One hundred years ago today, Ralph Smedley held the first official Toastmasters meeting. The global nonprofit hosts speech competitions, feedback sessions and workshops supporting people with public speaking and communication skills.
That meeting on Oct. 22, 1924, was held at a YMCA in Santa Ana, California, but Toastmasters’ roots are older—and closer.
Originally from Morgan County southwest of Springfield, Smedley attended Illinois Wesleyan University, graduating in 1903. He took a job at the YMCA in Bloomington, then located at the corner of Market and Main streets. There, Smedley held the very first Toastmasters meeting in 1905 before moving to Santa Ana and starting the organization in earnest.
Toastmasters District 54 encompasses Bloomington-Normal. District director Gary Vaughn oversees Toastmasters chapters covering central and northern Illinois, excluding Chicago. He additionally works remotely for Mercy Hospital in St. Louis and is a part-time balloon artisan and professional Santa—the beard is authentic.
Vaughn joined Toastmasters in 2018 while working for State Farm.
“State Farm Talk of the South was hosting a guest day,” he said. “At that guest day meeting, a person was practicing for a speech competition. I was so enthralled with his speech that I was like, I want to try that.”
There are Bloomington-Normal Toastmasters clubs for employees at State Farm and Country Financial. A growing community-based club held at the YMCA in Bloomington has recently recruited Illinois State University students looking to strengthen their public speaking skills, some of whom are English language learners. Vaughn emphasized that people aren’t born with an innate ability to speak publicly. Toastmasters’ overarching mission recognizes that confident communication is an acquired trait. Talking about what you like is a great place to start.
“We’re all different. We all have different tastes. We all have different interests,” said Vaughn. “All we have to do is learn to share that love with somebody else. That’s what really makes you a great communicator. Dig into what you like.”
Toastmasters’ centennial celebration has included a special edition of their trade magazine and a social media campaign highlighting the history of the organization, including its origin story right here in Bloomington. Communication has changed dramatically since 1899, when Smedley was a co-ed on Illinois Wesleyan’s campus. At the time, Delmar Darrah, founder of the American Passion Play, was a professor of English and public speaking.
“[Smedley] had this concept of people getting together and learning how to publicly speak, how to be comfortable with communication,” said Vaughn. “That’s where the roots began.”
Vaughn says despite differences in communication styles and mediums, accelerated by the virtual world imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the fundamentals are the same. Toastmasters works for those foraying into public speaking professionally, such as political candidates, but can also be a tool for people applying for a job or giving a wedding toast. Education modules provide pathways for learning about curating a social media presence, podcasting or hosting a virtual meeting.
“There’s communication in everything and Toastmasters provides that space, no matter what you’re using that communication for,” Vaughn said. “We’ve been trying to change with the times as communication has changed, to offer this for anybody in any genre.”
