Success Times – April 2012

Finish Strong!

by W. D. Smith, MBA, DTM District 40 District Governor

As an individual Toastmaster and/or as a Club Officer, you have probably figured out what you need to do to finish the year strong.  The Toastmasters year starts July 1 of each year and goes to the following June 30.  That means we have less than 90 days left in this program year.

Members, have you completed your communication award(s)?  How about your leadership award(s)?  What do you still need to do to finish?  Have you shared your goals with your Vice President of Education so he or she can get you scheduled?

Club Officers, how are you doing on the Distinguished Club Program?  Are you serving the needs of your members?  (If you are not sure, click here.)  What do you still need to do to get ten out of ten goals?  Eight out of ten goals?  Six out of 10 goals?  Perhaps a speech-a-thon is in order.  If you need more members maybe it is time for a public relations and membership campaign.  Or you could have a special meeting with music, fun, food and then mix in modules from the Successful Club series, Leadership Excellence series, and the Better Speaker series.  Would it be more exciting to have this meeting during your regular meeting time or on a special day or time?  Specials like this will help officers and former officers achieve the Advance Leader Bronze award.  Others will complete requirements for the Advance Communicator Silver award.  Everyone will learn and develop and be encouraged to be their best.

Are you wondering how District 40 Toastmasters is doing?  See the graph below.  We hope you will come have fun and celebrate your success and ours at the District 40 Spring Conference April 27-29, 2012.  Don’t forget that each club gets two votes at the district business meeting on Saturday.  Make sure your club is represented.  To register for the Spring Conference click here.

W. D. Smith, MBA, DTM

District 40 District Governor

Tips from the District Governor

by W. D. Smith, MBA, DTM District 40 District Governor

Club Elections:

Finishing the year strong and “Back to the Basics” (B2B) means intentional succession planning.  All through the year we should mentor junior club officers, just like we should mentor new members.  Then we should have a specific plan for the new officer team:

April – Nominations take place

Start by sharing the roles of each of the club officers with all the members.  Remind everyone that there is a club officer manual and there is District sponsored Club Officer training (July 14) to augment the information found in the manual.

May – Elections take place

The club membership should vote on the leadership for the next program year (July1, 2012 – June 30, 2013).  Although members may hold more than one office, the objective should be to have a different person fill each role.

June – Transition takes place

Each new officer should meet with the person who is vacating the office.  There should be a transfer of files, ideas, and advice.  In addition to individuals meeting, there should be a combined meeting of the collective incoming and outgoing executive team of officers.  This is a time of brainstorming, planning, and sharing of best practices.

July – Celebrations

Special meetings, banquets, picnics, and other club events should be held in July to recognize the accomplishments of the year just completed, thank the outgoing officers, award Toastmaster of the year at the club level, (and other awards), and induct the new club officers.  It is often possible for either the outgoing or the incoming Area Governor to attend this Club Special Event if they are contacted early.

Follow the tips above and you will finish this year strong and start next year even stronger!!!

W. D. Smith, MBA, DTM

District 40 District Governor

District Meet Distinguished Goals

By Larry Goldsmith, DTM  Lt. Gov. of Education and Training

Our District has reached its distinguished goals for both Advanced Communicators and Leadership educational awards.  We are still in need of Competent Communicator awards but we had a big jump in our numbers this month and are in great shape to be a Distinguished District!

Educational Awards through March 30, 2012

Competent Communicators (CC)

The District is averaging 22 awards per month.  We are 60 awards short of our distinguished goals for the year.    That means it will take us just under 3 months to complete our goals.  We need to increase our pace to be distinguished in this area.  We are ahead of last year’s pace by 28 awards.

Advanced Communicators (ACB, ACS, ACG)

The District is averaging 9 awards per month.  We have met our Distinguished District goals for the year.    We are ahead of last year’s pace by 1 award.  We need to keep up the pace to beat last year’s totals.

Leadership Awards (CL, ALB, ALS, DTM)

The District is averaging 20 awards per month.  We have met our Distinguished District goals for the year and on pace to exceed our Stretch goals for the year.  We are ahead of last year’s pace by 70 awards.

Reminders from the Lieutenant Governor Marketing

By Eileen James, DTM, Lt.Gov of Marketing

Six  things:

1. Dues

You, you, you

Have you paid your dues, dues, dues?

