Over the past months, we have seen a steady growth in the number of educational awards being submitted, and I am thrilled that we have now over 1,000 educational awards this Toastmasters year across our District! This is a tremendous achievement and shows many of you are progressing with your goals. Congratulations!
More than 2/3 of educational awards have been awarded under the Pathways programme, which shows more and more of you are engaging with our education programme. To put it into perspective, this is over 15% more awards than this time last year! Congratulations again!
Don’t forget to check with your VPE that you progress is fully accounted for, and all your achievements recorded in Basecamp are formally recognised. Let’s aim high and why not reach that coveted 1 educational award per member this year?
For anyone still completing educational awards under the Traditional programme, I would like to remind you that all traditional awards must be submitted by 30th June 2020 in order to be recognised by World Headquarters.
Many Clubs have already started the next round of Contest, check out the latest rulebook for any question, and I look forward to seeing you on stage in London at our annual conference on 1-3 May!
Arnaud Satre Arnaud Sartre, Program Quality Director
Returning from the International Convention made me reflect on several point:
Our organisation is now present in 143 countries which means wherever we may travel, we will have friendly Clubs welcoming us
Many Districts look up to our own District 91, testament to all our amazing members and the great work we achieve together
There is wealth of knowledge and experience right on our doorstep and across other European Districts, and I am sure they would love to visit your Club given the chance
The Summer window for Club Officer training is now closed, but rest assured the winter season is already in the planning. You may have heard the recent announcement, we will start the Winter Club officer training on 1st November, a month early! An opportunity not to be missed whether an aspiring Club officer or already elected.
I look forward to visiting many of your Autumn contests, and witness the best we have to offer for Humorous and Table Topics speeches. Fancy a new challenge? Why not say Yes to your Club and become a participant in your Club contests, with a chance to represent your Club in May for our London 2020 conference.
Talking of London 2020, why not be part of history and volunteer to help? If you want to know more and get involved, drop me a line.
And don’t forget, you have until the end of September to renew your membership and continue to benefit from our Pathways learning Programme.
Deborah Goodman,Bromley Speakers – Sharing her journey
After nearly 20 years away from the corporate world, Deborah Goodham Toastmaster at Bromley Speakers embraces the role of Vice President Public Relations.
Deborah Goodman, worked in the Telecoms industry for 23 years before leaving the corporate world behind her in 2000 to pursue her passion in holistic therapy.
“I really thought I’d left this kind of work behind me,” Deborah said, “but I am finding that this new role has ignited a spark in me and I’m eager to get my teeth into it.”
Deborah left her London job after suffering stress and depression and experiencing her first massage and energy healing whilst on holiday in Costa Rica.
After losing 4 family members to a hereditary neurological condition, she started to raise money and awareness for the Huntington’s Disease Association. Deborah trekked on the Great Wall of China, the Inca Trial to Machu Picchu in Peru and even summited the world’s tallest mountain – Mount Kilimanjaro.
Standing at 5,895 metres Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa and the tallest free-standing mountain in the World.
After raising over £20,000 she took on another colossal challenge, writing and publishing her autobiography, Hummingbird.
After the publication of the book, Deborah was invited to give talks at Bromley College and Park Langley Girls School.
“I think I did an OK job, but I’d never done anything like that before and I realised that I definitely needed some help with public speaking,” Deborah said. “So I joined Bromley Speakers and I haven’t looked back.
“I was instantly struck by how friendly the club is,” she said. “It’s a safe environment to practise and it’s OK to mess up. The meetings are structured in a way that is really informative and I learn something useful each time I go. My confidence has soared and I even filmed for Channel 4’s First Dates programme! I would not have had the confidence to do that, were it not for Bromley Speakers. Unfortunately they didn’t show my date but I got through all the interviews and auditions and went on to film a date with them. The whole experience was exciting and incredible. ”
In March this year Deborah was a key speaker at the Amazing Women Awards, held in London by Roz Thornton of Amazing Women Global.
“I am sure that being a member of Toastmasters was instrumental in securing that speaking slot,” Deborah said. “It was one of those ‘pinch me’ experiences that I will never forget.”
Deborah also took part in a video for C5 News, in relation to the Assisted Dying Bill which was being debated in Parliament as well as filming a documentary with David George of Utility Films about her experiences of living in a family with Huntington’s disease, which is currently being finalised.
