Hurry, Hurry, Hurry! The Fall Conference is right around the corner!

The District 13 Fall Conference is right around the corner.  It will be held at the Comfort Inn in Penn Hills (right off the Parkway) on Saturday, November 7, 2009.   Your conference registration is discounted up to October 16th so there is no time to waste!  Information on how to register is at the end of this post.

Why attend a Toastmasters Conference?

1. Hear great speakers. Our keynote speaker is 1999 World Champion of Public Speaking, Craig Valentine. 
   

   Craig Valentine, MBA, an award-winning speaker and trainer, has traveled the world helping hundreds of organizations reap the profitable rewards that come from embracing change.

2. Meet up with friends.    Why not invite someone from your Toastmasters club to join you? The conference can be something else you have in common - to talk about, analyze and enjoy. Attend different workshops and share what you learn. You'll also have opportunities to make new friends - Toastmasters outside your club.
3. Learn something new.  Get inspired! The workshops often focus on teaching something or just making you think. Learn more about the Toastmaster organization beyond the club.
4. Attend the speech and table topic contests. These people have won 2 or 3 contests already! Ever wonder what would happen if you won your club speech or table topic contest? .. then won the area contest? .. then won the division contest? You would then compete against other division winners - delivering your speech in front of all of us at the Fall Conference. Wow!

How do "I" attend, you ask?   Why it is so simple.  You can either register HERE online or download and print the registration HERE .  Why not print out some extra copies to share with your Club members, friends, co-workers and those folks that don't have the internet?

Think of all the excitement generated in your Club if ALL your members attended!  Sign up and share the information at your Clubs today!

Toastmasters International's Membership Building Contests

Are you familiar with the membership building contests sponsored by Toastmasters International?

Three times a year Toastmasters International has three membership building periods in which they reward your Club for adding 5 new members.

Smedley Award
Program Dates: August 1 – September 30
It all began in 1924. Ralph Smedley invited a few men to meet in the Santa Ana, California YMCA where he conducted the first meeting of what would eventually evolve into Toastmasters International. One person initiated a program that would go on to affect millions of people. In his honor, can your club add five new, dual, or reinstated members between August 1 and September 30? By doing so you’ll qualify to receive a "Smedley Award" ribbon to display on your club’s banner. Effective July 1, 2009, in addition to the ribbon, qualifying clubs will also earn a special discount code for 10% off their next club order.



Talk Up Toastmasters!
Program Dates: February 1 – March 31
Toastmasters love to talk? So take advantage of it. During the "Talk Up Toastmasters!" membership contest, you can encourage your members to invite guests to a special meeting where regular procedures are augmented by a discussion of Toastmasters' many benefits. Add five new, dual or reinstated members to your roster between February 1 and March 31 to receive a special "Talk up Toastmasters!" ribbon to display on your club’s banner. Effective July 1, 2009, in addition to the ribbon, qualifying clubs will also earn a special discount code for 10% off their next club order.



Beat the Clock
Program Dates: May 1 – June 30
Toastmasters are taught to run meetings on time, finish speeches on time and make membership goals on time. "Beat the Clock" is about finishing the year on schedule -with a bang! Here's a wonderful new club goal: Earn the "Beat the Clock" award! Plan a contest in your club to motivate every member to get involved. Clubs adding five new, dual or reinstated members during these two months receive a "Beat the Clock" ribbon to display on the club’s banner. Effective July 1, 2009, in addition to the ribbon, qualifying clubs will also earn a special discount code for 10% off their next club order.

Individual members are rewarded for their efforts as well:

Individual Member Sponsors
Program Dates: July 1 – June 30, of the following year
Membership growth is important to ensure club success. As a sponsor of five new members, you will qualify to receive a unique sponsor's pin. As an outstanding sponsor of 10 new members, you will qualify to receive a special star pin. Effective July 1, 2009, as a sponsor of 15 new members, you will qualify to receive a special discount code for 25% off your next product purchase from Toastmasters International World Headquarters.

You’ve also made a significant contribution to your club’s long-term success. To receive credit as a sponsor, your name must appear on the application for Toastmasters club membership (Item 400) along with your home club number. Please print or type information legibly. No changes can be made to the applications once they are received by World Headquarters. New, dual and reinstated members count for credit; transfer and charter members do not. The new members join dates must fall within the July to June range. All applications and payments must be received at World Headquarters no later than June 30.

