Category: Uncategorized

Benefits of Coaching Many Toastmasters ask me “why do you want to coach? It’s hard work, and there’s no guarantee of success (you must coach the club to Distinguished or better to get credit at TI).” My answer is simple. In life you have no guarantee of success. Changing people, changing organizations to be successful…

Editor’s Note Bridget Elliot was the jello that held the Failte Toastmasters together. That’s a great analogy because each of jello’s six parts can teach us how to serve as a club coach. Water is the biggest component of jello and teaches us to go with the flow. Sugar is sweet and reminds us that…

Editor’s Note An extra push of focused effort can be the difference between success and failure. Students study the night before the exam, athletes sprint toward the finish line and expecting parents paint the nursery (hopefully by the last trimester). In each case, a little extra effort gets the job done. Similarly, the Greater Opportunity…

Editor’s Note The Club Coach Playbook by Bill Jacky and Richard Hocknett mentions many benefits of service as a club coach. The coach will “learn how to conduct a strategic analysis, develop a workable strategic plan and effectively execute the plan.” This issue of Club Coach Weekly provides an excellent example of this approach. Our…

Editor’s Note A niche is a place suitable for a person, thing or concept. Nature tells us that if two species compete for the same food, one group may cause the extinction of the other group. Business tells us that competition for the same customers may cause unsuccessful companies to go bankrupt. In this newsletter,…

Editor’s Note Excelsior Toastmasters is an advanced club that accepts members who have earned a minimum of the Competent Communicator award. Their website states that Excelsior is Latin for higher, loftier and more distinguished. This is a noble ambition, however, low membership plagues advanced clubs. To overcome this problem, the members of Excelsior promoted the…

Editor’s Note Robert Rizzo is a leader.  He had a vision of a successful club even when the club had only six dispirited members.  To make his vision a reality, he developed a plan, set goals and built a team. He remained steadfast throughout the trials and detours which always threaten to derail a well-crafted…

Editor’s Note In this week’s issue, Richard and Gerry use a newspaper and web-based public relations campaign to rebuild the Deltones. The members of the Public Relations Society of America described mastery of social media as one of the most important skills for public relations professionals. Social media can work for Toastmasters as well. Our…

Growthmasters #4801 District 2 by Sara Johnson Growthmasters was chartered in 1987 at the “local” State Farm Insurance corporate campus. Primarily composed of State Farm employees, the club never really went past charter strength as there was significant turnover in membership. As a result, there were few educational awards achieved (and very few advanced awards) and…