“The hallmark of Toastmasters is making things fun because we want people to come back. We can have the best education in the world but if you're not coming back, it's of no use.” - Joe Smith

Toastmasters was founded on October 22, 1924 (97 years ago!) at a YMCA in Santa Monica, California by a man named Ralph Smedley.

Ralph set out to offer a functional value--creating a space for members to improve their public speaking. What continues to keep people coming back decades later is the inspirational, supportive, and fun vibe of the group. 

Toastmasters is sustained by a vibrant group of volunteers. Today there are more than 364,000 paying members around the world, and one in three members also volunteers for the organization.

Joe Smith is a longtime Toastmaster and serves as the Program Quality Director for District 38 of Toastmasters in the Philadelphia area. We talked with him about Toastmasters’ history and the magic that keeps members coming back to learn and volunteer.

Highlights, inspiration, & key learnings:

• Can’t fake the funk. How Joe found himself at Toastmasters.
• Origin story. People are afraid of public speaking--everywhere.
• An activity refined over years. Clubs gather around table topics and prepared speeches with clear roles.
• Creating leaders. “Members have reaped the benefits throughout their life and they want to pay it back,” so they step up as volunteers.
• World Championship of public speaking. Celebrating and expanding the pool of speaker feedback.

👋🏻Say hi to Joe and learn more about Toastmasters.

📄See the full transcript

This podcast was created by the team at People & Company. 

🔥Say hi! We would love to get to know you.

We published GET TOGETHER📙, a handbook on community-building. 

And we help organizations like Nike, Porsche, Substack and Surfrider make smart bets with their community-building investments.

Hit subscribe🎙 and head over to our website to learn about the work we do with passionate, community-centered organizations.