Presidents Distinguished Clubs Efective Practices
All 2023 to 2024 Presidents Distinguished clubs were invited to share their strategies for engaging motivating, retaining and recognizing their members as part of a DTM project. Two key questions were posed to each club:
- What practices do you use that have proven effective in engaging new members and motivating and retaining existing members?
- What strategies do you use to consistently recognize and celebrate member contributions and achievements?
All responses were rolled up and are presented below. It is our hope that you will find some of the tips and strategies presented below useful in helping you to further strengthen your club in these key areas.
Please keep in mind that it is a significant accomplishment to achieve Presidents Distinguished status. Those clubs that maintain it from year to year are truly special!
1. Practices that you use that have proven effective in engaging new members and motivating and retaining existing members.
We follow Toastmasters Best Practices in everything we do. We have a core group of experienced members who ensures they are followed. We complete the MOT every year and follow up on recommendations. As a result, we have delivered a consistent product over many years. We have developed a reputation as a great club, which means we have many guests.
New members have an individual 1 hour zoom Orientation to sign up and become familiar with Pathways, the club website, to select a Path, and to sign up for roles for the next 5 weeks.
We have many new members. We have a monthly group mentoring as new members out number existing experienced members.
We have a Pathways Tracking excel sheet accessible from our club agenda (Link). VPE uses to follow up with members to encourage them to complete projects.
Sign up sheet is distributed at each meeting and reviewed at end of meeting. Members can sign up to 10 meetings in advance. The Toastmaster works to fill all vacant roles at the end of each meeting.
Goal is to set up our members for success. We give them a good and immediate orientation. We are 100% Pathways enrolled. Every new member gets a mentor. The mentor is experienced and has a goal to help the new member through the first few speeches and beyond if needed.
Engaging members and getting them working on Pathways early is one of the key things that we have found to be effective in motivating members. Once they start working on projects, they are more invested in the program and working their way through it. It can mean meeting with the member(s) and actively encouraging them to take that first step – doing their ice breaker. Another element that helps provide some incentive is showing how the different roles in a meeting can be used as a project or part of a project. That takes the “scariness” away.
We have joint meetings with another club and have had challenges a couple of times. Members are divided into teams and earn points for doing speeches, taking on roles and completing levels. Then prizes are given out to the winners. This helps create some fun and excitement, as well as extra motivation, especially if members feel stalled.
Making sure your club is welcoming and encouraging is also important. Meetings need to have energy and enthusiasm. Having different styles of meetings helps to keep things fresh. For example, we’ve had a murder mystery meeting, a newscast meeting, backwards meetings, etc. These do take a bit more planning and organizing.
We try to engage the new members right off the bat with a welcome email, letting them know what the first steps are and that they should do their Icebreaker in the next 2-3 weeks.
At one meeting, we did a round table where we asked “What’s stopping you?” and that prompted many to complete their Ice Breakers (or sign up) and we saw an influx of members take on new roles.
Also, we rely on our mentors to engage with their mentees regularly, to see how they are doing, and if they need any help. Usually, this will get them back on track to give a speech, or take on new roles.
Creativity in the agenda when there are less than the ideal number of members in the meeting e.g. using the meeting for table topics if there are no prepared speeches 2) Table topics speaker evaluates the next TT speaker 3) Invite guests to take part in table topics.
- Create and host fun meetings within the TM format – provide a reason people want to come back
- Meetings are respectful of people’s time commitments
- Switched Up Table Topics
- Effective Evaluations to assist members’ growth in public speaking
- New Member Follow-Through
- Executive Team and Members make an effort to connect with visitors/guests individually
- Provide print and digital information about “Why Toastmasters”
- VP Membership tracks connection points with new guests and new members
- Onboarding Meeting – Checklist
- Once completed information is shared with the entire Executive Committee to familiarize us with new Member Orientation to Pathways & EasySpeak
- Schedule IceBreaker asap
- Advocate Pathways goal setting
- Mentorship Coordinator & Program – Introducing Mentor Training this Sept
- New Member Announcements – Club & Social Media
- Club Announcements Video – Sample attached
- Build and strengthen community with social events outside of Club meetings
- Focus on member success and building relationships
- Engage new members on projects/committees – provide short-term learning opportunities
- Encourage members to visit/participate in District events/leadership positions
We strongly encourage all new members to set up regularly scheduled meetings with their mentors. I met with my mentees weekly for probably about their first 10 months. Then we kept our meetings but moved them to bi-weekly meetings. This is to keep Toastmasters at the forefront. Talk about where we were sitting with our DCP goals, and where they were in their pathways. Encouraging them to put themselves on our schedule of speeches.
