Area 33 Director, 2024-25

  We join Toastmasters toward improving our public speaking skills, but many of us discover a greater benefit.   Toastmasters develops our leadership skills.   Some of us join clubs with a leadership focus to discuss leadership and see it modelled.   Leadership Summit Toastmasters club, which meets the first Tuesday evening of the month is one of these clubs. Pat Croal is a Leadership Summit founder (with Theo Black) and a Toastmasters International Presidents Award winner (with Keith Hardy).   A long-time hospital laboratory manager, she now oversees the Park-Nicollet Foundation.   As a leader, she models engagement and positivity.   The Summit, an annual event toward engaging new club members, is her idea. Another Leadership Summit member, Harold Osmundson, is a member of the Toastmasters International Board of Directors.   I first met him eight years ago when he visited my club in his district leadership role.   When I volunteered as...

Toastmasters has been hit hard by COVID-19.  Some clubs have thrived with Zoom meetings.  Some even have become national in scope as people from California or Texas or Tennessee join in on local Twin Cities meetings.  But, many clubs have noticed declines in networking time and mentorship time.  Overall, membership numbers have declined and personal interaction has been cut back. What to do?  I have two ideas. First, we need lots and lots of leadership.  We need area directors.  We need support for area directors.  We need contest Toastmasters.  We need lots and lots of events.  Without plentiful leadership, well meaning volunteers end up burned out.  Toastmasters should be fun.  If people are feeling that the effort is a grind, it will sure help that there are others around to grind some coffee for us, to provide moral support and to re-enthuse us.  If you have been a district leader before, please help out the next gener...