In order that both the executive and the membership are clear on the roles of the club officers, have each newly elected officer give a Take-five on, "This is my job!" The President should go first.

I've found this helpful in increasing everyone's awareness and getting a new executive off to a good start.

All clubs go through the ups and downs of membership. Some strong clubs manage to maintain their strength due to superior program management, a good location, respect for people's time, etc. Yes, your long time member probably knows more than anyone else about membership building. Do you have a telephone number that you can use for recruitment and make a practice of calling everyone who responds? Here in District 4 we maintain two hot line telephone numbers for people to call. They receive in the mail a list of all of the clubs, the e-mail address for all of the clubs so they can download the list, an application blank, a welcome letter and one of the TI super brochures. Then the clubs, which have picked up the hotline list off of e-mail, call these folks. Some people get 4-5 calls from different clubs - all encouraging the prospective member to visit clubs, to find the right time, place, etc. When I train for membership, I train folks on two specific skills - developing their own personal 30 message about the benefits of TM so they can talk to anyone - and helping them to practice making hotline calls. Good techniques are important to that process. An average TM needs to have confidence in talking about what they have gained from TM. Either of these exercises make good Table Topics sessions - especially when combined with a membership campaign, speechcraft, etc. Hold a communications workshop using speechcraft, charge a fee which includes becoming a member. If the participant is not satisfied, return the membership portion but keep the money that you used to purchase their participant's workshop.

The person you might try is the Human Relations director - call (don't walk in off the street!), explain Toastmasters (many companies are familiar with us), and offer to put on a demonstration meeting - one speaker, one evaluator, and Table Topics - should be easy to do in an hour (lunchtime is always good), even with explanations, questions and answers, etc. Prior to lining anything up, let your District Officers (Area Governors on up to the District Governor - especially the Lt. Gov. of Marketing) know that you will need some help - a good place to share this with most of them at one time is at the District Executive Council Meeting - we meet every month. If they want more, you can then announce a Speechcraft, or, invite them to your Club to experience a full-on meeting (again, ask District Officers to come and help you "beef up" your meeting size. Whatever course you take, use your District Officers to the fullest, especially the Lt. Gov. of Marketing (I was the Evaluator at a demo meeting for the FAA just last week!) - that's what we're here for! Hope this helps, and best of luck.

At Golden Years, we used the printed and cable media to get the word out. Look at the Vice-President of Public Relations Officer training manual for examples of publicity releases.

You and your club members have to be prepared to speak in front of television cameras, at radio talk shows, TV talk shows, and give interviews to newspaper reporters. As VPPR, I went before City Council and the TV camera for five minutes before the whole city audience. The club got exposure on another city's cable network. We were published for 52 continuos weeks in printed media and got two members for neighboring clubs. The local club net got the club one member. Another newspaper got one member.

Networking will get you plenty of new members. My friend works at a bank. I sold him the benefits of TM and he joined with 4 of his co-workers.

I just worked a High School Career day and put out club flyers to prospective members.

"I am too busy or some other excuse." My best approach is to develop a script of the Toastmaster benefits. I am a salesperson and a closer. When I hear "I am too busy." I reply with "AIDA."

ATTENTION: "Are you too busy to invest in yourself to make more money, business, or better position?"

INTEREST: I increase their interest by this stmt. "CEO have five major characteristics. The primary one is Public Speaking. If it is good enough for your boss...you should check it out."

DESIRE: You cultivate their desire by telling them about the benefits and how much FUN they'll have. Their personal self-confidence and self-esteem will be developed to their peak.

ACTION: You bring them to ACTION by attending a club meeting or doing a demo meeting or having them fill out an application with MONEY (cash, check, or deposit) and commitment. Your club members must ask for the order (more than once!).

Be prepared to answer hard questions - Why did you join TM? My best answer is "As a copy machine salesperson, I was asked to speak before the Women's Business group. I didn't know a speech from a hole-in-the-ground. I did presentation to individuals and small teams. The group had 350 women business owners. Not only did I lose 350 immediate prospects, I lost their husband's company business, and a infinite amount of referral business. That's why I am a public speaker. Can you afford not to be a public speaker?" You can use this or a similar example.