The “Moments of Truth” manual suggests it is important for clubs to work together to hold special events where members meet members from other clubs. Bear in mind that this does not refer to standard Toastmasters events organized by areas, divisions or districts: contests, officer training and so on. No, this means several clubs working directly together...

The “Moments of Truth” manual suggests it is important for clubs to hold occasional social events for their members to get to know each other outside the club. Some feel social events are a waste of time, or that they are only important for community clubs. Others say social events are quite important for all Toastmasters clubs, that they help the members...

Toastmasters International has this to say about the Ah Counter: The purpose of the Ah-Counter is to note any word or sound used as a crutch by anyone who speaks during the meeting. Words may be inappropriate interjections, such as and, well, but, so and you know. Sounds may be ah, um or er. You should also note when a speaker repeats a word or phrase such as “I,...

If you ever have trouble falling asleep, read through Toastmasters Policy and Protocol or Robert’s Rules of Order. After a few months of intense study, you’ll know everything you ever need to know about running business meetings in Toastmasters. For the rest of us, here’s a quick cheat sheet. If you do run into issues, reach out to your District...

“Quorum” simply means that enough people are represented to make a vote valid. (One would think in this day and age, electronic voting would mean everyone would get a chance to vote, making the traditional quorum concept unnecessary… but I digress.) As a club officer, you probably get frequent notices throughout the year about turning in proxy votes...

Does your club hold an official club vote on every new member who wishes to join? If not, they should. The Toastmasters Club Constitution for Member Clubs of Toastmasters International, Article II, Section 2 (page 110) says: The applicant shall be declared elected to individual membership upon the favorable vote of at least a majority of the active individual members...

On December 14, 2013 I had the honor of delivering a Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI) session to teach attendees about how to be a club president in Toastmasters. Perhaps my notes of that workshop will be beneficial to others. I decided to have the attendees themselves do most of the talking. I like to make sessions interactive and engaging. Also, I’m...