Our President last year created ‘speech marathons’. It was just one, but then we decided to host them monthly! This really encouraged a lot of our newer members to get out there and start speaking. I believe the first one had four icebreaker speeches, and one second speech in level one. I think it helped to ‘break the ice’ with others doing it at the same time.
I believe we retain members because of the fun family atmosphere. We love to joke and laugh, as well as help each other out. I find that a good portion of the people who end up leaving at certain points are because of work demands, whether busy projects or new roles.
Treat members with respect. Stick to goals, and get members to commit to what needs to be done. I tried to focus on only what needed to be done to achieve our club goal of President’s Distinguished. I tried not to bog down members with superfluous tasks or assignments and just focused on building a cohesive club that achieved results.
Keeping in touch with the new members, making sure they have everything they need. Having a full and engaged executive that supports each other and the members. Keeping our meetings upbeat and ensuring that new and existing members are participating in the meetings. Asking the questions, how do you find the meetings and engaging members for their answers? And of course, when humans see other humans participating, they want to participate too. The momentum keeps moving us forward. Acknowledging the members and their contributions in the meetings. In our newsletter, we acknowledge and welcome our new members and acknowledge our existing members as they complete their pathways program.
Personalized Praise: During meetings, members and leaders often give verbal praise and acknowledgment to individuals who have made notable contributions or improvements.
Meeting Recognitions: During club meetings, members are often recognized for their performances in speeches, evaluations, and Table Topics. Best Speaker, Best Evaluator, and Best Table Topics Speaker are common awards.
Public Recognition: Achievements may be announced in newsletters, social media platforms, or the club’s website, allowing members to be recognized publicly.
Feedback and Support: Providing constructive feedback and continuous support to help members grow and recognize their progress.
These strategies helped create a supportive and motivating environment, encouraging members to continue developing their communication and leadership skills
There are a number of things that are done to acknowledge the contribution and participation of members.
- We have meeting awards for best: speaker, evaluator and table topics
- We held induction ceremonies for new members and the incoming executives
- We celebrate members’ achievements in our group chat
- We celebrate members’ achievements via email
- We celebrate members’ achievements in our announcements
I believe that our success is due to a combination of many things. One of them is the details that we sprinkle into our club. Like having individual name cards for each member. As members arrive at the meeting, they grab their name badge with pride. This gives them a sense of belonging.;
These are just a few of the ways we get our members engaged! |
I believe we try very hard to create the right ‘culture’ for our members. What does that look like?
A welcoming environment for both guests and existing members. We maintain a sense of humor, laugh at ourselves, and poke a little fun at the members we know well. We are all human, we all make mistakes – we recognize that. This is a place of trial and error.
Yes, we give recognition, small gifts, and certificates but we give positive recognition to those brave enough to do their icebreaker and make a technical subject speech. Feedback includes a great deal of positive enforcement. Constructive feedback and not too much of it.
We work hard to get as many members/guests to speak at each and every meeting. The executive will have 1-1 conversations with members who might be unable to limit their talking time, ensuring that all members get a chance to speak.
We do what we can to encourage members to seek mentors and coaches. The executive discusses who is fulfilling these roles for whom. We attempt to fill any gaps.
Motivation, we do everything we can to motivate. We encourage all members to set and work on their personal goals and their pathways. It’s about them, not about the club.
Education, we educate on pathways. Veterans are encouraged to present on their path, techniques and tips for building presentations, table topics skills or other competition skills like judging.
We focus on the member’s needs and work to provide a support network for that.
We have a new member orientation program where we assist members in logging into the club and international websites, choosing their pathways, and teaching them how to perform the five basic meeting roles (joke master, invocation, grammarian, timer, and ah-counter). Additionally, we have a comprehensive mentoring program where each member is assigned a primary and often a secondary mentor. These mentoring relationships are tailored to individual needs, with mentors and mentees meeting weekly to plan Toastmasters goals, offer personal support, and help prepare and practice speeches.
