Inspiration and Empowerment in Oregon Communities

-



This April, I had the fortune of attending the Toastmasters District 7 Spring Conference for the first time. I've been in awe of the District 7 leadership team during my tenure as an area director -- not only do they set a good example of acting as a community and team, but they have a culture of their own that somehow manages to be professional and close-knit and, at the same time, very welcoming and friendly. There are many folks I look up to and enjoy exchanging warm smiles of recognition and quick hugs. Politics and ego seem mostly at bay. There are certainly some strong characters within the district, and those tend to be handled with grace, at least as far as I can see.

There was a lot to inspire at the conference, but one thing particularly stood out for me in terms of community, while the leaders were honoring those who recently achieved Distinguished Toastmaster status. Distinguished Toastmaster, or DTM, is the highest achievement that a member can earn in the educational program, and typically requires years to complete. One Toastmaster came forward to receive her award, and also to receive the award for her father, who had passed away last August. This morning I came across a recent article about the pair of honorees, Ronda and Dennis Hills, published in the Columbia County Spotlight. Ronda talked about honoring her father's commitment to his goals and to his community.

The DTM program is an example of why Toastmasters fosters community so strongly -- in order to achieve your goals, you literally have to be committed to pulling up everyone around you -- through learning and practicing leadership skills, through serving the club community, and through serving the district community.  Oftentimes you will sponsor a new Toastmasters club, or you might choose to teach speaking and leadership skills to the next generation, or otherwise outside the club. (Toastmasters International accepts members who are 18 and over; the Youth Leadership and Speechcraft programs extend the benefits outside of the organization.)

The club that I attend has 3 DTM members, out of 15. That's a pretty high percentage, and, I believe, quite impressive. These members have put in a lot of time to help others during their years in Toastmasters. Our big challenge is growing our community, by bringing new guests in the door. We're in a college town of over 22,000 people, so the opportunity is massive. I feel hopeful that Pathways will introduce new opportunities for everyone in the club -- from DTMs to brand new members -- to have a bigger impact on our local community, and in the process, raise the visibility of the club. The more people we can demonstrate the club's value to, the more people we can empower to share their stories and build their leadership skills.

The DTM program is an example of why Toastmasters fosters community so strongly. 
Are you a DTM? Do you have role models who are? I would love to hear about your experiences with the award.


Image by skeeze from Pixabay

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Toastmasters Area Community

-
Image
When I was approached with the prospect of being our area director this year, I really didn't have a strong understanding of what that commitment meant. Previous area directors had been nearly invisible to me, except when I made it to an area contest, at which point, I knew them only as some sort of authority figure involved in putting on the contest. I had no concept of what our area encompassed, or what lay beyond that. Even though I had been in the club for a couple of years and served as a club officer for a year, the area director role wasn't one of the things that I'd been exposed to much. At the time, Distinguished Toastmaster Maureen Zappala  had recently written a helpful article in Toastmaster magazine, titled  Shine as an Area Director . We got excellent training from our district leadership team as well. And I set out to hopefully demystify the position of area director a bit for the newer members in my area, by speaking to each of the clubs about the role ...
Read more

Fostering Community through Feedback

-
Image
Image by MorningbirdPhoto from Pixabay Feedback is something that I've thought a lot about during my 4+ years in Toastmasters International. It's one of my favorite aspects of the program, and probably the one that has most motivated me to keep going and keep trying to improve. More importantly, it may be the strongest element in creating a club culture and community. And when I refer to feedback, I'm not just talking about evaluations. From our first moment stepping in the door as a guest at a Toastmasters meeting, we're receiving feedback, and the club is giving it. Hopefully club members come up to us and welcome us, and indicate that they're glad we've joined. And that is not disingenuous feedback. Toastmasters know that each new member strengthens the club and adds to the culture. New perspectives, new stories, new opportunities for growth as a club -- and maybe even new lessons in what doesn't fit well in the club -- all are to be had when we ...
Read more

Online Toastmasters Communities

-
Image
Lately I've been taking more and more opportunities to interact with some of the communities that I have found for Toastmasters online. One example is the The Official Toastmasters International Members Group on LinkedIn. This is a great place to ask questions of a general nature about Toastmasters or just interact with a wide swath of other Toastmasters and see posts and articles about public speaking and leadership. In particular this has been a good place to ask questions and research information about being an area director. I recently posted a question asking for people to share if they're part of a Toastmasters area that acts as a community, and came to learn of a fun-sounding "club ambassador" program that some districts have done to encourage members to share best practices amongst clubs by giving incentives to those who visit other clubs. The visiting member gets extra credit for performing a meeting role during the visit. As someone who's enjoyed ...
Read more