Learning from Harvey Norman

Many major chains - Harvey Norman, Woolworths, Bunnings, Coles etc - use the Loss Leader system. Sell a popular item at a heavily discounted price - perhaps less than cost - to get the customers into the store. They might lose money on the one item, but the increased sales all around the store more than make up for it.

Our leaders at Toastmasters International have been doing some strategic thinking. They have come up with a brilliant loss leader.

Below Cost!!!

Your Second DTM

Unbelievable Value - While Stocks Last

Yes, its true. A second and subsequent DTM has just had its cost heavily slashed. Amazingly reduced. Compare these 2 tables for last year and this year.

Second and Subsequent DTM Requirements

Look at the discount!! This year’s Second DTM “saves” 30 speeches, 10 CL projects, a Club Officer role and 4 minor workshops. Unbelievable value.

But it makes good sense
Our leaders at Toastmasters International have a strategy. They know that long term experienced leaders are an asset to our organization, and they want us to continue working productively for the organization. Giving a lot of speeches?? Come off it! Serving as District Officer? Yes! Founding new clubs? Yes! Yes!! Yes!!!

Second DTMs have not been popular
Look at the record of current District 73 members - only 5 multiple DTMs - Anna Riggs in South Australia, Vivienne Triplett in Victoria and 3 from Western Australia, all from the same club - Victoria Quay - Glenis Nicholas, Alan Smith and me. Second DTMs have not been the flavour of the month in District 73 - or the year - or the decade. But that is about to change. I know 3 members in WA who already have the requirements for their second DTM under the new conditions. And there will be others in South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania.

Is this a dumbing down of the requirements?
No, it isn’t. This is a powerful strategic move to attract experienced, skilled Toastmasters into the ranks of those who focus their experience and skill into repeated District Officer roles and even more importantly, into the founding of new clubs. All States and Divisions will benefit from this activity and in particular Western Australia, as we work towards setting up our own District.

David Nicholas DTM

First get your first DTM
That’s the catch! To take advantage of the Sale of the Century, with its unbelievable discounts and never to be repeated DTM bargains, you need the first one at full price. Buy one and get a second at less than half the price!! Come in now. Beat the rush!

David Nicholas DTM (5 times at the old price)
WA New Clubs Coordinator

A success story - Mark Richards and Canning Vale

Mark Richards

Mark Richards has been attending Victoria Quay Toastmasters every Wednesday night for the past 7 years. Sometimes Robyn came along for social functions, but she wouldn’t join - they live in Canning Vale, which is almost half an hour away. “Why can’t we have a club in Canning Vale?”

So, this year, Mark’s year as Western Division Governor, he decided to start a club in Canning Vale - if Robyn would help. And of course she did.

Here is how they went about it. It’s a great story, with a lot of valuable advice on how to start a community club. But you can use the techniques as well to attract a lot more members to your existing club.

This is Mark’s story. Read his advice.

Get your funding in place

You are going to need money - it took about $800 to set up Canning Vale. See below for how he did it.

Apply to World Headquarters to Organise a Toastmaster Club.

That costs US$125 which is about A$135 at present (early 2008). For that you get a big box with 20 New Member kits, and a lot of other helpful publications.

Open a bank account

• With no fees - yes, societies accounts still exist.
• You use the Club Number supplied by World Headquarters.
• You need a preliminary business meeting to appoint a temporary President, Treasurer/Secretary and Vice President Education. This meeting authorises the bank account.

Find a venue that is central to your target audience

Mark located (well, Robyn actually) the Canning Vale TAFE who were happy to let the new club use a big room with lots of facilities every Tuesday night for a very reasonable cost.

Set a date for the Demonstration meeting

• Not too soon, because you need time for the publicity.
• Not too far away, because your helpers will grow tired of waiting.

Recruit a team of helpers.

You will need

• 2 Demonstration speakers - one should be a rookie and one should be experienced.
• 1 Table Topics Master and 1 Table Topics Evaluator.
• 1 Timer.
• 1 extra helper to be a speech evaluator.
• 2 experienced Toastmasters to be Mentors for the club for the first 6 months - they are very important - and of course they will fill some of the helping roles already outlined.

