Our New Look and Logo

by District 84 Governor Jim Miller, DTM

Jim Miller, DTM

By now, you have seen the new logo and color scheme introduced by Toastmasters International. The new "branding" brings with it an opportunity for our clubs and our organization to improve our marketing and our product which is the Toastmasters experience. For years, each club has been known for individualism, and the result has been a detriment to our marketing efforts. Each website, poster, meeting agenda has been so individualized that in many instances it's even hard to determine if the club, district, or even region is even in the same organization known as Toastmasters International. That's all changing now.

Toastmasters International. That's all changing now.

The new look has been thoroughly researched over the past few years. The result is a clean look, standard colors and fonts, and an images that we can move forward with over the next several decades. Tremendous efforts are being made to bring us into the 21st century. We'll see standardized advertising which will benefit all our clubs, and a standard look and feel that will assure visitors that they are in the right place.

Our tag line "Where Leaders Are Made" reflects not a new direction, but who we are. Yes, Toastmasters makes us better communicators, but leadership is at the heart of our organization. This is not our theme for the year, but our tag line for years to come. Frankly, I'm thrilled with the tag line. I have said before that leadership is the hidden pearl of Toastmasters; it isn't hidden anymore!

We'll need your help as club members and officers over the next year to transition to this new look and feel. Toastmasters International has set up a virtual brand portal to help not only with the transition, but to keep us on track in the coming years. Website help is provided there, as well as logos, letterheads, business cards templates, standard agenda templates, and all the tools we need to present a unified look and feel. There is a manual, and a FAQ page at the virtual brand portal as well, which should answer most of your questions and concerns.

Changes of this magnitude don't happen overnight. The most we can hope for is that we complete most of the transition over the next several months. We ask for your patience as we progress. We've been asking for serious advertising from Toastmasters. We lacked a recognizable brand throughout the organization right down to the club level, and it makes sense to introduce the brand now. Now, we'll begin to see our request become evident. In the long run the change should help us build stronger clubs with better membership retention, and isn't that what we all expect? We've been asking for that assistance from headquarters, and they are listening.

Let's move forward together and take every advantage of out new look. Let's lead the way as District 84 in making the transition, because Toastmasters is Where Leaders Are Made!