October 2025 Leader Letter

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes — Did you know that the meeting minutes for the Board of Directors are available on the Toastmasters International website? Explore the dropdowns on the Meeting Minutes page to read about recent discussions and decisions. Check back throughout the year; the page is updated regularly.

Have Fun with Smedley Fund — Looking for an entertaining way to bring awareness to the Ralph C. Smedley Memorial Fund®? Your District conference is the perfect time and place to communicate the purpose of the Smedley Fund. Also, be sure to share the newly revised Smedley Fund webpage on your conference page. Still need more Smedley Fund promotional ideas? Contact SmedleyFund@toastmasters.org for help.

Reduce Customs Clearance Delays for Toastmasters Orders! — Refer local vendors in your country to the Preferred Logistics Vendor Program—a program that works to get faster, cheaper deliveries outside of the U.S. by using local vendors. Know a reliable vendor? Contact logisticsservices@toastmasters.org for more information. This program currently excludes Districts in the United States and U.S. Territories.

Convention Highlights and Replay — Just because the 2025 International Convention is over doesn’t mean you have to miss it! You can now get on board with the sessions and highlights through unlimited On Demand access.

Toastmasters Education Series — The Education Series are full of helpful tips for your club! Check out "Creating the Best Club Climate" in the Successful Club Series to learn how your club can hold excellent and welcoming meetings. Do you and your fellow members have trouble picking speech topics? Present "Selecting Your Topic" in the Better Speaker Series to learn useful tips. Finally, if you want to give more effective evaluations, review "Giving Effective Feedback" in the Leadership Excellence Series.

Round One of Club Officer Training — The last day to enter club officer training through District Central is October 31. If corrections (removals) of training are needed, email the club name and club officer position(s) that need to be removed to districts@toastmasters.org for processing.

District Directors: District Elections — The District Leadership Committee (DLC) Chair must be appointed no later than November 1. Reference Protocol 9.0 for additional details. It is crucial that the appointment of the DLC chair and its members are appointed by the specified dates to ensure the validity of their work.

Area Directors: Conduct an Effective Club Visit — Support your clubs and understand their needs through quality club visits. Serving Clubs through Visits: A Guide for Area Directors can guide you for a successful visit. Submit your Area Director Club Visit reports through District Central no later than November 30 for credit toward the Distinguished Area Program. While it is only required to conduct visits twice a year, clubs may benefit from additional visits and support, we recommend visiting your clubs at least four times per year.

District Conference Guidelines — As you prepare for your conference, remember that your conference theme must be approved by the Brand team. In addition, be sure to review the Brand Manual to follow all the guidelines for use of the Toastmasters International logo, fonts, images, and other District Conference Guidelines. Should you have any questions, please contact the Brand and Trademarks teams.

Keep Your District on Track to Distinguished — Check the status of your District’s progress in the District Recognition Program by reviewing the dashboard, located on the Distinguished Performance Reports webpage.

Cultivating Corporate Clubs — Workplace clubs offer a unique opportunity for members to gain professional skills, while also interacting with coworkers. Glean tips from corporate insiders for what it takes to successfully establish and support a corporate club.

Top Communication Tips — Author, Lecturer, Podcaster, and Keynote Speaker Matt Abrahams—this year’s Golden Gavel Honoree—shares his wisdom on communication and listening, offers his take on effective listening, describes conversational turn-taking, and explains why we shouldn’t be so afraid to use filler words.

Go for the (Culturally Appropriate) Laughs — Language, technology, and presentation style are all affected by culture. If you have members from different countries in your club, learn how to determine whether your humor is funny, or doesn’t make sense.

Sing in the Shower — … or in the car … or anywhere. Find out why singing is one of the most powerful tools for training your speaking voice, as well as strengthening, toning, and stretching your vocal cords for peak performance. Then, turn on some tunes and start practicing!

New Member Fee Update — As announced during the August Board Briefing, the new member fee increased to $25 USD on October 1, 2025. This one-time fee supports administrative costs, Base Camp system access, and provides new members with their first path. The fee has remained unchanged for 20 years, predating the current online engagement system, making this adjustment necessary to continue providing quality member support and services. Please ensure your club is using all updated materials, including physical membership application, How to Build a Toastmasters Club , and The Benefits of Toastmasters Membership.

Mid-year Training — Throughout the month of January, Toastmasters International will conduct in person Mid-year Training for 2025—2026 District Directors, Program Quality Directors, and Club Growth Directors. District leaders will continue to develop core leadership skills, share best practices and lessons learned, and network with others from around the globe. Dates, locations, region groupings, have been sent directly to District leaders via email. More information about registration, travel, and accommodations will be sent via email in the coming months.

Club Officer Training, Round Two, Coming Soon! — The second round of club officer training begins November 1. District Central will begin accepting entries for club officer training after November 15.

Don’t Fall for Phishing Scams — Each year, we see an increase in phishing scams targeting our members. Scammers send messages that appear to be official contacts from Toastmaster leaders or members but contain malicious links. DO NOT click these links as they often are trying to obtain sensitive data such as usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, and bank account details. Always verify suspicious messages by confirming that the email address or link only contains ‘toastmasters.org’ and report phishing attempts to your email service provider or cellular company. Stay vigilant!

Train Your Newly Chartered Club Leaders — It is beneficial to train all club officers, regardless of when their club is organized. New clubs that organize between July 1 and August 31 achieve credit towards their Distinguished Club Program goals for the first training session when four club officers are trained by an authorized District representative. Clubs that organize between September 1 and February 28/29 will receive club officer training credit for session one and two when at least four club officers attend session two training held November 1 – February 28/29.