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Toastmasters New Zealand, Making effective communication a worldwide reality
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Did you know that: 

  • The Book of Lists says that people's greatest fear is public speaking. (They fear it more than death.)
  • 60% of people are turned down for a job due to insufficient communication skills.
  • More than 5000 past and present Toastmasters revealed in a recent survey that most people join Toastmaster clubs to improve their confidence and ability to speak in front of a group.
  • But they remain in Toastmasters because of the outstanding leadership opportunities and the many unexpected benefits they gain, including a powerful support system, friendship/camaraderie, self-fulfillment and the ability to help others.

Here's some interesting statistics about Toastmasters from a variety of sources:

Total individual membership:

>200,000
Total Clubs: 10,000th club chartered in July 2004 >10,000
Membership resident in United States/Canada 77%
Membership in Europe (District 59) 0.9%
Total membership per club average 20.7
Total membership per club Europe (District 59) 27.6
Annual rate of growth of Toastmasters worldwide 6.3%
Number of countries and territories where Toastmaster clubs are active >90

Famous Toastmasters include actors, athletes, astronauts, artists, authors, politicians, beauty queens, entrepreneurs and businesspeople.

Corporate Toastmaster clubs are sponsored by government agencies, not-for-profit organisations, private companies and public corporations, educational institutions, and central and local governments.

Source: Post on Toastmasters Newsgroup. Toastmasters International website and The Toastmaster Magazine

  • District 72 was 30th in the world out of 82 Districts
  • There were 26 Distinguished Clubs, 25 Select Distinguished Clubs and 61 President's Distinguished Clubs
  • There are 48 Areas in New Zealand: 14 Distinguished, 14 Select Distinguished and 12 President's Distinguished Areas
  • There are 7 Divisions in New Zealand, with 4 President's Distinguished Divisions
  • There were 226 clubs as at 1 July 2007, and 237 active clubs on 30 June 2008
  • There were 9548 membership payments during the year
  • 502 Toastmasters achieved Competent Communicator Awards, and 265 Advanced Communicators, with 18 Distinguished Toastmasters

Source: Toastmasters International 2007-08 Results, 19 July 2008

  • District 72 was 16th in the world out of 82 Districts
  • There were 542 Competent Communicator Awards, 258 Advanced Communicator Awards, and 18 Distinguished Toastmasters
  • There were 21 Distinguished Clubs, 38 Select Distinguished Clubs and 54 Presidents Distinguished Clubs
  • There were 18 Distinguished Areas, 13 Select Distinguished Areas, and 8 President Distinguished Areas
  • There are 46 Areas in New Zealand.
  • There was 1 Distinguished Division, 1 Select Distinguished Division, 5 Presidents Distinguished Divisions
  • There are 7 Divisions in New Zealand.
  • As at 30 June 2007, there were 226 clubs in New Zealand.

Source: Toastmasters International 2006-07 Results, July 2007

  • 1,748 people joined Toastmasters in 2005-06
  • There were 4,475 Toastmasters in New Zealand at 30 June 2006
  • There were 537 Competent Toastmaster Awards, 265 Advanced Toastmaster Awards, and 12 Distinguished Toastmasters
  • There were 24 Distinguished Clubs, 33 Select Distinguished Clubs and 57 Presidents Distinguished Clubs
  • There were 13 Distinguished Areas, 21 Select Distinguished Areas, and 5 President Distinguished Areas
  • There are 46 Areas in New Zealand.
  • There was 1 Distinguished Division, No Select Distinguished Divisions, 3 Presidents Distinguished Divisions
  • There are 7 Divisions in New Zealand.
  • As at 30 June 2006, there were 217 Paid clubs, and 223 Active clubs in New Zealand.

Source: Toastmasters International 2005-06 Results, July 2006

  • District 72 New Zealand ranked 14th in the world - a Distinguished District
  • There were 10 new Toastmaster clubs in New Zealand: 4 in Wellington, 2 in New Plymouth, 1 in Tauranga and Christchurch, and 2 in Auckland 
  • There are now officially over 220 Toastmaster clubs in New Zealand
  • 8 Areas were Distinguished, 18 were Select Distinguished and 9 were Presidents Distinguished
  • 1 Division was Select Distinguished, and 5 were Presidents Distinguished
  • 24 Clubs were Distinguished, 40 were Select Distinguished and 63 were Presidents Distinguished Clubs
  • 32 clubs achieved all 10 goals on the Distinguished Club Programme
  • There were 9374 membership payments during the year (goal 8903)
  • There were 537 Competent Toastmaster Awards (goal 305)
  • There were 276 Advanced Toastmaster Awards (goal 87)
  • Nineteen Toastmasters received their Distinguished Toastmaster Award
  • Nga Manu Reo Club in New Plymouth achieved 27 Educational and Leadership awards, Ngamotu (also in New Plymouth) 21, Taieri in Dunedin 15 and Otumoetai in Tauranga 13.

