July 8, 2024
Club members and invited guests gathered in Kingaroy on Thursday night to celebrate a watershed* moment for Toastmasters International … 100 years since the start of the movement.
The special dinner meeting was held in the Anzac Room at the Kingaroy RSL Club, and was designed to give guests a taste of what a regular Toastmasters meeting is like.
President Arlene Byrne welcomed the guests, saying a night of fun, laughter and learning was ahead.
Public speaking isn’t usually considered “fun” but Toastmasters work hard to dispel that thought, working within tried-and-tested rules to keep the evening flowing smoothly.
There were impromptu three-minute speeches – and yes, the guests were not spared – as well as impromptu speeches on a topic (thankfully, only club members were called on for this).
Toastmasters International traces its history to Santa Ana in California in 1924 when Ralph C. Smedley started the first club.
Smedley, who worked for the YMCA, decided the young men in his charge needed guidance in public-speaking skills to get ahead in life.
In 1973, women were officially admitted as members.
These days, Toastmasters is the major public-speaking organisation in the world.
It aims to provide a warm, non-judgmental environment for speakers of all standards to develop their skills – and possibly become the leaders of tomorrow.
There are now more than 270,000 members in 148 countries; and more than 140 active clubs in Queensland.
A number of Queensland organisations have in-house Toastmasters clubs, including Brisbane City Council, Energy Queensland, Powerlink, RACQ and the University of the Sunshine Coast, which they use as a staff development tool.
South Burnett Toastmasters isn’t quite 100 years old, but still has a proud local history to celebrate.
The local club held its first meeting 34 years ago at the Club Hotel in Kingaroy.
These days they meet on the 1st, 3rd and 5th Thursday of every month from 7:00pm at the Kingaroy RSL Club.
* “Watershed” was the “word of the night” at the meeting which was supposed to be worked into every talk from the podium. As we said, Toastmasters like to have fun …
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