With dues renewals coming up, how we can take steps to ensure we retain our existing members and that they keep coming to meeting as active and engaged members? To answer that question, this article will explore some ideas for adding fun, leadership, and growth to your Toastmasters club.
Meeting Themes
One of the simplest – and most overlooked – ways to improve member retention is to make meetings memorable. And one of the easiest ways to make a meeting memorable? Give it a theme.
A theme turns an ordinary meeting into an experience. Instead of “just another Tuesday night meeting,” it becomes:
- Leadership Lessons Night
- Failure to Fortune
- Planting Seeds of Success
- Innovation and Creativity
- Gratitude and Growth
When members know there’s something unique about this meeting, they become more engaged – and engaged members come back. As Ralph Smedley wisely said, “People learn best in moments of enjoyment.” A themed meeting creates those moments.
Meeting themes don’t just have to be about leadership or self-development. They could also be fun holiday-based themes, or maybe a story night theme. One club had a food themed meeting with snacks. Be creative and find fun and/or educational themes that add value to your club meetings.
A meeting theme could lead to fun Table Topics questions. People could also choose their speech topics based on the meeting theme. A theme-based word of the day could also be meaningful.
Establish a club mentor program
One of the most powerful ways to strengthen retention is to ensure that no member feels alone. And one of the best ways to do that? Develop a strong club mentor program.
When someone joins Toastmasters, they’re stepping into something new:
- A structured education program (Pathways).
- Meeting roles they’ve never heard of.
- Evaluation formats.
- Club culture and traditions.
Without guidance, this can feel overwhelming. With a mentor, it feels exciting.
A mentor isn’t just someone who explains how Pathways works. A mentor is someone who befriends, encourages, and supports a member through their journey. And when members feel supported, they stay.
Have club special events
What if every meeting for your club was the same? Would your members be inspired to keep coming back every week? Why not mix things up with club special events.
For example, you could do a holiday party with food. Or you could do a themed storytelling meeting where everyone shares stories through Table Topics and prepared speeches. Another idea is an Ice Breaker meeting where everyone who gives a speech shares a personal story. Other ideas could include a backwards meeting or a grab bag meeting where everyone picks their meeting role out of a hat.
Having special events, or non-standard meetings, can add fun and interest to your club meetings. It can help you to retain members and to inspire guests to join your club.
Run a club speech contest every year
A specific type of special event your club can do each year is to have a club speech contest. There are several types of speech contest to choose from:
- International speech contest.
- Humorous speech contest.
- Tall Tales contest.
- Evaluation contest.
- Table Topics contest.
A speech contest gives members the opportunity to compete to see who the best speaker, evaluator or Table Topic speaker is. It also gives members new meeting roles to try, including ballot counter and voting judge.
A speech contest can be fun. For example, a humorous speech contest can be a meeting full of entertaining speeches, while an evaluation contest can showcase the evaluation skills of your members. An evaluation contest also gives the test speaker feedback from several members instead of a single evaluation.
Depending on which speech contests your district is doing, members who win the contest at the club level can go on to compete at the area, division, and even district level as they progress through the different levels of the speech contest. This gives members speaking opportunities beyond the club and to build their confidence while speaking in front of unfamiliar audiences.
Conduct a Moments of Truth meeting every year
Another way to retain members is to give them a voice so that they can share their feedback about your club. This can be done by running a Moments of Truth meeting. This is a meeting where one member facilitates a workshop where everyone has a chance to identity what your club does well and how it can improve.
A Moments of Truth workshop usually includes a 10 to 15 minute speech on what Moments of Truth are. Then the presenter leads a workshop where club members break into groups to discuss Moments of Truth and to identify your club’s strengths and areas for improvement.
This meeting is both an opportunity for a member to develop communication and facilitation skills by leading the Moments of Truth meeting. It is also an opportunity for members to talk with each other and to share their feedback about your club.
Recognize and celebrate member achievements
A great way to make members feel appreciated is to celebrate their achievements. Some clubs do this by giving a standing ovation when a new member does his or her first Ice Breaker speech. Some clubs also give out certificates when a member completes a level in Pathways.
Recognizing Ice Breaker speeches and level completions is only one way to recognize and celebrate member achievements. You could also celebrate members who step up to serve as club or district leaders. One way to do this is with a club officer installation ceremony. You could also present Toastmasters pins to club officers.
Other achievements to recognize include celebrating the first time a member does a new meeting role for the first time. You could even celebrate member achievements outside the club, such as a promotion at work or some other positive event in their lives.
Do joint meetings with other clubs
A fun way to expand members comfort zones and to give them new ways to learn and grow is to have joint meetings with other Toastmasters clubs. A joint meeting is when the members of two different Toastmasters clubs come together to have a combined meeting of both clubs.
A great thing to do at a joint meeting is to have prepared speakers from both clubs and to have a member from the other club evaluate your club’s speaker and to have a member from your club evaluate the other club’s speaker. This provides fresh perspectives and it can be beneficial having a different evaluator than you are used to.
A joint meeting can be a lot of fun, and it is a great networking opportunity. It can also lead to an ongoing collaborative relationship between your club and other clubs in your area.
Encourage members to serve as club or district officers
Another powerful strategy for member retention is simple: Invite your members to lead. When members move from participant to contributor, and from contributor to leader, their connection to the club deepens dramatically.
There is a big difference between attending a meeting and helping shape the experience. When a member serves as a club officer, they are no longer just attending – they are building. And when people help build something, they care about its success.
Leadership creates ownership. Ownership creates commitment. Commitment drives retention.
Serving as a club officer stretches members beyond delivering speeches. They develop skills such as:
- Strategic planning
- Running effective meetings
- Coaching and mentoring
- Conflict resolution
- Membership growth and marketing
- Budget management
- Team collaboration
Now Toastmasters becomes more than a speaking club. It becomes a leadership laboratory. For members who aspire to grow professionally – and many do – these opportunities are invaluable.
Conclusion
Ralph Smedley said it best: “People learn best in moments of enjoyment.” If we want members to stay, grow, and renew, we must be intentional about creating those moments.
Retention doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when clubs design experiences that are engaging, supportive, and growth oriented. Host themed meetings that energize your members. Plan special events that build connection. Run a club speech contest each year and conduct a Moments of Truth to reflect and improve.
Establish a mentor program so no member walks alone. Encourage members to step into club and district leadership roles. And consistently recognize and celebrate achievements so every member feels seen and valued.
When members are learning, laughing, leading, and feeling appreciated, they don’t just attend. They belong. And when members feel they belong, they come back – year after year.