For the first time in the history of Toastmasters International, an Arab national was elected as its president at its annual convention held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was also the first time that the annual convention was held outside the United States.
Emirati national Muhammad Murad, a former police officer, is excited to head Toastmasters International, a world leader in communication and leadership development.
Currently, the organization has 313,000 strong members. These members improve their speaking and leadership skills by attending one of the 14,650 clubs in 126 countries that make up the global network of meeting locations.
There are more than 500 clubs in the GCC and over 200 clubs in Saudi Arabia. Also, it is again the first time that a Saudi national — Khaled Matlagaitu — has been elected as an international director.
This year’s competition of world championship of public speaking was won by Dananjaya Hettiarachi of Sri Lanka.
Chief Ambassador of Revitalized Educational Program (REP) Syed Waheed Lateef; Lt. Gov. Abdullah Al-Sharief and Lt. Gov. (Marketing) Rashid Rawther were part of a 25-member Saudi delegation that attended the convention at Kuala Lumpur, led by District Gov. Joey Villanueva.
The next convention will be held in the US city of Las Vegas in August 2015 and the next district conference of Saudi Arabia will be held in Jeddah in April 2015, said Lateef.
Toastmasters pick Arab national as president
