Local Toastmasters celebrate 100 years, extend invitation to new participants

Begin 2025 with Toastmasters!

It’s a great way to improve your public speaking, group participation and evaluation abilities.  Eight groups meet on different days of the week and times in Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater alone. Many others are available online and you can join one anywhere in the world if it fits your schedule.

Around here, my club, Dawn Talkers, is one of the oldest in the organization, having started in May 19, 1937, with charter #84. 

My Toastmasters story

I joined Toastmasters in 2010. At first, I felt lost within the strict format and timekeeping of agenda items. For six months, I only listened. I was pleased I wasn’t pressured to volunteer and was allowed to set my own pace.

Now 14 years later, I am fully committed to Toastmasters. I have volunteered for all 10 possible roles in local meetings, rotated through most of the officer roles in our Dawn Talkers club, and served as area director.

Clubs are divided into increasingly larger geographic groups. The area is the smallest group. The largest is Toastmasters International.

Speech contestants, who win at district levels, compete at annual international conventions. Along with 2,000 other people, I attended one convention held in Vancouver, British Columbia. 

Flags of the 160 participating nations flew outside the convention center. The online convention in 2020 had 59,000 registrants. Conventions bring home to me how we are all part of a global community seeking to communicate better with one another.

What is Toastmasters?

Toastmasters International (TI) is a nonprofit educational organization that builds confidence and teaches speaking skills through a worldwide network of clubs that meet online and in person.

In a supportive community or corporate environment, members prepare and deliver speeches, respond to impromptu questions, and give and receive constructive feedback.

Through regular practice, members are empowered to meet personal and professional communication goals. Founded in 1924, the organization is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, with approximately 270,000 members in more than 14,000 clubs in 150 countries.

When and where do the clubs meet?

Most clubs meet weekly, a few less often. All eight clubs listed below meet for exactly one hour and are hybrid (both in-person and online). You can visit any club free of charge to decide which club works for you. All clubs below are open to anyone over 18 years of age.

How do I join?

Visit any meeting free of charge before deciding. Many workplaces will pay your dues because of Toastmasters’ reputation for improving communication skills. To get the benefits of learning and use all the educational materials offered, joining is required.

Membership dues for Toastmasters International are $60 every six months with a $20 one-time joining fee. In addition, each club adds a minimal fee (usually $10 or $20 per six months).

If you join during a dues cycle, then it's prorated. For example, if you join in November, your dues would be $50 ($60 minus $10). It is one of the least expensive ways of learning, and it has the widest variety of videos and guides to download to prepare for various communication activities.

Come visit a local club and join us. We enjoy learning from each other as we grow.

Here are local clubs, with meeting information and ways to contact them.

The opinions expressed above are those of the writer and not necessarily those of  The JOLT's staff or board of directors.  Got something to say about a topic of interest to Thurston County residents? Send it to us and we’ll most likely publish it. See the Contribute your news button at the top of every page.