Beyond regular meetings, we offer various extras based on member needs identified during orientation and mentorship meetings. These include book studies in small groups, special meetings for ESL members, a fifth monthly meeting for those who can’t attend in the morning or live in different time zones, and club-level Circle of Gold meetings for contest preparation. We also experiment with unique meeting types, such as games nights, and fully embrace technology by using poll feedback to create detailed reports and providing members with downloadable speech recordings.
Our club thrives on getting all members involved through direct one-on-one relationships with mentors. Personalized support based on individual goals in and out of Toastmasters is more impactful than generic emails. Engaging new members early through our orientation program is crucial for sustaining their enthusiasm and participation. This hands-on approach, coupled with our fast-paced, theme-based meetings and consistent communication, ensures that members feel valued and motivated to contribute to our collective success
Is just that – Dynamic! We are totally member centric, our members are our most important asset and we treat them as such. Here are some of the things that we do:
Every member (even the AS) has a mentor or a mentor they can easily access. This helps to get focus on individual goals, progress and achievements – the member grow to their personal goals.
Excellence is our normal expectation. This takes many forms as excellent is a personal growth marker. What is excellence for me, may look different to excellence for you. We have several members with various disabilities and their excellence is ranked on their abilities.
- We share successes with all of our members and the folks that follow our website and Facebook. You will see on our Website front page – that we celebrate our member achievements: https://dynamicallyspeakingtoastmasters.toastmastersclubs.org/ and FaceBook – https://www.facebook.com/DynamicallySpeakingToastmasters check us out!
- Other achievements are recognized in meetings and the meeting summary that is circulated
- Some times we are silly
- When members miss more than 2 meetings in a row our VP Membership reaches out to them and their mentor.
- We do meet all summer – even though the meetings can be smaller and more challenging – we believe it is easier to maintain momentum and to develop it anew each fall
- At Calgary Pace Setters we have new members inducted once or twice a year. We do the ceremony and give each member the certificate, badge and pen
- When members finish their Pathway levels, we give them their certificates and promote them on our website and social media
- When members present their Icebreaker they get the ribbon and a keychain and they get promoted on our website and social media
- We organize educational workshops (how to write an icebreaker speech, how to give a great evaluation, or how to prepare an introduction)
- We have meetings for socializing, dressing up, sampling food from different countries
- When members finish their Pathway levels, we give them their certificates and promote them on our website and social media
- When members present their Icebreaker they get the ribbon and a keychain
- Throughout the Year: Standing ovations – Icebreaker, finish level, finish Path
- VPE – Email Congrats – Pathways Achievements along with Meeting Agenda
- VPM – welcome new Igniters meeting and email, New Member Induction, Membership growth
- VP PR Igniters Blog – Photos, member achievements celebrated. Events.
- Mentoring – the cornerstone of the club.
- Mentoring Teams, Specialty Mentors, Buddy Mentors – engages seasoned and new members.
- Workshops – guest speakers, speaker exchange. Adds new ideas and energy. We have potluck or desserts. Food engages!
- Fun Meeting Themes – tap into the interests of members
- Tall Tales Tournament – success! engaged our members to step out of their comfort zone this year, help as Contest officials
- Contests – encourage members to step up, try, learn a new skill
- When a member does their Ice Breaker, they get a standing ovation and a container of Ice Breakers candies
- We have a Snackmaster role, and if Snackmaster rolls 7 our doubles, snacks will magically appear at the next meeting
- A year-end pot-luck gathering
- In the event of long weekends, when the club does not meet for an official meeting, we often have a social gathering (ie breakfast or board game cafe etc)
- Member Induction ceremony with presentation of a certificate
- Certificates for other achievements (Pathway completion for example)
- Trophies for Best Speaker, Evaluator, Topics (Not kept by the member, but a photo is taken with Toastmaster and shared within our private WhatsApp group)
- Creation of the Speakers Edge mission statement, which is read by the SAA at the opening of each meeting
- Three-month mentorship program
- Various accolades and recognition where appropriate in the WhatsApp group
Have a clear goal at the beginning of the year, especially for educational achievement.
- Get the members engaged for each meeting by assigning three major roles to different groups.
