Promote Your Club

Promote Your Club

Download logos and graphics for fliers, business cards, letterhead, newsletter templates, and club promotion materials.

http://www.toastmasters.org/BrandTraining

Toastmasters International

District 5 Social Media training, stories you can tell (download)

Google Toastmasters VP PR →
These are the result of the google search.  There is a lot of information out there.

Toastmasters.org has extensive resources for clubs to promote themselves.

Start here: Public Relations overview →

Structure: When setting up your PR campaigns the best approach is an intentional and scheduled approach.

Make use of Toastmasters’ templates:

Get the word out:

Tell stories that attract guests who will stay:

Use the right social media for your club:

  • Are you members professional, retirees, youths? Each social media has a specific audience it targets. →

Toastmasters Website Wiki
Here is a compendium of links to club and district websites, the good, the bad and the bland.

  • Use local clubs’ websites for inspiration and content guidance.
  • Develop a blog to make it unique to your club.
  • Publish your leadership meetings in your blog, and any leadership communication to members.

Six Minutes Website
by Andrew Dlugan

Free website builders include:

Squarespace

Squarespace is a professional website building platform. Squarespace’s templates are extremely visual-based. Though they aren’t quite as customizable as the templates some other platforms may offer, small business websites built on Squarespace are some of the Web’s most clean and responsive.

WordPress

WordPress is a professional website building platform. WordPress is one of the easiest building platforms for beginners, and it offers some of the Web’s most well-designed free templates. WordPress also comes with a wide selection of free analytics and SEO tools that make it fairly simple to keep track of how your site is performing. WordPress

The District uses Meetup to introduce Toastmasters to people across the region, and to showcase our District events . Clubs within District 5 post their club meetings, open houses and speechcraft to capture the attention of potential new members.

District 5 Meetup:

1. Add your club to the District 5 Meetup
Post your club meetings, special events

  1. User Account: Start by creating a meetup.com account for your club, or use your own.
  2. Join D5’s Meetup Group: http://www.meetup.com/San-Diego-District-5-Toastmasters-Meetup-Group/
  3. Email the Meetup organizer (within Meetup) to request access, provide your user name.

2. After you have access:

Tips for using Meetup effectively can be found here: https://d5tm.org/using-meetup/

Meetup pricing information and the how to guide →

Facebook resources

Facebook has education resources available to its members. Login to facebook then go to:

Making the most of Facebook

  1. Develop a business page. We recommend using the club’s generic email to create a profile for the club.
  2. Make a Pixel. Use the link above to learn how to make and install a Pixel on your website. This provides you key tracking details on open house campaigns (etc) that can help you better target new potential members.
  3. Use Facebook to create events; host photos and stream your meeting or speeches live; and to drive traffic to your open houses or speechcraft seminars.
  4. Develop ads for membership drives. (Start low with $20 and a broad audience in the local area.)

Instagram resources

Facebook owns Instgram. You can find education resources on business.instagram.com

Making the most of Instagram

  1. Setup and link your Instagram account to your Facebook page. Again, use the club’s email, not your’s.
  2. Switch it to a Business Profile in settings, and make sure it’s set to Public.
  3. Develop specific hashtags and Toastmasters generic hashtags for your club. Keep these, and your club’s website url in your notes app on your phone—share with other members to maximize your reach.
  4. During your meetings use your phone and instagram to capture moments, 10 second stories and the general experience of your club.

Host an Open House

Attract new visitors, retain existing members, and above all learn and have fun together.

Open house resources:

A team effort

Hosting an open house requires the entire club to be involved.

The meeting should be planned by the VP Membership (and their committee), though a member can take it on as a project.

  • Brainstorm with the leadership team on the type of open house and it’s logistics
  • Define resources needed and delegate the activities and roles
  • Define a budget

The meeting

  • Conduct an exemplary meeting, have a senior Toastmaster lead the meeting.
  • Make your speeches and table topics purposeful, ask them to focus on “What Toastmasters means to them”.
  • 1–2 speakers: find a special Toastmaster speaker, or pair a novice with a senior level speakers from your club.
  • Leave plenty of time for Q&A in formal or informal format (a seated round-robin, member testimonials, networking around snacks…).
  • Key roles: facilitator for the guest speaker, Toastmaster, greeter.

Logistics of the open house

  • Timing considerations: speaker(s) availability, membership contests, member/club availability (on the date and for successful follow-up meetings).
  • Market the open house: use fliers, social media, word of mouth (all members should be involved in advertising the event).
  • Invite previous guests and past members (best to call). Don’t forget to invite your Area Director.
  • Have ready: a guest book to sign in, name tags for members and guests, membership application and new member packets.
  • Food: have snacks and water for your guests

Follow-up

  • Plan two to three solid meetings to follow the open house.
  • Send a Thank You email to your guests and an invitation to visit/join your club.
  • Ask members to develop a blog post or to post to their social media.

“We learn best in moments of enjoyment”—Ralph Smedley, Founder of Toastmasters International

Host a Speechcraft program

The #1 membership building tool

The Speechcraft program allows experienced Toastmasters to present the fundamentals of public speaking to non-members. It can be offered as an integral part of your club meeting or as a seminar-style program presented outside the club. It can be conducted in four, six, or eight sessions.

Note:

  • Conducting Speechcraft inside the club setting makes it easier for participants to become members.
  • Conducting Speechcraft outside the club setting can lead to the formation of a new Toastmasters club.

Speechcraft resources:

Marketing Incentives

Toastmasters International and District 5 rewards members and clubs for their excellence. Incentives change yearly. Below are example programs from previous years.

  • Smedley Award, the Smedley award commemorates the founding of Toastmasters by Ralph C. Smedley in 1924.
  • Talk Up Toastmasters Award, a membership drive offered throughout the year.
  • Beat the Clock Award, a time-based membership drive.
Take me to Incentives →