Talk Up Toastmasters!

The Talk Up Toastmasters Contest is right around the corner, beginning on February 1st

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. Membership applications and payment for members who join between February 1 and March 31 must be received at World Headquarters or online no later than March 31. Each members join date as listed on the application must be no later than March. Transfer and charter members do not count for credit. 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.

What does YOUR Club have planned to increase membership during the program dates?

How about an Open House?  Did you know Toastmasters International now provides a free Open House power point presentation ?  It can be downloaded by visiting their new Virtual Brand Portal at this address:  http://www.toastmasters.org/vbp/

(if the link does not take you to the Virtual Brand Portal cut and paste the url into your address bar)

You'll also find business card templates, fliers for both corporate and community clubs, and lots more goodies!

Share your ideas by commenting to this post!

FAQ - Can I give speeches outside of my club?

Answer:  Yes. You are allowed to do up to two speeches per manual outside of your club, as long as you have received prior permission of your Vice President Education. You also need to get a written and verbal evaluation from a Toastmaster, although the Toastmaster does not need to be in the same club as you.

Example: Do you belong to a corporate club?  Do you give presentations for your company?  As long as you have a Toastmaster to evaluate your speech you can give up to two presentations PER MANUAL outside of your club meeting.

Your Club's International Speech Contests and Evaluation Contests

How familiar are you with the District 13 Calendar?  It's the best way to keep up with what is going on around District 13.

For instance, did you know that all the clubs in District 13 should have their International Speech and Evaluation Contests completed by February 28th?

That means if you are your club's VP of Education you should already be informing your members to start working on their contest speeches and ordering your contest materials.

You'll need to order Item 1169 for the International Speech Contest and Item 1169E for your Evaluation Contest.  You also need to arrange a Model Speaker for your Evaluation Contest - try to find someone outside of your club as your model speaker to give your contestants a fresh speaker to evaluate.

Your certificates of participation (Item 510D) , prizes and/or trophies are not included in your contest packs so be sure to make arrangements for those as well.  If you club's budget can't support purchasing trophies be creative.  Even a nice First, Second or Third place certificate is a great display of recognition.  Just don't let your winners OR participants go home empty handed.

Not sure of the rules?  Tadaaa!

Need help encouraging your members to enter the contests?  I found this article in Toastmaster's magazine, Manner of Speaking: The Real Prize, to be very effective.

Okay, you're all set!  Have a great contest and don't forget to share your results with your Area Governor.  They will be arranging the next stop for your winning speaker's contest.

Awesome TLI!

Wow!  What a great Toastmaster's Leadership Institute today.  I hope you enjoyed your training as much as I did!

Congratulations to our Lgt. Governor of Education, Paulette Harvey, for putting on such a great training for us.

I would like to thank Rob Olszewski, District 13 Public Relations Officer, and Francine Milligan for helping me with my workshop today.

If for some reason you weren't able to attend training today be sure to contact your Area Governor to find out where and when your club's make-up training will be held.

Oh, and the first one to comment on this post and tell me they were in attendance today will win a 10.00 gift certificate to the Toastmasters store for their club!