- Have a speechcraft training
Foundation: The club’s primary goal was to ensure that its members achieved what they had intended when they joined the club. To this end, the club focused on creating a safe and respectful environment where members could learn, grow, and work towards their individual goals without fear of judgment or comparison. This emphasis on creating a supportive space was woven throughout the club’s activities and messaging, with the members striving to maintain Fish Creek Bravehearts as a true safe haven. The club conducted thorough analyses of member needs through “moments of truth” and took actionable steps to address areas that needed improvement. The dedicated Vice President of Education played a vital role in guiding members through the Toastmasters pathways and mentoring a successor to ensure continuity.
Building Momentum: To maintain momentum, the club proactively sought feedback from members through both formal and informal channels. This helped identify and address key areas for improvement:
Civil Speakers is working continuously on this. Our VP Membership put together “Mentor Triads”, where there are 3 to 5 members in a group consisting of an experienced toastmaster, a member in the middle of being new and experienced and a relatively new toastmaster. This helps in working through the pathway levels.
The hybrid meeting open the meetings to people outside of the in-person location or unable to attend in person. Listening to the chit-chat before the meeting commencement sounds very engaging to online members and guests.
In person, we usually meet for lunch after the meeting where members indirectly receive informal mentoring. More importantly, it engages the members in a time of fellowship.
The varied education sessions have become a staple in BLT meetings which draw in guests to visit our meetings and sometimes entice membership enrollment.
The relaxed atmosphere. Many of us are leaders, and BLT is the club where we can just come in, be ourselves, hang our hat, have a coffee and leave our formal roles at the door.
We are a professional development organization for Astrologers
This is key: Professional Development. People join because they want to get better at presenting in the astrology community and beyond.
- We provide resources for networking within the astrology community
- Celebrate pathway completion –(some challenges with matching projects to astrology presentations)
- Recognize the best attendance
- The focus is astrology as we are a specialty online club
- Weekly meetings’ themes are around current astrological stimuli and often so are the Table Topics.
- We assign mentors to new members
This has worked successfully in the past, but as mentors’ plates become full, it has slowed the process of pairing mentors with incoming members. I think we are still on it, but it is something for which we hope to find innovative solutions.
We help members deliver their concepts/key points within 7 minutes (normally Astrologers deliver much longer presentations and may have difficulty keeping the audience’s attention)
Astrological expertise does not always go hand-in-hand with excellence in speaking. Our members are getting better and better every day at delivering key concepts thoughtfully, succinctly and engagingly.
- Recording all speeches
Our normal meetings are 60 minutes. We have increased the length of 2 meetings a month to 75 minutes–for additional speeches and table topics.
Looking at how evaluations can be improved- need more feedback on to grow as a speaker Need more nuanced critiques of our speeches. Some members need to do a lot of work on basics. Others are doing so well; they need the refined COG-type feedback to help make their speeches clearer and more cogent Helping members to get better at speaking astrology in an easy-to-understand and interesting delivery style
The strength of Twin Rivers has always been in engaging new members and existing members using some basic ideas:
The club runs effective and engaging meetings with a lot of humor. There is rarely a meeting where people don’t belly laugh at some point. Humor first, education second. The education is not neglected, but we understand the value of a good hook. The meetings are run professionally, are well formatted, and are timely.
The club focuses on giving effective evaluation. The club is very strong in this regard.
There is a focus on a strong mentorship program. People feel invested in by the club because our mentors invest, and so members invest back. This gives even existing members something to work on as mentors, but in return to be protegees to other mentors.
The members of this club have built strong bonds between members. There is a robust social scene for the club consisting of after meeting beer and wings, 2 BBQs this year (and counting), a holiday party, there will be more events I’m sure. Twin Rivers has gone berry picking, hiking, floating the bow and much more as a group in the past. The members of this club show up for each other where it counts. Some examples:
I have attended I don’t know how many contests to cheer on members, and they’ve attended when I competed.
When we had a new member freeze at the lectern and have to step back from a speech there were several senior members who approached him after to encourage him, share their experiences and remind him that Toastmasters is a safe space to fail so we can learn to succeed.
When a senior member’s wife passed away there were 8 Twin Rivers members at the funeral.
