Get ahead!

Once the club elections and District Leader elections are finalised in May, dates can be planned for contests for the full program year. Get contest dates onto your club calendar – for Area, Division and District contests ensure you work with your teams to get dates into the D91 Calendar of Events.

Planning in advance for who will be the Contest Chair and Chief Judge is critical for a smooth contest event! 12 weeks in advance is a great time to start, ramping up 4 to 6 weeks prior and honing in on all the finer details two weeks before the event.

Recruiting a Contest Chair as early as possible will help ensure the contest organisation is delegated early on. This allows Club VPEs, Area and Division Directors to focus on serving members in ways that achieve the Club and District Mission. This is why in District 91 we aim to appoint a District Chief Judge so that the Program Quality Director can provide support to the District contests whilst remaining focused on supporting the District Mission.

Contest Chairs will find Pathway Projects that align with taking on the responsibility of a contest and should speak to their VP of Education about a suitable Level 3, e or 5 project.

Location, Location, LOGISTICS!

Will your club contest be an additional event to a club meeting or held as a regular club meeting?

For the Area, Division and District, the location needs to be organised in advance. Reach out to the membership, especially at the Area and Division level to find suitable venues. Planning in advance is key!

Area Councils in District 91 should decide on a budget for the contests, covered by ticket sales or input from the clubs within the area. Area Councils may also consider organising refreshments and activities to encourage networking between members in the area at this event.

Division Councils should refer to the District Finance Guide and make a suitable budget for the Contest Chair to work with. Division Directors should support or appoint an Area Director to support with the wider Division Conference program i.e. Hall of Fame, Keynote Speaker, Educations and refreshments.

A social at a local pub following the event is always well received! 

What contest?

Advise and remind your members of the dates of your contest, so that they can have enough time to prepare and practice their speeches before the contest.

Contests can also be marketed beyond the membership – clubs can invent recent guests, past members and the general public.

Area and Division Directors are encouraged to consider how they can attract potential members to contests.

Get creative. 

Find your volunteers, assign roles and prep them.

Whether you are running a Club, Area or Division contest, you will need a range of people to help you organise and ensure it is compliant. Please refer to the checklist in the Toastmasters Contest Rulebook for checklists, as well as the Speech Contest resources to support you.

Once the Club VP of Education, Area/Division/Program Quality Director have appointed a Contest Chair they should start with selecting a qualified Chief Judge and ask them to organise the judges. See the eligibility section in the Contest Rulebook for Chief Judge eligibility requirements. Contest Chairs can be recruited during the date-setting stage to help ensure plenty of time and support to organise the logistics of, and promote, your contest.

The chief judge should also arrange all other roles, don’t forget to reach out to other Clubs, Areas and Divisions to help and then in turn, replicate their support yourself. Notify those taking roles or participating of the time and place of the contest and pre-contest briefings. Don’t forget to check if your contestants are eligible to compete or check with your VPE, Area and Division Director depending on which level they are competing.

If you are struggling to find volunteers, go back to Step 3!

Get into the details!

Eligibility Checks and Briefings

The Contest Chair and Chief Judge should work in partnership to ensure all judges, and role-holders, including the tiebreaker judge, are eligible, recruited, and briefed. Remind your Chief Judge to provide and prepare all documentation, and eligibility forms for judges, and other roles.

It is the Contest Chair’s responsibility to notify the contestants and club Presidents of the time and place of the contest. They need to ensure all contestants are eligible and briefed and prepare all the documentation and eligibility forms. Contest Chairs can ask for support from Club VPEs, Area/Division Directors and the PQD for eligibility check support.

Rehearsal

A rehearsal or ‘run through’ even if only a verbal agenda run through will help iron out any bumps, lumps or mishaps!

The Contest Chair, Chief Judge and Zoom Host(s)/members helping with Logistics would be key. Consider how much set-up time you’ll need and always add a buffer of 15 to 30 minutes!

Enjoy the event!

On the Day

Have fun! Enjoy the opportunity no matter what role you have, stage time mixed in with honing your leadership skills and networking with fellow members. Oh yeah, and watching the contestants!

Take time to connect with members and friends, we hope you found the local watering hole!

Post-contest

The Chief Judge completes the notification of winners and passes this on to the next level, Area Director, Division Director, or District.

Celebrate your winners on socials. Consider writing an article for local media or recording an interview with the winners, a short one is great for FB Reels, Insta Stories or TikTok! For contests beyond the club, VPPRs can be sent information to celebrate on club platforms!

Consider the lessons learnt, provide feedback and why not offer to mentor the next person stepping into your role?