TDKtalks – Speaking Your Way to Better Leadership

When you are the VP Membership, you need ideas and tips and resources on where and how to find NEW members for your club. These are some of the ideas I used when I was VP Membership. You probably have many of your own that worked well for you. In this podcast, I share mine. When the Toastmaster meetings resume in Sept, (if your club take the summer off), we sometimes have several members leave to take up new ventures. So I believe seeking out new members is a year round/on-going exercise. Always ensure every guest leaves with a membership application form. I always give them a copy of the TOASTMASTER magazine with my club business card. Make it easy for them to get back to you either with an e-mail, phone number or both. Sell them on the benefits of joining your club. This also helps develop you LEADERSHIP skills. At my club, we have disciplined all 7 executives to automatically build repore with all guests. We never leave a guest on their own. Whenever we see them alone, we quickly connect and have them sit beside us. Make the guest feel like they are like any member – a vital contribution to your club. It becomes second nature and not difficult at all. Actually, aren’t we suppose to be marketing ourselves each and every day, at what we do and the people we interract with, at work and at play? Of course. So too is “Finding New Members for Your Club”. Work the guests. I personally like the “no pressure” approach. Don’t sound desperate (because we really aren’t). We just look forward to a new member to coach, and a new set of speeches done by that new member. Show them how your club likes to have fun, while learning at the same time on their speaking and leadership improvement.   You will also like Show #013 – When YOU are the VP Membership or Show #007 – 7 Executives in 7 Minutes – Which Club Exec Should YOU Be?  

Show #3 is out – “How to Develop Your Club Website Using the FreeToastHost Template”. Along with that I have created a list of acronyms most commonly used in Toastmasters and referred to in my shows. I didn’t want to keep explaining the long form every time I used an acronym, so hopefully those regularly listening will begin to know them, even start using them. Find it under PUBLIC DOWNLOADS at my Toastmaster Lab – SilverSprings.freetoasthost.com or on the menu bar under SHOW RESOURCE – TM Acronyms. Since it is a word doc anyone can download and save it, and add their own additional acronyms. Also got a blog setup (WordPress) for those who like to blog. I hope this will form a more convenient form of feedback / discussion. For those who don’t want their comments public, I also have a PRIVATE E-MAIL link just going to me. Tested the WordPress Touch app and it appears to work well. I can create and publish a post as well as access and edit it later. All the links point to each other between podcast site and blog so no one should get lost. I just have to learn to write shorter notes. For my shows and to respect everyone’s privacy, I thought it safe enough to refer to people by their first name only. That way their privacy is respected but still gives the people mentioned their credit due. There must be 1000’s of Terry’s, Betty’s or Ron’s on the internet. Hopefully this sits well with everyone mentioned and to be mentioned. Off to Vegas for 1 week to do some local sight seeing; a long overdue holiday going back to last summers’ missed holidays. Talk about Christmas being a distraction. Yes it is ! – You will also like Show #008 – Social Networking Tools for Toastmasters or Show #020 – DCP Distinguished Club Program  

What is the Distinguished Club Program? Why follow the DCP? Will it make your club leadership better? What about the Club Success Plan? In this show I explain the basics and simplicity of empowering you as club execs using the DCP. Achieve this by planning your club year with the Distinguished Club Program We Area Governors always emphasize this to our clubs. We want to ensure you plan and run your toastmaster club year around the Distinguished Club Program and the Club Success Plan. The Club Success Planis the actual plan. It ensures you gain most, if not all of the 10 points by June 30 of your concluding Toastmaster year. Think of it as a report card from grade school. It is a plan you set at the beginning of the year. There are 10 line items your club has to try to achieve. Each one is worth 1 point. There is recognition for achieving 5, 7 and 9 out of 10. Of course, you can always aim for 10. That is a perfect score. Month by month, you monitor it to see if you are on target for the June 30 year conclusion. Plan the work and work the plan. It will make your life as a club exec so easy. Following it ensures your club succeeds. It also ensure each members goals and personal growth succeeds. Everyone finished the year having accomplished alot. Don’t follow it and you are just asking for more work. Also you are most guaranteed to have an underperforming year. “Current Events in TM Time” – “Of Worthy Mention” – Article from 08-Dec TOASTMASTER mag – “Tip of the Show” – You will also like Show #014 – TLI – What’s It To YOU! or Show #010 – TDKtalks.com & Noteable Links from my PodCast Website  

After several months of reseaching, soul searching, thinking, planning, and even being my own worst enemy, TDKtalks is on-air and I can crank out Show #001 onto the airwarves (or netwaves, as it is). Yes, I am the same TDK as on FaceBook, LinkedIn and Twitter. This was my HPL – High Performance Leadership project. It continues as ” TDKtalks – Speaking Your Way to Better Leadership “ It was tiring, but very fulfilling. Would have been nice to delegate parts out, but all I had was a staff of 1, with 2 of my family as support. Funny how the end “real” result never resembles what you envisioned in your thoughts and vision. I guess we sometimes have much too high expectations that can be somewhat unrealistic. That’s the danger of dwelling too long on something; your mind keeps building up this “idylic” virtual creation, which may differ greatly from the final product, which is enshrined in the realities Stuff to talk about  …  well, just explain what the following shows are going to do  …  atleast  …  what I envision … – You will also like Show #010 – TDKtalks.com & Noteable Links From my PodCast Website or Show #015 – To My NON – Toastmaster Listeners –