Our fundamental practice for guests, new members and existing members is maintaining a fun atmosphere in our meetings, while still providing the structure, support and feedback that help all our members grow. Many visitors respond positively to the more casual fun atmosphere along with our supportive group that can be observed at any meeting, and they often become members who stay for the same reason.
Debates:
- Internally: We hold monthly debates internally and have a well-structured format and roles to conduct this each month.
- Inter-Club: We have held inter-club debates in past, which, was quite exciting and engaging.
Improv Night: We hired instructors from Loose-Moose Theatre to conduct a super-fun workshop on improvised speaking, body language and situational awareness, as all of these aspects ties greatly into the art of public speaking. This was a ticketed event and we charged $15 per attendee.
Social Dinner: We organized a self-paid dinner at a restaurant.
Frequent Potlucks: We organize potlucks every few months, to encourage and foster a community bond.
These are just a few examples of our ongoing efforts to celebrate and engage with our members.
- Recognition certificates
- “Catch them doing it Right” at the end of the meeting to acknowledge and celebrate member success in and out of TM
Social events to encourage getting to know each other:
- Christmas party social
- Summer BBQ Social
Mentoring for speeches and leadership
- Encouraging members to support D42 Leadership Training
- Strong evaluations with newly added (Message and Delivery evaluations for each speaker)
Newly designed name badges with goal checklist to encourage progress (MVP=Milestones, Validation, Progress)
VPE involvement with club members to ensure all the components of Pathway projects are finished and levels and pathways contribute to DCP for club
SOAR – Focus the club on what is important to the club
Caring and constructive feedback (Speech Evaluations, GE)
Monthly club executive meetings
Knowledge in the room (D42, TI, Pathways, Easy Speak, contests, circle of gold)
Hybrid meeting (core membership could attend either in person or virtually)
2. Strategies you use to consistently recognize member contributions.
We have a member recognition meeting at least once a quarter. At that meeting we recognize educational achievements, member accomplishments and contributions outside of the club and upcoming events. We also provide recognition through our social media channels. We hand out ribbons for members doing their ice breaker speeches. We also have time at the end of each meeting for kudos and shout outs, as well as special announcements
We had an awards night meeting, where we recognized our of-the-year winners as well as each member with special club awards, like taking on new meeting roles, completing the Ice Breaker, completing levels, working while facing adversity, volunteering outside of the club for contests and Circle of Gold, inspirational speeches, etc.
As a club, we believe that every speech is a step closer to completing a level or a pathway and as such, at the basic level, we celebrate speeches completed in every meeting. Just by the sheer recognition. In the last one year, we have struggled with attendance and so are always grateful when any of the continuing members give a speech.
Our VP education is also quite diligent in highlighting these monthly when she sends out the schedule for the month.
- Award Ribbons – Ice Breaker/Level Completions
- Award Pins – Pathway Completion
- Social Posts & Weekly Club Announcement Video
- Newsletter member spotlights
During our meetings, we take the time to recognize improvements when members take on roles, and we also encourage feedback after the meetings as well.
One of the things we put into place this past year was to nominate a ‘Toastmaster of the Month’. At the end of every meeting, and in our ‘Toastmasters chat’ we remind our fellow club members to vote. Criteria for the Toastmaster of the Month:
- A club member who makes an effort to attend meetings
- A club member who brings enthusiasm to the meetings
- A club member who stood out in your mind with a certain role or speech
- A club member who volunteers to take on multiple roles when attendance is low
- A club member who has displayed personal growth in a particular area or skill
- A club member who has actively helped other members grow
The executive team meets the second last week of the month and we select a Toastmaster of the Month from the nominations. We announce the winner at
the next meeting, read out the nominations submitted, and then post it on our internal recognition platform. We add points to it and tag the others from the club to ‘boost’ the recognition. This is also nice because it shows other team members within ATB that you are being celebrated for something in Toastmasters.
A new addition that we’ll be doing going forward to to post all of the nominations on our recognition platform going forward. There were lots of nice things being shared, but it didn’t make it back to the members unless they won. Now we’ll share all the nominations received and not just the winner.
At the end of each weekly meeting, we post the ‘winners’ for the speech, evaluator, and first-timer roles in our Toastmasters chat as well. These receive comments and emoji interactions as well.
