Got Goals?

As we start the new Toastmasters year, it’s a great time to “reset” your goals, especially if you’ve stalled in your advancement.

Before you think of what goals you want, first think of last year. What were your goals? How did you do in accomplishing them?

One of the best ways to attain your goals is to have clear, specific goals. Write them down. And look at your goals daily. When you think about something often, you are likely to work toward that.

I’d like to tell you how this worked for me last year.

After 30 years of owning a business, I sold it last year. As a dedicated Toastmasters member since 2012, I used my newfound spare time to make a plan and set some Toastmasters goals. In the past, serving as a club president meant putting newer members first and sometimes forgoing giving speeches.

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From Club Member to District Officer (Part 1)

Let me start by borrowing Steve Jobs 2005 Stanford University Commencement line where he says, “you cannot connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward”. With that said, if you had asked me three and a half ago, at the beginning of my Toastmasters journey, if I thought I was going to be serving as a District Officer, my answer surely would have been NO.

When I first join the Toastmasters, I had no idea of the organization’s scope and dimension. As a matter of fact, I was more focus on getting a promotion at my job than I was interested in becoming a good communicator and a leader. I couldn’t imagine what the road ahead had in store for me.

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Club Spotlight: Freehold Phrasers

It’s easy to think of Toastmasters as one giant homogeneous organization. As any Toastmaster will tell you, that is far from the truth. Each club has a unique personality. Club Spotlight seeks to help current and future members find the right club(s) for their Toastmasters goals.

Club: Freehold Phrasers (6522)

Charter Date: November 1, 1996

Recent Awards: For 2016-2017, Freehold Phrasers is a President’s Distinguished Club and received the Talk Up Toastmasters Award. In 2015-2016, Freehold Phrasers was a Select Distinguished Club.

Club members in their own words:

“I joined Freehold Phrasers to raise my confidence when speaking in public. The experience has been amazing and now I speak with ease. The Freehold club in particular has been a nurturing and supportive environment for me.”-Linda Fennessy 

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