March 2025

ISSUE 9

Back to the Basics!

Greetings, Fellow Toastmasters!

It's a season for renewals. As we renew our commitment, it's a good time to get back to basics.

A new series of workshops will help you polish your Toastmaster skills. Don't underestimate the power of the basics. There's no limit to how well a Toastmaster can perform and it's easy to get into a routine and 'go through the motions'. Refreshing yourself on Toastmasters essentials or learning to unlock Pathways potential can be the spark you need to reignite your passion for public speaking.

Our latest podcast, featuring Declan Shalvey, has many valuable tips to help with fundamentals, including how to infuse humor in your speech and advice on how to stay calm when the stakes are high.

In our featured blog, Traca Savadogo explains how a high-intensity, feedback-driven approach can shorten your speech delivery mastery.

VPPRs: Please fill out this survey to choose future workshop topics.

District Happenings

Contest season is already underway and many Area Contests are complete. Check out the schedule. There are opportunities to go and support contest speakers and volunteer in a contest role.

If you're interested in learning more about Contest Roles and how to perform them, D101 has a Contest Bootcamp playlist with Tech Chair, Contest Judge workshops and even storytelling tips.

Attend our 'growth-themed' workshops to enhance and accelerate your progress.

Concise and interactive education sessions
Practical tools, tips, and processes to cut learning curves and facilitate growth
Distilled and taught by TM leaders and experts

Examples include Toastmasters Essentials, Speechwriting Frameworks, Unlock Pathways Potential, Mastering Constructive Feedback, Effective Open House with PR tips, plus skills to excel in officer roles and many more!

Series Kick-off is March 31 @ 7 pm!

Incentives

Learn More

Expires in 2 days! (3/16/2025)

Renew 80% of 7/1 membership base or 20+ members (whichever is lower) receive $80 district credit.

Must have a minimum of 8.

Does not combine with Early Bird.

Questions? Contact renewals@d101tm.org

Clubs that reach Distinguished status by June 15, 2025 will receive a district credit in the following manner:

Distinguished (5,6) : Will earn a $25 district credit.

Select Distinguished (7,8): Will earn $50 district credit.

Presidents Distinguished (9+): Will earn $75 district credit.

Questions: PQD@d101tm.org

For all clubs which achieve at least 1 goal in all 4 sections : Education, Membership, Training and Administration by April 15th receive $51 and a chance to enter the raffle to win free tickets to the Spring Conference.

Clubs which qualified for the Early Achievers will not be eligible to claim credit for this award.

Questions: PQD@d101tm.org

PR Corner

LinkedIn is a platform followed by established and up and coming professionals looking for learning and networking opportunities.

In order to develop a strong LinkedIn presence we need your help!

Please follow our LinkedIn profile

Share our posts to your own followers

Are you a LinkedIn expert? Reach out to us and join the PR team to help grow the district!

PR@d101tm.org

New Podcast

Sneha Sharma is doing an outstanding job in matching her podcast interviews to District goals!

It's contest season and members are preparing their speeches. Sneha interviewed Declan Shalvey, DTM, Fall Fusion Humorous Speech Contest winner and district finalist in multiple speech categories. He shares tips on how to add humor to a speech. Here's an idea: Wait until the speech is written and then go back and sprinkle in humor, not necessarily in the style of stand-up; think of adding a smile for the audience.

Declan also offers advice to club's to get new member's working towards leadership goals early on.

Don't miss the podcast, which is chock full of tips and wisdom for every level of Toastmaster!

Latest Blog

Accelerate Your Growth with Ultra-Learning

Blog writer Traca Sovadogo explores how to apply a book by Scott Young, entitled Ultra-Learning: Accelerate Your Career, Master Hard Skills and Outsmart the Competition to accelerate speaking skills.

The article outlines the key principles in the book and provides an example of someone who tried it.

READ ARTICLE

If you would like to see your club on our blog page or if you would like a Member Spotlight, please reach out to:

PR@d101tm.org

Yoodli

Yoodli is an online application that can record and analyze your speech performance and provide coaching. Toastmasters members can access Yoodli at no cost by going to My Home after logging onto toastmasters.org, and selecting the Yoodli card in the section: From the Organization to You.

It also has AI-powered speaking games that you can use to sharpen your impromptu speaking skills. Even if you’ve checked it out, it’s worth another look because the app continuously adds features and improvements.