Shaping Club Culture

2. Hard Truths

During the holidays at 2018, I spent a lot of time trying to convince myself to buy a suite of music production software, even though I have about zero musical talent. For days I kept trying to convince myself that the expenditure was worth it, even if I only made a few little tunes. I went back and forth between sites, trying to figure out who had the best price for the most items in the bundle, because I figure if I'm going to get into something I might as well go for the most complete edition. Eventually I buckled and bought it...and after spending fifteen minutes here and thirty minutes there, I've barely opened it again (even though I keep installing it in the hopes I'll at least open it to fool around with it). Maybe someday...

Have you done this with courses, programs, diets, etc. on your own? If so, you know that self-improvement projects can often have a lot of energy at the outset, but once the reality sets in that you have to work at things, the glamor rapidly evaporates. Sometimes that's expected; the program/course/etc. just wasn't for us, we weren't as willing to spend the effort, time, or resources as we thought, and so on.

Many people come into Toastmasters knowing they need to improve in some way, usually in that they need the ability to give presentations. How many follow through with this though? The answer depends on how effectively your club engages with new people. On their own, a considerable percentage of people will not engage and will drop out in short order, just like many other self-improvement projects.

If I had to give (purely subjective, in my experience) estimates of Toastmasters who join and complete certain milestones, I'd have to say:

Show up for another meeting: 95-99% (yes, there are people that sign up and never show again)
Sign up for a role and perform it: 90-95%
Complete their first speech project: 75-85%
Stay longer than six months from join date: 65-75%
Stay longer than one year from join date: 50-65%
Stay longer than two years from join date: 15-25%
Serve as an officer: 7-12%
Connect with a mentor: 5-10% (this is often a reflection on the strength of your mentor program, not their initiative)
Complete half of a Competent Communicator or Level 1: 15-25%
Complete CC or Level 2: 5-10%
Complete ACB or Levels 3/4: 1-5%
Complete ACS or Level 5: 1-3%
Serve in the district (area director or otherwise): Less than 0.5%
Complete DTM: Less than 0.25%

This isn't to say these milestones are what everyone should accomplish, but they should indicate the priorities for most people that do join. The strength of the club and how well each member is engaged will alter those numbers, of course.

Some hard truths that come from this:

Many of your new members won't be around in a year; this goes double if your club fails to get them involved and engaged.
A lot of members won't even complete the most basic Pathways tasks.
Many new members will not take initiative to make their goals concrete (i.e. with measurable outcomes set with time frames).
While Toastmasters is "self-paced", without getting new members involved (having them take roles and deliver speeches) they will quickly drift away.
Very few members will really take the time to work on the club; many will offer suggestions and "wouldn't it be nice if", but exceptionally few will actually do the work to make the club successful (even some that are ostensibly officers!).
Simply put, people don't come into Toastmasters to be a great Toastmaster; they come to make themselves better. You'll need to show how being a great Toastmaster makes them a better person in their day-to-day lives.

The third course in this series will review how to get your new members to be more involved and likely to stay members, but for now, concentrate on making sure your new member orientation gets your new members up to speed and they get a mentor or accountability buddy.