TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE CLUB

What does AT&T, Microsoft, Bank of America, Chevron, Google and eBay have in
common? They all they have their own Toastmasters corporate club.

Thousands of businesses and organizations have decided corporate clubs are a
valuable investment of resources. Among them is State Street Corporation, a financial-
services giant headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The company has clubs in
offices around the world, including Sydney, Australia; Paris, France; and Toronto,
Canada.


From its beginning in 1924, Toastmasters has sought to serve the business
community. In a nutshell, corporate clubs give employees the confidence and skills to
help them flourish in their jobs. As in any other Toastmasters club, members develop
their communication and leadership abilities by filling meeting roles, participating in
Table Topics and giving prepared speeches.

The result is that corporate-club members deliver stronger presentations at work, lead
more productive staff meetings and relate better with clients and colleagues. Members
of corporate clubs say Toastmasters meetings also boost camaraderie among
employees and provide opportunities to interact and network with individuals in
other departments of their companies.

Toastmasters' meetings include prepared speeches, thoughtful evaluations of the
prepared speeches and an impromptu session called Table Topics, which encourages
members to think on their feet and speak without preparation on a presented topic.
Whether speaking, evaluating or watching for grammar mistakes, it is Toastmasters
tradition that every member speak at a meeting.

Many organizations have made Toastmasters training an integral part of employee
education and development programs. More than 40% of Toastmasters' clubs
worldwide are sponsored by a corporation or organization.

If your company is seeking to conduct internal leadership and communication training
with proven results, while staying cost-effective and affordable, look no further than
Toastmasters International.



HISTORY OF TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL IN JAPAN

Toastmasters in Japan is said to have started in both Fukuoka and Tokyo. Although
Fukuoka Toastmasters Club (TMC) was the first to hold meetings, the Tokyo TMC was
the first officially chartered club in Japan in 1954.

After several clubs had been chartered in Japan, the "Japan Toastmasters Council" (or
JTC) was formed. This was created as a way to coordinate the activities of the various
clubs around Japan. JTC also organized officer training seminars and workshops. Clubs
officers in Japan had to gather at a single location to receive officer trainings. The
person responsible for coordinating officers training and governance of the JTC was
officially recognized as the "Japan Territorial Chairman" by Toastmaster International.

After many years of hard work by the JTC led by a series of skilled Chairmen and
Chairwomen, Japan finally had enough clubs to become a Provisional District known as
"District 76P." This was accomplished in July 2000.

After becoming a Provisional District, Japan need to have more than 60 active clubs in
order to become a Full District (without the "P" at the end of "76P"). All Toastmasters
members in Japan strove to strengthen and build the Toastmasters community. From
the time of Provisional District was established (2000) until the time of Japan became a
full District (2004), 5 new clubs were added each year on average. Since that time, the
District has continued to increase the number of clubs by 5 (or more) clubs each year.

In February, 2004, Japan was approved as a full-fledged District. As new charted club
can send participates to contest and have officers attend regular training events like
other clubs, the new District 76 was also awarded the same privileges as other districts.
Japan could now send its champion to compete in the English language World
Champion Speech Contest at the International Convention. Further, past District
Governors are now eligible to become International Directors. Thus, from 2004 onward
Japans district leaders and speakers could meet and greet other members from other
districts as peers in an ever growing international community.

In the year of service from 2011/7 to 2012/6, District 76 achieved the Presidents
Distinguished District Award for the first time, and moreover, became the fifth out of 87
districts in the world.

As of July 2013, District 76 has grown to 140 clubs, holds 3,360 members. As the
history of the now full fledge District 76 continues to unfold it will not be too long before
a new chapter on the splitting of the District will be written.

BENEFITS OF TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL

The following benefits are just the beginning of what Toastmasters offers you:

Practice your speaking and leadership skills in a safe, welcoming and supportive
environment
Learn leadership skills and enhance leadership potential. Toastmasters offers an
extensive leadership training program
Become proficient in many business-related roles
Be a good ambassador for your company
Develop speaking, thinking and listening skills
Learn the basic skills of public speaking by delivering 10 basic speeches
Toastmasters certification after completely your Competent Communicator (first
10 speeches) and at your request Toastmasters will send a letter to your
employer recognizing your accomplishment
Get personalized evaluations after each speech
Practice impromptu speaking, a crucial skill in the business world

This non-profit organization offers a proven and enjoyable way to practice
communication and leadership skills. Here's how it works:
A Toastmasters meeting is a learn-by-doing workshop in which participants hone
their speaking and leadership skills in a friendly atmosphere. A typical group has 20 to
40 members who meet weekly or biweekly to practice public speaking techniques. The
average meeting lasts one hour.
Members learn communication skills by working in the Competent Communication
manual, a series of 10 self-paced speaking assignments designed to instill a basic
foundation in public speaking. Participants learn skills related to use of humor,
gestures, eye contact, speech organization and overall delivery. When finished with this
manual, members can choose from 15 advanced manuals to learn skills related to
specific interests.
Members also learn leadership skills by taking on various meeting roles and serving
as officers at the club and district levels, and by working in the Competent Leadership
manual and the High Performance Leadership program. In our learn-by-doing
approach, we don't lecture our members about leadership skills; we give them
responsibilities and ask them to lead.
There is no instructor in a Toastmasters meeting. Instead, members evaluate one
anothers presentations. This feedback process is a key part of the programs success.
Meeting participants also give impromptu talks on assigned topics, conduct meetings,
serve as officers in various leadership roles and learn rules related to timing, grammar
and parliamentary procedure.
Thousands of corporations sponsor in-house Toastmasters clubs. Businesses and
government organizations have discovered that Toastmasters is an effective, cost-
efficient means of meeting their communication training needs.

Toastmasters groups also can be found in governmental agencies, as well as in a
variety of community organizations, prisons, universities, hospitals, military bases and
churches.