Club Growth Director

My dear toastmasters,

As we head into the final weeks of the Toastmasters year, our district is buzzing with success stories, new beginnings, and clubs stepping up like never before. Here’s your May roundup from the Club Growth corner:

🌟 Barking Toastmasters: A Comeback Story to Celebrate!
Once a coached club, Barking Toastmasters has made a stunning comeback — now proudly holding President’s Distinguished status and having earned over 4 incentives this year! Your resilience, teamwork, leadership and guidance from your coach, Nadya, inspire others across the district.

🏆 Clubs Claiming Multiple Incentives – Celebrating Excellence
So far, 61 clubs have earned incentives — with more still available and waiting to be claimed!
A special round of applause goes to:

• Woodford Green Speakers, who under the guidance of their coach earned 2 incentives

Other clubs who surpassed expectations by earning 4 or more incentives, a phenomenal achievement that showcases dedication to member experience and growth.

• London Olympians Speakers Toastmasters Club
• London Toastmasters
• LSBU Public Speakers Club

🚀 New Club Spotlight – SAP UKI Toastmasters
May welcomed a fantastic new addition to our district — SAP UKI Toastmasters! Congratulations to the club founders and members for officially chartering and joining the wider Toastmasters family. We look forward to seeing your voices and leaders thrive.

🌟 District Corporate Summit – 19 June

We’re excited to host the District 91 Corporate Summit on 19 June — a focused, in-person event showcasing the impact of Toastmasters in the workplace. Invite your HR, L&D, or Business Leaders to discover the benefits of starting a club within your organisation. This initiative is led by our amazing Rupa Datta. Look out for the link for more details.

🎤 Ditch the Nerves Live: Part 2 – Interview Skills Success!

On 14 May, we hosted Ditch the Nerves Live: Part 2 — a powerful, practical session focused on interview skills. Attendees walked away with real tips, renewed confidence, and insights into landing their next big opportunity. A heartfelt thank you to all the speakers and supporters who made this possible. This series continues to make a meaningful impact — and we’re just getting started!

📣 Claim What’s Rightfully Yours!
We still have a few more incentives available — and we’re encouraging clubs to step forward and claim what is rightfully yours. If your club has met the requirements, please don’t miss the opportunity to be recognised and rewarded. Every member, every milestone counts.

💡 Help Shape the Future by sharing your voice with us!
Whether you’re interested in coaching, mentoring, training, contests, or events — we need your voice! 📩 Register your interest and together, we’ll build a stronger, more inclusive learning culture.

We’re still a bit shy of reaching Distinguished status and encourage you to bring your friends, convert the guests at clubs to members as well as help clubs on the anvil of chartering, cross the line. Together we can make it happen. Thank you for your commitment, energy, and belief in the Toastmasters journey.

Let’s finish this year strong — and begin the next with even greater purpose!

With appreciation,
Seema Menon
Club Growth Director, District 91
2024–2025

 

Dear Members,

What a fantastic month April has been for club growth and energy across our district! Here’s a roundup of the highlights:

27 Clubs Earn Talk Up Toastmasters Awards!
A huge congratulations to the 27 clubs that achieved the Talk Up Toastmasters incentive by adding five or more new, dual, or reinstated members between February and March. Your commitment to growing vibrant club communities is truly commendable!

Celebrating Our “Bring a Friend” Champions!
Our special Bring a Friend incentive invited members to bring guests who later joined their clubs — and what a success it was!
We are delighted to announce 10 winners, each recognized with a voucher for bringing in 4 or more new guests who signed up. Thank you for sharing the Toastmasters experience and inspiring new journeys!

April Club Launches – Growing Stronger!
April will see the launch of three exciting new clubs:

• HSBC London Toastmasters Club
• SAP UKI Toastmasters
• Columbia Threadneedle Investments Toastmasters

A warm welcome to all our new members and club leaders — we can’t wait to see you flourish!

