Building Communities Through Toastmasters

A while back, a tweet that I posted with a photo collage of my favorite activities caught the eye of someone in my company's Talent Brand team. We worked together to turn that tweet into a blog post for the Life at Cisco blog. In the process, I needed a hook, or central theme for the post, and I realized that what I really enjoyed most about all of the activities was the sense of community that I got from participating in each group. That post ultimately became How Cisco’s Technology Helps to Build Communities.

For this blog, I want to focus on the community-building aspect of Toastmasters. I mentioned Toastmasters in my Life at Cisco blog post, but only in passing. Yet the more time and involvement I put into Toastmasters, the more I appreciate this potentially overlooked aspect of Toastmasters. A Toastmasters club is a community. A Toastmasters area is a community. A Toastmasters district is a community. And so on. Anywhere Toastmasters gather, whether in "real life" or in the virtual world, a community forms. The encouragement, the openness and inclusivity, and the shared focus on self-improvement seem to create instant communities. And yet, clubs are all different, and have their own cultures. 

Image by Pixabay

As an area director this year, I've had the great fortune and honor to see a wider slice of Toastmasters in our local communities. In the coming weeks, as I add posts to the blog, at least twice weekly, I'll discuss my perspectives on these communities. I'll add some insights from some of my other communities. And I'll share how these communities are shaping and reshaping my own way of being in the world.

Thanks for reading along. Please share your own experiences with our readership, and welcome to this community!