Growth Masters Podcast

Welcome back to Growth Masters, the podcast for Toastmasters club officers and members who want to build thriving clubs.

I'm your host, Jim Zboran, Division A Director for District 8, and once again, I'm joined by Derek Zboran, Area 5 Director in District 8, Division A.

In our first episode, we talked about creating a magnetic new member experience, how to welcome guests, convert them to members, and set them up for success.

Today, we're tackling a question that every club officer asks at some point, how do we know if what we're doing is actually working?

That's where the Distinguished Club Program comes in.

The DCP isn't just about earning ribbons at the district conference, though those are nice, but it's actually a comprehensive dashboard that measures club health across four critical areas, education, membership, training, and administration.

The DCP gives us 10 specific measurable goals.

You might recognize them as KPIs if you were in a business context, but they are 10 specific measurable goals that helps us understand how we're doing.

If we achieve five of them, plus meet your membership target, you're a distinguished club.

Hit seven and the target membership, and you're a select distinguished.

Reach nine and your president's distinguished, assuming you've hit the right number of members.

And if you achieved all 10 goals with at least 25 members, you've earned the new SMEDLY distinguished status, the highest recognition a club can receive.

But here's what we're really going to explore today.

How to use the DCP, the Distinguished Club Program, not as a checklist you scramble to complete in June, but as a strategic planning tool that guides your club's decisions all year long.

We'll talk about which goals are quick wins versus which require sustained effort, how to diagnose clubs challenges using the DCP framework, and most importantly, how to connect DCP achievement to genuine club quality and member satisfaction, which is really what it's all about.

So whether your club has never achieved distinguished status, or you're trying to move from select to president's distinguished or beyond, this episode will give you practical strategies to get there.

So Derek, let's start with the big picture.

Thanks, Jim.

So we just spent our first episode talking about creating a magnetic new member experience.

Now let's talk about how we measure whether all of our efforts are actually working.

What's the relationship between club quality and the Distinguished Club Program?

The DCP, the Distinguished Club Program, is essentially Toastmaster International's way of operationalizing club quality.

We can think of those, if you want to think about it in a business sense, as KPIs or Key Performance Indicators.

Think about it.

A high quality club helps members achieve educational goals, grows its membership, trains its leaders, and operates with good governance.

Those are exactly the four areas the DCP measures.

So when you're working towards DCP goals, you're not just chasing points, you're building the infrastructure that makes your club valuable to members.

The beautiful thing is that the metrics align with what actually matters.

If your members are completing pathways levels, that means they're engaged in progressing.

If you're adding new members, that means your club is attractive.

Quality and DCP achievement go hand in hand.

Sometimes we see officers who think that the DCP is like a checklist and they're just earning some ribbons at the district conference.

But why should they think differently about the DCP?

Well, that's because the DCP is not just a checklist.

Really, what the DCP is, is a diagnostic tool.

It's not just a scorecard.

When you look at your club's DCP progress mid-year, you're getting a health report.

Are you stuck at zero education awards?

That tells you members aren't engaged with pathways.

Are you struggling to add new members?

That's a signal about your club's visibility or guest experience.

Did you miss officer training?

Well, that suggests your leaders may not be equipped to succeed.

The DCP highlights exactly where you need to focus attention.

Smart officers use it as a planning tool in July, especially when doing the club success plan and a progress check every month, not just the last minute scramble in May.

Let's start with the basics for anyone who might be newer to club leadership.

The Distinguished Club Program has 10 goals across four areas.

Could you walk us through each of those four areas and explain why Toastmasters is structured in that way?

Absolutely.

Great question.

The four areas are education, membership, training, and administration.

Education can get us...it's comprised of six goals.

Those are all about members completing pathways levels from level one all the way through level four and a path completions and even DTMs, Distinguished Toastmasters.

This is the heart of what we do.

Membership gets two goals.

We get one goal achieved when we add four new members.

Then when we add four more, that's a total of...for a total of eight, we get another goal achieved.

This ensures that clubs are growing, not stagnating.

We're bringing in new people.

Training gets one goal, having at least four officer roles complete training in both the summer and winter training cycles.

You have to do both cycles to get the full one point for that goal, but you are ensuring that your leaders are getting trained because you want to do that so that you build leadership capacity.

Then administration gets one goal.

It's comprised here again of two parts.

First, submitting your officer list on time, and that usually means right at the beginning of the year, and then paying membership dues on time.

This is about operational excellence, and together these four areas capture the complete picture of a healthy, functioning Toastmasters club.

One thing I want to pull out from that is education goals.

They make up six out of 10 DCP points.

I know when I was doing, you know, as doing the area director thing, definitely it's a scramble, like make sure you tell your clubs to make sure that their officers are trained.

What does that emphasis, that six out of 10 of the points are awarded for education, what does that tell us about the kind of priorities that Toastmasters International has in relation to officer training?

Well, it tells us that member development is the core mission.

We exist as a club and as Toastmasters to help people become better communicators and leaders through the educational program, which is the Pathways learning experience.

All the other stuff, the meetings, social events, officer roles, those are vehicles to support the educational journey, but the educational journey is really what it's about.

When Toastmasters International weighted the DCP so heavily towards education, they were saying, if your members aren't progressing through Pathways, you're missing the point.

A club that's fun and friendly, but where nobody completes projects isn't really fulfilling its purpose.

It may be a social club, but it's really not a club where people are learning, speaking, and leadership.

The education goals will keep us focused on why we exist.

Now, the membership goal seems straightforward.

We're adding four members, and then we add four more, but there's something deeper here about club vitality, isn't there, when we're talking about club membership?

Yeah, absolutely, because a part of the club membership total numbers is renewals.

Hopefully, we're retaining members, but these are brand new members to our club.

So on the surface, it is about growth, but fundamentally, it's about vitality and sustainability.

Clubs naturally experience attrition.

People move, they change jobs, their priorities shift.

We're in a college town.

We have a community group, but a lot of our members are college students, and there's a turnover there just naturally because people graduate and move on.

So if you're not consistently adding new members, you're declining.

The two separate goals of four members each encourage sustained recruitment throughout the year.

It's not just one membership drive, and here's the thing.

Clubs that are actively recruiting are also clubs that are maintaining quality, because if your meetings are boring or your culture is toxic, you can't recruit.

So membership growth is both a goal and a byproduct of overall club health.

So you can see it as a real sign of club health when you're adding these eight members a year.

All right, so it's like a mirror of health, your membership.

Yes.

Training and administration each get one goal.

I know from the president's side and even the area director's side, what can go wrong, though, if the admin is not working as it should, just as a system, if the admin system is not working?

What happens to clubs that ignore the easy points and don't value training and administration?

Well, they struggle unnecessarily.

You pointed out their easy points, and those are the ones to go for first and make sure you're getting those done, because that's a nice couple of points right there that will get you very close to distinguish the level.

And with just a couple more points from the educational side, you'll get there.

So if you don't hit those easy points, you're going to have to go for more of those educational points.

And if you don't get them, you're even excluded from the Smedley Award and probably won't make presidents either.

In fact, no, you have to have nine points to hit presidents.

So if you are going for a higher level of distinguished, those easy points are vital, but all of us should be going for the easy points.

They're like no-brainers.

We have to do a little bit of work, but we get the points.

And they push us towards our ultimate goal of hitting at least five of our goals, our DCP goals.

So they struggle unnecessarily when they're not taking those easy points off the table.

We're leaving them on the table, and they're letting them go away.

But officer training equips your leaders with the knowledge and skills to succeed in the role.

So it's important.

It's not just the point.

It's what it does.

And when officers don't attend training, they're reinventing the wheel or worse.

