Tag: officer training

Officer Roles: Help Your Club Grow & Succeed!

Posted on | by Stephanie Roy

You signed up for Toastmasters to work on your leadership skills. Now, it’s time to lead.

Your club needs YOU to succeed.

And it doesn’t take more than an hour or two a month.

The first week of May is officer election time. We are all contributing members to our clubs. It is ALL our responsibilities to help the club succeed.

If it’s your turn to step up for your club, here are some things to think about:

Which Officer Role should you volunteer for?

If you’re at almost every meeting. If you enjoy encouraging others and leading a team to success. If you DON’T like a lot of admin type work, you will enjoy the President role.

If you have attention to detail and like numbers and data, you will enjoy the Treasurer role.

If you like taking notes and tracking action steps to keep your team on track to success, you will enjoy the Secretary role.

If you like guiding people towards growth and encouraging them to challenge themselves. If you like ensuring that those acts are rewarded and recognized, you will enjoy the Vice President of Education role.

If you like sharing socially and spreading the word about Toastmasters and your club, you will enjoy the Vice President of Public Relations role.

If you like nurturing relationships and welcoming new members, you will enjoy the Vice President of Membership role.

If you like creating a positive, focused, welcoming environment, you will enjoy the Sergeant-At-Arms role.

Time Commitments for each Officer Roles

President: commit to showing up to as many meetings as possible to lead

VP of Education: connect briefly with members at meetings or outside of the meetings about their Pathways progress. Update Basecamp and TI as needed.

VP of Membership: Check-in with members when their attendance is lagging and communicate with inquiries and guests

VP of Public Relations: find opportunities to promote the club in your area and online

Treasurer: main duties happen twice a year in renewal periods

Secretary: attend as many meetings as possible to take appropriate notes. Update TI as needed.

Sergeant-At-Arms:  commit to showing up to as many meetings as possible to ensure the room (virtual or in-person) is set up

Key tasks for success:

President (Role Overview):

  • Provide positive leadership to all officers and members
  • Build a cohesive team and ensure all tasks are completed
  • Oversee and facilitate club meetings
  • Lead by example and treat all members fairly and equally

VP of Education (Role Overview):

  • Set club agenda and assign meeting roles
  • Manage member progress in Pathways and act as the primary Base Camp Manager
  • Encourage member engagement in the Pathways learning experience
  • Plan speech contests (with help from your officer team)

VP of Membership (Role Overview):

  • Initiate contact with guests and help them feel welcome
  • Provide hospitality and membership information for guests
  • Reply to all communications from prospective members in a timely manner
  • Manage the process of converting guests to members

VP of Public Relations (Role Overview):

  • Promote the club to eligible guests and notify the media regarding the club’s existence and benefits
  • Develop and maintain club social media pages and website
  • Create club publicity campaigns
  • Ensure the Club Contact and Meeting Information is up to date in Club Central

Treasurer (Role Overview):

  • Record and maintain accurate and up-to-date financial club records
  • Manage club bank account, make deposits, and write checks as approved
  • Collect and submit membership and renewal dues
  • Create a budget and lead an annual audit

Secretary (Role Overview):

  • Take minutes at club and executive committee meetings
  • Organize and maintain club records and files
  • Update and distribute membership rosters
  • Update the club and officer list at Toastmasters International

Sergeant-At-Arms (Role Overview):

  • Store club equipment and materials
  • Manage meeting facilities (virtual and/or in-person)
  • Provide hospitality and membership information for guests
  • Distribute club materials

Important final note: YOU ARE NOT ALONE! There is a team of District Leaders that have your back. Find out who your Area and Division Directors are. Attend Officer Training in the spring and fall and ASK QUESTIONS! We are here to help you and your club succeed AND have fun doing it 🙂

Essential Resources from Toastmasters International:

District Officer Training Dates

Posted on | by Andrew Watt, DTM | 1 Comment on District Officer Training Dates

July 2, 2022

Just like Club Officers, your District Officers (senior team, Division Directors and Area Directors) go to training as well! The following is the calendar and brief descriptions of each training that the District Officers are expected to participate in over the next several weeks.

