My Toastmasters Club once boasted over fifty members in its heyday. Over 50 members! A few years after I joined, we were down to 18 members, and not all showed up each week.

One of the older members suggested something I had never heard of – a Speechcraft program. He explained that Speechcraft was meant primarily to teach non-Toastmasters the basics of public speaking and leadership. He said it might be an effective way to attract new members to join our club. That struck a chord.

Putting on this program allowed each of us to take parts such as advertising to attract non-Toastmasters, mentoring each participant, presenting educational speeches to guide them in their next speeches, and evaluations to help them learn what to look for and what to look out for in their presentations.

Our club was wildly enthusiastic about the idea! With some work, we attracted seventeen non-Toastmaster participants to our Speechcraft program. Each week one of gave an educational speech designed to teach them an aspect of good public speaking that Toastmasters is known for: how to organize a speech, vocal variety, gestures, you know the rest.

We taught them how to give evaluations, and they were able to evaluate each other—they even evaluated us! I cannot adequately tell you how much fun we had with that group of people.

At graduation, we arranged to have the District Governor (now called the Director) give the keynote speech and present the “diplomas.”

Of the seventeen participants who began the program, eight joined our club. Eight new members brought us over the twenty-member mark, and today, our club is thriving. We sponsor a Speechcraft program each year.

I urge you to plan a Speechcraft program in your club. This program will increase your presence in the community through advertising, bring in new members, and challenge current members to give educational speeches and be mentors.

Start by purchasing the Speechcraft Digital Bundle, Item #8600, before the blackout period begins October 9th and ends October 25th. It costs $50. Good luck!