They're doing things wrong and not knowing why they're failing.

I've seen clubs miss distinguished status by one point because they didn't get their officers trained.

They skipped training on one of the rounds.

There's two rounds a year.

And that messed them up.

If they had gone for that easy point, they would have gotten it, and they would hit the distinguished level.

So we don't want to miss those easy points.

We want to make sure we have it in our head that we're going to do them.

They're not too hard to do.

We just have to make sure we're watching the deadline and getting them.

If we get them done way before the deadline, they're just like no-brainers.

And so we don't want to leave those.

Because they're easy, they're not valueless.

They're as valuable as getting a point for a DTM on the education side in terms of points.

It's a full point.

And then there's two of them that are really no-brainer.

So there's two points right there that we don't want to leave on the table.

And they can make all the difference, be distinguished or not, at the end of the year.

So let's just get those points.

Let's get them while we can.

And let's make sure that we're not leaving anything on the table.

And it's really kind of sad because the training is free.

The officer training is free.

It's offered multiple times.

And it's usually online.

So there's no travel barrier.

And the administration goal is equally important.

You know, paying dues on time keeps members active in base camp.

If they get kicked out of base camp, then they're not able to do any Pathways project.

They got to get, you know, re-hooked up then.

And I think they have a grace period or officers have a grace period like 30 days so that transitions can be made.

I'm not sure that that goes to all members.

But at some point, you will get, you will lose access to base camp.

So you lose access to doing Pathways.

So it's really just important to pay the dues on time to keep the flow and the momentum of the club going.

And submitting your officer list on time ensures you get district support and communication.

These aren't bureaucratic hoops.

They're operational foundations.

And ignoring them is like trying to drive a car without oil changes.

It might work for a while, but eventually you'll break down.

And on the membership goals, you only have to get eight members renewed on time.

And on officers trained, you only have to get four officers trained out of seven.

So, and by saying that, I'm not saying to go for those minimums, but they are very doable.

And doing the doable part is great, but go for excellence.

Get all your members renewed and get all of your officers trained.

And then, you know, you've got a really solid commitment within the club to making the club success, but you can still get the points with those minimums, but make sure you're getting at least the minimum so you get those points and don't leave them on the table.

Yeah.

And I think sometimes if you have a culture of minimum effort, you end up falling below the benchmark.

Yes, exactly.

Which is a problem.

And then for the training, I can kind of relate to people like, oh, another training.

But also on the other hand, if you think of people who really excel, there's something to be said for growing and then going back and revisiting the basics and then growing some more and going back and revisiting the basics.

You'll actually become a much better officer and you'll become a better mentor if you continuously revisit fundamentals.

Yes.

Different trainers are going to have different highlights.

Even if they're using the same exact slides, they're going to have different things that they emphasize.

You're going to be learning new things in the role.

When you go to the training, even if you've had it before, you're not the same person as you were when you originally went to it.

So you're going to see some new things.

And so attending those trainings is helpful for you as a club officer, even if you've done it before.

And even better, become a trainer, a volunteer within the division or in your area and become a trainer at a training event and then take it to the next level.

Now you're learning, but you're also gaining experience.

And here in Division A and District 8, as an entire district, the people who are training a role get credit for the role.

So if you're revisiting a role, you've done it before, you don't have to go for training.

Do a training during the official trainings that are offered for the district and then take it to the next level.

They say that the best way to learn something is to teach it.

So there's just all kinds of opportunities to improve and get better.

And that's what this journey is.

And so the officer training provides an excellent opportunity to really keep in tune with what you're doing as a Toastmasters group.

Let's talk about the recognition levels.

What's the difference between a distinguished club that has five points, a select distinguished club that gets seven points, a president's distinguished club that gets nine points, and then the ultimate SMEDLI distinguished at 10 points?

What's the membership target requirement for those?

Well, the levels create a ladder of excellence.

Distinguished at five points is the baseline.

And if you've got five points, you're doing well.

So you are certainly a distinguished club if you hit those five points and then also have your membership target goals.

Select distinguished at seven points means you're excelling in most areas.

And president's distinguished at nine points is outstanding.

You're hitting nearly everything.

And then, of course, SMEDLI distinguished is perfection.

You've got all 10 goals achieved.

But here's the catch.

Every level also requires you to meet the membership target, which is based on your club's dues renewal.

So essentially, you need to maintain or grow your membership base.

And once you hit a base of 20, then it's not going to grow anymore.

You just have to hit that 20.

At the SMEDLI level, you have to have 25.

But if you are under 20, you typically just have to get a few more members.

There's a few more members for distinguished, then a few more in another for select distinguished.

And they keep adding more members to the base to hit it.

But once you get up to 20 members, that's the minimum.

Or that's the baseline.

And you won't really, it's good to have more members because then you can even go to SMEDLI, but you are not going to have to get more than that 20 members.

And so we've got to watch that.

Really, the DCP, I look at it as there are two gatesway into the DCP.

One gateway is the pathways, which is a big portion of the DCP report.

And the other one is membership.

You've got to keep your eye on both of those gates.

And those gates are not impossible.

In fact, they're very doable, but it's very hard to do them at the last minute.

It's much more doable if you pay attention to both sides of that, members and pathways, and keep steady, constant effort in both of those areas.

And the doors do swing open.

At Ozark Orders in 2024, we went from eight members to the beginning of the year, and we got three of those members the last couple of months before we were going to end up with not enough members, under eight members.

And we went from eight to 18.

And during that year, we had a bunch of people doing pathways, whereas before there really wasn't much pathway activity at all.

There just weren't enough members.

But as we grew, we also emphasize getting new members in, which we added.

We helped by creating an energetic club environment, and we knit everybody in and we welcomed them in.

They came in.

But as they came in, we got them working on pathways right away.

And this was over a process.

It took a year, but we had hit the Distinguished Program, I think it was maybe by February.

And then we were so close because so many things were in the works in terms of membership and in terms of pathways that we really were able to push, and we were able to get even past to select.

We were able to get all the way to President's Distinguished in the year that we started with eight members and virtually no pathways done the year before.

So it's not really rocket science, and it's not hard, but we make it hard when we don't understand what we need to be focusing on.

And then when we wait until the very last minute to begin focusing on that, and that's what makes it hard.

Otherwise, it's really easy to hit the Distinguished Club, and it's really not much of a push to hit the higher Distinguished levels.

We'll see what happens with the Spadley-Frozark orders this year, but I think that's an outstanding goal for anybody who has already hit DCP.

But even if you are a club that hasn't hit it, go for DCP.

That is a strong club.

And then work your way up from there.

Yeah, I think that's a really good breakdown of that.

And I like how you brought up that it was just some simple things that got us up to President's Distinguished.

And it's kind of a thing too, like know what to focus on and keep working on it.

And if you don't hit Spadley on the first time, I think sometimes people focus only on like the ultimate top, but making progress in the right direction is actually a great way to make success happen.

Yes, and the DCP tells us exactly what to focus on.

Now, looking at the education goals, we see a progression of four Level 1 awards, two Level 2 awards, two more Level 2 awards, two Level 3 awards, and then Level 4s.

We have Path Completions, and then we have DTMs. So this seems like it's designed to encourage depth, not just, you know, the wide range or breadth.

What's the strategic thinking behind the way they're structuring the awards?

Well, I believe that the progression reflects the reality of the learning journey.

Level 1 is super achievable and quickly.

Most engaged members can complete it in only two to three months.

And in Ozark orders, we've got them completing it by the second month.

So requiring four Level 1s ensures that you have active participation.

But then the goal is narrow.

So if you've got a lot of participation on Level 1s, you've got a lot of seats for Level 2s and beyond.