2. Membership

Have you added 4 new members?

Have you added 4 more?

3. Spring Conference

Think of it as a reward for your hard work this year!

4. Share the News Contest

Winners will be announced and awards given.

http://d40toastmasters.org/2011-09-14-sharing-the-news-contest

5. Dazzle Me Poster Contest

Bring your poster to display at the conference. Bring a jar or coffee can to collect votes (a penny per vote).  Bring some money to vote with!  Clubs will keep all the money they collect to add to the treasury, purchase needed supplies, party…

http://d40toastmasters.org/2011-09-14-dazzle-me

6. New Clubs

There’s still time to add a new club to your area or division.  EVERY member who helps build a new club benefits in multiple ways.  Talk to me.  Learn how to get the job done quickly and how to give our new clubs a solid foundation.

Call me today.  I can help you!  937-652-3049

Eileen M. James, DTM

Announcing the District 40 Triple Crown Award

Sponsor 3 members by June 30.*

OR

Earn 3 educational awards (CC, CL, Advanced Communication, Advanced Leadership, DTM).**

Earn this new Toastmasters “Where Leaders Are Made” pin.

Secretariat

Those who are acknowledged on the Toastmasters International Reports by April 20, 2012 will receive the recognition and pin at the 2012 District 40 Spring Conference. Those who qualify after that date will receive their pins by mail in late summer.

See you in the Winner’s Circle!

* Sponsor name must be reported to Toastmasters International and appear on TI reports.
**The Leadership Excellence (High Performance Leadership) project does not qualify for the Triple Crown.

District 40 Spring Conference – What to expect?

The District 40 Spring Conference is April 27-29 at the Holiday Inn Eastgate 4501 Eastgate Blvd Cincinnati, OH 45245.  To view a video presentation on what to expect at the conference follow this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TLgwtyfGeo   To register today, follow this link http://d40toastmasters.org/2012springconf

Back to the Basics of Membership Retention

You’ve attracted members, but how do you retain them? 

The first thing to know is why each member joined. What were the intentions and goals of each person? If you don’t know, it’s time to ask. After all, you can’t actively retain members if you don’t know why they joined in the first place!

Here are some tips to increase member retention (adapted from Success 101 (Item 1622)):

Evaluate Interest 

• Find out members’ needs and goals so you can help them reach their objectives. The Member Interest Survey (Item 403) is a useful tool for accomplishing this.
• Base the focus of your club’s educational program on the results of your research.

Analyze Reasons for Missed Meetings

• Are members missing meetings because of their time or location? If other members agree, consider adjusting the time or location of your meetings.
• Do meetings run too long? A shorter program might encourage attendance.
• Do members have enough opportunity for participation? Try a rotation method that allows everyone a chance to fulfill all meeting roles.

Nurture Potential Non-renewals

• Once members reach their original goals, suggest new ones, such as the advanced communication and leadership tracks.
• Are members “burned out” from fulfilling too many meeting roles? Lighten the load as needed.

Despite your best intentions, members will leave. Members leave Toastmasters for a variety of reasons; it’s important to find out why.

Here are some of the most common reasons members leave their clubs, along with suggestions for how to encourage them to stay:

• Too many other commitments
  Suggest a break to take care of commitments. Check back with them in a few months to see if they are able to come back.
• Inconvenient meeting time
  This might also be the case for other members. Take a poll to find out if another time works better. If not, suggest the web pagewww.toastmasters.org/find to find a club with a more convenient meeting time.
• Pressure to work too quickly
  Remember that Toastmasters programs are self-paced. It is important to encourage members while allowing them to work at their own pace.
• Relocation
  When members move away, wish them well and suggest they visit www.toastmasters.org/find to look for clubs close to their new homes.

The aim is to fulfill members’ needs. When members know how to succeed within their club or district, membership retention increases.

Toastmaster Youth Leadership Program Succeeds At Dater HS

by Dorothy Blake and Robert Brockfield

Question:  What do you get when you connect Toastmasters with the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative, a caring teacher, and high school students?

Answer:  A successful Toastmasters Youth Leadership Program!

Robert Brockfield, Springdale Communicators and Dorothy Blake, Tri-County Toastmasters, approached their clubs to sponsor two Youth Leadership Programs. The TM Youth Leadership Program is an eight-week condensed program for teenagers, focusing on prepared and impromptu speaking, listening, evaluating, chairman skills and self-assessment.

