August 2024 Leader Letter

Create a Convention Watch Party! — Take the lead with club members who haven’t registered for the 2024 International Convention by organizing a fun and inspiring viewing event through the purchase of your online ticket. Livestream it during the session(s) of your choice and set the club morale to high!

Share Your Centennial Snaps — Toastmasters have been celebrating the centennial in style! Continue sharing your best moments from networking events, leadership gatherings, officer training, and other Toastmasters activities on social media. Follow the fun by using and following the #toastmasters and #Toastmasters100Years hashtags. We can't wait to see all the exciting things happening this August!

Designate a Proxyholder — Make sure your club's voice is heard by designating a proxyholder to carry your club's votes for the 2024 Annual Business Meeting no later than August 9! This year, your club will vote for the International Officer and Director elections. Ensure that your club's designated proxyholder will be able to attend the Annual Business Meeting, either onsite or online, on August 16 at 7 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time (PDT)/Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) -7. If you have any questions, review the Frequently Asked Questions or email proxyinfo@toastmasters.org.

Collect Member Dues Soon — Club officers are responsible for collecting and submitting member renewal payments twice a year, in April and October. October 2024 renewals can now be submitted in Club Central. If your club is Self-Pay enabled, your members can alternatively submit their membership dues directly on their My Home page. Please review the Renewal Dues FAQ.

Achieve Club Excellence — Recently, the "Supporting Club Excellence" webinar introduced resources that provide insightful and practical advice for helping your club thrive. The webinar recording and all the materials referenced during the webinar are available on the Club Officer Tools page.

Set New Members Up for Success — Use the New Member Orientation PowerPoint to introduce Toastmasters International and the Pathways learning experience to new club members.

Engage and Educate Your Guests! — Why Toastmasters? is an interactive page that shares information with guests! It includes information like how they will grow, the Toastmasters structure, and details on how to join a club.

Connect with More Prospects; Gain More Members — This guide will walk you through how to maximize the tools already at your disposal for connecting with potential members. It also includes customizable templates to easily communicate with prospects and to keep track of your communications. Make a goal to implement the guide's suggestions this month!

Evaluation Resources — Did you know that all evaluation resources are located on toastmasters.org and in Base Camp? Members can find evaluation resources either when launching their project, or in the Tutorials and Resources section on Base Camp in all languages. The English version of these valuable resources can also be found in the Resource Library on with just the name of the project—no login required!

Convention Fun! — This month Toastmasters is marking its centennial celebration in Anaheim, California! But before you go back to where it all began, take a peek into the past to see how this annual event has been an extravagance of exuberance through the years.

The Language of Leadership — Three characteristics that nearly all strong leaders share are a sense of integrity, the ability to respond to feedback, and strong communication skills. As you develop your leadership skills, learn how your verbal and nonverbal communication come together to create influence.

Managing Team Conflicts — Despite your best efforts to build a high-functioning team rooted in good communication, conflicts can still arise, often because communication breaks down. Find out how to help your team succeed together.

Inspiring Trust as a Leader — Trust doesn’t happen by accident—it needs to be built and maintained over time. Discover how you can create a cohesive team with consistency and vulnerability.

Tune In! Meet the 2024 Golden Gavel Award Recipient: Lisa Sun — In this episode of The Toastmasters Podcast, Lisa Sun shares about her journey toward becoming founder and CEO of Gravitas and gives a glance into her upcoming convention presentation, "Cultivating Courage: Reframe Results to Compel Action."

Who Will Advance from the Semifinals? — Get ready to cheer for the 2024 International Speech Contest semifinalists! During the Toastmasters International Convention, 28 contestants will compete in four semifinals for a chance to advance to the World Championship of Public Speaking®. Find out who is competing and view the full agenda for dates and times.

Submitting Payments — The preferred method of payment to Toastmasters International is by credit card. International money orders are not accepted, even if they are in USD. If your club has submitted payment by wire transfer and has not received communication from World Headquarters, email the confirmation of the wire transfer (commonly called the SWIFT Receipt) to financequestions@toastmasters.org. The Finance Team will ensure that the funds are allocated to your club for the purpose of renewing your members.

Congratulations, Club Coaches! — We applaud all the club coaches who were successful for the 2023–2024 program year. If your second program year as a coach has expired and you were not able to complete the task, you could be reappointed! For reappointment, ask your District Director or Club Growth Director to submit a request to World Headquarters before September 30, 2024. Club coaches who can be reappointed will receive an email this month.

Time to Start Goal Setting — The 2024-2025 Program Year kicked off last month on July 1, which means time for new goals! To help all clubs achieve their goals this program year, the Board of Directors is extending the exception to lower the required number of members for the Qualifying Membership down to a net growth of three. Because this change is temporary, it will not be reflected in the Distinguished Club Program Manual. However, the Distinguished Performance Reports Dashboards have already been updated to reflect this extension. We wish all clubs continued success in the 2024-2025 program year.

Congratulations to All Toastmasters Clubs! — Distinguished statuses are now official on the Dashboard page. Many clubs earned Distinguished status or higher; you can view the complete list on the Club Achievement section of Club Central.

Add Members, Win an Award — When your club adds five new, reinstated, or dual members with a join date of August or September during the Smedley Award Program contest period, you'll earn a special ribbon to display on your club banner plus you'll receive a 10% discount on your next club order from the Toastmasters Online Store!

Get Credit for Your Club Support Role — Looking to get credit for being a club sponsor, mentor, or coach to apply toward your Distinguished Toastmaster Award? For any of these three roles to be applied, they must be listed as “Complete” within your profile on toastmasters.org.