Starting a new club

Tips for Starting a new Toastmasters Club

If you have participated in the start of a new Toastmasters Club as a member of the Demonstration Meeting Team (Demo Team), or served as a New Club Sponsor or Mentor, most likely you have practiced some of the tips suggested here below.

Do Your Homework

• Identify Your Target: Are you planning for a community, corporate, advanced or other club? You will need at least 20 paid members (20 new members or a mix of 18 new Toastmasters and no more than 2 dual/transfer members) before submitting the application to organize.
• Get More Help: Contact our District 57 Club Growth Director for help with starting a new club.

Make Your Game Plan

• Build a Team: Identify key motivated people willing to serve as sponsors and mentors, as both of these roles are critical to a new club’s eventual success. For example, anyone who is working towards their Distinguished Toastmaster Award has “Sponsor a New Club” on their list of requirements, so ask them to be on your team! They can also mentor the new club to make sure they get off on the right foot.
• Plan Your Demo Meeting: Work with the District Demo Meeting Team to present a specially designed, abbreviated meeting to your group of prospective members. A Demo Meeting includes an overview of the organization, the benefits of membership, and preliminary steps toward chartering the club, like choosing a club name and meeting time.
• Develop and Implement a Promotion Strategy: If the club is going to be an open community club, get the word out – use flyers and social media to let the community know about the Demo Meeting. For corporate clubs, email is effective as well as internal newsletters.

Hold Your Demo Meeting

• Focus on What’s in it for Them: Don’t talk about features, talk about benefits! Features tell, but benefits sell. Emphasize why it is worthwhile to join Toastmasters. For example, the demo meeting speaker could tell a story about how Toastmasters gave them better communication and leadership skills that helped him/her in their career or in other areas of his/her life. Involve your demo team members, and get their testimonials about what Toastmasters has done for them. Keep it upbeat, positive, interactive and not too technical.
• Take a Social Break: Allow some time (if available) for socializing to get guests talking and interacting with one another.
• Plan the Next Steps: It’s a good idea to develop options for next steps in advance of the demo meeting. Make provisions for the full range of possible outcomes (i.e. from slight interest to enthusiastic, “when-can we-start” commitment). Once commitment is confirmed by the attendees, be ready to suggest a suitable course of action. If fewer than 20 people sign up at the demo meeting, then you need to decide together whether to keep holding weekly demo meetings and get the word out to get more members.
• Identify the Future Leaders: Gauge which of the attendees come across as likely leaders of the future club and enlist their involvement as soon as possible for positions of President, VP Education, VP Membership, etc.
• Get a Financial Commitment ASAP: Solidify the commitment of prospective members by having a “starting point” budget and collecting some level of dues at the first meeting.
• Respect their Time: Stay within the prescribed time limits of the meeting.

After The Demo Meeting

• Follow Up: Keep your newfound goodwill with the group intact by honoring your commitments.
• File the Paperwork ASAP: Make sure you have everything filled out properly, all the dues are in, that you have the correct number of members, and file that paperwork ASAP so the club can get their charter kit and the new club sponsors can get credit toward their Distinguished Toastmaster award.