Past Tuesday evening 22, October 2024 Zuriberg Toastmasters Club or in this instance I shall rather say the President of Zuriberg, Harry Loots – himself a member of Toastmasters for 40 years in different clubs all over the world – organized a surprise evening at Zunfthaus Zimmerleuten to celebrate the 100 year legacy of Toastmasters! As was to be expected, it was a thorough Toastmaster inspired evening – with the agenda for the evening a total surprise until the meeting was officially opened by Harry. First action was for everybody to draw a lot with an assignment as a speaker or an evaluator. Once this was out of the way Harry proceeded by referring to the first official Toastmaster evening, pointing out that people gathered at the first meeting also not knowing what to expect!
The Background
Proceeding, Harry treated the audience to a great introduction to the history of Toastmasters. In this regard, it is noteworthy that the beginning of Toastmasters is exclusively linked to the person of Ralph Chestnut Smedley, born in Waverly, Illinois, a city twenty miles southwest of Springfield. An educator and administrator of YMCAs he started the first speaking club in 1903 but It took several attempts of Ralph Smedley to establish Toastmasters as a staple in the curriculum of young men (N.B. Toastmasters did only admit men until 1973 when the organization opened up for women to be admitted). But the idea and concept of Toastmaster really only caught on 20 years later, after Ralph Smedley had moved to California in 1924 to take a job at the YMCA in Santa Ana.
The concept
The concept of the speeches past Tuesday night was simple but genius: The hundred years between 1924 and 2024 were divided up in 10 Periods, each spanning 10 years. The allotted speakers got each a sheet with some bullet points relating to significant world events and significant Toastmaster happenings during each of these 10 periods. The task for the speakers was to knit together an impromptu speech of two to three minutes, incorporating what the speaker thought meaningful from a Toastmaster perspective during the relative period. There was essentially only the time during dinner available to prepare for the speech!
The speeches
- First speaker for the period between 1924 – 1933 was Ana-Maria, mentioning that Daimler and Benz joined forces during this period in what was later to become Mercedes-Benz motor company and that 1932 – the name Toastmasters International was officially adopted and incorporated. Alice was her evaluator;
- Second speaker for the period between 1934 – 1943 was Anton, in particular referring to the bleak times building up to the second world war and the fact that Toastmasters could celebrate its first 10-year jubilee on October 22. 1934. Anton was evaluated by Elias;
- Third speaker for the period of 1944 – 1953 was Karina, making a link between the wartimes, the first time use of the atomic bomb and the heightened need for communication. Her evaluator was Vadim; pointing out the conclusion, Karina drew that people were finding hope through Toastmasters;
- Fourth speaker for the period of 1954 – 1963 was Michelle, not hesitating to make a touching, very personal speech and explaining that even though she is not so much sold on American culture she is very thankful for the ‘window to the world’ that Toastmaster has given her, referencing her growing up during this period in Ticino where life still was rather humble and outside contact more or less limited. Her evaluator was Joran, praising her opening and her very personal interpretation;
- Fifth speaker for the period of 1964 – 1973 was Pietro, referencing the incarceration of Nelson Mandela, the Nobel Price for Martin Luther King and the Prag spring – relating these changing times to the resilience of Toastmaster despite the demise of its founder Ralph Smedley in 1965. Pietro’s evaluator was Raffael, praising in particular how Pietro was able to catch people’s attention and the extended historical context he was providing;
- Sixth speaker for the period of 1974 – 1983 was Vanessa, emphasizing the role of women in Toastmasters. 1973 Toastmaster membership opened to women; 1977 first female World Champion in public speaking. Her evaluator was Samira, applauding Vanessa’s succinct summary with the notion: “imagine us before 1973 we would have only been half the room (no women);
- Seventh speaker for the period of 1984 – 1993 was Kevin, making first of all a reference to George Orwell’s dystopian fiction “1984”, 60th anniversary of Toastmaster International and the beginning of Harry Loot’s’ long Toastmaster career – culminating in the 40 years celebration of this day of October 22ned 2024! His evaluator was Yesenia;
- Eighth speaker for the period of 1994 – 2003 was Ben, who was reminded about his own life during this period – Nelson Mandela was sworn in as South Africa’s first black President, first public train through the Channel Tunnel and Amazon.com is founded; “Telling stories, living stories is connecting”! Ben was brilliantly evaluated by Tatjana;
- Ninths speaker for the period of 2004 – 2013 was Emilio, linking personal milestones in his life (e.g. end of military service) with the significant growth of Toastmaster Internation and world events. Roland was his evaluator;
- Tenth speaker for the period 2014 – 2023 was Anna, summarizing the period with the phrase: “Toastmasters truly entered the digital age”! Anna was kindly and appropriately evaluated by Harry!
The final word
All there is to say at the end: “Thank you Harry, for inspiring, organizing and moderating a truly memorable evening with great contributions and evaluations in the original Toastmasters spirit: ‘THE CREATION OF CONFIDENT VOICES’
Roland Straub
Vice-President Mentoring
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