Source: Toastmasters International

Signs of Trouble

Any one or two of these things in a club does not necessarily mean that that club is going to die, but these are signs that maybe we should keep an eye on those clubs a bit more than others.

Toastmaster program

• Non-manual speeches or speeches to address a specific need (ex. practice a presentation for work)
• Lack of prepared Agenda
• One or more meeting role being filled "from the lectern"
• "Breaks" being called during meeting to organize it
• Whitewash evaluations, general evaluations, Ah Counter, Grammarian, etc. reports.
• Meetings start late
• Members seem unprepared for the roles they are filling

Attendence and guests

• Drop in attendance over time, not due to seasonal fluctuations
• No new members in a 6-month period
• A club and count fewer than 1/3 of membership roster in attendance
• Any meeting with single-digit attendance regardless of the membership size
• No non-Toastmaster guests in attendance
• Guests are not invited to either join, consider joining, or at least asked to return.
• Guests are given a cold shoulder, or otherwise not made to feel welcome
• No active membership building program
• Corporate downsizing (This applies to corporate clubs or community clubs with a large percentage of members for a single club; it suggests the membership number could take a serious hit.)
• The club doesn't have a fixed meeting room or building (tends to make the club harder to find, especially for unexpected guests)
• Senior executive, particularly the President, are routinely absent

Participation outside of the club

• Officers don't attend training
• One or more officer positions unfilled after annual elections, especially President or one of the VP's
• The Club is not represented in the form of a Contestant at every one of the Area Speech Contests
• One or more Members fill more than one Officer position (except Secratary/Treasurer which is often combined)
• The Club is not represented in the form of a Member attending every District Conference
• Other than Treasurer (when it could be sometimes advantageous to do so) an officer repeats an office more than 12 consecutive months

Administration

• Semi-annual dues report is late
• The club seems short of critical supplies like ballots
• Annual club officer list not submitted prior to June 30th (added by V.B.)
  

Source:

This list was based on an on line discussion between Eric Matto, DTM (LGM-elect, Chicagoland District 30 Toastmasters), Dan Durishan, AbleTM, CL (Area Governor, District 63) and John Fleming, ATM-B, CL (VP-Ed, Rooster Rousers Toastmasters). The list was edited and added to by Rick Clements, AbleTM-S (VP-Ed, Daylighters Toastmasters)

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Rick's Toastmaster skills page http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/3558/Achiever.htm

Dues time is right around the corner!

No matter your club's size - sending in dues in a timely fashion is vitally important to keep your charter in good standing. How?

The Upside: Paying your Club's dues on time is one of the features of the Distinguished Club Plan. Your Club earns one point towards Distinguished Club for paying their dues on time!

The Downside: When a Club does not pay their dues on time (September 30/March 31st) they lose their good standing and eventually "the membership status of and services to individual members of these clubs will be suspended, including the mailing of The Toastmaster magazine. "
Source: Toastmasters International Policies and Procedures, C 4 Suspension of Non-Paying Clubs and Reinstatement of Inactive Clubs .

Keeping your member's dues up to date ensures they receive credit for their educational achievements, keeps them qualified to participate in contests and keeps their Toastmaster magazine subscription active. Example: Member's speeches can't be counted towards their CC, ACB, ACS, ACG or DTM when a club is in delinquent status - Egad!

As you can see, paying your Club's dues on time affects your entire membership and their standing with Toastmasters International!

Here are the steps to collecting and paying your Club's dues:

According to the Toastmaster International's calendar: Dues renewal notices should be sent out by August 15th for the Fall dues and February 15th for the Spring dues.

Always indicate to your members that their check should be made out to their Club - NOT TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL. The club should then issue one check payable or submit one credit card number to Toastmasters International.

Collect and send all dues to World Headquarters to be received by March 31/September 30th. There is no longer a 10 day grace period so be sure they are paid by those dates.

Does your Club have a freetoasthost website? Do you know about the dues renewal feature included in your software? You can send a dues notice invoice to all your members with one click. Contact me if you would like more information on how to do this.

You don't have to have ALL the dues collected for your entire membership to meet the requirement! You merely need to send in dues for SIX MEMBERS - at least three of whom were members of the club during the last renewal period. The remainder of your member's dues can be paid to TI (Toastmasters International) as they are collected.

Paying Dues Online: Dues can be paid with a credit or debit card at www.toastmasters.org.

Beginning Monday, July 26, 2010 all members can log in to toastmasters.org using a Single Sign-On. This means that club and district leaders will no longer need different user names and passwords to conduct club or district business.

