Toastmasters
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| Abbreviation | TI, TM |
|---|---|
| Motto | "Where Leaders Are Made" |
| Formation | October 22, 1924; incorporated December 19, 1932 |
| Type | INGO |
| Legal status | Non-profit organization |
| Purpose | Educational |
| Headquarters | Rancho Santa Margarita, California, USA |
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Region served
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Worldwide |
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Membership
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Over 345,000 members; over 15,900 clubs in 142 countries |
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International President
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Mike Storkey, DTM |
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Main organ
|
Board of Directors |
|
Revenue
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$34,115,557 (2014) |
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Staff
|
136 |
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Volunteers
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108,383 |
| Website | Official website |
Toastmasters International (TI) is a nonprofit educational organization that operates clubs worldwide for the purpose of helping members improve their communication, public speaking, and leadership skills. Through its thousands of member clubs, Toastmasters International offers a program of communication and leadership projects designed to help people learn the arts of speaking, listening, and thinking.
The organization grew out of a single club, Smedley Chapter One Club, which would become the first Toastmasters club. It was founded by Ralph C. Smedley on October 22, 1924, at the YMCA in Santa Ana, California, United States. Toastmasters International was incorporated under California law on December 19, 1932. Throughout its history, Toastmasters has served over four million people, and today the organization serves over 345,000 members in 142 countries, through its over 15,900 member clubs.
Toastmasters originally began as a series of short-lived speaking clubs organized by Ralph C. Smedley during his tenure with the YMCA. In 1903, as education director of the YMCA facility in Bloomington, Illinois, he discovered there was a need for training in speech. As Smedley designed a club within the "Y" for speech training, he struggled for a name, until George Sutton, the general secretary, suggested calling it a Toastmasters club. The boys liked the name and the club was a success.
At each club meeting, there was a rotation of duties with members taking turns at presiding and speaking. Short speeches were evaluated by Ralph and the other older men, and the boys were invited to join in the evaluation to learn more. The club performed its intended purpose as leadership and speech improved in the other educational groups with which these young men were associated.
The club only lasted a year after Ralph Smedley moved to the YMCA at Rock Island, Illinois, as General Secretary in 1910. He organized a Toastmasters Club at the Rock Island "Y", which soon reached a membership of 75. When Ralph Smedley left the Rock Island "Y", the Toastmasters Club there also soon perished.
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Wikipedia