Toastmaster’s are the Masters of Recruiting

1. Ask someone (everyone) 2. Bring a guest 3. Advertise in newspapers 4. Advertise o public access TV 5. Sample or demonstration meetings 6. Letters or personal contact with local businesses 7. Contact with Chamber of Commerce 8. Bookmarks inserted in library books 9. Public meetings at malls, outdoors, etc 10. SpeechCraft 11. Booth at malls, fairs, festival etc. 12. Pamphlet in doctors’ offices, hospitals, cafeterias, libraries, etc 13. Host an Open House 14. Contact past members 15. Hold membership drives and contests 16. Warm greeting 17. Guest information packet 18. Guest introductions 19. Encourage, but don’t force, Table Topic participation 20. Ask for comments 21. Clearly marked room 22. Club business cards 23. Distribute extra magazines in waiting rooms, etc 24. Hold high-profile meetings 25. Advertise at local colleges 26. Have a guest speaker 27. Have a special guest day 28. Have a program for non-members 29. Make prospective feel important 30. Have enjoyable programs 31. Make some meetings social evetns 32. Have a Club web page 33. Use email 34. Put posters in stores 35. Ask corporations and employers to sponsor or subsidize membership 36. Have a reward program for those who bring a in anew members 37. Create more fun 38. Have a variety of snacks 39. Invite the media 40. Use word of mouth 41. Network with coworkers, friends, and family 42. Follow up on guests 43. Have educational meetings 44. Have friendly meetings 45. Lead by example 46. Have incentives for those who join 47. Members give talks at other organizations 48. Provide guests with free meals 49. Corporate Clubs provide brochure for new employee packets 50. Display the trophies 51. Club sponsor a deserving, needy individual 52. Lure passers-by with free food 53. Advertise with a blimp at sports events 54. Have a marching band spell out your club’s name 55. If you are the boss, make your employee join 56. Ask the District for help 57. Provide child care 58. Hold join meetings with non-toastmasters groups 59. Share your toastmasters experience with other 60. Participate in community events 61. Write letters to community groups 62. Be active in Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, Kiwanis, etc 63. Publicize Clue successes, election, contests, in local newspapers 64. have a club newsletter 65. Have a club brochure 66. Hold a public debate 67. Never cancel a meeting 68. Members should be prepared 69. have a planned agenda 70. Encourage interclub visits 71. Form/join a speakers’ bureau 72. Teach public speaking at vo-tech, community college, continuing education 73. Hold public workshops 74. Wear your pin 75. mention Toastmaster at meetings of other organizations during announcements 76. Send newsletter to guests 77. Visitor Day – each member sends out 10 invitations 78. Talk up Toastmasters to those who express problems with public speaking 79. Ask guest to join 80. Get a three meeting commitment 81. Advertise in church bulletin 82. When asked about your speaking skills, tell them about Toastmasters 83. Tell everyone about the benefits of Toastmasters 84. Have informative meetings 85. Make it Fun 86. Bumper Stickers 87. Smile 88. Invite guests to your place of business to get better acquainted with them 89. Attract a wide age spectrum 90. Give testimonials 91. Elect a dedicated VP membership 92. Hold smooth meetings 93. Get experiences Toastmasters to join as dual members 94. Repeatedly invite prospective members 95. Practice selling Toastmasters at Club meetings 96. Make it look easy 97. Promote humor in speeches 98. Make meetings more interactive 99. Send thank you to guests 100. Have table at trade shows 101. Hold a Speechathon with as many speakers as possible 102. Think like a child-how would you get someone to play with? 103. “put in words” apparel to writers’ clubs 104. Toastmaster minute on radio 105. Interaction with story tellers’ organizations 106. “Do it for you” poster contest at schools 107. Bring your boss 108. When someone notices your progress, tell them why and invite them 109. Hold meetings at senior centers 110. Have new member kits 111. Hand out flyers and brochures 112. Have a host for each guest 113. Hand out invitation cards 114. Members constantly promoting and raving about Toastmasters 115. Meet at a good location 116. Explain the structure of Toastmasters

Decompression Time!

