Three Little Letters That Once Felt Out of Reach

When I first joined Toastmasters on October 1, 2011, I kept hearing about three little letters: DTM. It didn’t take long to learn that those three little letters held great meaning: Distinguished Toastmaster. At first, I didn’t believe that was something I could achieve. I had suffered a traumatic brain injury that blew up my life. I was off work on long-term disability and floundering.I joined Toastmasters for several reasons. I was looking for mental stimulation and a way to build skills for the ever-widening gap in my resume. I was also looking for a way to make friends.I achieved all these objectives when I joined Toastmasters! Now I can’t help but shout about the benefits of Toastmasters to anyone who expresses any sort of curiosity or interest.

Finding Purpose, Friendship, and Confidence Through Toastmasters

Even with all the benefits I gained, I still didn’t believe I could achieve DTM status. Then I became an Area Director — and a good one. I was named District 42 Area Director of the Year in 2020/2021. After learning that being an Area Director was a big checkmark toward DTM, my mindset shifted. At that point, I thought maybe I could actually get my DTM.

Checking Off the Journey, One Requirement at a Time

I joined the DTM Mastermind Group, where I learned about the DTM criteria and slowly began checking off the requirements.I had already been a club officer many times, including President, where I led a club to President’s Distinguished, VP Education, VP Membership, and Secretary — check! I was a Club Mentor to Teck Toastmasters, now Engineering & Geoscience Toastmasters Club, in 2021 — check! I found this role easy because it was really about helping them run successful club meetings. I enjoy running into members from the club and having them remember me. After a couple of false starts, I was a Club Sponsor with Joyce Allen of Mark’s, which chartered on May 13, 2025 — check! I completed my two paths in Motivational Strategies and Presentation Mastery — check!

A District-Wide New Member Orientation Project

Then came my DTM project. I led a team that developed a district-wide New Member Orientation. The idea came from my time as Area Director, when it seemed redundant to me that every club needed to develop its own new member orientation. My team included Nandini Venkatesan, Saya Sanyal, Yvonne Heerema, and Alireza Zarrabian. We held our first District 42 New Member Orientation on April 8, and the second session is scheduled for May 11.

The topics we cover in the session include meeting roles and skills gained, feedback culture, contests, Circle of Gold, mentorship, resources, and leadership opportunities. We developed a next-steps checklist and modified a reference sheet from a prior team I was on, with the idea that each club could customize it and share it with new members.

The People Who Believed in Me

So many people helped me get to this point with their belief in me, encouragement, and support.

• Thank you to my two amazing mentors: Rowena, my first general Toastmasters mentor, and Cathie, my Area Director mentor. Part of my Area Director of the Year award belongs to Cathie, who believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself.
• Thank you to the leadership trio when I was Area Director: Christina, Bev, and Katrina.
• Thank you to the clubs I was responsible for as Area Director: Healthy Living, Ignite, HealthMasters, Heritage Go Getters, and WPTM Communicators.
• Thank you to Eugene from Teck Toastmasters for my time as Club Mentor.
• Thank you to my DTM project team: Nandini, Saya, Yvonne, and Alireza.
• Thank you to everyone who has listened to me fumble through speeches due to my inability to memorize them.
• Thank you to my current club, Igniters, and all their fabulous members who encourage and cheer me on.
• Thank you to Wendie for all the love and hugs.
• Thank you to my parents, who have always believed in me and have helped hone my overly wordy speeches many times over the years.
• Last but not least, thank you to my husband, Rob, who fully supports my Toastmasters membership.

I am proud to say that I am Distinguished Toastmaster Emma Glover!

A Helpful Lesson for Future DTM Applicants

One learning I would like to share with future DTM applicants is this: you have to complete a DTM Award Application form. This was challenging for me because of my memory issues. I had also changed email systems and moved, which involved a lot of purging, so I didn’t have many records. I contacted Toastmasters International to ask how to find this information, and they sent me very helpful guidance, which I now share with you to help you complete the form when you get to that stage:

Emma Glover
Distinguished Toastmaster