Toastmasters attend local club meetings. In the past decade Shanghai's Toastmaster clubs have grown from one to 41. Members feel the skills they receive from actively participating in public speaking helped them in all aspects of their professional and personal lives. Photos: Courtesy of Shanghai No.1 Toastmaster Club

By Hou Shuqi

When Elsta Wei gave her speech at a Toastmaster's gathering, she never thought her speech would have an influence on another person's life. When Ivy Shen listened to Wei's story about how she struggled to communicate with her father, she could not help but shed tears and immediately called her mother. Because of a disagreement they had not talked for more than three months. But as soon as her mother picked up, Shen apologized and mother and daughter were reunited. "Toastmaster not only offers me a platform to improve my communication and leadership skills, it brings a big change to both my life and my work," said Ivy Shen, a 27-year-old white-collar worker.

The first Toastmaster society was a non profit organization started in 1924 in Santa Ana, California with the goal of improving people's communication and leadership skills through public speaking and running Toastmaster meetings. In 1999, Shanghai's first Toastmaster club was founded and 12 years later there are now 41 clubs spread around the city. Initially the first six Toastmaster clubs in Shanghai were founded by expatriates. However in 2006 the first locally founded club was set up by Rebecca Hong, who joined her first club in 2003 and is now a DTM, or Distinguished Toastmaster - the highest honor bestowed by Toastmasters International. To become a DTM one must have a proven record of five to eight years of service in Toastmaster clubs. "In 2008, there were already more than 30 clubs in Shanghai, and different clubs had different styles," said Hong.

Longtime Toastmaster Liu Yingdan told the Global Times that the reason for the quick development of Toastmaster clubs in recent years was that many multinational companies began sponsoring their own clubs. "Many companies realized that through developing public speaking and leadership in their company they could improve their staff's communication and leadership skills more efficiently than if they paid for corporate training," said Liu. Another reason, according to Liu, is the great endeavors of Toastmaster leaders in Shanghai. Even though almost all of the work is volunteer, they enthusiastically give their time to members and clubs.

Liu also told the Global Times that the growing enthusiasm for Toastmasters can also be attributed to career advancement. Many people who work in multinational companies realized that their English communication and presentation skills are important assets in the workplace and seek to improve them through actively participating in public speaking.

"After a few months of public speaking, I changed my presentation style at work, which benefited me a lot," said Ken Zou, 42, who works as a marketing manager for a multinational company. Even though Ken lived in the US for more than 10 years and has been in a managerial position for four years, he never realized that changing his presentation skills would put him on the path to success and credits his promotion to his improved communication style.

More than talking

"It was exciting to meet many friends who share similar values and lead a positive and enterprising life," said Alex Chen, 24, who works at a French sourcing company. Chen started his Toastmaster journey two years ago when he was still a university student. For him public speaking has brought him many friends.

Chen first joined the club as a way to improve his oral English; however, public speaking has given him much more. Last year with the support of his original club, the Shanghai No.1 Toastmaster Club, Chen and some friends opened a new club called Bilingual Drama Club for people who have a great passion not only for public speaking but also for drama.

"Starting up a club was more or less like starting a company. Many people give up, but because of my perseverance, we formed our club," Chen said. "Thanks to our experience in organizing a club, which honed our skills and strengthened our courage and gave us the confidence to start up our own business in the new year."

For Ivy Shen the support of her club helped her in other aspects of her life too. "I was encouraged by friends from my Toastmaster club to take part in the Shanghai Marathon, which I only dreamed about but never thought I would put into action."

Angle Yu, 42, works in a State-owned company. Five years ago when he first joined his Toastmaster club, he could not even speak a complete sentence in English, but last year he won an English public speaking contest.

"Before I joined Toastmasters, I hadn't studied English for around 20 years, but joining Toastmaster brought me a new lifestyle. I have found myself much more positive and active than before. I can now express myself clearer and have people understand me better," Yu said.

Dedicated members

Most of the members are volunteers and put much work into the running of their clubs. Samuel Ng, 45, from Singapore is one of the most dedicated Toastmasters in Shanghai. He first arrived in Shanghai in 1999 and joined the city's first Toastmaster club in the same year.

Over the past 12 years he has founded three clubs in Shanghai. As an experienced trainer, Ng finds much satisfaction in helping others became better orators, even though all the work he does is free and sometimes in order to support a new club, he will even cover the rent himself.

"I feel very happy when I see people's speaking ability improving and see them winning competitions," said Ng who spends almost five hours a day preparing activities for his three clubs.

No matter how positive and dedicated club members are, clubs still face challenges. "The biggest challenges we are facing now is how to retain the more experienced older members. They are a great asset for the club, but many old members leave clubs because of personal reasons or they feel the club has nothing to offer them anymore," Tuo Fusheng, a Toastmaster club president, told the Global Times.

According to Rebecca Hong, compared to the growth of Toastmaster clubs in other countries, China's has developed much more rapidly. "The biggest difference I have seen is who participates in the clubs. When I visited Toastmaster clubs in the US, I found that most of the members are either retired or middle-aged, while in China most members are in their 20s or 30s," Hong said. told the Global Times.

For Hong, Toastmasters not only gave her skill and confidence but also brought her a husband who was once her "Toastmaster mentor."