MEMBERSHIP GROWTH 9
Exhibits like these are an excellent way to introduce Toastmasters programs to a large number
of people in a short period of time. When preparing a display, utilize materials which tell your story
effectively. Depending on the space available, consider including the following:
■ Club banner
■ Educational materials
■ Agenda for the next meeting
■ Poster with contact names and phone numbers
■ Fliers and marketing materials
When organizing a booth, you should arrange for club members to be present to answer questions. Each
Toastmaster in the booth should be given an orientation on what to say to prospects they meet.
Have each prospect complete a registration card. The information gathered on these cards can be used
for follow-up contact and as part of a drawing for an inexpensive award to help attract visitors to the exhibit.
Brochures – A number of eye-catching and informational brochures are available from World
Headquarters for nominal costs at www.toastmasters.org/Shop. Always keep an adequate supply on
hand to present to prospective members, both at your club meetings and wherever you meet people.
All brochures provide the address of World Headquarters as a contact, but for the most effective results,
have your club contact information printed on labels to use in the space provided on the brochures.
You can also use the resources at www.toastmasters.org/Logos to customize and print your own
brochures.
Signage – Do not forget to mark your meeting place on the Club Meeting Plaque (Item 384) or
Customizable Meeting Sign (Item 6996). Both are excellent means of encouraging drop-in guests at
your meetings. If allowed, the Customizable Meeting Sign can also be posted outside your meeting
venue to direct passersby to your club’s website or social media pages.
In addition to these ideas, refer to Let the World Know: Publicity and Promotion for more comprehensive
coverage on effective promotion and publicity.
Above all else, personal contact and references are the most effective kind of promotion. Encourage your
members to promote your Toastmasters club among their friends and contacts. Widespread advertising
and publicity were never meant to replace personal invitations, but rather to increase public awareness and
acceptance of Toastmasters and make the first contact with a prospect easier and more successful.
However, making prospects aware of your club is not enough. In Toastmasters, marketing efforts must
be member-focused, tailored to address prospects’ needs. Promoting membership should be a human
experience. Once you find those who would be interested in joining your club and reaping the benefits
Toastmasters offers, next you must grab their attention.
Cultivate Interest
People typically don’t buy or invest in something without first being convinced of its value. Start with a good
sales letter. Remember to write as you would talk, and write from the prospect’s point of view. In the letter,
refer the person to www.toastmasters.org to learn more about Toastmasters and how it has helped others.
Most sales materials talk about features, not benefits. They describe size, gadgets and gimmicks, not
what their features do for the customer. People want to know what Toastmasters will do for them, not what
they can do for Toastmasters, so show what Toastmasters has done for you and other members.
Use the Features, Benefits and Value chart (www.toastmasters.org/FBVChart) to illustrate the benefits
Toastmasters offers and the value to them.
What do you do if you run into objections over the cost of the program?
The problem is typically not the cost but that the prospect does not recognize the value. The Features,
Benefits and Value chart will help overcome this obstacle.
