Section: Celebrating Corporate Toastmasters in District 71
We have a vibrant community of over 20 Corporate Toastmasters Clubs in District 71 and we took great joy in celebrating the educational achievements of Corporate Club Members at a special recognition event on Friday 10th July 2026.
Corporate Clubs focus on the development of their employees’ communication skills through the inclusion of the standard Toastmasters program as a key practical element of their communications development learning suite.
Throughout 2025/26 the Corporate network met monthly at a coffee and chat online Corporate Connect meetup where they shared topics relevant to managing Corporate Toastmasters Clubs.
Our recognition event was an ideal way to celebrate the committees that managed the clubs and the individual members’ achievements.
I was delighted to introduce the event and welcome special guests Brenda Lannon, District 71 Director 22/23 and Dan Deighton, current District 71 Club Growth Director. We were in special company with the attendance of this year’s District 71 Director, Steve Campion who is a member of one of our Corporate Toastmasters Clubs, Toastmasters in Travel.
I spoke about the importance of corporate members participating in the Pathways program saying that it is only through consistent and continued participation in the Pathways program that the true benefits of Toastmasters can be realised.
Special thanks and recognition was given to Shirley Kralj from Toastmasters in Travel and Ciara Clogher from Microsoft OneVoice for managing Corporate Connect in the past year and creating this great networking group.
Brenda addressed the meeting congratulating all members who completed one or more levels this year and spoke about how their progress reflects a strong commitment to their personal development, professional growth, and continued learning. Brenda reflected on the many projects that members have completed and how these result in practical, transferable skills that can make a real difference in our working lives. In finishing, Brenda had a call to action for all members to not stop here but choose their next Pathways project, complete the next level, and set a clear goal for where we all want our communication and leadership journey to take us.
We then moved into the presentation ceremony, recognising the 16 corporate clubs who, between them, achieved 91 educational goals in the 25/26 Toastmasters year, with each club being presented with a certificate capturing the club name and the names of the members who completed one or more levels. A special word of welcome was given to our newest Corporate Club, Flogas, which chartered in May this year. Welcome Flogas!
Following the presentation, Dan Deighton spoke, congratulating all award recipients and reflecting back on his own corporate experience and how a structured program like Pathways would have helped build his team’s communication skills. Dan shared his view that every member who takes time out of their busy workday to invest in themselves and lift up others deserves to be celebrated, as do Companies that offer pathways to their staff. In finishing, Dan said that in the year ahead, he is incredibly excited to continue supporting and growing our corporate membership and introduced our new corporate club lead, Chris Cook, who also shared with us his excitement in taking on his new role.
We finished up with words of encouragement and endorsement from our District Director, Steve Campion, who recognised the importance of Corporate Toastmasters in the overall network of District 71 Toastmasters Clubs.
Eileen O’Neill