Source: Toastmasters International 2004-05 Results, 25 July 2005

  • District 72 New Zealand ranked 18th in the world for the 2003-04 year.
  • 14 new Toastmasters Clubs in New Zealand: 6 in Auckland, 3 in Wellington, 2 in Palmerston Northand 1 in Tauranga, Queenstown and New Plymouth
  • There are now officially 213 Toastmaster clubs in New Zealand
  • 19 Areas were Distinguished, 7 Areas were Select Distinguished and 10 Areas were Presidents Distinguished
  • 5 out of 6 Divisions were President's Distinguished (A, B, D, E, F)
  • There were 8708 membership payments during the year (goal 8680)
  • There were 540 Competent Toastmaster Awards (goal 297)
  • There were 261 Advanced Toastmaster Awards (goal 85)
  • Seven Toastmasters received their Distinguished Toastmaster Award
  • 29 Clubs achieved Distinguished status, 29 achieved Select Distinguished and 49 achieved Presidents Distinguished.
  • 23 Clubs in New Zealand achieved all 10 Distinguished Club goals.  Of these 6 were in Auckland, 3 in Wellington and 4 in Christchurch.  12 were weekly clubs, 10 were fortnightly clubs and 1 monthly club.  3 clubs met at lunchtime, 2 at breakfast, 5 at twilight, and 13 in the evening.

Source: Toastmasters International 2003-04 Results, 21 July 2004

  • 45 out of 76 Districts achieved Distinguished or better (best annual result since 1991)
  • 7 out of the 12 Districts from outside the United States and Canada were Distinguished or better
  • District 72 Toastmasters New Zealand was Distinguished District and placed 21st in the world
  • The number of Toastmaster clubs in New Zealand expanded from 196 to 203 during the year
  • 500 Toastmasters achieved the Competent Toastmaster Award
  • 257 Toastmasters achieved an Advanced Toastmaster Award
  • 179 Toastmasters gained leadership skills by completing the Competent Leader Award
  • 16 Toastmasters extended their leadership skills by achieving Advanced Leader Award
  • 14 Toastmasters in New Zealand completed the highest achievement possible, the Distinguished Toastmaster Award
  • 11 new clubs were chartered throughout New Zealand (while 4 clubs closed their doors).
  • New Zealand registered the 3rd highest number of Competent Toastmaster Awards worldwide, and the highest number worldwise of Advanced Toastmaster Awards
  • By population, New Zealand registered more awards than any other District worldwide

Source: Toastmasters International 2002-03 Results, 22 July 2003

Officers, Directors and the Office of the Executive Director

5%

Communications and Marketing

28%

Member Services and administration

34%

Development and production of new educational materials and services

20%

Other (convention expense, magazine advertising commissions and depreciation)

13%

Source: The Toastmaster Magazine, June 2007

As at 1 July 2008, in New Zealand there are 237 active clubs, with several clubs in formation. 

There is also:

  • 1 active Toastmaster per 1000 head of population overall
  • 1 active Toastmaster per 515 head of population in the Greater Wellington region
  • 1 active Toastmaster per 303 head of population in the Wellington City area.
  • Clubs meet at the following times:

    Breakfast (meeting between 7 and 9 am)

    36

    Morning (meeting during the morning)

    3

    Lunch (meeting between 12 noon and 2 pm)

    30

    Afternoon (meeting between 1 and 3 pm)

    3

    Twilight (meeting starts between 5-7 pm)

    39

    Evening (meeting starts after 7 pm)

    120

    Toastmaster Clubs meet on nearly every day of the week all around New Zealand.  This table shows you the number of clubs in the major cities:

    Auckland

    44

    Hamilton

    8

    Rotorua

    7

    Tauranga

    8

    Palmerston North

    5

    Wellington

    32

    Christchurch

    24

    Dunedin

    6

    Invercargill

    4

    There are also Toastmaster Clubs in every other major town or city in New Zealand from Whangarei to Gore.

    Toastmaster Clubs meet on the following days of the week:

    Monday

    45

    Tuesday

    62

    Wednesday

    69

    Thursday

    49

    Friday

    6

    Saturday/Sunday

    3

    Clubs meet weekly, fortnightly or monthly:

    Weekly

    88

    Fortnightly

    135 

    Monthly

    11

    There are 5 types of clubs in New Zealand:

    Community Clubs (Open to anyone over the age of 18 years) 206
    Advanced Clubs (Generally open to Advanced Toastmasters only)

    5

    Company Clubs (open to employees of a specific organisation)

    14

    College (open to students from an academic institute)

    1

    Government (open to employees of government departments)

    6

    Professional (open to members of a professional body)

    5

    Source: Toastmasters New Zealand Club Directory.  Please note clubs occasionally change their meeting day/time or location so these figures may not always be 100% accurate.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Q. Who is the longest serving Toastmaster in New Zealand?
    A.  Rob Hendry, a charter member of Dunedin Toastmasters Club, New Zealand's first club, formed in 1962 following an article in the Reader's Digest.  Go to History of Toastmasters in New Zealand for more information.

    Q. How many Distinguished Toastmasters are there in New Zealand?
    There are over 110 Distinguished Toastmasters, with many belonging to more than one club.  This is about 3% of the total number of Toastmasters in New Zealand.

    Q. How many World Champions of Public Speaking have come from New Zealand?
    A. New Zealand has produced two world champions: 1996 - David Nottage, and 1998 - Brett Rutledge.  Three world champions currently live in New Zealand (1994 Morgan McArthur). 

    Q. How many International Presidents has New Zealand had?
    A. There have been two International Presidents from New Zealand: John Fauvel 1987-88, and Len Jury 1997-98.

     

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