Club Rehab

4. Club SWOT

In 2015, I took over as president for a small club. As part of our growth plan, I realized that since we would have lots of inexperienced, new members, we would need extra emphasis on teaching "how to Toastmaster" so that new people could get up to speed quickly. To that end, I implemented a set of role cheat sheets that could help get newcomers get used to roles, as well as instituting a "Ten Minute Tune Up" segment that would teach speaking, leadership, and Toastmasters skills. By focusing on training our new members, we turned them into experienced members that could take on tougher roles more quickly, and thus train the next set of new members.

A SWOT analysis is a useful tool for plotting out what your club is good at and what issues it has. 

When considering your strengths and weaknesses, consider:

• Your club's experience levels. If you have several newer Toastmasters, you may have a lot of energy, but not a lot of know-how. If you have several experienced Toastmasters, you may have the opposite. 
• Officer and committee quality (both individual and synergies).
• Meeting location, day, time, frequency, etc. (as noted earlier)
• Membership growth & turnover rates

When considering opportunities and threats, consider:

• If you have dignitaries such as district representatives or contest winners
• Do you have several clubs that meet in the area at the same time (or similar?)
• Is your local area growing? There may be an opportunity to grow along with it.
• If you're a corporate club, how is the health of the company and its support for your club? 

Using the Area Director's Report and the Wow Factor as ideas for SWOT analysis points will help you as well.