So by requiring four Level 1s right off the bat, you're really giving a lot of material to work with a lot of people participating, who will then go on the rest of the year and complete Levels 2s and 3s.

And so requiring four Level 1s ensures that you're going to have active participation, but then the goal goes down to only two Level 2s.

And then you get another point, and then you just need another two Level 2s to get another point again.

So you get three points just from Level 1 and Level 2 activity.

And this recognizes that deeper learning takes time and that not everyone will progress at the same pace.

By the time you get to Level 3s and Level 4s, you're talking about members who have been working consistently, oftentimes for a year or more.

Now, we do have people in Level 3 that just joined a few months back, and they're very active and progressive.

Now, they may slow down at some point, and that's okay.

But the progression of these requirements allows for less of the higher ones, because it recognizes that the earlier ones they have more of, and you want to get that number of people into the hopper, so to speak.

But then those number of people will be taking longer to complete the higher level.

So there's requirements for those higher levels.

And so by the time you get to Level 3s and Level 4s, you're talking about members who have been worked on a long time.

And so the structure is rewarding both the breadth of engagement, so lots of people starting, and then also the depth of commitment, some people going all the way.

So I believe it's a balanced approach that prevents clubs from just doing a bunch of quick Level 1s and calling it success.

I think it's a very artful progression, and it really makes a lot of sense to me over the year and a half that I've really been focused on learning it and teaching it.

And it makes a lot of sense for a nice flow, a natural educational flow for a club.

Something that we see some clubs struggle with is that they get their first four level awards pretty easily, but then the progress starts to stall.

Why does that happen?

Well, I think usually it's because the club lacks a culture of sustained progress.

Okay, you definitely want to get your members to complete Level 1 within the first few months, first couple months.

But once again, just like when they became a member, it didn't end there, it started there.

And for the club, for the member, once they hit a Level 1, that's not the end of their journey, that's really the beginning to the next step.

And so members complete Level 1, they feel accomplishment, and then nothing, nobody's encouraging them to continue.

And the VP of Education, the VPE isn't checking in, mentors aren't following up, and there's no visible celebration of Level 2 or Level 3 completions to inspire others.

So another factor is that Level 2 and beyond require more complex projects.

Some involve research, others require feedback from outside evaluations.

And if members don't understand the requirements or feel supported, they stall out.

So it really comes down to supporting the members and mentors to do that, and the VPE really taking charge of that.

So a proactive VPE leadership where we're tracking every member's progress, reaching out personally to encourage next steps, and then celebrating intermediate milestones publicly.

Really what it's all about is making progression the norm and not the exception.

Speaking of the VPE, if a club has earned zero education awards and it's the middle of the year, what should the Vice President of Education be doing at that time?

First, first things first, diagnose.

And why?

Why is it like this?

Pull up Base Camp and look at every member's Pathways Progress.

Are people stuck on certain projects?

Have they not even started?

Then go have one-on-one conversations, usually using that Pathways in Progress report.

You can't print it easily.

You can see it on the screen, and I usually just print the screen, and I usually have to print two screens to get the full amount.

But then what I have there is a record and a snapshot of everybody, what their last level completed was, and then I can use that to go start conversations to help people move forward.

What do they need?

Do they need some information?

Do they just need a reminder?

Do they just need to know somebody's paying attention and just cares that they continue to grow?

But have those one-on-one conversations.

You might say, I noticed you haven't completed any projects yet.

What's getting in the way?

How can I help?

Now, maybe they're confused about Pathways or they're too intimidated to sign up for speeches.

So address those barriers directly.

Get them signed up.

Next, create some urgency.

You could say something like, well, we have six months left to achieve club goals.

I'd like you to complete level one by such and such date.

Let's get you scheduled for your next speech.

You can just do that.

Now, that would be in a place where you've diagnosed that things are wrong and you're trying to fix it.

Ideally, the idea of the number of speeches a person wants to do a year, get some kind of a commitment, loose or solid of how many paths they're going to do for the year, and then just help them stick to that and then be flexible.

If they find that they are busier than they thought they were, lower the number of speeches they do.

If they are getting excited and doing more, let them heat up and let them do more.

And so it's not really so much how fast somebody is going through it.

It's just that people are doing something in the forward direction.

And some people will move fast.

Some people will move slow.

It really doesn't matter because the real thing that we want is that people are moving forward.

Even if they're doing one speech a month or one speech a quarter, but at least they're moving forward, okay, that's their pace and that's perfectly fine.

But we want to help people to move forward, not necessarily a number of steps, but just move forward from where they are now.

And so you just do a one-on-one with people and you help them to get going forward.

And then finally, create a visible tracker in the meeting room showing everyone's progress.

You can order a tracker.

I don't know if it's from Toastmasters International.

I don't know if it's been updated to reflect any kind of changes from the October 2025 Pathways Update, but it's a nice tracking form that tracks through the levels for each individual member.

And you can post that in a prominent place or come up with your own form and use that.

I have one that is really, it's like a spreadsheet, but it's a fancy spreadsheet.

So it shows the important information.

And then I show that to members as I talk to them individually as a VP of education.

And I can show them where they're at and then I can encourage them to move to the next step.

And I'm never pushing anybody to do more.

If somebody's got a lot going on in their life, I don't push them at all.

But if somebody is hesitating, I'll encourage them to do the next step.

And if for some reason they end up not being able to do that, there's a lot of grace there and we just schedule for a better time.

So a visible tracker is a helpful thing, whether you post it or if you just show it to people as you do conversations with them.

And it really creates kind of a social accountability and that's powerful.

And when people see others advancing, they don't want to be left behind.

Some of these higher level goals, if we think of path completions or DTMs, they take some serious commitment.

So how do you cultivate a culture where members are actually completing paths instead of just doing a few projects here and there, but not really getting climbing that ladder of excellence, so to speak?

That would come from something that I call a pathways from day one culture.

We want to be creating a culture where pathways is recognized as the thing Toastmasters do, and they do it often and they do it regularly.

And there's a lot of celebration around pathways and that creates a visibility.

I think in the old systems or older systems where there were books that were visible, you would go in as a new member, you would get a book when you signed up and you would see other members with books and you would see they're working on projects and you have this book and you'll thumb through it and see the projects.

And then you would have this book that was very visible and that was the personal growth program of Toastmasters and it was very visible and you could see it out in front of you.

Now, when pathways is moved, updated and moved, really an upgrade and moved to an online format, it's kind of out of sight.

And because it's out of sight, people don't think about it.

And so they don't do it and it really doesn't become part of the culture because it's out of sight, out of mind.

What we have to do is we have to take something that is virtual and something that doesn't have a material form where we can hold it in our hands, but we have to make it into something that is always present in their mind.

And the easiest and best way to do that is to always be talking about it during meetings, have the Toastmaster introduce the speech, but make sure they mention what level is being worked on.

Have congratulations for people who have completed a project or who have completed a level or who are going to start a level and whatever they're doing, there's some reason you can compliment it and compliment to make it very visible.

And so I think that's a big part of it.

Just make the completion visible and celebrated and then it becomes very normal.

So visibility, talk about pathways constantly.

The VP should give regular updates on who's progressing and where and celebrate every level of completion, not just level one, everyone.

And then second celebrate, the second celebration is when someone completes a path, make it a big deal.

You might want to give them your own certificate.

They get a certificate in the dashboard.

You might want to just get it printed and then give it to them and take a photo of them, announce it at the meeting and on social media.

Have them share their journey.

And then the third idea might be normalization.

Tell stories of members who completed paths and how it impacted them professionally or personally.

Invite district leaders who have earned DTMs to speak at your club.

I think it comes down to that when members see that path completion is achievable and meaningful and not just a distant dream, they're much more likely to commit.