Market your meeting

• Mark and Robyn used professionally printed flyers which they letterboxed.
• Ask for a phone response so you have an idea of how many will turn up.
• Contact a reporter from the local newspaper - in Canning Vale they were pleased to get the story.
• Approach local schools to put into their newsletter to parents.

Have a look at the Canning Vale Flyer

Make the demo meeting the best and liveliest meeting you can.

• Involve your audience by showing them some basic speaking skills in an interactive workshop - get them to stand up, show them good stance, where to put their arms and hands, and eye contact.
• Get them involved in table topics.
• Have a demonstration Icebreaker
• Have a question and answer session at the end.

Have a look at the Demonstration Meeting Agenda

Keep a record of everyone who attended

Get their phone # and email address and follow up if you need to.

Bring application forms and ask people to join.

• Get them to fill in the New Club Member Application Form - it’s different from the standard New Member Application Form.
• Collect the money - or arrange for it to be collected next meeting

Complete the documentation and send it to World Headquarters

May 12, 2008

That’s the charter date, but there has been so much activity at World Headquarters with chartering clubs that it was only posted by Toastmasters International on May 22.

Congratulations to Ross Wilkinson in particular

Ross Wilkinson

Ross has been working tirelessly on this project since March 2007. The concept is an Advanced Club which meets monthly at a restaurant for good food and great meetings.

There have been problems

Chefs have left restaurants which had to close down. (It wasn’t because of Fremantle Gourmet - well, we hope so, anyway!)

Numbers weren’t big enough for other venues.

Double bookings!!

But Ross and crew kept going and now the club is fully established. Their story can be a model for other members considering setting up similar Gourmet club in the city and to the north and east. Read the full story below.

Congratulations to the official founding group

In the meantime

Congratulations, Fremantle Gourmet

It’s Been A Long Journey

Back in early 2007, Fremantle Gateway Toastmasters had 32 enthusiastic members all chaffing at the bit to present speeches and this presented a “problem”. Even with the club’s three to four speeches per week, each member would only have the opportunity to present a speech, on average, once every two months. That meant it would take almost two years to complete a Competent Communicator Manual or two Advanced Manuals.

Several Gateway members wanted more speaking opportunities, so Gateway’s VPE Jeanette Farrar, planned an additional Speech-A-Thon meeting. As President, Ross Wilkinson suggested that we use a restaurant as the venue for this meeting and the Villa Roma Restaurant in Fremantle was the venue for that first meeting on 29 March 2007. The night was a huge success with six speeches being given. A great night was had by all.

On the way home, Ross made an off-the-cuff comment to Steve Barry, that if we held other dinner meetings with the same level of enthusiasm, we could easily form a new advanced club. Steve’s response was “Why not”?

Why not>

And the words ‘Why not?’ started the journey of forming the Fremantle Gourmet Club. Fremantle Gateway Toastmaster Club sponsored the development of the Fremantle Gourmet Club.

Since then we have held meetings at a wide variety of culinary locations, which include the Irish Pub, Vietnamese, African, Italian, Thai, Fremantle Workers Club, Picnics in the Park and home cooked BBQ’s.

Besides the quality of speeches, the superb meal and the great social aspect of the Fremantle Gourmet Toastmasters Club, members also benefit from the intense group evaluations.

Using the highly successful Western Founders Toastmaster Club method of group evaluation, speakers receive very productive and beneficial recommendations – Mind you, it’s not for the faint hearted, but ‘WOW’ do we learn how to improve.

The Fremantle Gourmet Toastmasters Club finally had sufficient members to charter the club at our 8 May meeting – 14 months after the original meeting.

It’s been a great journey forming this new Advanced Club.

The Club Charter Committee is:

President - Steve Barry – W21 Area Governor
VPE - Ross Wilkinson – W28 Area Governor
VPM - Mark Richards – Western Division Governor
VPPR - Jackie Perriman – Fremantle Gateway VPPR
Treasurer - Jeanette Farrar – District 73 Secretary
Secretary - Raye McNally – Fremantle Gateway President
Sergeant At Arms - Kyle Blight – Fremantle Gateway Member

Lynda t’Hart

Ross Wilkinson

The Fremantle Gourmet Club sponsors are Ross Wilkinson and Lynda t’Hart with the club mentors being Vicki Post and Jackie Perriman.