Processing Updates
While many club renewals have already been completed, we are awaiting updates for a few due to a slight processing backlog at Toastmasters International HQ. Thank you for your patience and continued enthusiasm as we work through the final confirmations.

District Growth Snapshot:

• New Clubs This Year (to date): 9
• Clubs with 20+ Members: 86
• Clubs with 25+ Members: 55
• Highest Club Membership: 71 members!

Each guest welcomed, each member supported, and each new club chartered strengthens our mission of empowering individuals through communication and leadership. Thank you for the passion and dedication you bring to every meeting and every conversation.

See You at the Conference!
I’m looking forward to meeting many of you in person at our upcoming District Conference at Radisson Red, near Heathrow, on 2 May! It’s going to be a wonderful celebration of all we have achieved together — and a chance to ignite even more inspiration for the year ahead.

Let’s keep the momentum going and finish the year strong! 🚀

Warm regards,
Seema Menon DTM
D91 Club Growth Director 2024–2025

 

What if improving your communication skills could change your career—or even your life? That’s exactly what we showcased with our Toastmasters awareness campaign on the London Underground!

A Campaign that created a buzz (10 Mar – 23 Mar)

This initiative started as a challenge—to explore new and innovative marketing ideas. From 10th March to 23rd March, our TFL Tube Campaign showcased Toastmasters across Bank, Brixton, Chiswick Park, Edgware Road, Holborn, Turnpike Lane, Waterloo, and Westminster stations. With my background in media, I had always been curious about advertising on the Tube but wasn’t sure if it was feasible within our limited budget. But here’s the thing about Toastmasters—we make things happen!

Our Goals:
1️⃣ Raise awareness about Toastmasters—a global organisation with 270,000 members worldwide and 175 clubs in the South of the UK.
2️⃣ Encourage more people to join and experience the life-changing skills Toastmasters offers—whether for acing a job interview, becoming a stronger leader, or speaking confidently.
3️⃣ Make our members proud of their journey through a Tube Selfie Contest!

How It All Came Together

To reach a larger audience and spread the word about Toastmasters, we created a small action team:
🔹 Hephzibah Emereole & Ramesh Halai from the club growth team led the groundwork, researching options and engaging vendors. I finalised station locations and negotiated a taster campaign with Dami from Global, securing first-time client discounts and ad extensions beyond 23March. It’s still there on the Bank Station if you’d like to take some more selfies.
🔹 Steve Vear believed in the vision and approved the budget, making this dream a reality!
🔹 Janet Alkema, Rob Dewing & I collaborated on the engaging webpage DitchTheNerves.com.
🔹 Diane Richardson designed eye-catching visuals.
🔹 Allen Paul crafted contest messaging and drove engagement on social media.

The Results: A Resounding Success!

📸 Districts across the world noticed the campaign and reached out to collaborate with us on the #DitchTheNerves initiative.
🌟 Our district members enthusiastically participated, taking Tube selfies and spreading the word.
📈 Sign-ups from non-Toastmaster members surged, and we kept them engaged with five emailers, sharing videos and interview tips collated by Janet.

What’s Next? DitchTheNerves-Live Webinar on 16th April & 14th May!

Our team is now working on DitchTheNerves-Live, a webinar designed for non-Toastmasters who engaged with us through the Tube Campaign and the Jobs Fair campaigns.

🎤 Hosted by experienced Toastmasters, HR professionals, and corporate club members, this panel discussion will:
✅ Share personal growth stories.
✅ Discuss interview do’s and don’ts.
✅ Provide strong takeaways to inspire attendees to join Toastmasters for their communication and leadership journey.

Look out for the social media campaign reaching out to wider audiences beyond London. Details will follow soon.

This campaign is a testament to what we can achieve together—helping more people find their voice and unlock their potential.

 

Announcements & Incentives

👥 Bring a Friend Initiative – Introduce four guests to your club and earn an exciting incentive from the district when they join the club!

