Taking Stock – How are you progressing towards your goals?

With just 3 months left in the Toastmasters year, ending July 1st, now is the time to take stock and revise your plan to experience excellence.

Club Officers,
Take a look at the District 57 Dashboard here after April 15th to evaluate your progress in the Distinguished Club Program. Contact your Area or Division Director to make sure you have a plan in place to become a Distinguished Club!

Members,

Not sure how you are progressing towards your communication and leadership goals? Start by scheduling time with your Mentor, VP Education or District Leader. Determine what awards, speeches and accolades you’ve already achieved and decide what goals you’d like to still accomplish this year. By working together, you’ll not only have an accountability partner, but also put SMART plan in place to Experience Excellence and be recognized.

Consider the following leadership, communication and district awards goals as you revise your plan:

Leadership

Want to earn your Distinguished Toastmaster Award (DTM) but are missing your Advanced Leadership Silver (ALS) award? Can’t do it before June 30th? The deadline to earn these legacy awards has been extended by Toastmasters International to June 30, 2021. What does this mean:

  • You can earn credit for your ALS by Coaching, Sponsoring or Mentoring a club successfully before June 30, 2021. You can then use that credit towards your DTM award under the legacy program.
  • Serving as a District Officer in 2020-2021 does not give you credit towards an ALS. To get District Officer credit, you must have already served as a District Officer by the end of this Toastmasters year or successfully coach a club before the June 30, 2021 deadline.
  • This does not include the High Performance Leadership (HPL) Project. The HPL must be completed by June 30, 2020. If you need to complete an HPL this year and are willing to put the work in and learn, email kevin@d57tm.org for a list of available HPL projects.

Beyond the legacy award program, this is the time to think about stepping up as a Club or District Officer. Clubs should plan to schedule club officer in elections in May to ensure a seamless transition in June (more to come on this). Nominations are open for a variety of District Officer and Chair roles for the 2020-2021 Toastmasters year. Discover here what opportunities are available here.

Communication

Pathways has excellent projects while our clubs are meeting virtually including Managing Online Meetings. If you can manage Zoom, then the Pathways learning experience is a slam dunk. Learn more and embrace our educational program by checking out our Pathways learning zone here.

No other legacy educational goals such as the Advanced Communicator Gold (ACG) have been extended. These need to be completed by June 30, 2020. Virtual meetings across our District and the world means more opportunities to speak and reach your goals. If you need a Zoom account to run a Speechcraft, Youth Leadership Program or other program towards your ACG, email info@d57tm.org to request one.

Want to run a webinar in front of a global audience? Learn how you can get involved and teach a Masterclass by emailing masterclass@d57tm.org. You can see some of the past and upcoming webinars by visiting here.

District awards

As a reminder, we have several ongoing District membership awards this year including:

  • Triple Crown Award: Win this award by earning 3 or more educational awards this year. Note that 2 of the 3 awards this year must be Pathways awards (next year, 3 of 3 awards will have to be Pathways awards to earn this).
  • The Outstanding Achievement in Toastmasters Award: Earn this award by going above and beyond to improve your communication skills, leadership skills, grow our membership, training others and leading beyond your club. 
  • We will soon be accepting submissions for Club Officer of the Year for all 7 roles: Club President, VP Education, Secretary, VP Membership, Treasurer, VP Public Relations and Sergeant at Arms. Stay tuned for more details!

With just 3 months left in the year, when are you going to meet with your Mentor, VP Education or District Leader to make sure you’re on track to Experience Excellence this year? If you have any questions or need help, contact bett@d57tm.org. 

Warm regards,

Kevin Markl
District Director
District 57 Toastmasters