Deborah says of Toastmasters, “It is a place where you can overcome your fear of speaking in public, and it provides positive leadership at work or in your business. It enables you to develop skills related to timekeeping, grammar and helps with overall communication skills. Bromley Speakers is a multi-award winning club, but it’s not just for business people. It’s also open to those who just want to increase their confidence in life.
“The club is friendly, very welcoming and hugely supportive. I really look forward to the meetings where I get an opportunity to practise my speaking skills and receive constructive feedback and recommendations on how to improve. And, as an extra bonus, I have made some wonderful new friends.
“Members represent a wide cross-section of the community, including students, educators, business people, professionals, authors and retired people. Anyone can go along as a guest, without any charge, to three meetings to get a feel for it before actually joining. I promise we will give all our guests a friendly welcome.
“As Vice President Public Relations, I am happy to speak to organisations about what we do.”
Bromley Speakers meets at Ripley Arts Centre, Bromley on the 1st, 3rd and 5th Thursdays of the month, at 7.15 pm for a 7:30 prompt start.
The month of August for many is a time for a holiday. Each one of us will have a different idea of what holiday is best for them from relaxing on a beach, hiking through the mountains or attending the Toastmasters International Convention in Denver. What do all these have in common? The stories we can share from our summer break experiences.
As members come back to their club meetings over the next couple of weeks, I’m sure there will be plenty of opportunity to reflect on the memories of our activities during the summer. There’s bound to be something of fun that has happened with a sun lounger.
2013 World Champion of Public Speaking, Pres Vasilev
For my part, I headed to Denver for the Toastmasters International Convention. What a fantastic learning and networking experience this was. It’s an event where we have past champions of public speaking milling around, freely available for a chat!
As are the Toastmasters Board of Directors, who are all approachable to the members attending.
First Vice President, Margaret Page, DTM
2015 World Champion of Public Speaking, Mohammed Qahtani
One thing I picked up from the Convention about healthy clubs, is that “30 is the new 20”. Clubs are much more viable when they have 30 members. Think about that for a moment. For clubs that teeter around the 20 members mark, attracting new members throughout the year and retaining established members is key. Consider adding the goal of “30 is the new 20” to your club success plan.
August and September is the time of the Smedley membership drive, when clubs seek to attract 5 new members. This is a fantastic opportunity to promote your club meetings and events that you’re hosting to encourage guests to attend. Share you activities on social media and include the District’s social media links – on Facebook and Twitter that’s @ToastmastersUKI
For our members, this is the renewal period and behind the scenes all club committees are busy, particularly the club Treasurers. They are working hard to collect members’ dues and submit them to Toastmasters International World Headquarters. Why not make their lives easier and make your dues payment today?
The incentive on renewals this year is the 20:80 campaign. That means renewing at least 20 members and retaining 80% of your membership base. Pizza is the prize on offer for clubs that achieve this, so renew, retain and win!
The hard work in our District has continued through the summer. There are now three newly chartered clubs – Moodys, Zig Zag and Legacy Speakers Brixton. I am sure you will join me in welcoming these clubs to the Toastmaster family.
The week after coming back from an International Convention
is always a bit of a strange one. Between readjusting to normal routines,
following-up with the dozens of people met overseas and tying-up loose ends. A
mélange of emotions always goes through my mind in these moments. Every single
one of the International Convention I’ve attended so far has been unique in its
own ways. Denver was, as the responsibility of casting 269 votes on behalf of
your club was mine to fulfil.
On Sunday 18th August we interviewed all
candidates standing for International Directors or Officers roles. Later
during, the week, we also had the opportunity to see them answering questions
from members at the Candidates showcase. These two events formed our decisions
on how to cast our votes on your behalf.
Some exciting news were announced by Toastmasters
International CEO Dan Rex. Very soon, all projects within a Pathways path will
be visible ahead, just like in the old manuals. A simplification of the
interface is on the cards and judging from what I saw, it’s a very positive
step forward. A visit of Toastmasters WHQ last Monday also provided me with
more insights on what the staff works on. They are taking feedback onboard and
are acting upon it. What’s more, many staff members in the IT department are members
of a club hosted in WHQ offices.
As renewals season is upon us and I have a mission for you
all. Win some free pizza or supplies from the District by renewing 20 members
and retaining 80% of your members by September 30th. Renew, Retain,
Win!
Our District 91 pizza is famous worldwide as evidence by
some comments in Denver. Even the Italians of District 109 copied it!
Want to inspire some members with Toastmasters magic? Share
your stories of why you’ve joined Toastmasters and what you’ve gained as a
member. Here’s my own story below.
