New Member Welcome Packet – Spirited Speech Masters

Toastmasters thrives on the perspectives provided by the introduction of new members. For more experienced members, however, it can be easy to forget what it's like to experience Toastmasters for the first time. Practices that may seem to need no introduction for the veteran may appear entirely foreign to the recent inductee. This indeliberate thoughtlessness can lead to frustration and early burnout, resulting in the needless loss of what might otherwise have been an enthusiastic addition to your club. In an effort to combat this phenomenon, we recently created a New Member Welcome Packet that provides a starting point along the path to a successful journey in Toastmasters.

Resources provided include:

A welcome message, along with a prominently displayed box to contain the name of the new member's assigned mentor
The Toastmasters (club-level) Mission Statement
A brief listing of important URLs, including those for the club, the district, and Toastmasters International
An Educational Goals and Objectives survey to help the new member identify the areas they would most like to focus on for improvement; this page also asks the new member to set a target date for his or her first speech
A two-page summary of all eleven Paths within the Pathways learning experience
Frequently Asked Questions
A listing of Executive Committee Members; by including this as the last page, it won't be difficult to swap out just this page upon a change in leadership

To help give these packets a more polished feel, we purchased a set of burgundy-colored folders with pockets and brads. A concerted effort was made to make use of the Toastmasters branding standards (fonts, colors, logo).