Club Growth Director

As we welcome two new clubs that joined at the end of the Toastmasters Year, JAL Richmond Leaders and UK Speakers and Leaders Toastmasters, August and September is the time to welcome new members.

The annual Smedley Award is here. It’s your opportunity to boost your club’s energy, expand your membership and earn well deserved recognition.

What is the Smedley Award? The award is named after the founder of Toastmasters International, Dr Ralph C. Smedley. It is a membership building campaign held each year from 1st August to 30th September. Add five new, dual or reinstated members and earn the prestigious Smedley Award ribbon, along with other recognition, for your club.

District 91 has a proud reputation for high performing clubs and membership growth is key to keeping that momentum going. Whether you are a community club or a corporate club, now is the perfect time to welcome new members.

More members add different perspectives, opportunities for learning and mentoring as well as strengthening your leadership pipeline.

Remember why you joined Toastmasters and what you have gained. Share those experiences with future members, they won’t regret it and neither will you. Even though it is holiday time not everyone is away so invite your friends, family and colleagues. Promote your club online via your website and various social media channels and spread the word and always remember to follow up with guests after a visit.

Historically clubs that participate in the Smedley Award often report long term improvements in engagement, retention and member satisfaction. This isn’t just a recruitment push, it’s the start of a stronger, more vibrant Toastmasters year.

Take the Smedley Challenge and let’s make this a record-breaking year for District 91. Invite, grow and thrive.

 

End-of-Year Reflections from Your Club Growth Director 

My dear Toastmasters,

As the Toastmasters year draws to a close, I find myself filled with deep gratitude for each one of you – our members, club officers, area and division directors, the club growth team, the district leadership team, my mentors, and the many Toastmaster well-wishers who had my back, especially in moments when I doubted myself.

This year has been a tremendous learning experience. While I began the year with ambitious goals, I quickly realised the value of going back to basics, understanding why our members are proud of their clubs and how we can truly support them to grow. Sometimes, that also meant having the courage to let go of clubs that no longer served their members. As they say, growth isn’t always linear, but it is always meaningful.

We tried many new campaigns and ideas:
📍 Job Fairs to raise awareness
🚇 The Ditch the Nerves Tube campaign
🎤 Ditch the Nerves Live interview skills workshops
🏢 Our first-ever Corporate Summit, setting the tone for years to come
🎁 Innovative incentives to reward and encourage

Some landed beautifully. Some taught us valuable lessons. But through it all, we moved forward anchored in the Toastmasters core values : Integrity, in our decision-making; Respect, for every member’s journey; Service, in supporting one another; and Excellence, in everything we aimed to deliver.

To all of you who contributed your time, energy, ideas and heart: thank you.

As I transition into the Program Quality Director role, I hope we’re leaving the district stronger, wiser, and more connected – ready for the next wave of growth under the incoming Club Growth Director.

Wishing you all the very best as you finish the year strong, take pride in the incredible clubs you’ve built and continue empowering more voices.

And if you haven’t yet filled in the feedback survey, please do so – your voice matters:
🔗 https://forms.gle/xCbPMhEQ29w5SgZp8

With heartfelt thanks and deep respect,

Seema Menon
Club Growth Director, District 91
2024–2025

 

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