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Today was supposed to be some kinda special day, I heard. The reason is simply because the date, written in ddmmyy format gives 070707 - a nice ‘combination’. Although it may not be significant enough to declare a public holiday, many couples have chosen to make the seventh of July their wedding anniversary. Personally, I’m one of the thousands who’re not too bothered. Today has been as ordinary as any given Saturday; except that there were more bridal cars seen on the road than most other days. I saw two wedding processions while I was on my way to the Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI) Training this afternoon. Let me share with you what role the TLI plays in the Toastmasters movement.

Every year, there are two TLI trainings specially conducted for Club Officers - or executive committee (exco) members - of all Toastmasters Clubs in District 51. FYI, District 51 covers three countries: Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. This year, the theme for our District has been chosen to be “Shaping Our Aspirations and Results”, or S.O.A.R. for short. To gauge the performance and success of each club, we have something called the Distinguished Club Program (DCP). In this program, each club is challenged to achieve 10 DCP points in a term - where each point awarded corresponds to one type of achievement. For example, if a club has two members attaining the Competent Communicator (CC) award, that club earns 1 DCP point. Exco members play an important role, where the entire club’s direction, environment and success lie in their hands. This is where the TLI comes into picture. It is meant to train and equip the exco members with the skills and knowledge required to steer their clubs to greater success.

Each club has to send at least four exco members (usually comprise of the President, VP Education, VP Membership, VP Public Relations, Secretary, Treasurer and Sergeant-at-Arms) to both the TLI sessions in order to earn 1 DCP point. So, what’s the deal with the DCP points anyway? They’re actually a form of recognition. If a club earns 9 or 10 DCP points in a term, it will be awarded the President’s Distinguished Club status. Similarly, if a club earns 7 or 8 DCP points, it will be known as a Select Distinguished Club, and so on. Upon receiving these awards, ribbons - which can be hung together with the club’s banner - will be given. It’s a big thing (figuratively speaking), actually. We always try to work towards scoring as many points as possible. In doing so, not only will the members benefit, the club, too will be known as a well-established, well-led and successful club.

I attended the TLI training today as a VP Membership (VPM). I’m a ‘recycled’ VPM of my club - that means I was holding the same position in the previous term. My training session was conducted by Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) Azmi Shahrin, who himself is a great speaker. A VPM’s role is to spread awareness, draw members, and retain them, of course. It’s very tricky to recruit new members, and the VPM needs a lot of help from the rest of the exco in this regard. For every 4 new members absorbed into a club, 1 DCP point will be awarded to that club. In other words, the DCP is a measure of how successful a club is, which in turn reflects how successful its members are. Successful members are members who have benefited from the Toastmasters program, whether in terms of communication, public-speaking or leadership skills. The TLI today was the third for me in two years, and the best part of the event was of course meeting our counterparts from other clubs.

Some Background
Toastmasters is a non-profit, international public-speaking organization that provides a platform for everyone (above 18, that is) to self-develop, and to improve their communication and leadership skills. It also provides networking opportunity where you get to meet a lot of people from all over the place (you could visit any club in the world once you’re a Toastmaster). Want to know how many clubs there are in your neighborhood? Begin searching here! Send them an email and say you’re interested to drop by. They will be more than happy to receive you.

P/s: Most of Narrowband.org readers have never heard of the Toastmasters, actually. Therefore I hope this entry has been informative! :)

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