Membership and Education

 As I start this new Toastmasters year (as of July 1), I find myself in a position where my leadership positions focus on membership and education.  In two of my clubs, I am VP Membership.  In my third club, I am VP Education, and at the District level, I am education coordinator.  So overall, my focus for this year is on engaging members and helping in their educational journey.

I think membership and education go nicely together.  Members join because they want to learn and grow.  They stay because they are learning and growing and see ongoing opportunities for learning and growth.  I have learned and grown a lot in Toastmasters, and I'm really excited about helping others do the same!

Here are three specific ways I have already started to help others this year:

  1. Helped plan Club Officer Training (one session down, two more to go).
  2. Led an educational session on Area Director visits for District leaders
  3. Asked some of my club members to share their educational goals - and recorded those goals!
The first example is interesting because I helped with planning, but have not yet attended a club officer training session myself.  The first session I will attend is tomorrow (Monday).  I am not a primary presenter, but am slotted as a back-up if needed.  In this more supportive role, I have stepped back and let others take the lead. I saw by the success of the first session that there are many talented and capable people, so I don't need to worry about not being "in charge."

In the second example, I got to take a hands-on approach with teaching others, which I really love.  I was happy with the questions and interaction I got during the presentation.  I did notice that people didn't always have something to say, but that was okay.  There was lots of good discussion and I was happy to both share my perspective and hear from others.

With the third example, I got a good start but still have more to do.  I started documenting educational goals of members and thinking about ways I can help people achieve goals, but I can't do it alone.  I will be relying on mentors and the members themselves to help me help them achieve their goals.  Combining my desire to help directly with the need to have others help will be the key to seeing my club members achieve their goals.

Membership and Education will be my focus this year.  I will try to continue to think of ideas to increase engagement and work with others to help members get the most of their Toastmasters experience!

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