It’s your first week as VPE of your club and the first thing that’s running through your head is that this role of Vice President of Education is a very daunting task. This Club Officer Role is the most challenging out of all the officer roles because there are so many things that fall under your responsibilities. These responsibilities can be boiled down to one goal: Did you help the club member achieve their goal.
Most Toastmasters members will tell you that the role of Vice President of Education bears the burden of helping the club succeed. If the focus of the VPE was making each member successful, everything else will fall into place, whether it is improving the club meeting quality, achieving Distinguished Club Program goals, or having so many educational awards achieved by the club.
Where to Start
If the goal is to help club members achieve their goals, how do you know their goals? Toastmasters International put together a document to answer that question. Member Interest Survey asks a Toastmasters member on what goals do they want to achieve and what are their interests in Toastmasters. It also serves as a feedback survey of the past year and what would they like to improve upon. Once you have this set, then you can plan the goals of your club.
S.M.A.R.T. Goals
Work with the club member on these goals and use the S.M.A.R.T. approach. Is their educational goal specific enough (example, I want to complete Level 1 of Strategic Relationships Path)? Is their goal measurable (I want to complete the 4 speeches and 1 Evaluator role of the Level 1 of Strategic Relationships Path) and attainable and realistic? Can you set a time limit to complete the goal (I want to complete this goal by June 30, 2020)
With this S.M.A.R.T. goal, you can plan out when this member plans to do their speech. You can even check on their progress every two months. If they are not achieving their goals or falling behind in achieving them, what can you do to help them?
Plan Your Year
With the Member Interest Survey in hand, as well as the Distinguished Club Program goals, you can do your role as the Vice President of Education.