Table of Contents

1. Welcome to This Um, Uh, Whatsis

2. The Mission of the Toastmasters Club

3. What’s a Distinguished Club, and Why it Matters

4. The Role of Toastmaster of the Meeting

5. Your Contributions Welcome!

Welcome to This Um, Uh, Whatsis

So, whadda ya think? This is our premier issue of the Hackettstown Toastmasters newsletter. But what to call it? The Hackettstownonian? Whoa! That’s a mouthful! The Toast of Hackettstown? Cute, hunh? But really, what should we call this rag? Send me your tired, your poor, your huddled suggestions yearning to be the name of this newsletter. Send them via email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it by April 17. Then we’ll have a vote, or I’ll just decide on my own, or whatever. PLUS – send a suggestion by midnight tonight and get a free set of ginsu steak knives! (kidding!)

The Mission of the Toastmasters Club

The mission of a Toastmasters club is to provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment in which every individual member has the opportunity to develop oral communication and leadership skills, which in turn foster self-confidence and personal growth.

What’s a Distinguished Club?
and Why It Matters

“We manage what we measure.” So goes the old saw. How can Toastmasters International know if we are managing our Toastmasters club well? They use the “Distinguished Club Plan (DCP)”.

The DCP helps your club accomplish its purpose by focusing on two areas: educational awards and membership. It monitors and measures your club’s achievements in these two critical areas.

RECOGNITION EARNED

Achieve 5 of 10 goals    Distinguished Club

Achieve 9 of 10 goals    President’s Distinguished Club

Distinguished clubs receive a ribbon for their banner and often get a small T.I. store credit from the District. Distinguished clubs tend to be focused on the member’s needs, are better run, attract new members easier and generate feelings of pride and success in their members.

Newly chartered clubs are not expected to distinguish themselves in the Toastmasters year (July 1 to June 30) in which they charter. But Hackettstown is not just any club!!

Distinguished
Club Plan Goals

1. Two CC’s

2. Two more CC’s

3. One AC

4. One more AC

5. One CL/AL/DTM

6. One more
 CL/AL/DTM

7. 4 new members

8. 4 more new  members

9.  ≥ 4 Officers
 trained both
 Fall & Spring

10.  One Officer list &
 club membership
 renewal on time

Plus the club must have ≥ 20 members

We have started with six dual members – members who are so excited by Toastmasters that they pay dues to, and participate in, two (or more) clubs. Jim Birnbaum (Skylands), Michael Campbell (Wyeth), Max Diego (Wyeth), Steve Lord (Open Door), Joe Mathesius (Chubb) and Lois Steward (NYLIM) all belong to another club.

We have already achieved goal 9. We are poised to achieve goals 1, 3, and 5. If we add 4 new members AFTER we charter, that’s five goals! We’re distinguished! A remarkable achievement!

The Role of the Toastmaster of the Meeting

Aside from the club officers, the Toastmaster of the meeting is a key role. While the Vice President of Education is ultimately responsible for planning meetings, in great clubs, once the gavel falls ending any meeting, responsibility for the very next meeting transfers to the Toastmaster of that meeting. That Toastmaster will need to fill any open positions, handle any cancellations, and ensure that all members arrive ready to fill their roles. This responsibility teaches leadership and teamwork skills.

Hackettstown will transition to this model of operating starting with our next meeting, April 2. Here are some details:

The VP-E will attempt to have all roles filled for the next meeting before the current meeting ends. Using a Word Template available on our website, within a day or two, the Toastmaster of the next meeting will send out a "Role Reminder" email to the membership with the agenda as it stands and a request for volunteers to fill remaining roles. After a few more days, if roles remain unfilled, he or she will contact individual members and ask them to take on roles. The Toastmaster also contacts each of the speakers in order to check on their status and to prepare a suitable introduction for each speaker. It is the speaker's responsibility to either prepare an introduction for the Toastmaster (this is a best practice) or provide information to the Toastmaster so that she/he may prepare it. The Toastmaster also contacts the General Evaluator and Topicmaster as a reminder of their role and in order to prepare brief introductions for these individuals.

The General Evaluator will contact each of the speech evaluators to ensure they are prepared (they should have contacted the speaker whom they will be evaluating). The Toastmaster is responsible for preparing, printing and bringing copies of the agenda to the meeting.

Your Contributions Welcome!

How can we make this monthly newsletter better? Perhaps you have some news that you'd like to share with our members. Here's your chance! Pictures welcome too! Email ideas or stories/pix to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it today!