If you wish to attend one of the Fremantle Gourmet Toastmasters Meetings, these meetings are held at 6:15pm for a 6:30pm start on the second Thursday of each month, please email Ross Wilkinson at ross@wilcomonline.com.au or contact him on 0412 383 386.

Yes, it’s been a long journey to charter Fremantle Gourmet but it’s been an exciting and worthwhile journey.

Success for Western Division Governor Mark Richards

Mark Richards

With the help of Robyn Richards as co-founder and a team of supporters Mark has steered Canning Vale to charter.

The background

Mark and Robyn live in Canning Vale. Robyn has a business there. Mark is a postman at the Canning Vale Centre. They had a general intention to start a club close to home. Then Mark joined the New Clubs Planning Committee organised by WA New Clubs Coordinator David Nicholas and became a founding member of WA Governors. From his experience with Governors and detailed discussions with David Nicholas he realised that money is a key issue with starting community clubs. They have to be advertised - which costs. A venue has to be booked - which costs. Who would help?

The business plan

Mark is a postman. What if he was to get printed a set of flyers and in his own time letterbox them in Canning Vale? A great idea. The cost of the flyers - a bit less than $400. Enter District 73 - there is money available in the Marketing budget for publicity. So Robyn booked a great venue - the Canning Vale College. Who would help with the cost? WA Governors contributed $250 and Mark’s home club, Victoria Quay, $300. That covered the expenses of the venue, supper and some printing.

Mark got on his bike and the flyers lodged in the letterboxes.

The Demonstration Meeting

What a success! March 11, 6.30 pm at the Canning Vale College in Dumbarton St. 62 people, including 11 Toastmasters. Have a look at the Agenda, if you want to see how it was done.

The meeting was vibrant and successful. The Question and Answer session at the end had Mark and David busy answering queries from people who obviously intended to join. Robyn was ready with Charter Member Application Forms (they are different from the standard 404 New Member Applications). Alan Smith, Treasurer for both Victoria Quay and WA Governors, was there with a receipt book and took joining fees from several people who paid on the spot.

The Charter Meeting

Of course Canning Vale meets weekly - the top 4 Clubs in District 73 at this point all meet weekly. So next week on March 18th, with application forms and fees pouring in before and after the meeting, Canning Vale held its formal business meeting, adopting the name, the Constitution and the Bylaws and elected the Officers. Here they are. (Click on any one to see a slideshow of all.)

The Club Executive

Robyn Richards President	Mark Richards Vice President Education	Phyll Lightbody VP Education Apprentice	Billie Griffiths Vice President Membership
Diana Veitch Vice President Public Relations	Jenny Ramshaw Secretary	Mick Turner Treasurer	Michael Geisler Sergeant at Arms

Send the documents and payment to World Headquarters

A club isn’t chartered until not only the documents have been sent, but the payment had been made to World Headquarters. Mark didn’t muck around. Off it went and the Charter was registered on March 19 - Club 1133609, Canning Vale Toastmasters.

Congratulations to Mark and Robyn, the Founders.

Congratulations to Steve Barry and Ross Wilkinson, both from Gateway, who are Club Mentors for the first 6 months. Congratulations to all the Toastmasters who helped with the brilliant Demonstration Meeting. Amazed admiration to District 73, to WA Governors and Victoria Quay who came up with money. And our best wishes to all the Founding Members and those who have joined since. You have a vibrant, energetic club with committed officers. And you meet weekly. Next year I’m sure you will be up there with the top clubs in the District.

Canning Vale on April 8th, 2008

At the meeting on Tuesday evening, April 8, 2008

This is a confusing issue for many new clubs.

Canning Vale was chartered in March, and therefore the 6 months membership fees took them up to the end of August. But Renewals were due by the end of March. Mark was equal to the occasion. He sent off the US$4.50 per member for the extra month. Canning Vale has renewed. (That’s an example for our other new clubs, chartered since October, 2007.)