Lastly, when something outstanding happens, such as club, area, and district contests, or when someone in the club is recognized at work for something, we share this news on our Toastmaster Channel that we have on our internal ATB platform. Anyone in ATB come to be part of our channel, it isn’t only those members of the club.
We acknowledge people for their achievements publicly at meetings, in a timely/ verbal manner
The club members’ achievements are acknowledged in several ways:
- At the club meeting (when the person has completed the last speech in one of the Pathways levels, an ice breaker speech, new member induction ceremony, completion of the pathway, triple crown
- On the Club’s web page, and social media posts (FaceBook, LinkedIn, Instagram)
- At in-person gatherings.
Our Toastmasters club employed several strategies to recognize and celebrate the members’ achievements and contributions as follows;
Awards and Certificates: Members receive awards and certificates for completing educational goals
Member of the Month/Year: Clubs may have special recognitions for outstanding members on a monthly or yearly basis, highlighting their contributions and achievements.
Milestone Celebrations: Significant milestones, such as anniversaries of joining the club or achieving a Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) designation, are celebrated
Public Recognition: Achievements may be announced in newsletters, social media platforms, or the club’s website, allowing members to be recognized publicly.
Pins and Badges: Physical tokens like pins, badges, or ribbons are given to members to signify their achievements and roles within the club.
Leadership Opportunities: Recognizing members by offering them opportunities to take on leadership roles within the club, such as being an officer or a mentor.
These strategies helped create a supportive and motivating environment, encouraging members to continue developing their communication and leadership skills
There are a number of things that are done in order to acknowledge the contribution and participation of members.
- We have our Of the Half Year Awards and Of the Year Awards
- We had two celebrations throughout the year one in December and the other in June, giving members an opportunity to network.
Every month, our club holds a celebration segment that focuses on three main areas: goals related to pathways and public speaking, achievements outside the club, and club-wide goals (including DCP point goals, level completion goals, and triple crown goals). We are also developing a new club goal called the Toastmaster Meeting Master, where members aim to fulfill every meeting role at least once a year, with a club-wide target of members achieving this distinction (We’re still debating the goal number for this ambitious endeavour).
Originally a small segment, our recognition efforts now include a Google Slides presentation to organize and highlight achievements. This approach has significantly boosted member excitement and community spirit as everyone becomes more aware of each other’s goals and progress. Additionally, we recognize new members and those who refer others to our club, celebrating their contributions and fostering a supportive, growth-oriented environment.
In addition to our monthly recognition segment, we hold a kickoff meeting in September to present our Club Success Plan, which is based on a SOAR analysis. This meeting sets the tone for the year and aligns our efforts toward common goals. This meeting also includes an extended celebration segment where we recognize the achievements of the entire previous year, further reinforcing our members’ hard work and dedication.
- We share successes with all of our members and the folks that follow our website and Facebook. You will see on our Website front page – that we celebrate our member achievements: https://dynamicallyspeakingtoastmasters.toastmastersclubs.org/ and FaceBook – https://www.facebook.com/DynamicallySpeakingToastmasters check us out!
- We give fun awards at our year-end
- When members succeed beyond the club they are sent a small gift – like a Toastmaster pen or notepad and a congratulations card.
- We celebrate our Rookie and Toastmaster of the Year.
- Other achievements are recognized in meetings and the meeting summary that is circulated
- When members finish their Pathway levels, we give them their certificates and promote them on our website and social media
- Ribbons are given at every in-person meeting
We celebrated our 20th on June 18 and combined it with our annual year-end Party. We honor our members every year.
- Igniters Spirit of Success Awards -5 yearly. Chair & Awards Committee
- In addition to D42 Rookie and TM of the Year.
- Speech Achievement
- Communication and Leadership
- New Member
- President’s Choice
- Igniting Spirits – Club Vote
This year each recipient received a special engraved 20th Anniv journal. Other years – a book. D42 Awards get keeper trophies.
- Pathway Achievements – VP Ed our club has embraced Pathways yearly certificate for each level each member. Acknowledge each member.
- Mentoring – Mentoring Coordinator Recognition – Leaders of Mentoring Teams, Members stepping up to be mentors & Recognize – Mentees
Fun souvenir each year – golf balls to write new goals
Throughout the Year
- Standing ovations – Icebreaker, finish level, finish Path
- VPE – Email Congrats – Pathways Achievements along with Meeting Agenda
- VPM – welcome new Igniters meeting and email, New Member Induction, Membership growth
- VP PR Igniters Blog – Photos, member achievements celebrated. Events.
