Toastmasters International -Build a Rock Star Mentoring Program

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Is your Toastmasters club struggling to attract visitors and convert guests to new members? Are your established members losing their enthusiasm for attending meetings?

The dilemma of club growth has been a challenge since Toastmasters began. However, the solution has been with us nearly as long: having a rock star level mentoring program.

People want to join clubs that are growing, that positively impact the lives of their members, and that retain their members. Good mentoring makes all three of those elements possible—it is, in fact, the very glue that holds them in place.

New members benefit from good mentoring by knowing they’re not alone in their personal growth pursuit. They quickly gain confidence when they realize someone can help them overcome challenges they once faced. Additionally, mentees who feel like they are part of a supportive family from day one are more likely to continue their membership for years instead of only a few months.

Current members benefit from mentoring new members, finding a sense of gratitude and satisfaction as their mentees progress in skills and confidence over months and even years. And mentoring is an important skill in the workplace too, helping companies improve employee engagement, have more productive teams, and harness people’s potential.

Tips for a Strong Mentor Program

It’s never too late to start or revive a mentor program in your club. Over the years, I have mentored hundreds of new members and mentors. When I became the Vice President Membership (VPM) of the Professional Presenters Toastmasters club in Denver, Colorado, in July 2020, our club had recently, and nervously, reinstated our in-person meetings. We had only 12 members but within two years, we had more than doubled our membership.

What was the magic dust that brought us results? A renovated mentoring program. I encourage all clubs to take these three steps to develop a strong mentor program.

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Step 1: Appoint a Coordinator

No one person needs to shoulder all the work to start or revitalize your mentoring program. However, at least one person needs to make a total commitment to the project, and to getting everyone excited. It should be someone who has inspirational energy, as in: “Let’s do this! We’re going to grow this club starting today and the key is deploying a rock star mentoring program!”

The VPM role is the most likely one to oversee a club mentoring program, since that position already has the responsibility of inspiring visitors to join and current members to stay, and a mentor program aligns with that mission. However, if there’s someone in your club who loves to help members support each other and has a gift for recognizing people’s talents, consider appointing them as your member-mentor coordinator.

Step 2: Choose Your Mentors Carefully

Of course, you need people who will be mentors in addition to a person who coordinates the program. In my education session at the 2024 International Convention in Anaheim, California, I shared how one member in our club jumped at the opportunity to serve as a mentor. Regrettably, he envisioned meetings with his assigned mentees as an opportunity to force-date our female members. Of course, he was promptly asked to leave the club. Mentors should be carefully vetted and selected.

Look for potential candidates possessing the following traits:

Understanding of mentoring responsibility. Mentoring a new member is an important responsibility that should not be taken lightly. A mentoring arrangement gone bad can cause the new member to disengage and leave the club. Conversely, a good mentor can inspire an otherwise skeptical member to push through their initial fears and anxiety and continue to grow in their skills for years to come.
Adherence to your club’s culture. Good mentor candidates consistently perform meeting roles and observe protocols in line with how the club operates. They show up early to meetings and are seen answering the questions of new members and guests. Recruit members who produce energetic and fun meetings to be your mentors, so that they encourage other members to do the same.
Matches well with member. The right mentor-member match could be life-changing for both people when they share a common interest, background, or challenge. For example, someone who experiences debilitating nervousness when public speaking might benefit from a mentor who once experienced the same anxiety but has since developed strategies to manage it. A new member who has recently been promoted to a sales position at work would find it helpful to be paired with a mentor who improved their sales skills through Toastmasters.
Willingness to invest their time to benefit others. Possibly the most important trait for good mentors is wanting to serve as a mentor. A mentor who’s forced or guilted into the role will probably fall short of expectations and neglect their mentee. Good mentors look forward to spending time with those they are guiding.

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Step 3: Train Your Mentors and Monitor Progress

Nobody told me I even had a mentor when I joined my first Toastmasters club in 1991. When it came time for me to mentor someone else, I had no clue how to do it right. I had to ask others and formulate my own plan. Avoid letting new mentors figure out what to do on their own. Their role in helping other members is too important.

Here are tips on how to train your mentors:

Write a checklist. Compile a checklist of what the mentor should cover with their mentee. A cloud-based storage platform, such as Google Drive or Dropbox, makes it easy to continually add to the list and allow it to be shared with others. This creates a set of consistent expectations for all mentors and members.
Some of my favorite areas to include in the checklist are: scheduling a first meeting; discovering the new member’s reasons for joining; explaining how club meetings function; helping them choose a Pathways path; scheduling the Ice Breaker speech early; and sitting next to them the first time they perform major roles.
Create a timeline. Divide your checklist into phases of a member’s Toastmasters journey, from the first get-to-know-you meeting to first club meetings, meeting roles, and speeches. One idea is to challenge new members to attend every meeting for at least a full year, because that’s how long it takes for speaking to become part of you.
Define your expectations. Ensure your mentors know to anticipate that all mentees will need initial handholding. Personally, I will typically invite my mentee out to lunch or coffee so that we really get to know each other. I’ll even buy!
After the initial meeting, encourage mentors to be proactive in their communications for several meetings and then to simply be available for questions once the new member has performed all roles. If a new member doesn’t think they need a mentor, use the term “onboarding partner,” a person who gives short-term assistance for transitioning into the club smoothly.
Provide support and inspiration. One of the most important actions you can take as a mentor trainer is to provide assurance to your new mentors that they can learn to be great at this. Make it a point to check in with your mentors to see how they feel their relationship is progressing with the mentee. How are they getting along with each other? Is the mentee receptive to suggestions provided by the mentor? A good VPM should be occasionally asking similar questions of the new member.

The power of a strong Toastmasters mentoring program extends far beyond meeting roles and Ice Breakers. Good mentoring permeates every aspect of a member’s tenure from the moment they see your club listing on your club website to members receiving their DTM and beyond.

Become the catalyst today for your club’s mentoring program. Assure mentors are carefully selected and well trained. You will see the rewards almost immediately as more visitors want to join your club. And they’ll be in good hands after they join.

Some day they, too, will use what they learned in Toastmasters to serve as a mentor to others. Now that’s a rock-star member-mentoring program!