🏆 Early Bird Renewal Winners Announced! Congratulations to our winners who renewed their membership early! Your commitment to growth is inspiring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Warm regards,

Seema Menon, DTM
D91 Club Growth Director 2024-25

Dear District 91 Members,

I am delighted to bring you the latest updates as we continue our journey of growth and excellence! Your dedication and enthusiasm have been truly inspiring, and we are already seeing incredible progress in 2025.

 

Membership Renewals – Act Now!

With membership renewals open until 31st March, we encourage clubs to renew early to avoid last-minute system crashes. I had alluded to  Early Bird Renewal Incentive in my last month’s note. Renew 100% of your membership base by 10th March to receive a special incentive!

A big round of applause to the clubs that have already renewed—well done! If you are a member of a corporate club, now is the time to start the process, if you haven’t yet. If you need support, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

 

Talk Up Toastmasters & Bring a Friend – Still Up for Grabs!

The Talk Up Toastmasters incentive is in full swing! Add 5 new or dual or reinstated members to your club by 31st Marchand earn well-deserved recognition. Additionally, our Bring a Friend incentive continues—introduce 4 guests and showcase the power of Toastmasters! You would avail of a personal incentive too. 

 

Toastmasters Takes Over London – TFL Tube Campaign

From 10th March to 23rd March, Toastmasters will be featured across several London Underground stations: Bank, Brixton, Chiswick Park, Edgware Road, Holborn, Turnpike Lane, Waterloo, and Westminster. 

Something exciting is on the horizon! Help us spread the word—if you spot our poster in any of the tube stations mentioned above, snap a selfie and share it with us at win@d91toastmasters.org.uk. The selfies will be posted on our district socials, and a lucky member will win a special prize in our contest draw! Keep an eye out for our contest promo. 

 

Corporate Clubs & Open Houses – A Game Changer!

I had the opportunity to visit exciting Open House meetings at Accenture and Deutsche Bank, witnessing first-hand how corporate clubs are revitalizing and attracting new members. Open Houses and Speechcraft sessions are fantastic tools to energize your clubs—reach out if you’d like support in organizing one!

 

Building Sustainable Clubs – A Special Thanks!

I had the privilege of joining drop-in sessions with our Club Mentors and Club Coaches over the last few days. Their dedication in sustaining strong clubs is truly commendable. A huge thank you to our awesome Club Growth Team, who work tirelessly behind the scenes to support you on your path to excellence.

Let’s push forward, grow, and celebrate our successes together !

Warm regards,
Seema Menon
Club Growth Director
District 91 Toastmasters

Dear District 91 Members,

I am thrilled to share some fantastic news! During the recent Mid-Year Training in Hyderabad, our district was recognized as the 2nd highest in Region 10 for the number of clubs achieving the President’s 20+ status. This is a tremendous achievement, and I extend my heartfelt congratulations to each of you for your commitment to membership growth and retention.

But why stop at second place? Let’s aim for the top spot in our region by the end of March 2025! With membership renewals now open, we encourage clubs to renew 100% of their member base by 10th March. Those that achieve this milestone while maintaining 20+ members will receive a special incentive—stay tuned for details!

This incentive is in addition to the many exciting opportunities already available, including:
✅ Talk Up Toastmasters
✅ Speechcraft Booster
✅ Bring a Friend
✅ New Club Champion
✅ Trailblazer Division
…and more! Make sure to check out all the available incentives here: District 91 Incentives.

Does your organization have a Toastmasters club? If not, do you think you could help set one up before 15th April this year? Could others benefit from Toastmasters the way you have? If the answer is yes, please do not hesitate to reach out to me! My team will be happy to help you organize demo meetings and support you in establishing a sustainable club. Plus, there’s a New Club Champion incentive waiting for you!

We are now halfway through the Toastmasters year, and this is the perfect time for a renewed, concerted effort to support one another in achieving the goals we set at the start of July 2024. Let’s push forward, inspire growth, and celebrate success together!

Warm regards,

Seema Menon, DTM
D91 Club Growth Director 2024-25