The World Championship of Public Speaking began in 1938 and has grown to over 50,000 participants in 149 countries in 2022. In its early decades, it was referred to as the Toastmasters Speech Contest. By the 1990s, there were about 10,000 participants every year. The contest's popularity grew rapidly in the 2000s. The contest has been called the "largest speech contest in the world" by Daijiworld.

History 1960 champion Glenn E. Carroll is the first non-American (from Canada) to win the title. 1977 champion Evelyn Jane Burgay is the first woman to win the title. 1982 champion Kenneth Bernard is the first from outside North America (Australia) to win the title. 1985 champion Marie C. Pyne is the first European (Ireland) to win the title. 1995 Champion Mark Brown is the first and only Jamaican to win the title. 2014 champion Dananjaya Hettiarachchi of Sri Lanka was the first Asian to win the championship.

Zooming into the South East Asian region, in 2016, Darren Tay of Singapore became the first South East Asian, Singaporean, as well as contestant of Chinese ethnicity to win the championship. In 2008, Lashunda Rundles became the first African American woman to ever win the title of World Champion of Public Speaking. She also was the first woman to win in almost two decades. In 2018, Ramona J. Smith became the second African American woman to win, it had been a decade since a woman took the title. Also in 2018, for the first time ever in the history of Toastmasters International, three women became the top speakers in the world. Sherri Su of China took 2nd place. Anita Fain Taylor of Florida, USA took 3rd place, Ramona J. Smith took 1st place. In 2021 Verity Price (South Africa) became the 6th woman to ever win the international speech contest, and the first speaker in history to win from Africa. In 2024, Luisa Montalvo became the first Hispanic to win this prestigious title. In 2025, Sabyasachi Sengupta from the Netherlands became the first Dutch resident to win the world championship of public speaking.

Year Name From 1938 Henry Wiens Reedley, California 1939 William Roberts Huntington Park, California 1940 David MacFarlane Santa Monica, California 1941 John McGinnis San Francisco, California 1942 Cavett Robert Phoenix, Arizona 1943 Lloyd Prante Monrovia, California 1944 NO CONVENTION 1945 NO CONVENTION 1946 Thor Myhre Spokane, Washington 1947 Douglas Sherwin Clearlake, Iowa 1948 Robert Dellwo Spokane, Washington 1949 Dalton McAllister Fort Wayne, Indiana 1950 Charles Hilton Mason City, Iowa 1951 Albert Green Jr. Seattle, Washington 1952 George W. Armstrong Omaha, Nebraska 1953 Theodore B. Furlow Long Beach, California 1954 Herbert Thompson Wood River, Illinois 1955 Charles W. Bryant Tacoma, Washington 1956 David Holmes Jr. Toledo, Ohio 1957 Charles Jones Fort Smith, Arkansas 1958 Edmund J. Shine Hamburg, New York 1959 Dean F. Berkeley Bloomington, Indiana 1960 Glenn E. Carroll Kitchener, Ontario, Canada 1961 John J. Carver Seattle, Washington 1962 Robert Garton Columbus, Indiana 1963 Larry Beitel Winston-Salem, North Carolina 1964 Anthony C.L. Bishop Northridge, California 1965 John L. Nydegger Lewiston, Idaho 1966 Michael Yaconelli San Diego, California 1967 Dale Smith Goshen, Indiana 1968 Grant R. Sheehan Washington, D.C. 1969 Dennis Mangers Delano, California 1970 Stephen D. Boyd Bloomington, Illinois 1971 Bert Angus Transcona, Manitoba, Canada 1972 Rudy Valle Canoga Park, California 1973 Charles W. Stewart San Antonio, Texas 1974 Bennie Powell Los Angeles, California 1975 Andy McKay Rochester, New York 1976 William Johnson Aberdeen, Maryland 1977 Evelyn Jane Burgay Springfield, Virginia 1978 Michael Aun II Lexington, South Carolina 1979 Dick Caldwell Calgary, Alberta, Canada 1980 Jeff Young Los Angeles, California 1981 Jim Joelson Reno, Nevada 1982 Kenneth Bernard Australia 1983 Roy Fenstermaker Downey, California 1984 Joe Boyd Bellingham, Washington 1985 Marie C. Pyne Ireland 1986 M. Arabella Bengson Islington, Ont., Canada 1987 Harold Patterson Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 1988 Jerry Starke Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1989 Don Johnson Torrance, California 1990 David Brooks Austin, Texas 1991 David Ross Norman, Oklahoma 1992 Dana LaMon Lancaster, California 1993 Otis Williams Jr. Cincinnati, Ohio 1994 Morgan McArthur Idaho Falls, Idaho 1995 Mark Brown Mount Vernon, New York 1996 David Nottage Auckland, New Zealand 1997 Willie Jones Honolulu, Hawaii 1998 Brett Rutledge Auckland, New Zealand 1999 Craig Valentine Ellicott City, Maryland 2000 Ed Tate Aurora, Colorado 2001 Darren LaCroix Auburn, Massachusetts 2002 Dwayne Smith Decatur, Georgia 2003 Jim Key Rowlett, Texas 2004 Randy Harvey Sherwood, Oregon 2005 Lance Miller Glendale, California 2006 Edward Hearn Chicago, Illinois 2007 Vikas Jhingran Cambridge, Massachusetts 2008 LaShunda Rundles Dallas, Texas 2009 Mark Hunter Albany Creek, QLD, Australia 2010 David Henderson San Antonio, Texas 2011 Jock Elliott Bongaree, QLD, Australia 2012 Ryan Avery Portland, Oregon 2013 Presiyan Vasilev Chicago, Illinois 2014 Dananjaya Hettiarachchi Nawala Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka 2015 Mohammed Qahtani Dhahran, Saudi Arabia 2016 Darren Tay Singapore 2017 Manoj Vasudevan Singapore 2018 Ramona J. Smith Cleveland, Ohio 2019 Aaron Beverly Philadelphia, Pennsylvania2020Mike Carr Austin, Texas2021Verity PriceCape Town, South Africa2022Cyril Junior DimWrocław, Poland2023Jocelyn TysonMt. Laurel, New Jersey2024Luisa MontalvoSan Juan, Texas 2025 Sabyasachi Sengupta Amsterdam, The Netherlands

See also

Public speaking

References

External links

Toastmasters International—Official website