Coaches Corner
Half Time Pep Talk
by Julia Davis, DTM District Governor

Happy holidays to everyone in District 26. It is now “half time”, that is, the Toastmasters year is half over. If you are expecting a slambang half time event, it's coming in January with the Toastmaster Leadership Institute (TLI) training sessions. Your education and leadership coach, Norm Frickey, has assured me he has spared no expense on the upcoming TLI sessions to deliver the finest training programs we can offer you. Go to the district website and click on the desired session for details. Remember that you should plan on having at least four officers trained this session to qualify for the Distinguished Club Program (DCP) training credit, but more is always better. BTW, non-officers can attend officers training programs if they are interested, and it provides a good opportunity to get potential new officers trained early (although they officially have to be trained when they become officers to receive the training credit).

Are you ready? Are You Ready? I said, ARE YOU READY? Ready for what? To win the game, of course. Now that we are half way through we can see our strengths and our weaknesses so we can adjust our game plan accordingly. The district is down a few points at the half, but I know we can rally the team and win one for the members. Ask your club presidents if they are at charter strength (20 members) or more. Do they have a few DCP points stored up? Now is the time to consider any game plan changes. Toastmasters International is starting a new membership drive soon and this would be the perfect project for someone needing to organize and overflowing

execute a membership drive for their Competent Leadership program (project 6). Plan to recruit big then execute to the plan. If you need help, the district has many resources to help you including, Betty Chavira, the recruiting coach, and Gavin Kirton, the team publicist. They can give advice and counsel based on their years of experience in Toastmasters.

Next, is your team adequately compensated for their efforts? By this I mean, are they getting the recognition and awards they richly deserve for their outstanding accomplishments? If not, maybe it is time to have recognition party for them? Order them badges, make a big show at a meeting of presenting them their awards (Special Occasions Speech # 3, Presenting an award, and have them do Speech #4, Accepting an award if they are advanced members). Make sure the VP of Education turns in all awards promptly to TI (after they reopen January 3rd).

Finally, review your game plan and share your progress with the club by discussing your clubs Distinguished Club Program progress. Get their input on how to round out the year as a Presidents Distinguished Club, and I can tell you from experience it CAN be done with any club, providing the club members want to win. The DCP program is more than an award. It is the pulse of the club. If the club is following the program and achieving the goals, it is a healthy and thriving club both with the team and from the perspective of draftees who may want to join your club. Every club that achieves distinguished or better is a winning club, and I can assure you those clubs are sought by the draftees first. Shouldn't your club be one that is desired?

As always, I sit on the sidelines and welcome advice on how to manage the district for you, so please let me know what you like and what you think I need to address. Let's WIN!

 
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