In October 1924, a group of men assembled by Dr. Ralph C. Smedley met in the basement of the YMCA in Santa Ana, California, U.S.A., forming a club “to afford practice and training in the art of public speaking and in presiding over meetings, and to promote sociability and good fellowship among its members.” The group took the name “Toastmasters.” Professional Excellence Toastmasters are a local chapter of Toastmasters International and the home of District 25's Speaker's Bureau.

Accredited Speaker Program
Toastmasters International has a special program which recognizes those members who have professional-level speaking skills. The Accredited Speaker Program is not for everyone. Only a handful of Toastmasters have what it takes to become Accredited Speakers. Less than 25 percent of those who apply for the program become accredited.

The program is conducted annually. To qualify as an Accredited Speaker, an applicant must be a current member of a Toastmasters Club. He or she must be an Able Toastmaster or Advanced Toastmaster Bronze and have a minimum of 25 speaking engagements to non-Toastmasters audiences within three years of application date. Five copies of letters of acknowledgment or appreciation from any of the 25 engagements must be provided as documentary evidence of successful presentations. In addition, applicants must pass a rigorous two-stage judging process.

If you or someone in your Club has professional-level speaking skills, call or write World Headquarters for the Accredited Speaker Program brochure and application. Deadline each year for entries is November 1.

The goal of an experienced Toastmaster is to become a professional speaker to share knowledge, gain extensive experience and exposure. Whether you're speaking to the board of directors, your customers, your co-workers or your kids, Toastmasters can help you do it better. You'll learn and practice in a friendly, comfortable environment with people who are there for the same reason you are—to become better communicators.

At Toastmasters, members learn by speaking to groups and working with others in a supportive environment. Our clubs contains some of the best speakers in District 25.

Meetings normally last one and one-half hours. A typical speech may last from seven minutes to one hour or more.

Presentations are evaluated by the advanced manual, a toastmasters International Contest judge evaluation, and by a round table evaluation by each attendee. Is it easy? By no means. Is it fun? Yes. These evaluations take a speaker to a higher level as a speaker.

Does this sound interesting? If is does, please take a few minutes out of your time and give us a visit. We meet at different locations right now, but hope to have a steady location soon.

We are trying to meet once a month for the moment, as we build the club and figure out how best to serve our members and the members of District 25.

Do you need a speaker for your club, organization or company? If so, please contact our Speakers Bureau.