And frankly, mentorship matters here.

Experienced members guiding newer ones through the challenging projects makes all the difference.

The worst thing you can have is a situation where some members are putting down pathways because they remember an old system and they're not, for whatever reason, legitimately or not, don't like the new system.

But the problem is the new people, that's the only system they have.

And so it's really incumbent on everybody to promote pathways.

And if they don't like pathways because they remember something different, they should be voicing that then to the district or above, but they should not be really voicing that to members who will feel that they're getting a lesser experience because they're using the only thing available to them for personal growth.

And the interesting thing is people who didn't like it may discover something about it that they might like more.

So it's a win-win when we encourage new members to do pathways projects, when we celebrate it and make it real through the celebration and mentioning of it.

And save the criticism of it for where it can actually do some good, push that up through the district.

Yeah, it makes sense.

I think the criticism piece of advice goes for a lot of different things.

There's really a good time and a place for many things.

And in the club meeting, two new members, those are excellent examples of when that's not only not effective, but also disruptive to other people's pursuits of excellence.

Yes.

Some clubs have, speaking of excellence, a few superstar members, and they're racking up multiple path completions, they're getting speeches done, but then you have some other folks and they're not even getting past level one in pathways.

How do you balance celebrating high achievers while also motivating more middle of the pack kind of folks who are engaged, but they're not the superstars in the club?

Yeah, that's really important to do that.

And the way to do that is to celebrate both effort and achievement.

So yes, recognizing the member who just completed their third path, that's extraordinary.

But also recognizing the member who just finished level one after six months of working through fear.

That's really extraordinary as well.

Highlight progress, not just perfection.

In fact, we probably should never highlight perfection.

We want to really highlight progress and improvement.

Excuse me.

You might say congratulations to Maria who completed her first path this month.

Amazing.

And congratulations to James who just completed level one.

Both of you are investing in your growth and we're proud of you.

Okay.

The key is creating multiple tiers of recognition so everyone has something to strive for.

Also use the high achievers strategically.

Ask them to mentor others to share their strategies or speak about their journey.

Turn their success into inspiration rather than intimidation, and their success can lead to more experience for them in leadership development.

So transitioning to member goals, there's a goal of adding eight members total to achieve both of the points that are eligible.

But here's the question everybody is asking.

What's the secret to consistent membership growth so we're not scrambling to get those eight members?

Yeah.

Well, that's a great question.

And there actually is no secret, but there is a system.

Okay.

Which is a good thing because if there's a system, you may not be knowing it.

So to you, it's a secret, but it's discoverable.

And it's really not rocket science.

And if you're not good at it, it's a skill.

So you can get good at it.

So that's excellent, but there's a system.

And first you have to be visible.

If people don't know your club exists, they can't join.

Okay.

That means workplace promotion if you're a corporate club, community outreach if you're a community club, digital marketing through social media and through the Toastmasters website.

Second, you have to deliver a quality experience, which brings us back to episode one.

If guests visit and have a bad experience, they won't join.

Third, you need to ask.

The VP of membership should invite every guest to join before they leave.

Fourth, you need to retain.

If you're adding eight members, but losing 10, you have a retention problem, not a recruitment problem.

And then fifth, you need to make recruitment everyone's job.

The best clubs empower every member to invite colleagues, friends, and family.

And now invitations could be a skill set that a person doesn't have.

How to invite somebody.

And so we may need to help people get that skill set of how to invite somebody without pressuring them.

And so we might need to do some training of skill sets, but we may need to, but we want to empower every member to invite colleagues, friends, and families.

And if we need to help them to understand best how to do that, then we should, as a club, provide that for them.

Now we have some clubs that add eight members, but then, you know, it's one of those years and they end up losing 10 members, even though they've added eight.

The DCP measures new members, but we know that retention is really what often matters in this equation.

So how does retention connect with gaining new members?

Yeah, they're inseparable.

The DCP membership goals incentivize recruitment, but the education goals incentivize retention.

You have to have both.

You've got to have new members and you've got to have retention to be a growing club.

And think about it.

If you're achieving those level two, level three, and level four awards, that means members are staying long enough to make significant progress.

Okay.

You can't have long-term educational achievement without retention.

So while the membership goals measure influence, inflow, membership retention counts because you've got to have a target base.

And so you could hit your membership goals, but if you don't have the target base because of attrition, no retention, you aren't going to hit the DCP.

So while the membership goals measure influence, the education goals measure sustained engagement, you have to keep your eye on both of them, the target membership and the goals being achieved.

So a club that hits eight new members, but zero educational awards is really in trouble.

What they're doing is they're churning.

They're getting new people in, but it's just churning people through.

A club that hits eight new members and multiple education awards is healthy because they're taking new members in and they're growing and retaining those members.

And that's why you have to look at the DCP holistically, not goal by goal.

They all work together.

I want to ask you a question about membership size and why it matters.

We have to hit select distinguished, you need seven points.

And to hit president's distinguished, you need to hit nine points plus membership requirements.

The SMEDLI distinguished award requires 10 points and a member of 25 members.

Given those assignments of what you have to achieve to get those awards, what's Toastmasters thinking about why membership matters so much given how they're dividing the awards?

Because it does matter that much.

Some people may cynically think that they just want to get more members to get more dues.

Well, the dues are only $10 a month per member.

And those do support a whole lot of support for clubs.

I don't think really Toastmasters International is getting rich from new members.

The new members requirement is really for the growth of the club.

And by extension, the growth of the area and then the division and the district and then the growth of Toastmasters International.

But still, the size of a club is super important because it creates sustainability and variety.

A club with 12 members is fragile.

Lose three people and you're in crisis mode.

But a club with 25 or more members has resilience.

You can absorb attrition without panic.

And you also get more variety in perspectives, speaking styles, and professional backgrounds, which enriches the learning experience for everybody.

And plus, larger clubs can still fill more meeting roles, offer more leadership opportunities, and maintain energy even when a few people are absent.

So the 25 member threshold for SMEDLI distinguished isn't arbitrary.

It's the point where a club becomes truly robust.

Toastmasters International is saying, if you want the highest recognition, prove you built something sustainable, not just something excellent in the moment.

If we have a club and they're doing well, they got 18, 19 members, but then there's the mindset that settles in of, hey, we're fine.

We don't need to grow.

What would you say to that club?

Well, it would come down to me challenging that thinking with a few questions.

First, what happens when three members move or change jobs?

Okay, suddenly you're at 15, struggling to fill officer roles and meeting slots.

Second, are you turning away leadership opportunities?

In a smaller club, not everyone can be an officer or committee chair.

Growth creates more development opportunities.

And third, are you limiting your members network?

One of Toastmasters' hidden benefits is connecting with diverse professionals.

A large club means more connections.

And fourth, what about your club's visibility and credibility?

A thriving 25-member club attracts more guests than a stagnant 12-member club.

And finally, if you're not growing, you're likely declining.

Okay, complacency is dangerous.

I'm not saying every club needs to be 40 members.

A lot of them probably should not be.

But 18 to 19 is too close to the edge.

Aim for 20, 25, maybe 30 to give yourself a beautiful buffer.

Nice.

Yes.

And I would say from my own experience that 18 to 19 feels good when you get there, but it can also change very quickly.

Yes.

And in ways you don't even anticipate.

So it's definitely good to have a big, beautiful buffer to stop that.

Exactly.

Let's talk about the training goal.

Four club officer roles trained in the June to August cycle.

And then we have four club officer roles trained in the November, February cycle.

It seems like it should be automatic that, hey, we have the cycles of training.

This is when we need to do the training.

But there are clubs that miss it all the time.

Why is that?

