Officers

Immediate Past President

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  1. Support the President – make yourself available to answer questions and provide advice and guidance.
  2. It is important for the Immediate Past President to attend Executive Officer meetings to ensure they can ask questions and have someone available that understands the strategies, decisions and actions of the previous administration.
  3. This was harder for me, but it’s equally important to keep your opinions to yourself. Let the new administration define their own path. Wait until they ask for your advice. Avoid giving it without asking. It has the potential to needlessly muddle the conversation.
  4. Avoid too much emphasize on Toastmasters club awards. It unnecessarily stresses the officers and members. The awards make Toastmasters International happy, but more than that, membership keeps them happy. We are a very strong and thriving club, so the awards are less necessary. If we begin to have decreasing membership, then these awards become more important, because recognition attracts members.
  5. Attendance at meetings as much as possible. This is important to instill confidence in the current officers and members that the club has longevity, and officers aren’t sticking around just because they feel obligated, it’s because they want to.
  6. It is important for the health of the club to have regular, consistent Happy Hours, regardless of attendance numbers. It is an opportunity to get together and socialize on a higher level than is ever available at normal club meetings. This is one of the many things that distinguishes us from other clubs. It strengthens our friendships.
  7. Election notes – Immediate Past President is responsible for leading the Election Committee.
    1. Election Committee notes:
      1.  Solicit as many members as possible for as many positions as possible as early as possible. We didn’t start campaigning until late May. I recommend starting the process as early as late March.
      2.  Request those that are seeking President positions to encourage key members to consider nominations. The President will be more successful if they build their own cabinet.
      3. It was extremely helpful that the current President appointed two current officers to the Election Committee. I don’t know if this was a directive from the Toastmasters bylaws, but I couldn’t have done it effectively without their help.
    2.  Election notes
      1. Don’t forget to allow time for all nominees to give a campaign speech. Even for nominees that don’t have an opposing nominee. We’re Toastmasters for goodness sakes! This is a great opportunity for a speech.
      2. Notes from last year’s election:
      3. All roles had a single nominee.
      4. Need a quorum which is 1/2 membership + 1
      5. Read the rules around elections prior to the meeting. It’s important.
      6. Nominations: There was a lot of switching that took place as we got closer to election day. Need to solidify and actively communicate the rules around nominations. Need to communicate the list of nominees to the club.
      7. Send an email to the club prior to the election meeting indicating the following:
        1. Nominees
        2. Format of the meeting
        3. Election rules
          1. Quorum
          2. Voting methods and protocol
          3. Nominees (single) must also be voted in
        4.  Form of the meeting
          1. Open the floor for additional nominees
          2. Announce nominees
          3. Give each nominee an opportunity to talk
            1. Should place a time limit on the speech (2 -3 mins)
        5. The vote
          1. President counts votes
          2. Show of hands
          3.  Nominees step out of the room during voting
          4. Winners are announced at the end of voting