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Key to Member Retention - Awards!
by Leanna Lindquist, DTM
An award is recognition given in honor of Create a brief ceremony
an achievement. People want to be recognized, to present the award.
appreciated and validated. Clubs aware of this Talk about the criteria
recognize new members immediately following required to earn the award. Thank the member
their Ice Breaker speech. A fun inexpensive for his/her contribution to the club. Invite
way is to present Ice Breaker mints. Create a the recipient to say a few words. This should
Half-way Award certificate to recognize the be followed by thunderous applause. Take a
completion of the first five speeches. Both are photo, write an article and submit it to your
a way to encourage the member to sign up local newspaper and Voices! People love public
for the next speech and work towards their recognition. When members are recognized for
Competent Communicator Award. their efforts, they will continue in their desire
to excel. You have just created a role model for
Toastmasters International offers members the other members. Watch for the ripple effect.
the opportunity to earn 4 communication
awards, 4 leadership awards, and the grand- At the January 2016 Toastmasters Leadership
daddy of them all, the Distinguished Institute, TLI, Dottie Love gave a presentation
Toastmaster Award. Each Toastmasters award that promoted the Triple Crown Award. “WANT
requires meeting specific objectives. The awards GROWTH? Earn a Triple Crown Award. I
come in the form of beautiful certificates, suit- consider it to be accelerated growth.
able for framing. Hang them in a prominent Toastmasters International defines it
place. Upon request, a letter will be sent to your as attaining three or more Educational
employer recognizing your commitment to Achievements during a Toastmasters
improving your communication and leader- year ( July 1st to June 30th), and you will
ship skills. be recognized as a “Toastmasters Triple
Crown Achiever”. You want to grow expo-
Any time a member award is earned the nentially? Give yourself the gift of the
club should leverage it as a member reten- Triple Crown. To earn it, give one speech
tion opportunity. Remember, people want be a month, serve in two roles a month,
recognized, appreciated and validated. Ask
the member to bring their award. Make this a and help as a contest
club celebration. Bring balloons and cookies. chair. Just doing that will
get you two awards in a
year. Adding the third isn’t
that hard. For example, by
serving as an officer can
also help make earning
your Advanced Leadership
Bronze, therefore the third
award for the Triple Crown, a cinch!”
Later that day at TLI we held a ceremony
and awarded Triple Crown pins to those who
earned the award. The members were recog-
nized and their achievement was validated with
a pin. I remember the first time I saw members
called up to receive their Triple Crown awards. I
said to myself, “I can do that.” I received my pin
the next time. I’m no different from everyone
else. I like the public recognition too. I hope I
Volume 2 Issue 12 - JUNE 2016 5
