Welcome to the first episode of this VPM session.

I don’t know what I’m going to call it yet, maybe The VPM Corner or something like that. We’ll see as we go, especially when other members join in. I figured since I’m doing this, charity begins at home, right?

I’ve got seven questions that’ll guide these sessions. Normally, the goal is to keep it around 15 minutes,  just a quick chat to get to know the members and what they’re doing. If needed, we might stretch to 15 – 30 minutes as we figure out the best format.

About These First Episodes

The first two episodes will feature my home clubs: Rivonia Toastmasters and Sandton Toastmasters. Due to a conflict of interest (until the 27th), I can’t speak to our current VPM, President, or VPE just yet. The Secretaries also aren’t fully looped in on this. So most probably, there’ll be a follow-up with the actual role-players after the 27th.

So this episode is more of an introduction and my own observations.

Skipped Question 1: What Initially Attracted You to This Role?

I’ll skip this question because I’m not a VPM in any of the clubs.

Question 2: What Strategies Have Been Most Effective in Attracting New Members?

At Sandton Toastmasters, we get a lot of guests. At Rivonia, not as many, but recently we’ve been attracting people through masterclasses that we upload online.

However, we could do more. One major gap is not putting out agendas early — which affects guest engagement. We’re also not doing lead generation — no ads, no platforms like Meetup, which are big for other clubs. We seem to rely mostly on the district sending leads our way.

So honestly, I don’t have “tips and tricks” here. It’s a challenge. But we are working on a few things, and I’ll do an update to see how those pan out.

Question 3: How Does the Club Help New Members Feel Welcomed and Integrated?

At Rivonia, we’re trying to revive member orientation.

This used to be a core part of how we onboarded members, the VPM and VPE would team up to guide new members through:

• • Choosing a pathway

  • Understanding how meetings run

  • Integrating into the Toastmasters journey

But with lower membership, we haven’t done this as consistently. We’re working on bringing it back.

We also ease new members in with smaller roles like Timer or Ah-Counter, rather than jumping straight into intimidating ones like Grammarian. That helps build comfort and confidence.

Another thing we do, we take new members to other clubs. It helps show them that there’s a bigger Toastmasters community, which our VPM has been actively promoting.

Question 4: What Are the Biggest Challenges in Retaining Members, and How Do We Address Them?

Our biggest challenge: being a small club, where we recycle roles constantly.

• • I’ll be Toastmaster of the Day this week

  • The President will do it next week

  • The VPM will follow

  • And so on…

This makes our meetings feel less structured. While we still run meetings, the quality isn’t always where it should be.

As VPE at Rivonia, I have a vision for better meetings, but with low numbers, it’s tough. So we often reach out to members from other clubs, Sandton, Morningside, Transformers, etc.  to fill roles.

It works and even helps new members see the wider Toastmasters ecosystem, but it’s not ideal.

The masterclasses help maintain value, but if one or two people drop out, others end up doing multiple roles, which gets chaotic.

So we are a work in progress, give us two months, and we’ll be stronger.

Question 5: Which Tools, Events, or Initiatives Have Helped Increase Member Value?

The standout for us: Educationals or Masterclasses.

These have been invaluable:

• • Members get to showcase their skills

  • They learn from others

  • They understand there’s more to Toastmasters, networking, community, learning

We also upload these sessions to YouTube for reference and visibility.

We’re also planning to go in-person again or have a hybrid setup (alternate in-person and online meetings). This will:

• • Enhance the masterclass experience

  • Encourage networking

  • Help speakers connect with the audience more deeply

It’s a core part of our strategy going forward.

Question 6: How Does the Club Gather Feedback and Act on It?

At the moment, we don’t have a formal feedback process.

But that’s going to change.

This conversation made me realize we need a feedback form, probably a Google Form, to gather input from both members and visitors after every meeting.

We do have the Toastmasters “Moments of Truth” framework, but we haven’t implemented it fully due to being a small club. Most of our members are exco members, and only one is truly “new”, so our interactions are often informal.

Moving forward:

• • We want to formally implement Moments of Truth

  • Possibly do quarterly reviews instead of waiting six months, that’s too close to renewal time

  • Use that time to assess expectations vs. reality

This will help us keep our finger on the pulse and improve the member journey.