Is There Turmoil in Your Club?

Who is going out your back door?

About this time each year Toastmaster clubs the world over look at their membership roster and realize that they have lost members. With the submission of the semi-annual dues to Toastmasters International rosters undergo some change.

Who did your club loose this year?
Statistics show that many Toastmaster clubs experience membership turn over in excess of 25%. That's a huge member turn over. Can you imaging the turmoil a small company would find itself in if it were replacing 25% of its employees each year? Is there turmoil in your club?

Members choose not to renew their Toastmasters membership for a variety of reasons. Some move away, some have job or family conflicts, and some feel that they have achieved their Toastmaster goals. These are obvious reasons.
There are some equally obvious reasons which often go unaddressed that can pose a serious threat to a club's health. They are indicators of a club that is in turmoil. Many members leave a club because they feel a perceived indifference to them as an individual. They  desire the benefits that Toastmasters offers, and want to remain active, but they leave because they feel their needs are not being met. Are your members leaving you, or has your club left them?
There's a sure fire gauge to help you determine whether your club is meeting it's member's needs. Its The Toastmaster Promise! It Reads: 


As a member of Toastmasters International and my club, I promise...

• To attend meetings regularly
• To prepare all of my speeches to the best of my ability basing them on the projects in the Competent Communicator program manual or the Advanced Communicator program manual
• To prepare for and fulfill meeting assignments
• To provide fellow members with helpful, constructive evaluations
• To help the club maintain the positive, friendly environment necessary for all members to learn and grow.
• To serve my club as an officer when called upon to do so.
• To treat my fellow club members and our guests with respect and courtesy
• To bring guests to meetings so they can see the benefits Toastmasters membership offers.
• To adhere to the guidelines and rules for all Toastmasters educational and recognition programs
• To maintain honest and highly ethical standards during the conduct of all Toastmasters activities.

 Take a minute to read through the Toastmaster Promise again - more than once if necessary.  Then reflect upon each bullet as a separate statement. Think carefully about the meaning contained within.  After a short time we quickly realize that a source of member discontent can be attributed directly to disregard for the Toastmasters Promise. If we disregard the tenets of our Toastmaster Promise, how can we expect anything but turmoil?
Toastmasters provides a world of benefit to its members. With those benefits comes responsibility.  Those responsibilities are clearly revealed in the words of the Toastmaster Promise. Isn't it time we made this promise an integral part of everything we do in a club?

If every member made it a point to adhere to the promise they made when they signed the membership application, we could go a long way toward reducing the number of members who leave our clubs each year.