Silver Spring Toastmasters and the Distinguished Club Program by Mel Bayo

Hey there fellow Toastmasters!

Did you know our club has 17 meetings left in the 2010-11 Toastmaster year?

Wow, it snuck up on me too!

And that means we'll need to be just that extra bit focused, communicative, strategic, industrious and INSPIRED in order to reach our club's collective goal of earning the top distinction in the Toastmasters Distinguished Club Program, the President's Distinguished designation.

Okay, so what's the Distinguished Club Program (DCP)?

It's a set of 10 communication, leadership, training and membership goals meant to challenge a club and its individual members to grow each Toastmaster year.

First off, in order to qualify for any award, by June 30 of 2011 our club must have either:

• At least 20 members, or
• A net growth of at least 5 new members

The GREAT news is that with over 40 members, Silver Spring Toastmasters is all set on that requisite.

So the 10 goals are as follows:

1. Two Competent Communicator (CC) awards given to club members
2. Two more CCs
3. One Advanced Communicator Bronze (ACB), Advanced Communicator Silver (ACS), or Advanced Communicator Gold (ACG) recognition given to a club member
4. One more ACB, ACS, or ACG
5. One Competent Leader (CL), Advanced Leader Bronze (ALB), Advanced Leader Silver (ALS), or Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) recognition given to a club member
6. One more CL, ALB, ALS or DTM
7. Four new members added to the club
8. Four more new members
9. Minimum of four club officers attending district-sponsored club officer training (TLI) during each of the two training periods
10. One dues renewal report and one club officer list submitted on time

Now, how does a club attain recognition in the DCP? Below are the three distinctions possible for a club and the number of completed goals required for their attainment.

• When we reach five of the ten goals: Distinguished Club
• When we achieve seven of the ten goals: Select Distinguished Club
• When we attain nine of the ten goals: President's Distinguished Club

In designing a strategy for becoming President's Distinguished this year, it's safe to assume that Goals # 9 and 10 will easily be reached since dues have consistently been taken care of and if all 7 officers attend the Winter TLI sessions (they did so this Fall) we will again have our Dream Team.

Note also that Goal #5 has already been attained so in essence we'll have three goals spoken for by early Spring.

By the way, we are currently at the halfway point (or better) on Goals # 1 and 7.

Club Challenge

Taking into account the time allotted to reach our collective goal I propose the following time-line to spur us on as individuals and a team:

1. Attain Distinguished status by January 19, 2011 (complete at least two more club goals within the next 7 meetings).
2. Reach Select Distinguished by March 16, 2011 (complete two additional club goals in the 4 February and March meetings)
3. Become President's Distinguished by May 18, 2011 (complete the final two club goals in the 4 April and May meetings)

Why complete 9 goals by the end of May when we have until the end of June?

• First off, because we CAN if we focus on it and work together as a team.
• Secondly, because the extra time will allow us to shoot for a PERFECT 10 of 10 goals.
• Thirdly, because don't you just LOVE a challenge?

We have a fair number of members who are 5 projects (or less) away from achieving that next level of recognition. So take some time before our next meeting on October 20th and look at how close YOU are to your next speaking and leadership designation.

After doing so, contact David Buresh to let him know how many projects you need to complete and schedule your next few speaking and/or leadership roles so you can be that much closer to your individual Toastmaster Goals.

I challenge you to STRETCH yourselves Silver Spring Toastmasters.

YOU CAN DO IT!

And when you win, our club will win as well.

LET'S GET THAT PRESIDENT'S DISTINGUISHED!