By Steven Timmons, DTM, Public Relations Manager
Are you using the Pathways Learning Experience as a sales tool to get guests to join your club? I recommend that you really should. Pathways provides great value, fulfills a need, and is fun and educational.
As a member of a Toastmasters club, one of the toughest duties that you will perform relates to getting guests to attend and join your club. Although you may not be a salesperson, you have a responsibility to invite guests and convert them into members. Why do I say this? As many learn, a lack of active recruiting results in decreasing club membership because life happens to our members.
Toastmasters International has loaded a lofty arrow in your quiver and you may still have not realized its benefits. Today, I plan to give you the ability to draw your bow with that very arrow and help you recruit club members whether they are guests in your club or merely strangers you meet on the street. They are both now your prey.
First, Pathways Learning Experience provides great value worth hundreds of dollars and yet costs you only $20 a path to purchase. If you are a new member, Toastmasters includes your first path with your initial membership fee, which means it is FREE. Don’t believe me, go to Zig Ziglar or Dale Carnegie and see what they sell their courses for in the open market. Toastmasters not only delivers a comparable education, but it provides you with tools to make true changes in your speaking and leadership habits. Be sure to communicate to your prospective members the true value you receive with a Toastmasters membership.
Second, Pathways fulfills a need to grow. Many people assume that their education ends with that high school or college degree. That could not be further from the truth. The effective person knows how to communicate well, and these lessons did not end with your intuitional schooling. I believe that our learning and education continue throughout our lives. As we live in a constantly changing world, we must be constantly changing to keep up. We all have a need to grow. Toastmasters provide a great deal of opportunity to do just that. Pathways is now a crown jewel in what has made Toastmasters relevant for almost 100 years.
Finally, Pathways is both fun and educational. We all learn better when we are having fun. Pathways projects present a series of alternatives that stimulate your mind. Toastmasters designed the projects to be self-paced so that you do not have to feel rushed. The information we learn and proficiencies we gain relate directly to areas that corporations are looking to fill (e.g., Visionary Communication or Strategic Planning). I have found the activities enjoyable and fulfilling because they include more than speeches.
These are the things that you should be communicating to the guests that visit your club. While waiting in line, tell that person next to you why you find Pathways to be the best thing you found that improves your life and career opportunities. Explain how Pathways has helped you to grow and how they can grow with it themselves. Invite them to visit your club or any Toastmasters club to share the benefits that you have found so dear.
Invite them to become a Toastmaster!
