Big Companies Endorse Toastmasters

According to a 2015 press release by Toastmasters International, nearly 1/3 of all Fortune 500 companies provided an active Toastmasters club meeting inside their place of business.

Coca-Cola, Apple, AT&T, Bank of America, Exxon Mobil, Google, Microsoft and The Walt Disney Company were all cited in their document. I happen to know that Wells-Fargo, U.S. Bank, Comcast and Boeing have at least at one time hosted Toastmasters clubs as well.

Clearly, if you are employed with a big company, there is a good chance an internal Toastmasters club meets in your building or at least somewhere nearby at another location within your company. If not, suggest to your boss that a Toastmasters club should be started! Contact Toastmasters International and they will have someone local contact you to get the process started.

But, What if You Do Not Work for a Big Company or Do Not Want to Join Your Company Club?

Personally, I would not want to join a company club. I wouldn’t want people I work with to watch me making mistakes. A good Toastmasters club provides a supportive environment, where a person can practice at improving their speaking skills over time, without worry about having to impress people.

Fortunately, there are many more clubs around the world that are open to the public. In our club, we have a wide variety of people as members ranging from business owners to retired professionals. We have had students as young as age 19 and our oldest member is 88 and about to launch her first book!

The point with this post is this: If Toastmasters is so strongly encouraged by some of our largest U.S. companies, receive that knowledge as a suggestion that Toastmasters is a worthy skills building vehicle for YOU and worth your time to take a closer look.

You are welcome to visit our club as a guest to see how it all works. We meet every Thursday from 11:30-1:00 p.m. at 3151 S. Vaughn Way, in Aurora, on the 4th floor. Hope to see you there at a meeting soon!