Sarasota Toastmasters Clubs

Building Public Speaking and Communication Skills

The goal of Toastmasters is to build communication skills of its members, especially with regard to public speaking, through regular practice and supportive feedback in a friendly environment. Members practice public speaking, impromptu speaking, and other communication skills. Toastmasters is invaluable both to professional speakers wishing to hone their skills, and to the rest of us who just want to be able to speak in public!

Area 56 comprises the group of Toastmasters Clubs meeting in downtown Sarasota, Florida. These are:

Sarasota Herald-Tribune Toastmasters #7923 meeting on Wednesdays, at 12 noon, at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune building, 801 S. Tamiami. Contact (941) 957 5323, web information
Positively Speaking Toastmasters #9352, meeting Friday evenings, 6:00p.m. at the Episcopal Church of the Nativity, 5900 N. Lockwood Ridge Rd (just S. of University Pkwy.). Contact (941) 927 5665 or 794-3218
Sarasota Evening Toastmasters #6026 meeting Wednesday evenings at 6:00p.m. in the County Terrace Building on Washington Blvd. Contact website or call (941) 330-0894
Ringling Toastmasters (for employees of local government and agencies) meets Mondays at noon at the Sarasota County Administration Building, 1660 Ringling Blvd. e-mail

For a listing of all Open Clubs in Sarasota/Manatee counties, with contact information, click here. If this information needs updating, please e-mail Andrew Bean with specifics.

Calendar - Key Events & Dates
A calendar of Toastmasters events and activities is attached to help you in your club planning. Key items in March and April are the International Speech and Table Topics Contests and dues renewals in March!

Speaking Opportunities!
 Want to move one step closer to a CTM or ATM, and to gain experience in speaking outside the club? Up to 2 speeches from each manual may be delivered outside your Club, and still count for credit, if evaluated by a Toastmaster who is present. Or, if you are a CTM and have completed a term as Club Officer, deliver two educational modules from the Successful Club Series of programs to achieve the Competent Leader Award, and a DCP goal for your Club! Or, become a dual member with another Club in the area, and have twice as many speaking opportunities while gaining the experience of presenting to differing audiences.

Distinguished Club Program
The Distinguished Club Program was developed by Toastmasters International as a focused way of tracking the performance of Toastmasters Clubs in meeting their mission of developing communication and leadership, and for helping Club Officers to set objectives for supporting the educational growth of their members. For more information on the latest status of the DCP for Area 56 Toastmasters Clubs, click here, or go to the Toastmasters International website.


New Clubs in Sarasota
A formal welcome to the second new Toastmasters Club in Area 56 since July! Ringling Toastmasters (Sarasota County employees) was chartered in December, and Z-Speakeasy Toastmasters (Zenith Insurance) chartered in late March. Congratulations to both Clubs! Help from experienced Toastmasters from other Clubs will be welcome during their learning curve.

Sarasota Toastmasters Club #1958

Sarasota Toastmasters Club #1958 is part of Toastmasters International, and is the longest established Toastmasters club in the Sarasota and Bradenton area of Florida. We meet weekly on Wednesdays at 7:30 a.m. at Mom's Restaurant, 1247 S. Beneva, (at SE corner of intersection of Beneva with Bahia Vista), Sarasota. Breakfast is available, and guests are always welcome to come to see how they, too, can improve their public speaking skills. For additional information, contact Andrew Bean at (941) 351-8478, or e-mail.

Sarasota Toastmasters Club #1958 is proud to be the only club in the entire Sarasota and Manatee county areas to have achieved the highest possible Toastmasters International recognition, the President's Distinguished Award, in each of the last four years!

Meetings last about 75 minutes, and include delivery and evaluation of prepared speeches, impromptu speaking, "emcee" type roles, and more. Members quickly develop confidence and improve their skills in public speaking, as well as in related communication skills like providing constructive feedback to others, introductions, and impromptu speaking. Information on meeting roles.

To find other Toastmasters club locations, go to the Toastmasters International website . To view information on how to best perform each meeting role click here.

If you need an accomplished speaker for a corporate or other event, link to Dr. Cindy Bean's Public Speaking website. Cindy's areas of focus include leadership development, organizational change and communication.