Why did you join Toastmasters? Why have you stayed?

We all have very different answers to those questions. Maybe a boss told you you really had to improve your presentations or you wouldn’t be able to advance your career. Maybe you had to make a best man’s speech and you didn’t want to let your friend down. Perhaps, like me, you wanted to meet new people with different experiences.

I suspect that, no matter the range of answers to the first question, the answer to the second is pretty much the same for all of us.

Toastmasters has changed our lives.

We discovered capabilities in ourselves we didn’t know we possessed. We felt good about supporting a fellow member. We laughed, cried and developed long-lasting friendships with fellow members, and sometimes more, as I did.

It’s a pretty great place to be, isn’t it!

Wouldn’t you love to share that feeling with others?

When you joined Toastmasters, you made an agreement with your club – The Toastmasters Promise. You might not remember, but it’s there, on the back of the membership form you signed, and in the front cover of your Competent Leader and Competent Communicator manuals. There are ten promises and I’d like to focus on just two of them:

• To help the club maintain the positive, friendly environment necessary for all members to learn and grow

• To bring guests to club meetings so they can see the benefits Toastmasters membership offers

If you look around your club though, is there anyone you haven’t seen for a while? Perhaps a friend, maybe an acquaintance. Do you ever wonder how they are doing? Why not give them a call, just to say hi and let them know you’re thinking of them and ask them to come back to the club for a visit.

I encourage you to invite a friend to your next club meeting. Share with them how Toastmasters has affected you. They’ll probably recognise the changes you’ve made but be unaware of the reasons why. Invite them to your club so they can experience the Toastmasters program.

Grow and be strong!

Best wishes,
Vanessa King, incoming District Director 2016-17