David Nicholas DTM
WA New Club Coordinator

District 73’s first Indigenous club

Ngarlundhu Wangka - the club’s name takes a word each from an Indigenous language in the north and south of Western Australia, combined to mean “my words”. Membership is open to members of the Indigenous community.

The idea of a club for members of the Indigenous community came from Maurice Agale, a policy officer in the Perth office of the National Native Title Tribunal, in an email to our community contact, Eric Davies, in the middle of last year. District Governor Mike Helm followed up in a number of meetings with Maurice. Maurice loved the Toastmasters concept, started putting the word around and secured sponsorship from the Commonwealth Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.

Mike was strongly assisted by WA New Clubs Coordinator David Nicholas, and was fortunate to recruit as club mentor Rising Stars member Durga Bhamidipaty who has a strong empathy for people and commitment to their development.

A freak storm didn’t help to attract people our demonstration meeting in December and we had a small turnout. About 17 people attended our second meeting in February. The next two meetings involved a small group of the commiteds plus a few who came along to check us out. Our meeting on 19th March was a breakthrough with an impressive group of guests who agreed to sign up, taking the club to charter strength.

Already, we can see the improvement in members’ presentation skills, and some new members have reported that Toastmasters has given them new confidence, improvement in family communication and has even helped with a successful job application.

At a national Indigenous conference in Perth later this year, the new club is planning a debate against Australia’s only other Indigenous club from Redfern, New South Wales.

The Club Executive

Maurice Agale President	Mike Helm Vice President Education	Laurel Sellers Vice President Membership
Stephen Grech Vice President Public Relations	Carly Lane Secretary	Sarah Stokoe Treasurer

The Club’s Founders are Mike Helm and David Nicholas, while the Mentors guiding the Club for its first 6 months are Sarah Stokoe and Durga Bhamidipaty.

When we look at their achievements so far and the great potential for the club and its members, what else can you say but Ngarlundhu Wangka – MY WORD!

Thanks to District 73 Governor, Mike Helm for the bulk of this story

David Nicholas DTM
WA New Clubs Coordinator

Your new club is not renewed until fees are paid up to Sep 30

This is how it works.

When a club is chartered, membership fees are paid for 6 months. That will cover the Renewal period during the 6 months, but not the Renewal period in the next 6 months. Individual membership is covered for the balance of 6 months after charter, but the club will not be counted as paid up until the balance of the Renewals is paid for at least 6 members.

The table below shows the Charter date for each of our 7 new clubs this year, and the current paid up status for members and the clubs. WA Governors is up to date because 5 months extra payments were made before March 31.

So, what should you do?

Best is immediately, or before April 10, to pay online the extra dues for your club members up to Sep 30. For 20 members that will be US$90 per month, or A$100 approximately.

Next best is immediately, or before April 10, to pay online the extra dues for 6 members up to Sep 30. That will cost US$27 per month, or A$30 approximately.

A must is to pay online the extra dues for your club members up to Sep 30 before June 30, 2008. Otherwise the Club will not count in the District list of Clubs.

How do you pay online with your very new club when you don’t have the password?

Go to the Club login

https://ecommerce.toastmasters.org/ecommerce/timssnet_new/timssnet/login/tnt_login.cfm

Go to the “If you have forgotten your Password” and select “click here”. Now fill in the form. Besides your name, club position, email, club number etc you will need your personal Member number. It is on the wrapper of the monthly copies of The Toastmaster. It is a good idea to keep a copy of that number available for various purposes. In my experience you will get the Password emailed to you within 24 hours.

David Nicholas DTM

If you want any further information or advice on this matter, email me,
or ring on 9457 6468

David Nicholas DTM
WA New Clubs Coordinator

Club 1150233 in Area W28 of Western Division

Yes, it went up on the Toastmasters International website last night

Hard effective work has paid off

Gaylene Kelso CC

You can read about the background to this new club in a previous blog

The hard work was done by Gaylene. Mike Helm and I assisted with the Demonstration Meeting and then with the technicalities of the Application to Organise. Finally there were issues with organising the Charter payment to World Headquarters. All these problems were solved and now the Club is chartered.