Well, a few reasons.

First, poor communication.

Officers don't know when training is happening or they forget to register.

The club president and secretary need to actively communicate training dates and follow up.

Second, scheduling conflicts.

Training often happens on weekends or evenings, and some officers genuinely just can't attend.

But here's the thing.

Training is usually offered multiple times and online options are available.

And you could even get usually training out of district at a time that's more convenient to you.

And so if you can't make one session, find another.

And then third, apathy.

Some officers think, well, I've done this role before.

I don't need training or I'll figure it out as I go.

That's short-sighted thinking, in my opinion.

Training isn't just about learning.

It's about connecting with other club leaders and getting district support.

Fourth, leadership gaps.

If your club hasn't filled all seven officer roles, you can't get all seven trained.

And if they haven't filled four roles, then you can't get your minimum four trained.

So fill your slate of officers and then you can get those officers trained so you get all your points for having your list in and then also training.

Do you think that club officer training is worth requiring officers to complete it twice a year?

I think so.

You learn best practices and connect with other club leaders facing similar challenges and you get direct access to district leaders who can support you.

For example, a new VP education might learn about pathways features they didn't know existed.

That happened for me.

I had a great trainer at VPE of education when I became VP education and that trainer took me into some key places in the base camp dashboard.

And once I saw how that worked, I was able to really start working intentionally towards goals because I knew where the tools that were available existed and I could use them.

So a VP membership might get marketing templates and recruitment strategies.

A president might workshop their club success plan with experienced mentors.

Training also standardizes practices across the district.

You learn how things are supposed to work according to Toastmasters International, just not how your club has always done them.

Here's the thing.

A lot of things that you're learning in your club aren't really Toastmasters International way of doing them yet.

They just don't know for some reason.

Somebody who did know when they moved on didn't effectively share it with people coming in and people coming in just assumed that what they perceived from the job is all there was to the job and they just went from there.

So it's not uncommon for clubs to be doing things, club officers to be doing things that are really not best practices for club officers.

The twice yearly requirement ensures continuity.

Summer training on boards the new team and winter training reinforces skills and addresses mid-year challenges.

When you go to the training the second time, you're not the same person as you were attending the training the first time.

You've had a little bit of experience and so now you're bringing new eyes to hear some training.

Even if it's old training, you're seeing it with new eyes and likely you're hearing it from somebody else different who's also bringing new perspectives to the roles as well.

So it's professional development, networking, and problem solving all rolled up in one.

It's a great opportunity.

The administration goal combines two things.

Membership renewal dues paid on time and then club officer lists submitted on time.

Walk us through why both of these matter.

Well paying dues on time keeps your members active in base camp which is essential for accessing pathways and tracking progress.

Late payments create confusion.

Members think they're active but they're locked out of their learning materials.

If they're officers, they're removed as officers and it just creates a whole bunch of confusion and it also affects district records and your club's ability to participate in speech contests.

As for the officer list, that's how the District and Toastmasters International communicate with your club.

If your list isn't updated, important emails go to last year's officers who are no longer checking.

You miss training invitations, contest information, and district support.

It also prevents your new officers from accessing the resources they need in their base camp accounts.

Both deadlines are predictable and they're communicated well in advance.

There's really no excuse for missing them other than just not planning for them.

And with just a little bit of planning and a little bit of follow-up by the president, secretary, or anybody else interested as VPE, I'm involved with a lot of reminding, but just a lot of follow-up and reminding.

Make sure it gets done.

It's really just about organizational discipline.

And discipline comes from, it doesn't have to be across everybody, but we need some discipline members who can make sure everybody's getting the training and in the process becoming disciplined themselves.

If you're a club officer and you're thinking, you know, we're going to miss one of these administrative deadlines, what should you do?

Well, communicate immediately with your district leaders.

For dues, contact your area director or division director and explain the situation.

They might be able to help coordinate a solution or at least document that you tried.

For the officer list, if you're struggling to fill roles, submit what you have.

Okay.

I've seen that many times.

Some clubs just don't have enough people to fill all the roles, but at least they can get hopefully minimum four.

We did have one club that only was able to get in three, but at least they did that and they got that on time.

And so submit what you have and note which positions are vacant.

An incomplete list submitted on time is far better than a complete list submitted late.

You can go back and add to the list, hopefully before the deadline, but at least you've got some list in by the deadline.

And here's the key.

Just plan ahead.

Don't wait until the day before the deadline.

Both of these tasks should be on your club calendar months in advance.

The secretary and treasurer need to be proactive and not reactive.

So set internal deadlines earlier than the official ones so you have buffer time if something goes wrong.

I wanted to shift to the idea of using DCP as a strategic tool.

We've covered all the 10 goals.

Let's talk about how smart clubs actually use the DCP.

We know it's called the Club Health Dashboard.

How do we read and use that dashboard?

Yeah, a great question.

The Club Health Dashboard, that's, you know, you probably know it as the DPR, the Distinguished Program Report.

I think that stands for DPR, but most people call it the dashboard.

And it has all 10 goals listed out, and it has your members, and it has your targets.

And it's all the information you need to have a vibrant, vital club right at your fingertips in terms of the key performance indicators.

So you might think of it like a car dashboard.

Okay, if your fuel gauge is low, you need gas soon.

If your check engine light is on, something needs immediate attention.

Okay, so the DCP works the same way, or it's really the DPR.

The report works that same way, the dashboard.

So in July, look at your starting point.

How many active members do you have?

How many are close to completing levels?

Which officers are trained?

Then set targets for each quarter.

Okay, by October, you should aim for at least two to three DCP points, maybe those level one awards from engaged members.

And then by January, you should be at five to six points, solidly on track for distinguished.

By April, you should know whether you're heading for select, or president's distinguished, or perhaps medley.

And you're making your final push at that point.

If you check your DCP progress monthly, you can see the trends.

And education, are education awards accelerating or stalling?

Is membership growing, or is it flat?

This lets you adjust your strategy in real time when it counts, rather than discovering in June that you're nowhere near close to your goals.

If you're a club president, and you're planning your year in July, how should the DCP inform your club success plan?

Okay, the DCP should be the backbone of your club success plan.

Start by setting your target.

Do you want distinguished, select, or presidents?

And as you mentioned, some people might be tempted to go for the highest, but go for the next level.

And, you know, and make that your base goal, your minimum goal, and then have higher levels as your stretch goals.

But decide your goals, your level that you're targeting, and then reverse engineer it.

Okay, what do you need to accomplish that?

If you're, for example, aiming for president's distinguished, you need to get nine points.

That might mean all six educational goals, both membership goals and training.

Now, assigned ownership.

The VPE, vice president of education, owns education goals and needs a plan to achieve them.

The VPM, the vice president of membership, owns membership goals.

Every officer ensures their role gets trained.

The treasurer handled dues.

The secretary handles the officer list.

Build quarterly check-ins into your club calendar in October, January, and April.

Review your DCP progress as a team and adjust.

Okay, the DCP gives you clarity about what success looks like and who's responsible for each piece.

And that transforms it into, you know, from vague aspirations into concrete action plans.

Different goals have different timelines, and we, you know, have some quick wins.

Others require sustained effort throughout the whole year.

If a club wants to hit president's distinguished, what should be their quarterly roadmap?

Yeah, good question.

Well, for quarter one, say July to September, focus on onboarding.

Fill all officer roles, get at least four trained during summer training, and update your officer list on time.

Okay, start recruiting immediately.

Aim for two to three new members by September.

Get existing members scheduled for speeches to start working on level one awards.

Quarter two, October to December, achieve your first education goals.

Ideally, the four level one awards and possibly two level two awards.

And then continue recruiting.