Work Stress and Marriage
By: Ken Canfield

Stress is contagious. In this age of high expectations and long work hours, it’s easy for a man to bring his worries and frustrations home and spread them all over the household.

A dad might treat his family like his boss treats him, which can be very destructive. Or some men might start resenting their family responsibilities, and expect to just relax on the sofa when they get home. Of course, that’s an insult to wives, since they have stresses of their own after a day corralling the kids or working somewhere else.

What can we do?

First, recognize the value of “decompression time.” Take some time in the car or in your first few minutes home to adjust your frame of mind. Exercise, read the newspaper, shower, change clothes. After a few minutes alone, you can shift gears and be ready for family time.

Second, keep communicating?even about the stresses you’re facing. It’s easy for a wife to feel like she’s going through the stressful work situation with her husband. But if she is informed about your work situation and she believes in the value of the work you’re doing, that will be a positive factor. Communicating will help both of you stay aware of the stresses, and can make you both more forgiving when one of you is in a bad mood.

Third, realize that sometimes bigger steps are necessary. If you’re stressed out or blaming your family for your tension, or if there’s a growing distance between you and your wife, it may be time to start thinking about a job change. Have a heart-to-heart about your true values and priorities.

Looking for a less stressful, more flexible position may cause more stress for a while, but you know you’re doing it for the right reasons. Even if the new position pays less, that’s an adjustment that most families can make. And isn’t your marriage worth it?

You know, there are a lot of divorced men and fathers right now still working in high-stress jobs who regret not making changes sooner to try to save their families.

Dad, don’t let a stressful job slowly erode the foundations of your marriage and family. Take steps to protect it, starting today.

10 Things More Important than Money$$$ on Fathers Day

10 THINGS MORE IMPORTANT THAN MONEY $$

Remember, there are many things in life that are far more important than the size of your investment portfolio or the size of your latest paycheck.

Too often in our capitalistic society, we place too much emphasis on financial achievement and too little on the importance of living a purpose driven life.

1. Family… your spouse, your parents, and her kids should come first. Just simply providing for them does not make your family, your number one priority. There is far more you can do for them with quality and quantity time. Love is spelled…. TIME.
2. Friends… the older some of us get, the less time we have for our friends. Some people get too busy climbing the success ladder and may not even make time for friends. Big mistake. So many things in our society are disposable, and sadly, friends too often fall into that category. Take time to invest in your friendships, both old and new. How hard is it to schedule a Starbucks coffee, pick up the phone, or write an e-mail?
3. Your health… stress, poor diet, lack of exercise, poor relationships with you and your family… all of these can adversely affect your health. Getting caught up in your career and working endless hours can also lead to neglect of one’s health. Workaholism can be deadly. The lack of discipline in making exercise, sleep, a good diet, and a healthy lifestyle can be dangerous if not deadly as well. You get one body, take care of it and treat it with the respect it deserves.
4. Kids… investing in your kids is absolutely one of the best investments you can make. Understanding how to relate to, love, care for, and communicate with your kids is vital to becoming a more fulfilled and complete person. Our future is our children. What kind of legacy are you leaving behind? Relationships that are fully orbed or just a fat portfolio?
5. Education… being a lifelong learner is a lifelong process. It’s not about being enrolled in the school or a fancy college or receiving a piece of paper. It is, however, about being someone who is hungry to learn, willing to change, and ready to embrace new ways of looking at life and the universe. As long as you have your mental capacities, you can keep learning and building on what you already know. Your mind is a terrible thing to waste.
6. Having fun… people get so caught up in society’s money game that wealth becomes an addiction, an obsession, and the purpose for their existence. How many wealthy people aren’t healthy people who spend far too much time and energy chasing promotions, money, and possessions. We can end up with lots of toys and turn out to be pretty unhappy people… big mistake.
7. Solving social problems… how can you be a voice in society for those who do not have the ability to speak for themselves? Whether it’s poverty, divorce, suicide, teenage pregnancy, name your issue… you can have a voice and be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Your community is full of opportunities for you to volunteer, donate time or money, and get involved.
8. Your neighbors… give the neighbors a chance. Don’t write them off because they aren’t the same age, race, or occupation as you. What’s the sense of neglecting neighbors, since they can be sources of friendship, if given a chance? Part of our connection to the greater society is defined by our neighborhoods, which are full of neighbors— who could be friends we haven’t met yet.
9. Appreciating/valuing what you have… right now make a list of 10 things that you really appreciate. What is on your list? Despite our overall affluence, we still lament material things we lack rather than appreciating and valuing the material and nonmaterial things we do have. Don’t forget relationships.
10. Your reputation… a good name is to be had above riches. It takes a lifetime to build a reputation, but only moments to lose it. We chase after many things in life, and we often de-value and under-invest in relationships which should have our focus and priority. How many men have thrown it all away in a quick but twisted attempt at some forbidden fruit?

