Whether the audience is a single potential customer, 10 colleagues in a staff meeting or 1,000 shareholders at a conference, knowing how to communicate can be the difference between getting what you want and spending the rest of your week lamenting your staircase wit.

To that end, a new Toastmasters group, one specifically aimed at improving public speaking in business settings, is forming in Federal Way and inviting anyone who wants to advance their careers to attend.

The group, called the Communicating for Business Network, is the brainchild of longtime Toastmaster Don Smith.

“The focus of this is, rather than having a general-purpose Toastmasters club, it’s going to be focused on how to do well in business,” Smith said.

General-purpose Toastmasters clubs are nonprofit groups that strive to “provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth,” according to Toastmasters International’s website. The group, composed of more than 332,000 members and operating in 135 countries, was founded in 1924.

Federal Way boasts about seven Toastmasters clubs, according to Smith, but the Communicating for Business Network will be the first focusing strictly on using speaking skills to succeed in business. It will focus on many aspects of professional communications, including nailing “elevator speeches,” sales presentations, marketing and branding, leveraging social media, and many others.

Smith said the group is “perfect for startups” and solo entrepreneurs, but it will also aid “those working for companies who just want to help their careers.

“Fear of public speaking holds you back,” he said. “Even managers can be very comfortable talking to their staff, but ask them to speak at a conference or in front of an outside group? They get nervous.”

Toastmasters clubs offer “safe environments” where members can improve their public speaking skills in front of peers instead of in high-stakes situations. Members rotate turns speaking, providing feedback, keeping time and helping in other ways. Speaking topics and methods start simple and short, then progress to more advanced presentations using skills gleaned from easier methods.

The group’s first interaction will be at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, April 25 at Keller Williams Puget Sound (33434 8th Ave. S., Suite 103, Federal Way), where attendees will receive details on the group, discuss issues and goals related to the group, and further decide general details. After that, the group will meet weekly at Keller Williams Puget Sound from 7 to 8 a.m., with the April 28 meeting serving as orientation and the group swinging into gear each Thursday after that.

For information, contact Smith at 425-241-4888 or C4BNet@gmail.com.