, vocal variety, language, gestures and persuasion.
• Offer constructive evaluation

Every speaker is assigned an evaluator who points out speech strengths and offers suggestions for improvement.

Toastmasters and Leadership

Leadership takes practice. In Toastmasters, members learn leadership skills by organizing and conducting meetings and completing projects. The projects address skills such as listening, planning, motivating, and team building and give members the opportunity to practice them. Just as Toastmasters members improve communication by speaking, they learn leadership skills by leading.