You said yes, and now you're president. The job isn't to do everything yourself. It's to make sure seven officers can do their jobs and that every meeting is worth attending. Here's a plan for your first 90 days, with the places Toastmanagers can save you the most time.
What a club president really does
You preside over meetings, lead the officer team, and take responsibility for the club's health. There are eight officer positions: President, VP Education, VP Membership, VP Public Relations, Secretary, Treasurer, Sergeant at Arms, and Immediate Past President. Your first job is making sure each person knows what they own.
Days 1 to 30: get the team and the basics in place
- Meet with each officer individually and ask what they want to do with the role
- Make sure officers complete club officer training. At least four need to be trained in each training period to earn that Distinguished Club Program goal
- Hold an officer meeting and agree on how you will communicate
- Find out where the club's records live and who has access
- Read last year's Club Success Plan
Start by moving your club's weekly operations into one place. In Toastmanagers, you can import your roster from a CSV, set your meeting pattern, and generate your next meetings in a single sitting. Other officers can be given access, so nothing depends on one person.
Days 31 to 60: look at the health of the club
Ask three questions and use real numbers to answer them.
- Who has stopped coming?
- Who is doing all the work?
- Who is close to a Pathways award?
The Members tab in Toastmanagers shows club owners and admins each member's attendance rate, confirmation rate, role history, upcoming absences, and Pathways progress. You can sort by attendance or confirmations, so a quiet member stands out long before they stop paying dues.
Meet with anyone who has gone quiet. A friendly personal message from the president means a great deal.
Your Club Success Plan is due September 30, and it's required for Distinguished recognition. Don't leave it until September.
Days 61 to 90: raise the standard
- Ask a member you trust to observe a meeting honestly
- Agree on one thing to improve this quarter
- Check progress against your Distinguished Club Program goals
- Thank people publicly, and specifically
Running a good officer meeting
Keep it short and focused. A simple agenda works: numbers, what's coming up, what's stuck, and who is doing what by when. Write down the owner of each action.
Don't become the bottleneck
Many presidents end up sending the reminders, fixing the schedule, and printing the agendas because nobody else knows how. A shared Google Sheet doesn't fix this, because a person still has to do each of those things by hand. Let software handle the repeating work.
- Reminders go out automatically, 7 days and 1 day before every role
- Meeting changes and cancellations can be sent to members straight from the schedule
- Agenda PDFs take one click and can be made by any officer with access
- Officer access is shared, so a holiday doesn't stop the club
Run the Club, Not the Spreadsheet
Schedules, reminders, agendas, and member statistics, shared across your whole officer team.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How long does the president's job take each week?
It depends on the club, and it should shrink once reminders and schedules stop being manual.
Should the president run the meeting?
The president usually opens the meeting and handles club business, and then hands over to the Toastmaster.
What's the first thing to fix in a struggling club?
Meeting quality. Our attendance guide has a step-by-step approach.