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| Gary Samuelson, DCP Chair |
As the District 25 Distinguished Club Chair for 2012-2013, it is my duty
and privilege to encourage clubs to achieve Distinguished Club status. During three of the most recent Toastmasters
Leadership Institute (TLI), I presented the Distinguished Club Program (DCP)
and offered a few suggestions for implementing it. After one of those sessions, an officer of
one of the newly chartered clubs announced that DCP program was easy and her
club—less than a year old—is going to be Select Distinguished this coming
year.
I think she is right – the Distinguished Club Program is easy, especially
for clubs that start at the beginning of the Toastmasters year. And, I believe her club will make that
goal. I want to encourage club members
to believe that their club should and can become Distinguished, and to help their
clubs become Distinguished, not just for the ribbon, but because doing so means
that club members are achieving their individual goals.
I want to congratulate the members of District 25 who helped their clubs
achieve Distinguished status or better for the 2011-2012 Toastmasters year. Twelve clubs were Distinguished, 29 were
Select Distinguished, and 47 were Presidents Distinguished, for a total of
88. Eighteen more clubs were “almost”
Distinguished, lacking either one DCP goal or lacking the required membership
(20 members or net gain of five by June 30).
In addition, eighteen new clubs were chartered during the previous
Toastmasters year. It therefore seems to
me to be quite reasonable to aspire to 100 or more clubs earning Distinguished
status for the 2012-2013 year.
I also want to congratulate the members who achieved educational awards
or made progress towards them, or served as club officers, or encouraged guests
to join, or did anything else to help their clubs, even if their clubs did not
achieve Distinguished status. After all,
the mission of the club “is to provide a mutually supportive and positive
learning environment in which every individual member has the
opportunity to develop oral communication and leadership skills.” The Distinguished Club Program is one means
of measuring a club’s success in fulfilling its mission.
This is a new year (alright, it is a month and a half old), and, as of this
date, President's Distinguished status is within reach of every club in the
district. Nearly every club submitted their
club officers list on time. That is one
half of DCP goal number 10, so each of those clubs has already completed 5% of
the Distinguished Club Program. Each
club for which at least four officers attend training – and there are a few
opportunities left to do so – will have achieved one half of goal number 9, or another
5% of the DCP program. Therefore, many
clubs have already completed 10% of the DCP program in just six weeks. If every club would make it a goal to achieve 10% of the DCP program every month for the
next ten months, they could be President's Distinguished by the Spring
Conference.
For example, the first DCP goal is two Competent Communicator (CC)
awards. This would require two members
to give 20 speeches over the next 10 months. Note: a club that meets weekly for
an hour could schedule anywhere from 100 to 150 speeches each year. For an individual member to give one speech
per month seems reasonable to me and I suggest new Toastmasters strive for that
pace. It is, in my opinion, enough to
keep the member’s interest, but should not be overwhelming. Some Toastmasters will decide that they want
to give speeches more frequently, and some will decide that they want to give
speeches less frequently. In any case,
there are certainly opportunities for new Toastmasters to give speeches.
It is also my opinion that, usually, new Toastmasters should be given
preference over experienced Toastmasters when allocating speaking opportunities
in regular club meetings. New members
need most what Toastmasters provides. These members bring new experiences
(which I enjoy hearing about) and new viewpoints (which I enjoy hearing, even
if I disagree). Also, new members who form a habit of participating by
regularly giving speeches are more likely to stay in Toastmasters long enough
to become experienced members.
My challenge this month to each club is: Identify at least two newer
members who will commit to completing their CCs by June 30, 2013. Schedule, as specifically as possible, when
each speech needed to complete those two CCs will be given. Assure them that they will have the
encouragement, assistance and mentoring that they need to complete those
speeches. You may not be able to
complete DCP goal number one this month, but you will have put into motion the plan
to do so this year.
Gary Samuelson