Hit the first membership goal of four new members and ensure your second round of officer training officers complete the winter training.

And then quarter three, January to March, push for deeper education goals, two more level twos maybe, maybe start on level threes.

Hit your second membership goal of four more new members during that quarter.

Okay, this is crunch time for education awards.

Quarter four, April to June, complete any remaining education goals, levels three, level fours if possible, and perhaps path completions or even DPTMs. Ensure dues are paid on time and then do a final membership drive if needed.

By May, you should have hit nine plus points on your membership target if you're going for nine plus points, or you should have at least hit five to make sure you're eligible from the point perspective for being a distinguished club.

Let's say it's March and a club has three DCP points.

They want to hit at least distinguished status, which would be five points of course.

What's the emergency recovery plan so that they can hit where they're wanting to go?

They want to triage immediately.

Triage means looking at the different levels needed to achieve some goals and then identify the ones that are most doable the fastest and start there.

So first identify the easiest remaining goals.

Training, well, if you missed the winter training, you can't get the point anymore.

So that's a lost cause.

You left that point on the table.

Administration, well, if you already paid dues on time and submitted your officer list, you have that point.

It's not on the table anymore.

So that one's passed.

Education, look at who's close to completing levels.

Do you have members at four out of five projects for level one?

Get them scheduled ASAP.

Can you achieve four level one awards by June?

Focus there.

So that's what we did in Ozark Orders last year when we made presidents distinguished.

When it came to the end, I started looking at all the pathways to get to not only select, but we also did have a pathway to presidents.

And so I immediately started working on the pathway to select, well, planning for having enough time and then going for presidents if we had it, which we did have it.

We came in very close to the end of May, but we did get it.

So if you're looking at membership and that's where you need to focus on first, look at, well, can you realistically add four new members in three months?

If so, launch an aggressive recruitment campaign.

Maybe it's speech craft or open houses, perhaps workplace demos.

The key is ruthless prioritization.

Pick the two or three goals you can realistically achieve with the time remaining, and then pour all your energy into those.

Don't try to do everything.

Focus on getting to five points.

You can aim higher next year.

And by starting right away next year, you're building off of the base you're doing now.

So it is excellent to get those five points, get the distinguished status, and then aim higher next year.

Let me give you a hypothetical situation to consider.

A club gets eight DCP points in May and they're only one point away from presidents distinguished.

Would you focus everything on getting that last point, or is there a smarter way to get to the DCP?

Well, it really all depends on which point the club is missing and whether it's achievable.

If they're one level three award away and they have one member who's almost done with their project for level three, absolutely focus there, get them through, and then help that member finish.

Offer extra practice time, connect them with an experienced mentor or whatever it takes.

If you don't have enough speaking slots and they need to get a speech in, maybe you can arrange for them to do the speech at another club and someone from your club attend also to be their evaluator for purposes of your club's pathway.

But help the member finish.

But if your missing point is something out of reach, like training that's already passed, then accept select distinguished as success and celebrate it.

Don't let the perfect be the enemy of excellence.

It's excellent if you get distinguished.

It's excellent if you get select distinguished.

It's excellent if you get president's distinguished.

It's excellent if you get SMEDLY.

Don't miss the fact that your club has achieved something amazing, even if it's the distinguished club status.

But that said, don't lose focus on the points you've already achieved.

Make sure your dues get paid on time and your officer list stays current.

It could really be devastating, and I've seen it, to lose a point you already earned due to a technicality.

It's got to be reported.

And so make sure that everything's done on time and ahead of time, because what happens is a lot of times when we're trying to report things on Toastmasters International website, everybody's trying at the same time, at the last minute, and then it's bogged down, and then it becomes a problem.

Do it easy.

Do it early.

And doing it early makes it easy.

So what would I do in this hypothetical?

Well, the smarter approach is probably this.

Try for that ninth point, but also start planning for next year.

So you hit all 10 and earn SMEDLY distinguished.

See what I'm doing there?

Okay, I'm not going to hit the higher one now, but let's shoot for it, and that shooting for it will lay the foundation for an even bigger award next year.

I want to shift now to common pitfalls and problems.

What's the most common mistakes clubs make when they're working towards the DCP goals?

Probably the biggest one is treating them as individual checkbox instead of interconnected parts of club health.

A club might fixate on education goals and completely neglect membership, or vice versa.

But here's the reality.

If your members aren't progressing educationally, your club isn't attractive to new members.

And if you're not recruiting, you don't have enough people to achieve multiple education awards.

If your officers aren't trained, they can't effectively support education or membership.

Everything connects.

The best clubs understand this holistically.

They're not just chasing points.

They're aware of the points, but they're not chasing the points.

They're building healthy club ecosystems, where the DCP achievement is a natural byproduct of quality operations.

So they're aware of the points.

They're using them diagnostically, but they're not chasing the points.

They're working at building a solid club.

And another common mistake is starting too late.

Clubs that wait until March to think about DCP goals rarely achieve them.

Start in July, right?

It's a funny kind of a phenomenon that I see a lot of times is that clubs really don't get going for the first quarter of the year.

And that sets things back pretty badly.

Certainly it's recoverable.

But if you take another six months to really get everything together, you only have three more months left to go.

And it's very difficult at that point.

So get in the pattern where you are moving into July, the new Toastmasters year, with your feet running on the ground already.

And the way to do that is start laying the foundation the year before.

Especially June before, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Some clubs front load everything.

They hit seven points by December, and then they're just kind of coasting through the rest of the year.

And then we have others and they're procrastinating and scrambling in June at the last minute.

What's the healthier approach?

Well, the healthiest approach of all is steady, consistent progress throughout the year.

Front loading isn't terrible.

At least you're achieving goals, but it often means you're exhausting your members with an unsustainable push than burning out.

That's what it could be.

It could be people are getting burned out and not doing things for the rest of the year.

But with that said, that isn't terrible.

But procrastinating is worse because you're setting yourself up for panic and failure.

So the healthiest approach is quarterly goals with monthly check-ins.

Aim to achieve two to three points per quarter and keep that momentum.

And that keeps the momentum without overwhelming anyone.

And then it also allows you to adjust if something isn't working.

For example, if you realize in October that education goals are harder than expected, you have time to pivot strategy.

Consistent progress also creates a culture of achievement.

It becomes normal to see DCP points accumulating rather than a last minute scramble.

Think marathon, not sprint.

Good advice.

Let's talk about the quote-unquote free rider problem.

In some clubs, the same five people do all the work towards the DCP goals.

And then you have just like all the other members and they're just showing up.

So how do you create that shared ownership of the DCP goals so that everybody's building momentum towards success?

I think a key way is by making goals visible and then assigning clear ownership and then following up with the celebrations of contributions.

First, visibility.

Put a DCP tracker on the wall at every meeting.

Show which goals are achieved, which are in progress, and who's contributing.

When everyone can see the status, they feel more accountable.

You don't have to call out people who aren't moving forward.

They'll call themselves out to themselves.

But definitely call out the rewards.

Call out those who are achieving.

And that's really a key thing to do.

Second would be ownership.

The president of the club should explicitly assign responsibilities.

Sarah, we need four level one awards.

You're working on yours.

Who else can you encourage?

Or Mike, you're in charge of our membership goal.

What's your plan?

That's the president's job to follow up on that.

Third, celebration.

When someone achieves a level or brings a guest, recognize them publicly.

This reinforces that contributions matter to the club.

And then fourth, culture.

The president sets the tone.

If the president says we all need to do our part for club success and models that behavior, then others will follow.

If only officers seem to care, members will disengage.

Involving members is a key part of retention.

It makes a healthy club, and it's getting people involved.

They're involved because they're achieving their personal growth goals.

