Prepare for Mid-year Training — District Directors, Program Quality Directors, and Club Growth Directors: Schedule ample time to complete the Pre-work prior to training. The more prepared you are, the more you will benefit from the experience.

Achieve Distinguished Club Program Goals — Review the Distinguished Performance Reports and Club Success Plans to identify the clubs that are on track for Distinguished status and clubs that may need additional assistance to reach their goals.

Inspiring Speakers: We Want You! — Do you have an amazing talent for capturing a crowd? Apply to be a presenter at an upcoming Toastmasters event! We welcome dynamic moderators, panelists, education speakers, keynotes, comedians, and more, who have experience addressing large international audiences, be it in person or online. Use this form to submit a video and be considered today.

Welcome Rotary Members into Our Storytelling Circle — As Toastmasters, we know how important telling a story effectively can be to our personal and professional growth. Since the Rotary/Toastmasters alliance and subsequent Toastmasters coursework that Rotary members have access to, more of them want to find fulfillment through articulating and sharing stories, too. Remind clubs in your District to create an inclusive and welcoming club environment by encouraging members and guests who want to share and develop their storytelling skills. Consider that their stories will likely provide a different perspective and newfound inspiration.

Election Preparation — The District Leadership Committee should be seeking District leader candidates for the 2023-2024 program year. To ensure the District election is well-managed and successful, please review the Elections Toolkit and Protocol 9.0: District Campaigns and Elections in the Governing Documents. The District call for candidates is due on January 15.

Help Reinstate Closed Clubs — The deadline to utilize the incentive that makes it easier to reinstate suspended and closed clubs is March 31. This process makes it easier and less expensive for clubs to reinstate and allows them to do so with fewer members than is traditionally required. Check the email you received on January 5 for more details.

International Candidates at District Events — Are you having an International Officer or Director candidate visit your District or make a presentation at one of your District events? Please review Policy 9.1: International Campaigns and Elections for guidelines and restrictions. Contact candidates@toastmasters.org with any questions.

Invite Your Friends to Toastmasters! — Clubs around the world are filled with vibrant, dynamic, and helpful members who support each other along their paths to improvement. Discover how to attract, invite, and encourage guests to join by adding a personal touch.

5 Keys to Delegation Mastery — One of the most important skills a leader needs is the ability to delegate. Take these five tips and learn how to shift from doing to leading.

Meet Your Future Self —Today — A growing body of psychological research provides insights and strategies to help you become your ideal future self. Find out how to WOOP yourself into shape (Wish, Outcome, Obstacles, and Plan) in this January Toastmaster article.

Help Your Clubs Grow — A recent survey of prospective members uncovered that 42% of those who never visited a club had filled out the Find a Club form and never heard back. Clubs in your District could be missing out on potential members because of a communication error. Ensure that all Find a Club inquiries make it to clubs in your District by encouraging club leaders to update club contact information on the Club Contact and Meeting Information page in Club Central. Use this guide for more detailed instruction and for email response templates.

Instant Speech Analysis is Here! — Thanks to the new Toastmasters Yoodli partnership, Toastmasters can now receive immediate analytical speech feedback by logging into www.toastmasters.org/MyHome and clicking on the Yoodli card to record a speech on the platform. Yoodli's artificial intelligence (AI) will then break down insights, such as how many filler words were used, the pace, eye contact, if any non-inclusive language was used, and more. Encourage members to check it out today!

International Director Candidates Nominated — The Toastmasters International Leadership Committee has nominated International Director candidates for the 2023-2024 Board of Directors. Voting will take place at the Annual Business Meeting in August 2023. Find out more about the candidates by visiting the International Candidates webpage.

My Home is Your Home — In November, Toastmasters unveiled My Home, a more personalized home page experience for members, along with some menu updates, for faster and easier website navigation. Try it out as a leader, then encourage members to try it, simply by logging in. This is also a good time to remind members that the Toastmasters website is full of valuable resources, now made more accessible.