Colin Powell on Leadership part #2.

Lesson 10…” Never let your ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it.”

Too often, change is stifled by people who cling to familiar turfs and job descriptions. Effective leaders create a climate where people’s worth is determined by their willingness to learn new skills and grab new responsibilities, thus perpetually reinventing their jobs. The most important question in performance evaluation becomes not,” How well did you perform your job since the last time we met”? but,” How much did you change it?”

Lesson 11…” Fit no stereotypes. Don’t chase the latest management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the team’s mission.”

Floating from fad to fad creates team confusion, reduces the leader’s credibility, and drains organizational coffers. Blindly following a particular fad generates rigidity in thought and action. Sometimes speed to market is more important than total quality. Colin Powell indicates that some situations require the leader to hover closely; others require long, loose leashes. Leaders honor their core values but they are flexible in how they execute them. They understand that management techniques are not magic mantras, but are simply tools to be reached for at the right times.

Lesson 12…” Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.”

The ripple effect of a leader’s enthusiasm and optimism is awesome. So is the impact of cynicism and pessimism. Leaders who whine and blame engender those same behaviors among their colleagues. Spare me the grim litany of the” realist”; give me the unrealistic aspirations of the optimist any day.

Lesson 13…” Powell’s Rules For Picking People…”-Look for intelligence and judgment and, most critically, a capacity to anticipate, to see around corners. Also look for loyalty, integrity, a high-energy drive, a balanced ego, and the drive to get things done.

How often do a recruitment and hiring processes tap into these attributes? More often than not, we ignore them in favor of length of resume, degrees, prior experience, and job titles. A string of job descriptions a potential hire held yesterday seem to be more important than what the job might require today. Good leader stack the deck in their favor right in the recruitment phase.

Lesson 14…” Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, one who can cut through an argument, debate and doubt to offer a solution everyone can understand.”

Effective leaders understand the KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid). Their visions and priorities are lean and compelling, not cluttered or buzzword-laden, their decisions are crisp and clear, not tentative and ambiguous. The result is a clarity of purpose, credibility of leadership and integrity in organization.

Lesson 15… “Once the information is in this 40 to 70 range, go with your gut.”

Powell’s advice is don’t take action if you have only enough information to give you less than a 40% chance of being right, but don’t wait to have enough facts to be 100% sure, because by then it’s always too late. Today, excessive delays result in analysis paralysis. Procrastination in the name of a risk reduction actually increases risk.

Lesson 16…” the commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise.”

Too often the reverse defines corporate culture.

Lesson 17…” Have fun in your command. Don’t always run at a breakneck pace. Take leave. When you’ve earned it, spend time with your families.”

Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who play hard and work hard. Seek people who have some balance in their lives, who are fun to hang out with, who like to laugh and have some non-job and priorities, which they approach with the same passion that they do their work.

Lesson 18…” Command is lonely.”

Harry Truman was right. The buck stops here. You can encourage participative management, and bottom-up employee involvement, but ultimately, the essence of leadership is the willingness to make the tough, unambiguous choices that will have an impact on the fate of the organization. I’ve seen too many leaders flinch from this responsibility. Even as you create an informal, open, collaborative corporate culture, prepare to be lonely.