Such was the enthusiasm among the new Officers that several attended a supplementary Club Officer Training session run by W28 Area Governor Ross Wilkinson on Thursday evening, March 20, the day after the official Charter date for the Club.

It was a big week for new clubs in Western Australia last week. Look out for a notice about Canning Vale and then for our new Indigenous Club Ngarlundhu Wangka.

But for now congratulations to Gaylene and the new team at Cannington Communicators.

David Nicholas DTM
WA New Club Coordinator

Read about this new club started by a former Toastmaster

This is the story Gaylene told me about the amazing start to Cannington Communicators.

What do you do when your employer shifts you from Central Perth out to Cannington?

Gaylene Kelso CC

Well, you go of course, and leave behind your first Toastmasters Club. Now what? They meet at lunchtime. It’s very difficult to get there. There are no lunchtime clubs in Cannington, and evening clubs are a problem when you have a young family.

That was Gaylene’s problem. She had joined West End in September 2005. She had always had an interest in public speaking and enjoyed it immensely, but wanted to be a better public speaker. Coming from a singing and volunteer first aid lecturing background (spare time hobbies only), getting up in front of an audience wasn’t new to her, but she still lacked confidence and the skills to become a truly professional public speaker.

Icebreaker or Table Topics? Wow!!

At her first meeting, one member could not attend, so she was asked to give her “Ice Breaker” speech, which she did, totally unprepared, and was congratulated on a great first speech. As she said, “I felt so nervous and was still shaking afterwards, but I had taken my first step. It took me just over 12 months to complete all 10 project speeches and to attain my Competent Communicator Certificate.”

And then the axe fell

Just before she finished her CC, her office was shifted out to Cannington. She commuted in for the last 3 speeches to complete the award, but that wasn’t viable for the long term. In November 2006 Steven Reynolds, the President of West End suggested she start a club out in Cannington. Obvious, isn’t it! After several conversations with staff and management at the Department of Treasury and Finance, she got the ball rolling. She spoke with staff and planted the seeds to see what interest there was, if any. There seemed to be a bit of interest, so the next step was to “be seen”. In July 2007 she volunteered to make a 10-minute presentation on the work that her team does at a whole of staff meeting, approximately 100 people. After this presentation, as staff commented on a great speech she would reply, “Toastmasters, it’s just practice and confidence, and that’s what Toastmasters provides”.

Enter District Governor Mike Helm

District Governor Mike Helm

After this event, she really commenced the drive for the creation of a whole of department policy to be created, to ensure that Toastmasters was part of the training and professional development program. In November 2007, she contacted Mike Helm, who guided her through the processes involved. There was a bit of work involved, but it was simply a case of keeping the momentum going and ensuring that what needed to happen, actually happened. The Demonstration meeting was set for 19th February, and Gaylene advertised this to staff two weeks prior.

What a success!! Mike Helm and I were there, along with Western Division Governor Mark Richards and Robyn Richards. Of the 27 staff there 23 people signed up to join. Cannington Communicators! - a few formalities at the next meeting on March 4th, and it will be chartered. On the day Svend Beicher pitched in and was Timer. Timer? Yes, all that preparation wasn’t going to be spoilt by allowing the meeting to run overtime.

What benefits does Gaylene see for the new to Toastmasters members?

Gaylene’s replay was that “Cannington Communicators will have members from all backgrounds and levels of confidence and skill. They have great personal potential as individuals and as a successful Toastmasters Club. Members will gain confidence, skills and have the opportunity to practice these new skills in a friendly, non-threatening environment. Since the demonstration meeting, those people have emailed me and said to me in person ‘Thank you’. That is all I ever need to hear to know that the work I have done to make this happen is truly worth it.

What is Gaylene’s work role at the Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF)?

She is currently the Senior Project Officer for Online Solutions, Department of Treasury and Finance. She manages the http://wa.gov.au portal and works closely with the Office of e-Government on a variety of projects for whole of government IT solutions. Toastmasters, has given her the confidence to get this position and to effectively respond to questions at high-level meetings. She also studies part-time at University, where she has had to make several presentations. She has always had confidence at University and at work to make presentations because that’s what Toastmasters has given her, çonfidence and skill.

