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10 Ways Toastmasters Can
Boost Your Career
by Katharine Hansen, Ph.D.
The following article is reprinted with mankind.”
permission of the author. To read other articles While participation in Toastmasters benefits
by Katharine, please visit her website at
katharinehansenphd.com {Editor} members in many aspects of their lives, it is
perhaps in their careers that they gain the biggest
What could you accomplish if you could boost. As best-selling author Harvey Mackay
present your point of view more persuasively? has said, “I’ve never met anyone who didn’t
Whether we are motivating workers, conveying think Toastmasters was super valuable to their
information to constituents, collaborating with career. We gain self-esteem, self-confidence, and
folks inside and outside our organizations, or assertiveness, which makes us better salespeople,
trying to convince an employer to hire us, we better managers, better leaders.”
can all benefit from better communication skills.
Here are 10 ways the club can propel your
Toastmasters is known career:
for its well-organized and 1. Chance to improve the skill most in demand
by employers. Hiring decision-makers consis-
engaging meetings. They tently list communication as the No. 1 skill
they seek in new hires. The candidates who get
get that way through strong jobs and get promoted are confident and are the
best communicators. Toastmasters members
leadership. have endless opportunities to polish this skill that
is so crucial for career advancement. Members
Toastmasters is an organization that enables frequently credit Toastmasters with their new
members to improve communication skills in jobs and promotions. Others say they’ve devel-
a safe, encouraging, supportive environment. oped the confidence to take on projects they
would not have felt they could handle before
People are often confused by the name Toastmasters. “I am more confident in my job
“Toastmasters.” Some think it’s about learning speaking at all levels,” says Lisa Ward, a member
how to give toasts at events. A few even think the of Colville Toastmasters in Colville, WA.
organization has something to do with making
toast. 2. Opportunity to polish leadership skills.
Communication skills are a huge part of how
If the name “Toastmasters” sounds old-fash- Toastmasters helps professionals, but they go
ioned, it could be because the organization’s hand-in-hand with leadership skills. Since 2011,
roots go back to 1924 when Ralph C. Smedley Toastmasters has emphasized leadership and
held the first meeting of what would eventually developed the tagline, “Where leaders are made.”
become Toastmasters International. Toastmasters is known for its well-organized and
engaging meetings. They get that way through
Today, according to its mission statement, strong leadership. Members sharpen and practice
“through its member clubs, Toastmasters leadership skills by running engaging meetings
International helps men and women learn the and special events.
arts of speaking, listening, and thinking -- vital
skills that promote self-actualization, enhance 3. Practice in thinking on your feet. The come-
leadership potential, foster human under- dian George Jessel once said: “The human brain
standing, and contribute to the betterment of starts working the moment you are born and
never stops until you stand up to speak in public.”
Most of us have had the terrifying experience of
20 Volume 2 Issue 12 - JUNE 2016
