The City of Niagara Falls and Town of Grimsby Recognize Toastmasters Month by Issuing Proclamations

NIAGARA REGION, Ontario - Oct. 5, 2016 - PRLog -- The Mayor and Council of the Town of Grimsby have - for the first time - declared the week of Oct. 23 - 29/16 as "Grimsby Toastmasters Week".

"The Council Chambers have been rented for a grand Open House to be held on Thurs. Oct. 27/16."  - Lydia Schulenberg from Grimsby Toastmasters. Visit grimsbytoastmasters.org for more information.

At the City of Niagara Falls Council meeting on September 27 City Council proclaimed October Toastmasters Month. Niagara Falls is the host for the District 86 Toastmasters Fall Conference on Nov 25 to 27 at the Marriott Gateway on the Niagara. As well as the home of 2012 – 2014 Region 6 International Director, Lori Lococo.

Toastmasters clubs and members in District 86 Toastmasters, one of over 100 districts in the world, will celebrate the first Toastmasters Meeting Santa Ana, California, on October 22, 1924. Toastmasters have been producing community leaders in Southwestern, Central and Northern Ontario with long-lasting clubs Garden City in St. Catharines and Hamilton No. 1, which have been operating since 1952.   Further, clubs like First Oakville Toastmasters and Brampton Toastmasters, founded in 1957 will be celebrating 60 years in 2017.

"I was petrified and paralyzed when it was my turn to speak in meetings with just a few people who I worked with everyday." –recalls an 11 year Toastmaster and successful business owner. Brian is a member of four Toastmaster clubs and now speaks in front of hundreds in speech contests, presentations, and key note speeches. "Toastmasters has helped me confront a fear that was bigger than me and controlled me". Brian has started two Toastmaster programs at a jail in Florida and he helps others in the community shrink their fear of public speaking and develop their leadership skills to advance their lives.

The Toastmasters Story
In 1924, Dr. Ralph C. Smedley held the first official Toastmasters meeting in a basement of the YMCA, in Santa Ana, California. Smedley began working for the YMCA after he graduated college. Observing that many of its patrons needed public speaking training, he decided to help them with a training format that was similar to a social club. At this first meeting, members practiced speaking skills in a supportive, informal atmosphere. The seedling club blossomed and by the 1930s the organization charted its first international club in Vancouver, Canada. In 1973, Toastmasters met an important milestone by opening membership to women.

The Name Toastmasters
Why name it "Toastmasters"? - During the early 1900s, the word "toastmaster" referred to a person who proposed the toasts and introduced speakers at banquets. Ralph C. Smedley coined the first group "The Toastmasters Club" because he thought it suggested a pleasant, social atmosphere.

How Toastmasters Works
At Toastmasters, members learn by speaking to groups and working with others in a supportive environment. A typical Toastmasters club is made up of 20 to 30 people who meet once a week for approximately an hour. Each meeting gives everyone an opportunity to practice:

• Conducting meetings. Members learn how to plan and conduct meetings.
• Giving impromptu speeches. Members present one-to-two minute, impromptu speeches on assigned topics.
• Presenting prepared speeches. Members present speeches based on projects from manuals in Toastmasters' proven communication and/or leadership programs. Projects cover topics such as speaking, organization, vocal variety, language, gestures and persuasion.
• Offering constructive evaluation.  Every prepared speaker is assigned an evaluator who identifies speech strengths and offers suggestions for improvement.

Toastmasters and Leadership
Leadership cannot be learned in a day. It takes practice. In Toastmasters, members learn leadership skills by organizing and conducting meetings and by completing projects in the leadership manuals. Projects address skills such as listening, planning, motivation and team building and give members the opportunity to practice them. Just as Toastmasters members learn to speak by speaking, they learn leadership by leading.

Benefits of Toastmasters
Clearer communication; Improved leadership skills; Enhanced teamwork; Effective meetings; Increased productivity; Positive mentoring; Complements existing training programs; Cost effective.

About Toastmasters District 86
Toastmasters District 86 represents the heartland of Ontario comprising of 235 community and corporate clubs, with over 5,000 members, from Sault Ste Marie in the north to Welland in the south, from Sarnia in the west to Markham in the east - and all communities in between - except Toronto. To learn more about District 86 please visit: http://toastmasters86.org/

About Toastmasters International
Toastmasters International is a worldwide non-profit educational organization that empowers individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders. Headquartered in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, the organization's membership exceeds 345,000 in more than 15,900 clubs in 142 countries. Since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped people from diverse backgrounds become more confident speakers, communicators and leaders. For information about local Toastmasters clubs, please visit www.toastmasters.org. Follow @Toastmasters on Twitter.