The educational program is the heart of a Toastmasters club. It is the means through which you develop your communication and leadership skills and achieve your goal of becoming a better communicator.
The Toastmasters educational program is divided into two tracks - a communication track and a leadership track. The tracks are not mutually exclusive and you may participate in both tracks at the same time if you wish.
If you decide to follow the Communications track, you will learn and practice communication skills. The Competent Communication Manual is
the first manual and contains 10 speech projects to help you develop basic communication skills and confidence. Once completed, you are awarded
the Competent Communicator award and you can move onto the Advanced Communication Manuals.
There are 15 of these manuals each containing 5 projects. Many of the manuals are career oriented, so you choose the manuals and skills you wish to develop.
Working through the advanced manuals makes you eligible for the following awards:
To be eligible for this award, you must have:
· Achieved Competent Communicator award (or Competent Toastmaster under the old system)
· completed two Advanced Communication manuals
To be eligible for this award, you must have:
· Achieved Advanced Communicator Bronze award (or achieved Able Toastmaster or Advanced Toastmaster Bronze under the old system)
· Completed two additional advanced communication manuals (may not be those completed for any previous award)
· Conducted any two programs from The Better Speaker Series and/or The Successful Club Series
To be eligible for this award, you must have:
· Achieved Advanced Communicator Silver award (or achieved Able Toastmaster Bronze or Advanced Toastmaster Silver under the old system)
· Completed two additional advanced communication manuals (may not be those completed for any previous award)
· Conducted a Success/Leadership, Success/Communication or a Youth Leadership program
· Coached a new member with the first three speech projects
In a lot of respects it is this side of the program that has undergone the biggest change. The new Competent Leadership Manual debuted in January 2006, so all those that joined TM after that date will have received a copy in their introductory pack.
New Titles
The old Competent Leader award will become the Advanced Leader Bronze Award.
The old Advanced Leader Award will become the Advanced Leader Silver Award.
So there are now three Leadership designations: Competent Leader, Advanced Leader Bronze and Advanced Leader Silver.
I want to get started, so how do I become a Competent Leader?
You have to complete the Competent Leader manual! This manual consists of 10 projects each focusing on a different leadership skill,
providing background information and an assignment that requires you to serve in one or more specified meeting or club roles in which
you may learn an aspect of that skill.
For example, the first project focuses on ‘Listening and Leadership’. To successfully complete this project you have to carry out three
of the following four roles: Evaluator, Table Topics Speaker, Ah-Counter or Grammarian.
The roles you have to carry out for each project are shown in the Competent Leader Matrix which is shown in the back of the manual or
can be downloaded from this Website (Downloads Page).
Congratulations! You have completed the 10 projects and can be proud to call yourself a Competent Leader. What now? Onto
To achieve this designation you will have completed the following:
Achieved Competent Leader.
Achieved Competent Communicator (or Competent Toastmaster under the old scheme)
Served at least 6 months as a club officer and participated in the preparation of a Club Success Plan while serving in that office.
Also while serving in the above office, you will have participated in a district-sponsored club officer training program.
Finally, you will have conducted any two programs from The Successful Club Series and/or The Leadership Excellence Series.
Finally, after achieving your ALB, you can move onto the final leadership award which is
To gain this designation you must have:
Achieved ALB (or Competent Leader under the old scheme)
Served a complete term as a District Officer.
Completed the High Performance Leadership Program.
Served successfully as a club sponsor, mentor or coach.
Once you have achieved Advanced Leader Silver and have also qualified for your Advanced Communicator Gold, you can give yourself a huge pat on the back as you will have earned your
If you have any questions about the educational benefits of Toastmasters, do not hesitate to contact us using the details on the
contact page. If you are already a member of a Toastmasters Club, just contact your VP Education who will be happy to
go over any aspect of the program.