Report from District Training

Mark Latta, DTM

D19 Lt. Gov. Education & Training

You know club officers are trained at the Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI) training sessions near you.   Some know that area and division governors are trained at the District Executive Council (DEC) meetings.   Have you ever wondered where the top District Officers – Lieutenant Governor of Marketing (LGM), Lieutenant Governor of Education and Training (LGET) and the District Governor – are trained?

As the past LGM and current LGET, I have had the pleasure of attending training for these offices.    Every district’s top officers are trained annually by Toastmasters International immediately prior to the International Convention. This summer’s training was held in Cincinnati while last year’s was in Orlando.

In my 13 years in Toastmasters, I think the best training in leadership has come from these sessions.

Here is a sampling of what I learned:

• Tips for conducting cold calls
• How to conduct effective demonstration meetings
• Why you can’t delay when chartering a club
• What works and does not work for TLIs
• How to create the district budget (and what we cannot spend your money on)
• Ideas for conflict resolution

This list is far from exhaustive.   In fact, I learned three other important lessons from my these training sessions at International.

First, I learned that taking on a District-level leadership position is a very large responsibility and one to be taken seriously.  As a member, I learned – as you probably have – that the more I put into each presentation I realized an exponential growth in my speaking ability.  Analogously, as a district leader, I learned the more I reach for leadership positions, the more I have grown as a leader.

Therefore, I recommend that each of you consider taking that next step in your leadership and consider being an area, division, or even district officer.   If you put effort into it, you will get much more out of it.  I promise.

Second, I learned that all of us are part of a larger community that wants to be better leaders and communicators.   In my leadership training, I worked with people from Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Dubai.  I talked about building clubs with people from Seattle, Texas, and Australia.  Sitting beside my peers from Malaysia, Canada and New Jersey,  I learned about what clubs are doing to provide a better member experience.   I learned that we all face many of the same challenges.   If you are struggling with providing value to members, or even with your own personal growth, you have a vast network of people across the globe who can and want to help.

Third, I learned something I never really internalized about the Toastmasters program – everything we do is about the member.  I used to think that the Distinguished Club Program was about the club meeting its goals and maybe the area, division or district meeting its goals.  Where I didn’t understand is why clubs, areas, divisions or districts even have those goals.   If members are achieving educational awards, they are actually working the program and reaping the benefits of learning how to speak more effectively.  If clubs get new members, more and more people are learning to be better communicators and leaders.   The distinguished club program has nothing to do with the club, but everything to do with the member.  A ribbon on a banner isn’t about the ribbon – it’s about what it represents.

So, when I see a club that isn’t actively working the Distinguished Club Program, I now wonder if its members  are getting everything out of Toastmasters they possibly could.   I have learned that your experience is what all Toastmasters leaders – from World Headquarters to you club officers – should be (and largely are) focused on.

There are many rewards in being a District officer, including meeting so many new people across the state of Iowa, plus the reward of attending training at the international level.

Those are pretty great rewards.   But, I think the biggest affirmation that I have received from my time as a district leader is the opportunity is the chance to learn three important lessons:

• The more you put into the Toastmasters program, the more you get out of it.
• You are not alone.  There is a whole community across the globe that is here to help.
• The entirety of the Toastmasters program has nothing to do with club, area, division or district success.   The reasons these exist are solely for you to reach your goals.

The more I have been able to keep these three maxims in my mind as a District leader, the more I have grown.   You may not had the opportunity to be training with me in Cincinnati, but I guarantee regularly exercising these principles in the Toastmasters program and in your club will help you realize you educational and leadership goals.

At least, that’s what district leaders learn at their training.   After Cincinnati, I now have world of experience behind me that says it works. I can’t wait to put it to use helping to make YOUR Toastmasters experience better.

Stay groovy,

-Mark