Some of western Canada’s top talkers will be in St. Albert later this month as this city hosts its first-ever regional Toastmasters conference.
About 120 people from northern Alberta and Saskatchewan will be at the St. Albert Inn & Suites May 30–June 1 for the District 99 2025 Toastmasters International Conference.
Established 101 years ago, Toastmasters is an international volunteer-led organization that promotes public speaking and leadership in 148 nations, said conference organizer Joan Petruk.
“For any volunteer organization to last 100 years, it means it works,” she said.
This was the first time that District 99 (which covers northern Alberta and Saskatchewan and includes St. Albert’s SOS and Aimcrier Toastmaster groups) has held its annual conference in St. Albert, Petruk said — a decision made in part due to the rising cost of venues in Edmonton.
Petruk said the conference features a variety of panels and keynote addresses for those interesting in improving their speaking skills. Members of the general public might be most interested in the International Speech Contest, where about five of the district’s most skilled speakers will compete to represent the district in the upcoming quarterfinals (which eventually lead to the world championships). Audience tickets for the contest are $10.
“It’s quite entertaining to watch people compete at that level,” she said.
Devon resident Marc Haine will lead a panel at the conference on how to become a professional speaker. Haine earned his Distinguished Toastmaster award (the highest level of educational achievement in the club) in 2015 just three years after joining Toastmasters, and became a professional speaker in 2017.
“I didn’t realize how competitive the marketplace was,” he said, as it turned out that basically anyone could call themselves a professional speaker.
Haine said his talk will cover the importance of specialization, picking a target market, and other pro-speaking tips.
Edmontonian Glenn Walker will host a panel on the use of artificial intelligence in Toastmasters. An IT specialist, Walker said he uses AI a lot in his job and recently applied it to his club activities.
“A lot of people give me the gears because I use artificial intelligence, and I say well, you could be using it too.”
Walker said he found AI apps most useful for generating lists of speech topics or speech outlines, the latter of which he then rewrites in his own words. He cautioned, though, against using AI to write entire speeches.
“The problem is it’s not my words,” he explained, and it doesn’t reflect the way you actually speak.
“[AI] is a great tool, but don’t become complacent and use it as the tool.”
Other panels cover topics such as podcasting, marketing, and play-based learning.
Petruk said Toastmasters can be of great help to anyone looking to overcome shyness, build confidence, or advance in their careers.
“I’ve seen so many amazing transformations,” she said, including members who started off too shy to introduce themselves but went on to perform speaking tours.
“It’s amazing.”
Conference details and tickets are available at d99tm.org/conference-2025.
