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TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE CLUB

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

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

From its beginning in 1924, Toastmasters has sought to serve the businesscommunity. In a nutshell, corporate clubs give employees the confidence and skills tohelp them flourish in their jobs. As in any other Toastmasters club, members developtheir 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, leadmore productive staff meetings and relate better with clients and colleagues. Membersof corporate clubs say Toastmasters meetings also boost camaraderie amongemployees and provide opportunities to interact and network with individuals inother departments of their companies.

Toastmasters' meetings include prepared speeches, thoughtful evaluations of theprepared speeches and an impromptu session called Table Topics, which encouragesmembers to think on their feet and speak without preparation on a presented topic.

Whether speaking, evaluating or watching for grammar mistakes, it is Toastmasterstradition that every member speak at a meeting.

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

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

HISTORY OF TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL IN JAPAN

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

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After several clubs had been chartered in Japan, the "Japan Toastmasters Council" (orJTC) was formed. This was created as a way to coordinate the activities of the variousclubs around Japan. JTC also organized officer training seminars and workshops. Clubsofficers in Japan had to gather at a single location to receive officer trainings. Theperson 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 andChairwomen, 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 inorder to become a Full District (without the "P" at the end of "76P"). All Toastmastersmembers in Japan strove to strengthen and build the Toastmasters community. Fromthe time of Provisional District was established (2000) until the time of Japan became afull 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 clubcan send participates to contest and have officers attend regular training events likeother 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 WorldChampion Speech Contest at the International Convention. Further, past DistrictGovernors are now eligible to become International Directors. Thus, from 2004 onwardJapans district leaders and speakers could meet and greet other members from otherdistricts as peers in an ever growing international community.

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

As of July 2013, District 76 has grown to 140 clubs, holds 3,360 members. As thehistory of the now full fledge District 76 continues to unfold it will not be too long beforea 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 supportiveenvironment

Learn leadership skills and enhance leadership potential. Toastmasters offers anextensive leadership training program

Become proficient in many business-related roles

Be a good ambassador for your company

Develop speaking, thinking and listening skills

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Learn the basic skills of public speaking by delivering 10 basic speeches

Toastmasters certification after completely your Competent Communicator (first10 speeches) and at your request Toastmasters will send a letter to youremployer 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 practicecommunication and leadership skills. Here's how it works:

A Toastmasters meeting is a learn-by-doing workshop in which participants honetheir speaking and leadership skills in a friendly atmosphere. A typical group has 20 to40 members who meet weekly or biweekly to practice public speaking techniques. Theaverage meeting lasts one hour.

Members learn communication skillsby working in the Competent Communication

manual, a series of 10 self-paced speaking assignments designed to instill a basicfoundation in public speaking. Participants learn skills related to use of humor,gestures, eye contact, speech organization and overall delivery. When finished with thismanual, members can choose from 15 advanced manuals to learn skills related tospecific interests.

Members also learn leadership skillsby taking on various meeting roles and servingas officers at the club and district levels, and by working in the Competent Leadershipmanual and the High Performance Leadership program. In our learn-by-doingapproach, we don't lecture our members about leadership skills; we give themresponsibilities 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, grammarand parliamentary procedure.

Thousands of corporations sponsor in-house Toastmasters clubs. Businesses andgovernment 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 avariety of community organizations, prisons, universities, hospitals, military bases and

churches.