The club is meaningful to them.

They're getting a return on their investment of Toastmasters membership.

Some people who are especially old timers in the Toastmasters system will know the quote-unquote gaming the system strategy of recruiting eight people in May so that they can hit the membership goals, knowing half of those will quit by September.

While that approach is often discussed and even laughed about within Toastmaster rinks, what's wrong with that approach, and how does it hurt clubs long term?

Well, I think it's short-sighted and ultimately self-defeating.

Yes, you might hit your membership goals and earn DCP points this year, but you're creating several problems.

First, you're damaging your club's reputation.

Those eight people who join and then quit have a bad experience, typically.

They've paid money for something that didn't deliver.

They tell others, and then suddenly your club has a credibility problem.

Second, you're not building sustainability.

Next year, you're starting from scratch again with the same anemic membership base.

Third, you're likely violating the spirit of the membership target requirement.

If you churn members, you're not actually growing.

And then fourth, you're wasting everyone's time.

Those new members, your officers who process their applications, the mentors who were supposed to support them.

The right approach, in my opinion, is to recruit steadily, onboard properly, and retrain as you retain.

Build a genuinely strong club rather than gaming metrics.

Gaming metrics makes the dashboard look good for this year, and you may get some rewards.

Nothing wrong with that.

But if you're just gaming the metrics, you're not really building a strong club.

Wise advice.

Why don't we shift now to connecting DCP to the club quality experience?

We started this conversation talking about the DCP as a club health dashboard.

If a club achieves president's distinguished status, does that automatically mean they're a high-quality club?

Well, the DCP is a nice dashboard in that the goals indicate the health of a club.

They're, in business terms, KPIs, key performance indicators.

Usually, if a club hits president's distinguished status, they're usually a high-quality club, but not always.

President's distinguished means you're hitting 9 out of 10 goals, which requires strong execution through education, membership, training, and administration.

That's hard to fake.

You genuinely have to be doing things well.

However, it is possible to achieve DCP goals while still having quality gaps.

I think that happened with Ozark Orators.

Because we had so many new people in, we were getting people connected well to the club for membership.

We were getting people connected well to Pathways.

They were getting the educational part of it.

That helped our retention.

That helped us get new members from visitors.

We really had to fill the gap of leadership experience because of that.

I think we've done a good job this year.

You may have noticed in meetings, we're six months out from new members' elections.

I'm already suggesting to people to think about roles they want to have, because that is a gap.

We had a president's club, but there are still gaps there.

There's nothing wrong with the gaps as long as you recognize them and you work on them.

If you're ignoring them, then it may be that you are achieving education awards, but the evaluations are superficial and unhelpful.

In other words, people are checking off speeches, but they're not really getting feedback in the evaluations that are helping them to grow because they're superficial and unhelpful.

Then people are bogging down.

It's not relevant and helpful.

They are not excited for the next thing because they didn't really connect with the growth that they had.

It could be a number of factors.

You just have to look at everything and determine what is the gap here.

It could be maybe you are adding new members, but your club culture is unwelcoming and people don't feel connected.

The DCP measures outcomes, and it doesn't measure the inputs that create quality.

It measures outcomes.

President's Distinguished is a strong indicator of club's health, but Select Distinguished and Distinguished are also strong indicators of club health, but it's not the complete picture.

You still need to assess things like are members happy?

Do they feel supportive?

Are meetings engaging?

Is there a sense of community?

Do people feel like they belong?

These qualitative factors matter too, and when you have those qualitative factors, the DCP points are coming naturally.

They're an outcome.

You can work hard just to get the DCP point.

You can game the system to get DCP points, but you're not necessarily creating a quality club.

If you have a quality club and you're getting the DC points as a natural outcome, now you know you have a quality club.

If you don't see the DC points sustaining themselves as a natural outcome of the quality of the club, you know that you should look for gaps, and that's good.

That's a part of growth.

You can then look for the gaps, and then you can address the gaps, such as we've done in Ozark Orators this year, and build from there a quality club.

Yeah, I like that.

Carol Dweck, who wrote the book Mindset, wrote about Enron, which was a failed company, scandalous because there was fraud going on, but they analyzed the culture of that company.

It was constantly get KPIs for everything, but don't actually have any value or don't build a culture of excellence, just constantly game the system all the time.

There was actual criminal fraud involved with that as well, but there was also just a culture that celebrated constant KPIs without any substance.

Right.

In that contest, that looks good for stockholders.

It's really what I would consider to be like window dressing.

It's making it look much better than it actually is to help the stock prices and please the stock owners, the board of directors in particular.

With Toastmasters Club, it could be window dressing for the district, right?

Or it could be window dressing for Toastmasters International.

You know, the KPIs are important as indicators of reaching goals, but if we make the KPI the goal itself and only go for that and game the system to get them, we're really not achieving the real goal of those KPIs, creating the environment where those KPIs happen naturally.

Yeah, that club culture of excellence.

And really something you said too, I think is what triggered the thought about Carol Dweck's book was Carol Dweck's whole thesis really is embrace yet, like I'm not there yet.

And you mentioned gaps.

And I think when we talk about the KPIs, for us, they're kind of a mirror of here's where we are today, let's see where we can get tomorrow.

And for example, it was our co-ordinators launched ahead under better management, under using the best practices.

But we can, you know, there's the yet of the Smedley Award, right?

So we can continue to grow.

And I think that's true for all clubs.

Yes, exactly.

And I, you know, there's a place for pragmatic too, but I think there's also sometimes if your whole game strategy is to play with the numbers, you have a declining club probably.

Yeah, yeah.

The point that Dweck made was, you know, the difference between a fixed mindset and the growth mindset.

And we're really talking about a growth mindset, you know, we're growing, we're improving, we're not at perfect yet, but we're growing.

The fixed mindset is trying to do window dressing, make everything look good when it really is not.

Right.

Makes sense.

Now, on the flip side of all that, there can be a club that is not distinguished, but could it still be a high quality club?

And what would be the cause of the gap that would make a high quality club not be recognized under the DCP?

Absolutely.

A small club with, say, 12 highly engaged members might be delivering an incredible experience.

It might have a supportive culture, excellent evaluations, meaningful mentorship, but struggling to hit eight new members because maybe they're in a small town with limited prospects.

Or a club might have missed officer training due to scheduling conflicts beyond their control.

Maybe members might be progressing through pathways thoughtfully and slowly, completing one level per year rather than rushing through.

Okay.

These I would consider high quality clubs, but they are still working in a constricted way because of their smaller number.

But these clubs might only hit three to four DCP points despite being very high quality.

And I think this is where officer judgment matters.

If you're an area director visiting the club, don't just look at their DCP score.

Observe the meeting, talk to members, assess their culture.

Some clubs need help with systems and execution to achieve DCP goals.

Others are doing great work and just need encouragement to keep going.

But I wouldn't judge a club as being ineffective if they are not distinguished.

But the thing is an effective club will probably be distinguished at least.

It's not that far of a push, but there are circumstances that create reasons why a club doesn't get all their membership target or all five points to hit the distinguished level.

And I think always it's that growth mindset and how can we grow and what are the goals of the club?

Maybe the club doesn't want to be a number of things.

Well, that's up to them really.

And as area directors or division directors, we can encourage the club, we can help them to have the resources they need.

We can come alongside them and support them, but ultimately they have to make it work and they have to make their goals work, right?

Yeah.

Makes sense.

How do the moments of truth that we discussed in the last episode connect to DCP achievement?

Well, they're very deeply connected.

The moments of truth framework creates the conditions for DCP success.

Think about it.

If you nail first impressions, you'll convert more guests and achieve those membership goals.

