Marketing Toastmasters

Time flies, a quarter of term of 2010/2011 has passed by. I believe every club officer has been working very hard in the past three months to recruit new members and to retain the membership of existing members. No worries, Dr Ralph C. Smedley said, “Even the best Toastmasters Club, with the Educational Committee functioning at high efficiency, will lose some members.” I hope that my sharing below will be helpful in recruiting new members.

There are many methods of marketing Toastmasters. Dedicated club officers, the Membership Building Contest within your club would be a practical marketing effort. All the members of the club should work together in the contest and truly embrace the value of teamwork. Toastmasters International website offers us lots of free resources to promote our club. Here are some links:

http://www.toastmasters.org/Success101

http://www.toastmasters.org/vbp/

http://www.toastmasters.org/membershipcontests

Social networking plays an imperative role in our daily lives as most of us are addicted to Facebook or Twitter. Creating a Facebook page or group for your club is just a few clicks of the mouse. It’s a form of free advertisement and a good way to connect with members. Friendship Toastmasters Club has tried this and it received overwhelming response from members and non-members.

You can also try to post the venue and time of your club meeting to some websites such as www.timeoutkl.com to attract more guests to attend your meeting.

How about creating an event and gathering post on forum.lowyat.net, a site which has thousands of visitors per day.

Having a blog for your club is also a good method of publicity for your club, but you must have a group of dedicated members to maintain it. For instance, Friendship Toastmasters Club has been active in their posting since last year. This provides opportunity for people who are enthusiastic about Toastmasters to find out more about Toastmasters’ happening!

Dr Ralph C Smedley said, “The deepest joy of belonging comes as one learns to coorperate, contribute and help…” Let us share the benefits that we gained from Toastmasters with everyone out there!

Chor Chee Hoe - Assistant Area Governor Marketing

Thank You, Toastmasters

Muz, Immediate Past President of KPMG KL Toastmasters Club

For those who still have doubts about the Power of Toastmasters, I hope this story will give you some inspiration.

Recently, I was asked to be the Emcee for an event at Bursa Malaysia, my current employer. I didn’t know the details, but I said “Yes” anyway.

I found out later that the event was to be graced by Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar (Chairman of the Securities Commission Malaysia), Board of Directors of Bursa Malaysia, Dato’ Yusli Mohamed Yusoff (our CEO), the Heads of Investment Banks (the likes of Tengku Dato’ Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, Chief Executive Offcer of Maybank Investment Bank) and delegates from the Thailand Stock Exchange. Previously I had participated as the Emcee for a smaller event at Bursa but I did not realized that this event was going to be so BIG!! I was so terrified !!

BUT, there was no turning back and furthermore, there was no back-up Emcee.

The event took place on 29 July 2010, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and I was the “Master of ceremony”. This role is not just an ordinary Emcee but playing the multi-faceted role of the host, welcoming the crowd, facilitator, handling the Q&A sessions and ensuring the overall smooth running of the event. Imagine doing all this in front of a crowd of 150 people and most of them senior dignitaries. Definitely no mean feat… but I managed to pull it off!

I was extremely nervous and I tried very hard not to show this to the audience. I even managed to crack a few jokes, uttered a few words in Thai to make our Thai delegates feel welcome. I also managed to keep within the time limit.

The event was a SUCCESS. For me, it was a personal achievement !!

All these did not occur from mere sheer luck. I would like to thank Toastmasters for giving me the skills and courage to do ALL this.

Muz winning the Best Project Speaker award at KPMG 26 June 2010 meeting

I cherish all the moments I was the Toastmaster-of-the-Evening at KPMG KL Toastmasters Club. It very well paid off! All the practice that I had, all that Area and Division competitions that I took part in, all the training and coaching I had from my gurus of Toastmasters and from all my Toastmasters friends and members! It has all paid off!

Muz is the first runner-up at the 2009 Division W Evaluation Contest

A sincere and heartfelt “Thank you Toastmasters!”
Without you, NONE of this would be possible.

Contributed by
Muz
Proud Toastmaster 2007-present
President of KPMG KL Toastmasters Club (2009/2010)

An Hour With Joseph Gomez

DTM Joseph Gomez, our Immediate Past District Governor (IP DG), spent some time with us on 3 December to share with us his leadership journey in Toastmasters.



It was a session filled with laughter and insights, and we found out that our IP DG is someone who is not only humorous, his earnestness and commitment to help our fellow Toastmasters improve was unquestionable.

Although it was a transition for Joseph to manage 82 staff, at Servicom Sdn. Bhd., to 7200 Toastmasters members, he decided to take this as a training ground to improve his leadership skills with a 12 months mandate to complete his responsibility as DG of District 51, comprising of Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

While we club officers have our TLI training twice a year, DGs are flown to US for a 3 days training session. District Officers were told that their mission is to motivate members to achieve more, so that each and every member will have the learning opportunity to be better speakers and leaders.

Joseph believes that the Toastmasters learning program should be fun, as we learn more in times of enjoyment, and a continuous process. He sets his personal goal of one project speech a month and reads various publications to update his knowledge.

As our DG, Joseph was constantly reading his 3 inches thick DG manual, to be prepared for any question that any member might ask him. During peak periods, he was answering about 100 emails a day as well as phone calls, as he believed in constant communication, not only with his District officers but also with any Toastmasters who needed his help.

Angeline listening attentively while Elaine prepared the recorder for the interview.

Here are some of the insights that our IP DG have shared with us.

Q: Can you tell us briefly your progression from club Exco member to District Governor ?
A: I became the club SAA sometime in 1999 and progressed yearly till I became the District Governor. I learnt a lot when I was the SAA and VPE of my club, MIM KL.

Q: Any words of advice or encouragement for members who will be asked to consider club Exco positions ?
A: You will learn a lot in the leadership track. Go for it.

Q: What are the indispensable qualities that a club Exco should have ?
A: A club exco should always have the club member's interest at heart. The club member is our customer and we should serve our customers well.

Q: How did you juggle your time as a District Governor and a club member and work ?
A: On time management, it was District Toastmasters work and my office work. I did not have time to spare for my own club activities. I was serving about 300+ clubs and attended many other club meetings.

Q: Did you initially hesitated when approached by Dr. Arul to be part of the District Council team ?
A: Yes. I took 1-2 months to decide if I wanted to commit to the District Secretary position. Once I committed, I never regretted it and gave the best that I could. It was a good decision. I enjoyed serving our members and always motivating them. When our members succeed, I feel satisfied.

Q: What was the most difficult task you had to do as our District Governor ?
A: In the months of May & June 2009, were the most difficult times in my life in Toastmasters. The term of 2008/2009 was coming to an end and we had to achieve the goals that we set for our District. It was not easy but as a TEAM, we achieved President Distinguished District.

Q: Is the District Governor position a full-time job and you had to take a leave of absence from work ?
A: Yes, it was a full time job in the months of May & June 2009.

Q: Last but not least, any thoughts to share with our members as to why should we should do the CL manual, the ALB and ALS track ?
A: In order to improve your leadership skills that you already have, you will have to embark on the leadership track. The positive results are almost certain.

The interview crew. From the left, Chee Yoong (Cameraman), Andrew (Asst. Interviewer), of course Joe (the person being 'grilled'), Elaine (Asst. Interviewer) and Angeline (Chief Interviewer)

Contributed by Angeline Lee, Elaine Tan, Andrew Ng and Chee Yoong, Lai