You can join these Zoom meetings at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86899388575?pwd=U9q3YxXSLszSdWOjOmbrPMo1Y3uMM6.1

Program TitleMain DateAlternate DateAudience
Area Director ExpectationsSat, 7/23/2022
9:00 – 10:30 am

Mon 9/19/2022
8:00-9:00 pm

Wed. 9/21/2022
noon-1:00 pm		Tue 7/19/2022
6:00 – 7:30 pm		DivD/AD
Effective Area Council MeetingsSat 7/23/2022
10:30-11:30 am

Mon. 9/19/2022
noon-1:00 pm

Thur.. 9/29/2022
noon-1:00 pm
Tue 7/19/202
6:00 – 7:30 pm		AD
Effective Division Council MeetingsSat 7/23/2022
10:30 am – 11:30 am

Mon. 9/19/2022
noon-1:00 pm

Thur.. 9/29/2022
noon-1:00 pm		Tue 7/19/2022
7:30 pm – 8:30 pm		DivD
Successful TeamsSat 7/23/2022
11:30 am – 12:30 pm

Mon 9/26/2022
8:00-9:00 pm

Tues. 9/27/2022
noon-1:00 pm		Tue 7/19/2022
8:30 pm – 9:30 pm		AD/DivD
Successful Club VisitsThur 8/25/2022
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm		Sun 8/27/2022
9:00 am – 10:30 am		AD
(rec’d for DivD)
Coaching Clubs to Enhanced QualitySat 9/10/2022
9:00 am – 10:30 am		Tues 9/20/2022
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm		DivD/AD
Establish and Support New ClubsSat 9/10/2022
10:30 am to 12:00 pm		Tues 9/20/202
7:30 pm – 9:00 pm		DivD/AD
Organizing Speech Contests Sat 10/1/2022
9:00 am – 10:15 am		Thur. 10/6/2022
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm		DivD/AD
Thrive in the District Recognition ProgramSat 10/1/2022
10:15 am – 11:30 am		Thur. 10/6/2022
7:30 pm – 9:00 pm		DivD/AD

What’s in these educational sessions?

Area Director Expectations: The role of Area Director is that of visitor, coach and guide to the officers of four to six clubs in a geographical area. For some Area Directors in District 53, this can be five clubs in the same city. For others, it can be widely spread clubs more than two hours apart. In this session, you’ll learn what’s expected of Area Directors in District 53, and how to create a successful experience for yourself and for the officers of the clubs in your care.

Effective Area Council Meetings: The Area Director has a team of people to help them coordinate the work of clubs when they work together — the President and the three Vice Presidents of each club are voting members of the Area Council, which decides local matters of importance to those clubs. How can you get them working together where it matters?

Effective Division Council Meetings: The Division Director is a “coach of coaches,” lending support and guidance to the Area Directors that make up their division. How can you lead effective meetings for this group, and how can you work together to bring clubs to success, together?

Building Successful Teams: If an Area Director or Division Director did everything they were supposed to by themselves… they’d be exhausted. An Area or Division Director needs a team, and as a Toastmaster you have to know how to build a successful team to achieve your objectives.

Successful Club Visits: Twice a year, a District officer is required to visit a club and to report on its conformity with the Toastmasters brand, its successes, and its opportunities for growth. This officer is usually the club’s Area Director, who files a written report on the Toastmasters.org website (under District Central) by the end of November and the end of May. We’ll talk about how to conduct yourself during this visit, and what kinds of things you should be alert to, and report on, to your District’s other officers.

Coaching Clubs to Enhanced Quality: Many clubs don’t just want to be clubs; they want to be distinguished clubs, or select distinguished clubs, or even president’s distinguished clubs. We’ll talk in this session about the strategies for achieving that goal.

Establishing and Supporting New Clubs: The District Mission is “We build new clubs and support all clubs in achieving excellence.” Creating — chartering — new clubs is the first part of our mission. We’ll learn how that goal is accomplished in this session, and what each officer can do to support this mission-critical goal.

Organizing Speech Contests: In order to be a champion, a speaker in the International Contest or one of the other Toastmasters contest cycles (Humorous, Table Topics, Tall Tales, and Evaluation) has to advance from a club contest to an Area Contest, a Division Contest, and a District Contest. In this session, we’ll learn how to create a fun and exciting Speech Contest experience for contestants and functionaries alike.

Thriving in the District Recognition Program: Just as clubs have the metrics of the Distinguished Club Program (DCP), District officers have their own metrics for success to be designated as a Distinguished, Select Distinguished, President’s Distinguished, or Smedley Distinguished Area, Division or District. We’ll talk about what those metrics are, why we’re aiming for them, and what we can do on a personal level to help the District achieve these goals locally and regionally, for our own success and the success of others.

•••

If you’d like to be an Area Director, contact the District Director or your Division Director. If you’d like to attend one of these sessions as an observer and for your own learning, you’ll need permission from a member of the senior team (District Director, Program Quality Director, or Club Growth Director).