The end of the Toastmasters year is approaching.

Do you want to be a club officer?

As a new Toastmaster, you are likely getting a lot of manual projects done and are wrapping up a Competent Communicator or Competent Leader award to help your club reach their DCP goals. Like many Toastmasters before you, there is a shred of a question that might be lingering in the deep recesses of your mind, and that is, “now what?”

For those of you looking to take your speaking to the next level, then you have to be a club officer. I know, many of you are wondering how being a club officer helps your speaking, so let me tell you the reason why.

Being an Officer Makes You a Better Speaker

As an officer in a successful club, you will need to get in front of the club to open the meeting (Sergeant at Arms), lead the Club Business Meeting (President), deliver reports (VP Positions and Treasurer), or verify attendance (Secretary). Being an officer, you have to keep yourself organized, get your notes written, and deliver content to the club on a regular basis. What a great way to get more “stage time” to help you develop as a speaker and a leader.

Being an Officer Makes You a Better Leader

My friend, Mike Perez, calls Toastmasters a “Learning Laboratory.” When you are an officer you can try out new ways of keeping track of club activities, delivering status reports, and encouraging the development of club members. You are then able to take the experiments that work, and put them into action in your professional career. There have been many membership growth ideas that I have developed in Toastmasters that I have applied to my Membership Growth Blog articles and other organizations I have been a part of. If it wasn’t for my leadership experiences in Toastmasters, I never would of succeeded as a leader in other organizations that I am a member.

Being an Officer Connects you to Others

As an officer, you are accountable for the health and growth of your club. To do that, you must learn to connect with others in your Club and District. That takes a lot of practice and with the appropriate feedback; you do learn how to connect well with others to deliver the promise of improved leadership and communication.

You Can Do It!

You can do it! Talk with a current officer today and tell them you are ready to be an officer! Don’t worry if you think you don’t know the job. Also in the words of my friend Mike Perez, “We hire attitude and train for aptitude.”

Get out there and make a difference in your club and in doing so you will improve as a speaker.

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