What about you? Do you want to start a club at your work?

Gaylene says, go for it! Ask for help, and you will get it. District Officers offered all the help she needed to make it happen. She says they made it an easy process. It was a team effort for this to get going and as a result, Cannington Communicators will be a great team of successful public speakers and communicators, now and in the future.

Where can you get help to start a club?

There’s plenty of help available. You can email any one of District Governor Mike Helm or WA New Clubs Coordinator David Nicholas or Western Division Governor Mark Richards. All three are part of the New Clubs team in WA. Include a contact phone number in your message so we can discuss your needs and suggest the best way to go about it.

David Nicholas

This story was written by David Nicholas. Add your comments or queries.

Why do we need new Clubs?

Just like clubs always need to be looking for new members, so WA always needs to be looking to grow with new clubs.

We have a pafticular need right now

There is a strong chance that we can form our own District in the next few years if we can grow our club numbers to 60. That will be a great advance for us - all our District Contests and Annual Conventions will be held in WA rather than mostly in Fictoris and South Australia. It is worth working for.

We have many opportunities right now to form new Clubs

I am the WA New Clubs Coordinator. We have a steering committee which has been very active. Already one new Club has been chartered - that is WA Governors - and 3 more have reached Charter strength and are about to be Chartered - Touch of Gold in Kalgoorlie, Mausells in North Perth and Electric Toasters in central Perth. 6 more Clubs are being set up right now. There is interest in and plans for more than 8 more clubs besides these. So, you can see there are many new clubs starting or on the drawing boards.

What’s in it for you to take part in forming new Clubs?

• It is a leadership opportunity which will expand your skills

There are many important roles, and they give you the opportunity to try out new skills and practise themn in a supportive environment. You will take these leadership skills into your work and business roles outside Toastmasters.

• You can achieve a necessary qualification for your DTM

Distinguuished Toastmaster (DTM) is the highest award in Toastmasters International. One of the critical qualificastions is to be a Founder or Mentor of a new Club. (or to be a Club Coach for a failing Club) With new Clubs there are many opportunities for you to beet this requirement and to be recognized for your achievement.

• There is a lot of advice and practical help available for you.

Our New Clubs Committee includes major Toastmaster leaders and people with practical experience in setting up New Clubs. They are still actively working to form New Clubs. They will welcome your help, and train you in the necessary skills.

Where can you get more information?

David Nicholas is the WA New Clubs Coordinator. Start with him. Or contact one the talented committee.

Mike Helm - District 73 Governor
Gil Alexander - Perth Division Governor
Mark Richards - Western Division Governor
Jeanette Farrar - District 73 Secretary
Michael Malone - P30 Area Governor
Ross Wilkinson - W28 Area Governor
Eric Davies - WA Community Contact

.

Have we really got a problem?

Yes we have - the best kind of problem. We have so many new clubs coming onstream that we are running out of Founders and Mentors to service them.

Check out the list of coming new clubs below, but first read about the Founder/Mentor crisis and opportunity.

Why do we need Founders and Mentors

Founders set up the club and take it through to Charter. A Club is chartered when there are at least 20 financial members, Officers have been elected, Bylaws have been established, and fees paid to World Headquarters. Two Founders can be registered at Charter.

Mentors join the club and complete at least 6 months membership. Their role is to give support and encouragement while the new members and officers get experience. Two Mentors can be registered for each new club at the time of Charter.

What’s in it for the Founders and Mentors

There are two particular rewards. The first is the satisfaction and experience gained from being a key part of the process of setting up a new club. The second is that both Founders and Mentors get credit towards a necessary requirement for the Advanced Leader Silver Award and the DTM - Distinguished Toastmaster - the highest award in Toastmasters.

Most members aiming for the DTM find this requirement the most difficult to achieve. Well, look at the possibilities below. All of these proposed new clubs are the result of confirmed interest. Some already have the necessary minimum of 20 members. Some already have all or some of the Founders/Mentors lined up. But there are plenty of opportunities available here for anybody looking for the chance to fill a Founder or Mentor role. Look for the gaps (the ?s), check the location, day and time and then choose your target.

New Clubs planned for WA in 2007/08