While preparing for a presentation, I learned that Toastmasters has four categories of clubs. They are Corporate, Community, Advanced, and Specialty.
I was curious about what the composition of club categories is within District 77. After some data collection and some calculations, the district’s club composition is as follows.
Almost 3/4 of District 77 clubs are community clubs which is not surprising. Then I saw that District 77 had zero specialty clubs. Being a naturally curious person, I asked myself what is a specialty club and why is District 77 missing out?
For the former question, I found this article from the February 2022 Toastmasters magazine (https://www.toastmasters.org/magazine/magazine-issues/2022/feb/whats-your-specialty). Author’s note: Yes, I blatantly stole borrowed the magazine’s title for my own article’s title.
The main difference between a community club and a specialty club is their organizational premise. Traditionally, a community club will organize around the community in which they are founded. For example, Florence Toastmasters, Greater Gadsden Speakers, Coffee County Toastmasters, and Panama City Toastmasters all have beginnings serving the community of their name sake.
I fully recognize that in these modern times Toastmasters clubs are no longer limited to their communities. For example, each time I visit the Alabama Blackbelt Voices club, they remind me that the participating members hail from Tennessee, Texas, and New Jersey (just to name a few states).
It is precisely these modern times that allow for the growth of specialty clubs. If you are interested in role playing games, there is a club for that – Dungeons & Toast club 7852454. If you like to tell funny stories, there is a club for that – Witty Storytellers Online club 5618837. If you are a DJ, there is a club for that – DJ & MC Toastmasters Online club 6983959.
By organizing around a hobby or interest, club members already have something in common. While it is not required, I imagine that many of the prepared speeches involve the specialty area which means the speaker already has an interested audience. Furthermore, it is a great source of new ideas for your hobby or interest area.
This brings me to my second question why is District 77 missing out on specialty clubs? Over my relatively brief Toastmasters tenure, I have met several interesting Toastmasters who are photographers, writers, painters, a few rocket scientists, many Alabama fans, many Auburn fans, and even one UAB fan.
Our district has a wide variety of people and interests. With all this diversity I foresee a specialty club or three. It might be a football club that meets on Mondays with speeches of what plays they might have called in the last game. It might be a crochet club where the speaker expounds the half double stitch over the treble stitch. It could be a stamp club where a speaker talks about the recent series of commemorative stamps. I welcome the day when a group of people with similar interests come together to share their passion, knowledge, and stories with each other in a specialty Toastmasters club.
~ Todd Childers, Club Growth Team Member
