Toastmasters Popularity Grows Among Fortune 500 Companies

News provided by

Jun 12, 2019, 08:12 ET

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., June 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly 60 percent of all Fortune 500 companies now offer in-house Toastmasters clubs to help develop their employees' communication, leadership and public speaking skills. Amazon, AT&T, Bank of America, Google, IBM, Intel, Microsoft and UPS are among the industry leaders that are using the Toastmasters International program to develop and enhance these skills as well as the confidence of their employees.

During the past 18 months, nearly 950 corporate Toastmasters clubs were chartered and approximately 300 of the 2018 Fortune 500 companies have at least one active Toastmasters club. LinkedIn's 2018 Emerging Jobs Report found that soft skills, including oral communication, leadership and time management, make up nearly half the list of skills with the largest skills gaps and employers are finding that the training taught in Toastmasters is helping to fill these gaps.

Toastmasters' communication and leadership program teaches employees how to:

Conduct effective meetings
Practice time management
Enhance their listening skills
Sharpen their presentation skills
Boost team collaboration
Guide successful teams

Currently, 89 of the top 100 Fortune 500 companies have at least one active Toastmasters club, and 65 of them have at least three active Toastmasters clubs.

"Employers have found that chartering an in-house Toastmasters club for employees is a cost-effective way to improve their workforce," says Toastmasters Chief Executive Officer Daniel Rex. "We're continuing to see more companies offer Toastmasters training to their employees as they look to develop the soft skills that many recent college graduates are lacking."

Organizations that want to provide employee growth opportunities that also benefit the company can obtain more information about Toastmasters corporate clubs by emailing [email protected].

About Toastmasters International
Toastmasters International is a worldwide nonprofit educational organization that empowers individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders. Headquartered in Englewood, Colo., the organization's membership exceeds 357,000 in more than 16,600 clubs in 143 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.

SOURCE Toastmasters International