With the assistance of the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative College Access Coordinator, they were connected with Shari Davis-Revels, an English teacher and sponsor of the Leadership Club at Dater High School (Cincinnati).

The Program culminated with a special speaking celebration where 10 students earned the YLP certificates in the presence of their School Principal, family and friends.   Darryl Woods-CC from MSD Sewer Talk was the keynote speaker.

Did we make a difference?  Two students gave heartfelt testimonials, relating their desire to overcome personal and family circumstances to succeed in university and in life.  Several students spoke on how their self-esteem and confidence have improved.  Two students will use their speaking skills to campaign in the up-coming senior class elections.  As a senior delivered her final speech, she spoke of her commitment to the Program and to the certification even though she was ill and absent from school that day.  Several students demonstrated their impromptu speaking competency during table topics.  A sophomore named her “super hero” College Girl because “her goal is to attend college and everyone should have that opportunity.

Students were encouraged to join a local Toastmasters Club when they are 18 years old.  After the meeting adjourned, the students compelled Table Topics Master Hal Walters to share additional questions; the students took each one in turn—just for fun.

To run a successful program, we would recommend that there must be a strong connection with a teacher who has direct contact with the students, receive a written commitment from each student, avoid conflicts with spring sports, and utilize two or more fellow Toastmasters as assistant coordinators.  Pat Andwan, Sheila Mudd Baker, Brenda Clark, Carol Kormelink, Katie Umberg, Hal Walters, Bette Zwayer were assistant coordinators.

If you have questions about becoming a coordinator for a Youth Leadership Program and would like to be matched with a Cincinnati Public School, please contact Dorothy Blake – blakea@fuse.net.  Coordinating a Youth Leadership Program is a component of the Advanced Communicator Gold certification.

Watch Yourself Grow

by Rick Barron TV Toastmasters

Why did you join Toastmasters? Did your boss suggest you might “benefit” from the experience or maybe you made a choice to finally do something for yourself? Regardless of the initial motivation to get you through the door of a Toastmasters Club meeting and complete the membership application, it’s safe to say you expected to get something from the investment of time in Toastmasters. Your goal for joining Toastmasters is to grow personally, professionally or just feel more comfortable in situations that used to scare you to death.

I debated in high school, held leadership positions during college, was a corporate trainer in my job and volunteer as an instructor with Junior Achievement facing 30 fifth graders but none of these experience gave me the least bit of comfort as I waited off-stage to complete my first speech at TV Toastmasters. Butterflies are common and welcome when I speak as an indication of excitement and enthusiasm, but for that first speech it felt like buzzards circling for the kill. Obviously I survived the experience and am here to share with you the benefits of membership in TV Toastmasters.

TV Toastmasters is the only Club in the District whose meetings are televised on public access television. We meet in the Anderson Community Television Station studio at 7850 Five Mile Road in Anderson Township on the first Thursday of the month at 6:00 PM and the 3^rd Saturday at 9:00 AM. Our meetings are just like yours EXCEPT for the lights, the cameras and the queues from our member Director. Club members film, direct and edit the meeting to air on local public access stations, maybe you’ve seen us while surfing stations.

Our tag line for TV Toastmasters is “Watch Yourself Grow.” Club members completing manual speeches receive a DVD of the entire Club meeting to evaluate their performance. Evaluations are an important part of how we grow in Toastmasters but there’s nothing more important than self evaluation. Toastmaster speech evaluators highlight strengths and identify areas for improvement but only the speaker knows what was supposed to be said and how the message was anticipated to be delivered. I’ve learned some very valuable lessons from watching myself on those DVD’s, lessons my Toastmaster evaluators missed because they were not with me as I practiced my speech.

If you’re looking for the fast track to achieve your personal and professional goals or if you’re up for a new Toastmasters experience, come visit us at TV Toastmasters as my personal guest. We’ll give you a tour of our state-of-the-art facility, give you a chance to be in front of the camera as a Table Topics participant and we’ll offer to train you as a camera person to film the Club meeting. Then, you too can “Watch Yourself Grow” on our new YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/watchyourselfgrow.

Club Officers, how are you doing on the Distinguished Club Program?  Are you serving the needs of your members?  (If you are not sure, click