The World Championship of Public Speaking began in 1938 and has grown to over 50,000 participants in 149 countries in 2022.
1982 champion Kenneth Bernard is the first from outside North America (Australia) to win the title.
2014 champion Dananjaya Hettiarachchi of Sri Lanka was the first Asian 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.
Also in 2018, for the first time ever in the history of Toastmasters International, three women became the top speakers in the world.