To log in, simply enter your individual ID and password. If you are having difficulty, please watch this helpful tutorial or consult the new Single Sign-On FAQ.

Once you are logged in the link to conduct Club or District Business will be on the left side of your screen with the title Club Central.

Still need some help collecting your dues? Your Club's Area Governor is ready and willing to assist you with any Club issues. You can find out your Club's Area Governor by visiting the District 13 website: www.d13tm.com. Just click on the "About TI & D13" link on the top menu, choose the Division and Area Governors link, scroll down on the locate your Club's name and your Area Governor's name will be listed to the side. Their name is a link to their email. Or you can just click on the "Area and Divisions Governors" link in this paragraph. Simple!

Collecting and paying your dues to TI is really pretty easy, now isn't it? Why not get started today!

Moments of Truth - An Invaluable Tool

Did you know that almost 70 percent of people leave a club, organization or business because they feel that the people they deal with are indifferent to their needs? Do you get frustrated when you attend a meeting that is disorganized, starts 10 minutes late and ends 30 minutes late? What about when you go to the store and the salespeople are more interested in talking to each other than helping you find the product you need?

Wouldn’t you rather go to a meeting where everyone knows what they should be doing and when they should be doing it, resulting in a meeting that starts and ends on time? Or shop in a store where customer service takes priority, salespeople greet you with a smile and great opportunities are clearly publicized? Toastmasters clubs are no different, and with the Moments of Truth manual, you can help make sure that your club is an appealing, welcoming place for prospective members.

Remember your first visit to a Toastmasters club? What kind of impression did that meeting leave on you? Were you welcomed and introduced to officers and members? When you joined, were you assigned a mentor? What about now? Do you welcome guests to your club? Are you mentoring anyone? The mission of each Toastmasters club is to provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment, allowing every member the opportunity to develop communication and leadership skills that, in turn, foster self-confidence and personal growth. Is your club fulfilling this mission?

A Moment of Truth is an episode when a prospective member comes in contact with any aspect of the Toastmasters experience and forms an impression of the organization’s quality and service. Is your club using these episodes to strengthen and improve itself? Does everyone in your club know all six Moments of Truth? Could you use a refresher? You’re in luck, because Moments of Truth is now available for free! You can download the manual as well as the PowerPoint show, handouts and chart. Use the materials to put on a Moments of Truth presentation for your club, or review them to help your club maximize each moment’s effectiveness.

Moments of Truth has been used by countless clubs to sharpen their focus on their most important goal – member service and personal satisfaction. By concentrating on First Impressions, Membership Orientation, Fellowship, Variety and Communication, Program Planning and Meeting Organization, Membership Strength and Achievement Recognition, Moments of Truth ensures that clubs have the information they need to achieve their goals.

Do you think your club could use some direction in these areas? Download Moments of Truth from the side menu (Coach and Club Resources) now.

You have nothing to lose!

Source: Toastmasters International

The Club Coach Program - Bring Life Back Into Your Club

Need to bring in a new coach?

Have your Toastmasters meetings dwindled down to just 12 or fewer members? Are the meetings boring and the same five people leading?

Have you considered a club coach?

What is a club coach?

* An experienced Toastmaster who volunteers to help another club in their area.

* This Toastmaster is not a member of the club and they are not familiar with the club or its members.

* This Toastmaster is typically working towards their Advanced Leader Silver.

What are the responsibilities of a club coach?

* Assist the club in raising its membership and helping the club fulfill the requirements necessary to reach distinguished status or better.

* Build a rapport with club leadership and its members.

* Assess the environment, observe, analyze and recommend solutions.

* Develop a plan with goals for improvement.

* Implement the plan and help club officers and members to achieve their goals.

* Instill enthusiasm, loyalty and a sense of responsibility for the club's future.

When requesting a club coach, what regulations should I be aware of?

* A club coach may only be assigned by the district governor or lt. governor marketing.

* At the time of the assignment, the club membership must show 12 or fewer members.

* Maximum of two club coaches may be appointed to each club.

* The club coach appointment lasts from the date of appointment to June 30 of the current year if the club becomes a distinguished club or better. If distinguished club status is not reached in the initial program year then the assignment will be extended to June 30 of the following year.

Source: Toastmasters International

Would you like to learn more about finding a Coach for YOUR District 13 Toastmasters Club?

Click here !

Interested in becoming a Club Coach?

Click here !