- Mentoring – the cornerstone of the club.
Mentoring Teams, Specialty Mentors, and Buddy Mentors – engage seasoned and new members.
- Workshops – guest speakers, speaker exchange. Adds new ideas and energy.
- We have potluck or desserts. Food engages!
- Fun Meeting Themes – tap into the interests of members
- Tall Tales Tournament – success! engaged our members to step out of their comfort zone this year, help as Contest officials
- Contests – encourage members to step up, try, learn a new skill
My thoughts on recognition …
Recognition is extremely important. I feel its greatest value is at the Club level, as those are the Toastmasters who have personal experience with the member and their achievements. I personally don’t feel as ‘warm and fuzzy’ beyond that level — though I certainly do feel prideful, and I always appreciate the recognition.
This may sound harsh, but if recognition is not done promptly it doesn’t have the same impact as being recognized right away.
My home club recognizes and celebrates members in the following ways:
- At the end of each month, we celebrate “Club Kudos”. We usually do this at an online meeting and prepare a slide show of the members who have achieved Level completions, Path completions, Contest awards and involvement, plus trying to keep our finger on the pulse of how Toastmasters is used by our members in their own unique communities (for example a member who participates in a panel discussion at work, or a member who publishes a book).
- Further, each member is personally recognized with a Level/Path Ribbon and/or Certificate (ribbons for the completion of their first path only).
- Our club culture is one of appreciation- and there are several times throughout the month/year when we voice our appreciation for others.
We give recognition, small gifts, certificates but we give positive recognition to those brave enough to do their ice breaker, make a technical subject speech.
Dream, make goals, get help, walk the pathway to success.
Ice Breaker Speech: We present a gravel pencil with the Toastmaster International logo as a special gift.
Annual Events: We host two events per year for member recognition—a Christmas lunch and a year-end celebration/rewards lunch. During these events, members receive certificates for all levels they have achieved throughout the Toastmaster year, along with various prizes.
Awards: We honor our Rookie of the Year and Toastmaster of the Year with trophies, presented at the year-end celebration lunch.
- Civil Speakers has implemented a recognition program such as: giving a pathways pin when a member starts a new path.
- We give new members Toastmasters pins when joining.
- We recognize members when completing a path by giving ribbons and putting them on the website and our social media accounts.
- We have an award called the Everett Ritson Mentorship Award. This is awarded yearly to a member who has shown great mentorship to our club. This is done by a vote from the members.
- Pathways certificates printed and presented at meetings. If online, they are shared on the screen.
- Publicly recognize achievements outside of the BLT meetings, such as when someone has been appointed or elected into a new leadership role, or if someone has been successful at work or outside of Toastmasters.
- Post accomplishments on social media.
- PowerPoint presentations of all the TM accomplishments of our members.
Monthly recognition events
Kepler College Speaker playlist for approved speeches: This is a work in progress. We have only posted one set of speeches on the Kepler College YouTube channel. Part of it is the delay in getting TM approval from HQ for the use of the TM logo
This is actually an area where Twin Rivers uses a very different approach. The club has not historically been strong at formally recognizing member achievements of levels (or designations under the previous educational system). In fact the club tends to do it once per year. Where the club is exceptionally strong is in informal recognition. This takes a few key forms:
- Members recognize other members in formal evaluations, and evaluation slips (each member has a paper slip to share feedback with speakers) for their progress in developing a skill or overcoming a challenge.
- I’ve done and I’ve watched many a mentoring conversation which focused on the improvement of people’s skills specific to them.
- There is always a club announcement for our speech contestants to provide their next speaking venue and success through the journey.
Twin Rivers also added an award to recognize exceptional volunteerism at the club where that person might not be Toastmaster of the Year. This award is known as the Helping Hands Award which we present along with the other traditional Toastmaster awards at the year’s end.
This is an area that we are working to improve. We review progress on the DCP points with the club 2-3 times a year to encourage pathway progression, and our current VP Ed has created posters to hang at meetings showing the pathway progress by level and speech for every member. We also plan to have a portion of 1 meeting a month devoted to recognizing club and individual progress.