If you do membership orientation well, new members will engage with pathways and help you achieve educational goals.

If you focus on fellowship, variety and communication, you'll retain members and sustain progress.

If you emphasize program planning and meeting organization, members will be motivated to complete projects.

If you maintain membership strength through retention, you'll meet the membership target requirements.

And if you prioritize achievement recognition, you'll create momentum towards more awards.

The moments of truth are the how and the DCP is the what.

You need both.

And you can download from Toastmasters International the whole moments of truth document.

So you've got the booklet, but it comes downloaded as a folder and it has a slideshow and a couple other things.

One of the things I really like in there is a whole, just a one pager, which is a nice summary.

And what I would recommend doing is printing out that one page summary that describes what the moments of truth are in a club and hand those out to all the members in a meeting.

And, you know, let the whole club know what the whole club is collectively working towards.

So we've been talking a lot about the DCP points, but if you could track three metrics to gauge true club health, what would those three be?

Great question.

Well, I think first, member satisfaction.

Are people happy?

Do they feel like they're getting value?

And you can assess that through informal conversations or even anonymous surveys, if you want to formalize it.

If members are dissatisfied, no amount of DCP points matter.

They're going to leave.

Second, meeting attendance rate.

If you have 20 members, but only 10 show up regularly, that's a red flag.

Healthy clubs have a 70 to 80 percent attendance rate.

Third is your leadership pipeline.

That's what we're working on in this year.

Are members stepping up for officer roles?

Are you developing the next generation of club leaders?

If you're struggling to fill your office or slate each year, something's wrong.

And wrong doesn't mean bad.

It just means an opportunity to have some leadership development and grow in it.

So those are the three metrics, I'd say.

Satisfaction, attendance, and leadership engagement.

And those tell you about the underlying health that enables DCP achievement.

You can have all DCP points in the world, but if these three are weak, your club is going to be fragile.

If you have a strong club, you're going to be hitting DCP just naturally every year.

And so those are the three important metrics in my book.

You know, we have a new VPPR membership, or excuse me, a VP of Public Relations, VPPR, and you know, this year, and he just joined last year.

And we just had our first theme meeting at Ozark Orators last meeting on last Friday night.

And it was excellent.

And so we've been supporting him and encouraging him in his innovations.

And, you know, he really ran with it.

He did a fantastic job.

And it really benefited the whole club.

If we just put somebody in the role, and then they didn't do anything for all year, and they got no support, no encouragement, then, you know, it's not a strong thing.

But if we build a thriving experience where members see other members who they joined at the same time, and now they're fulfilling officer roles, and they're building the club in substantial ways, that builds a strong leadership pipeline.

So for us, that's one of the big ones that we're working on this year, but they're all three are important.

Yeah, I really like that.

And it's really cool when you see leaders taking ownership of their role and doing creative things.

It really works well when they can take ownership.

And that's really what it's about.

It's developing leaders, because that's a part of the Toastmasters goal, right?

Absolutely.

If there's one mindset shift you want club officers to make about the Distinguished Club Program, what would that be?

I think the biggest thing is to stop thinking about the DCP as something you do at the end of the year to earn recognition and start thinking about it as your strategic planning framework for the entire year.

The DCP isn't a report card.

It's a roadmap.

And when you plan your club success plan in July, when you set goals for each quarter, when you make decisions about where to focus energy, the DCP should always be guiding you.

It tells you exactly what success looks like and gives you measurable milestones.

Clubs that embrace this mindset are the ones that consistently achieve President's Distinguished and SMEDly Distinguished status beginning this year, I'm sure it will.

They're not scrambling.

They're executing a plan.

I see clubs in Division A where they're going to make SMEDly.

They've consistently achieved Distinguished awards over the years.

They've got a base and they're definitely going to hit SMEDly.

So they're not scrambling.

They're executing a plan.

And there's a lot of clubs in Division A that don't have a plan yet or much of a plan.

And we're helping as division leaders, we're helping them to step into that world and discover more and more how to create excellent plans.

The beautiful thing is when you use the DCP as a strategic tool, you're not just earning points.

You're building a club that genuinely serves its members well.

And if you have a club that genuinely serves its members well, you've got a really growth-oriented, enjoyable experience for every member and for every officer in the club.

Well, we had a lot of great discussion.

What is, from all of this, what's one action step a club officer could take this week that would help them move their club closer to their DCP goals?

Log into Basecamp, pull up your club's DCP progress report, or really the Pathways Progress Report, and schedule a 30-minute officer training review.

Look at where you are today versus where you want to be in June, at the end of June.

And then identify the two to three goals that are most achievable with the time remaining.

So if you do it right away, we've got about half a year to go, seven months really.

But December is pretty busy.

So got seven, maybe six months.

So perfect time to pull up that, go into Basecamp, pull up the Pathways in Progress, which are going to give you an indication of what you're going to achieve on the DCP progress report.

And then pick out two or three goals that are most achievable with the time remaining, and assign ownership for each.

So for example, you have your club, your officer's meeting, you're looking at this Basecamp Pathways in Progress, and you start saying, let's see, VPE, you're responsible for achieving two more level two awards by May.

What's your plan?

Or VPM, we need three more new members to hit our second membership goal.

How can we help?

Then set up follow dates in two weeks to check the progress.

Okay, that's just making a single, you know, a simple action plan with those key points, especially around education and membership.

Just looking at your DCP progress on the dashboard, and making a plan from it will move you from reactive to proactive.

And that shift alone will dramatically increase your chances of hitting your goals.

So Derek, we've covered a lot of ground today, from understanding the four areas and 10 goals of the Distinguished Club Program, to using the DCP as a strategic planning tool, rather than as a last minute checklist.

And even to connecting DCP achievement with genuine club quality.

I hope our listeners now see the DCP differently in some small or some big ways.

It's not just about earning ribbons at the district conference, though those are nice to celebrate.

It's about having a clear roadmap for club success.

When you achieve those education goals, you know your members are engaged and growing.

When you hit those membership goals, you know your members, you know your club is vital and attractive.

When you complete training, you know your leaders are equipped.

And when you handle administration well, you know your operations are solid.

The clubs that consistently achieve President's Distinguished aren't lucky, they're strategic.

And the clubs that will achieve the new Smedley Distinguished Awards won't be because they were lucky, they will earn those because they're strategic.

They plan in July, or even June, and hit the road running in July.

They track progress monthly, they adjust when needed, and they keep their focus on the metrics that matter.

And the metrics that matter are those 10 goal areas of the DCP.

Okay, so remember, the DCP is a diagnostic tool, use it to identify where you're strong and where you need to improve.

Don't worry about the areas where you need to improve, learn from them and improve those areas.

That's a part of the growth journey.

That's a part of the value that Toastmasters brings to you.

And the more you grow in your ability there, you bring that value back to Toastmasters and to other Toastmasters members.

Celebrate your wins, but don't ignore the gaps.

And most importantly, correct DCP achievement to member satisfaction.

You know, connect those goals to really, how are they helping members be satisfied?

Because at the end of the day, the goal isn't just to earn points, it's to build a club where the members thrive.

Well, that's it for today.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Growth Masters.

If you found this helpful, please share with fellow club officers.

We're building a resource library to help clubs across district rate and beyond grow stronger.

In our next episode, we'll be talking about pathways as a growth tool, how to leverage Toastmasters educational program, not just as curriculum, but as your most powerful retention and engagement strategy.

Until then, I'm Jim Zaborn and Division A Director for District 8.

And joining me today was Derek Zaborn, Area Director of Area 5 in Division A, District 8.

And we both hope that you keep growing, keep leading, and keep making your clubs the best they can be.

We'll talk to you next time on Growth Masters.