Allen Paul

Take the Smedley Challenge – Grow Your Membership and Your Impact!

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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.

 

July Update from Your Program Quality Director: Let’s Build a Brilliant Learning Year Together!

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Dear District 91 Members,

July marks a fresh beginning and I couldn’t be more excited to step into this year with you as your Program Quality Director. This year, we’re building on the amazing work done last year with an additional focus on making your Toastmasters experience feel supported and simplified, a year where you’re not overwhelmed, but energised by your journey.

Key Initiatives in the pipeline to Boost Your Learning & Leadership

✅ Trainers Bureau: Need a dynamic speaker or workshop facilitator? We’re launching a Trainers Bureau to connect you with quality trainers across the district.

✅ Mentoring Buddy System : Because growth is better when it’s shared. This new programme pairs club officers and members with a buddy to lean on and learn from.

✅ Online Club Summit : Coming soon! A space for online clubs to collaborate, share wins, troubleshoot challenges and feel connected.

✅ Drop-In Support Sessions: From crafting Club Success Plans to understanding the VPE role and planning successful contests, we’re offering short, focused sessions to help you thrive.

✅ District Podcast: Fresh inspiration in your ears! Featuring member stories, leadership lessons and Toastmasters tips to keep you motivated.

Save the Date: District Contests Are Changing!

We’re bringing back a mid-year connection with the District Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contests happening this November 2025. It’s a great opportunity to connect, compete, and celebrate talent early in the year.

To help you run effective contests, we’ll be kicking things off with contest training in August, stay tuned!

The Distinguished Club Program(DCP): Why Your Success Plan Matters

This year, the Club Success Plan is a mandatory requirement for earning any Distinguished Club recognition. Why? Because success doesn’t happen by accident, it starts with intention and planning. This year, you have the opportunity to become a Smedley Distinguished Club too if you achieve all 10 DCP points.

Please make a note of submission deadlines:

  • Club Success Plans: 7 September 2025
  • Area Success Plans: 10 August 2025
  • Division Success Plans: 3 August 2025

Let’s aim for early, thoughtful submissions that set our clubs up for success. Remember it is a dynamic document which you work throughout the year.

Here are the winners of the Beat The Clock Award:

  • City of London Toastmasters Club
  • Berkeley Square Speakers Toastmasters Club
  • London Business School Public Speaking Club
  • London Olympians Speakers Toastmasters Club
  • Tube Talk Toastmasters
  • London Athenian Speakers Toastmasters Club
  • London Corinthians Toastmasters
  • Reading Speakers Club
  • Excalibur Speakers
  • Guildford Speakers Club
  • Kent Speakers Club
  • Voice of Wales Speakers Club
  • Hamwic Speakers
  • 1st London Toastmasters
  • Worthing Speakers
  • London Victorians
  • Data Science Speakers Club
  • Bristol Central Speakers
  • db Toastmasters – Canary Wharf
  • London Toastmasters
  • Legacy Speakers Brixton
  • Toast Titans
  • I&C Toastmasters Club
  • Experience Yoruba

Mark Your Calendar – Our 2026 District Conference

Kindly block 2nd & 3rd May 2026 (first May bank holiday) in your diary for the Annual District Conference, a celebration of learning and collaboration you won’t want to miss. More details to follow soon

To every Toastmaster reading this, we are here to create the conditions for your growth.  Whether you’re chasing a new Pathway goal, rediscovering your confidence or stepping into leadership we’ve got your back. And all this is possible only with the help of my Program Quality Team who I’ll introduce to you soon.

Warm wishes,

Seema Menon
Program Quality Director, 2025–26

District 91 – UK South

Is this Where Leaders are Made?

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Toastmasters International: Where Leaders are Made 

When I tell people that I am a member of Toastmasters the first thought they have is ‘oh, are you one of the red-coated masters of ceremonies who proposes toasts and introduces speakers at formal events?’.  Sometimes I explain that I’m not that Toastmaster even before they’ve asked.  I then elaborate and say that it is an organisation that helps people develop their public speaking skills – and the tagline is ‘Where Leaders are Made.’  This usually gets their attention.  The next question is ‘oh, and how do you do that?’ which is a great opportunity for me to explain what we do at Toastmasters – and that it’s not just building our speaking and communication skills. It’s having the opportunity to develop skills in leadership through taking on club officer roles to start with and then taking on district leadership roles, such as Area and Division Directors.  When I pitch the Toastmasters Youth Leadership Programme to head teachers I emphasise the fact that the students will be organising and running the meetings themselves which helps them develop vital leadership skills, in addition to speaking skills and confidence. Just this term I received a lovely email from a Head of Year teacher at the school where I have delivered the Youth Leadership Programme several times: 

We are currently going through our ‘Senior 6’ process at school, which is an application and interview process for our Year 10 prefects. The process will decide our 6 student leaders and head boy/head girl, and is pretty gruelling! It includes a ‘fish-bowl’ activity, speeches, tasks and an interview with the Principal.  

So far we have cut applicants from 31 to 14 following the fish-bowl exercise. One thing almost all of the successful students so far have in common is that they participated in the 10-week [YLP] course you ran for us last year! This is amazing and really shows the impact this has had on our young people.  

