Capital Alumni Toastmasters offers a public speaking skills program for busy young professional Washingtonians. Based on the traditional format pioneered by Toastmasters International in 1924, CATM uses unique, updated roles and an innovative, modernized meeting format.

Current CATM members hail from all over the DC area and include executives from business and government, graduate students, attorneys, House and Senate staff, public relations professionals, editors, writers, and foreign nationals involved in finance, diplomacy, and trade.

Developed by club leaders in September 2005, CATM's streamlined Toastmasters agenda is designed to maximize the practical value of participation while reducing planning overhead and extraneous formality that no longer has practical application in most typical public speaking situations.
 

Simply put, the revitalized CATM meeting format means more opportunities to deliver prepared speeches, more constructive feedback to those who speak, and less busywork for meeting planners. The Toastmasters meeting as practiced at CATM in DC also places special emphasis on spontaneous speaking ability through an expanded Table Topics section and a unique call for toasts from members and guests.

Wine and cheese are served at the start of each meeting, just before toasts are offered, contributing to a relaxed and enjoyable environment. Still, maintaining order and ending each meeting on time are sacrosanct commitments of the club, and the CATM agenda has eliminated over 20 minutes of antiquated rituals to ensure this objective.

Officially chartered as TI Club 612779 in District 36, CATM was formed in 2003 as an independent affiliate of the Capital Alumni Network (CAN). CATM welcomes alumni from the nearly 200 colleges and universities that participate in CAN—as well as friends and colleagues, and past members of the University Club Toastmasters. CATM is one of the few DC Toastmasters clubs that is not affiliated with an employer.

Excluding occasional exceptions due to holidays and room availability, meetings are now held on first Wednesdays, and on every other third Wednesday. Meetings start at 7:00pm and end no later than 8:30pm. We meet in the Washington, DC, office of the College of William and Mary at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in DuPont Circle.

To subscribe to our regular e-mail bulletin and Toastmaster meeting announcement list, please visit the CATMo list at Yahoo! Groups.

To learn more about the Capital Alumni Toastmasters club, please contact or download the CATM brochure here.

To see what a meeting looks like, check out some pictures from our 10/21/2003 meeting here.

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