Needless to say, they have booked us to run a YLP with the new Year 9 group in the Autumn term.  I’m really looking forward to that – it is so rewarding to watch a group of 20 15 year-olds grow in confidence and communication skills over that time.  And we have a lot of fun – after all, Ralph Smedley said “we learn best in moments of enjoyment”.   I never have a problem getting one of them to chair the meeting – as soon as I say they will have the gavel to call the meeting to order, they all want to volunteer – and enjoy the power it gives them!  As for managing the timing – what fun to take charge of the timing lights to warn their friends that they are running out of time.  As for the Topics Master – yes, sometimes the questions they ask can be a bit vindictive on their friends – but they know it will be played back to them when the roles are reversed.  All the while they are learning valuable leadership and speaking skills. Oh, and what do we do about the awkward gait and shuffle when approaching the front of the room – we practise good posture by pretending we are models on the catwalk – one of them plays some lively catwalk music on their phone and we all take it in turns to stand tall, sashay up to the front of the classroom – and turn gracefully to face the audience – just as if we were at Paris fashion week.  It works – as has been evidenced by the success of some of the students getting those leadership roles for the coming year.   

The Youth Leadership Programme is an excellent project to run in any school or youth community group to teach valuable public speaking, leadership and communication skills. Running such a programme can also count towards the requirements for gaining your DTM award.   

If you would like to know more, please don’t hesitate to contact me. alkema@janetalkema.com

Spotlight on Growth: My Journey from Tech Partnerships to Toastmasters Leadership

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I’m a proud member of City of London Toastmasters, a club that has become a cornerstone of my personal and professional growth. Toastmasters, with its warm and supportive environment, has given me the platform to build confidence, refine my communication skills, and grow as a leader. While I work in the tech industry forging global partnerships, Toastmasters has helped me to communicate ideas, influence others, and speak with conviction. It’s the training ground where I’ve learned to turn thoughts into impactful words. 

My Toastmasters journey began after a humbling moment. A few years ago, I was invited back to my engineering college as the Chief Guest for an annual event. Standing on stage in front of 200 students, I wanted to inspire—but instead, I overwhelmed them with technology jargon that flew over their heads. That experience stayed with me. It sparked a desire to improve how I connect with an audience, to speak from the heart, and to share ideas in a way that truly resonates. 

Since joining Toastmasters, I’ve embraced every opportunity to grow. I remember the first role that I took up –  timekeeper, nervously clicking on the timer buttons. From there, I gradually stepped into other meeting roles and began giving speeches. As my confidence grew, I organised contests and eventually hosted meetings as the Toastmaster of the Day. One of my proudest moments was serving as the Master of Ceremonies at an event —a role that tested my presence, preparation, and ability to keep an audience engaged from start to finish. These experiences helped me shed my stage fear and equipped me with the tools to speak more fluently. 

Toastmasters has given me much more than just public speaking. It’s helped me develop as a leader. I currently serve as the Vice President Public Relations for City of London Toastmasters, where I’m responsible for communicating the club’s activities, celebrating member milestones, and maintaining a vibrant presence through newsletters, social media, and promotional content.  

At the district level, I also serve as the Incentive Lead. In this role, I work closely with the Club Growth and Marketing teams, analysing data, announcing award/incentive winners, and ensuring clubs know how to cash in their achievements. It’s a role that demands both attention to detail and strategic thinking, analytical skills that I now apply even in my professional life. These leadership roles have given me not only valuable experience but also the confidence to lead, support, and influence others, even beyond Toastmasters. 

A Memorable Year of Milestones at City of London Toastmasters

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Celebrating 29 years of community, growth, and connection 

This year, City of London Toastmasters marked a special chapter in its journey—our 29th anniversary! Held on 19th November, the evening was filled with reflection, laughter, and heartfelt stories as we celebrated nearly three decades of empowering speakers and nurturing leaders.

The celebration brought together members past and present. A highlight of the evening was a panel discussion with our past presidents, thoughtfully moderated by our club president, Apoorva Agarwal. Their stories reminded us of the deep roots and strong values that have shaped our club’s journey. We were honoured by the presence of some distinguished guests: Regional Advisor Lilian, District Leaders Seema Menon and Debbie Williams.  

Learning and Growing Together 

This year wasn’t just about celebration—it was also about growth. We hosted three impactful workshops: 

  • A fantastic Humorous Speech Workshop with Ola Aralepo, a two-time District Humorous Speech Champion, where members explored the art of adding laughter and levity to their speeches. 
  • A high-energy Table Topics Workshop with Luca Graziani, where members learned how to respond quickly and confidently in impromptu settings.  
  • An Evaluation Masterclass by Lynne Cantor Gayer, DTM, that helped members sharpen their listening and feedback skills. 

Encouraging Excellence 

Our club also held two speech contests 

  1. Humorous Speech & Table Topics Contest 
  1. International Speech & Evaluation Contest  

allowing members to challenge themselves, gain confidence, and step into the spotlight. 

Speakathons That Sparked Growth 

This year, our club hosted two Speakathons — special evenings designed to provide members an opportunity to accelerate in their pathways. These high-energy sessions were filled with back-to-back prepared speeches, offering both budding and experienced speakers a platform to take big steps in their Toastmasters journey. 

The room buzzed with enthusiasm as members delivered speeches ranging from ice breakers to Level 5 presentations, each one met with encouragement, constructive feedback, and warm applause. It was a celebration of courage, commitment, and continuous learning. 

Speakathon 1 Photo 

Speakathon 2 photo 

Ending the Year on a High 

We’re closing the year with pride, as many members began their public speaking journey with their Icebreaker speeches, while others completed levels and even entire Pathways, marking personal milestones in their communication and leadership journey 

At City of London Toastmasters, we’re more than just a club. We’re a community built on encouragement, shared goals, and a love for learning. Here’s to a fantastic year gone by—and many more years of growth, laughter, and inspiration to come!