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Public Relations
What motivated you to attend your first Toastmasters Club meeting? Whether you were invited by a friend, saw an ad on a bulletin board, or read about Toastmasters in a magazine or newspaper, the underlying factor was public relations.
Public relations are much like public speaking- it’s something that people practice every day. Like public speaking, good public relations skills are not taught- they are developed through regular practice.
A good definition of public relations for our benefit is:
“Establish and maintain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance, and cooperation between an organization and its public.”
In the case, the organization is the Club or specific Toastmasters event. The public is everyone. Good public relations is anything that produces a positive response and stimulates the reader or listener to do something, such as visit a Club meeting, attend a Speech craft program, or stop by the Toastmasters booth at the state fair. Public relations have several goals:
Every activity of
your Club is a potential news story. Many are relatively routine and
may receive only a brief mention. Others have greater news value
with the opportunity for more extensive media coverage. Here are
some examples:
Every activity of
your Club is a potential news story. Many are relatively routine and
may receive only a brief mention. Others have greater news value
with the opportunity for more extensive media coverage. Here are
some examples:
- Announcements of regular meetings (calendar
listings)
- Election and installation of officers
- Important visitors or guest speakers
- Club Communication Achievement Award
presentation to someone prominent in the community or company
- Major Club and member awards such as
Toastmaster of the year, Distinguished Club, ATM and DTM awards
- The development of a Speakers Bureau
- Club Anniversary
- Toastmasters International Anniversary Month
(October)
- Joint meetings
- New Club demonstration meetings
- New Club charter nights
- Speech contest – Club, Area, Division,
District, and Regional level
- Special programs open to the public, such as
Speech craft, Youth Leadership, and Success/Leadership or
Success/Communication
Every Club should have a copy of Let the World Know (Catalog
No.220), Toastmasters International’s publicity and promotion
handbook. This hand book will help your Club prepare a public
relations program.
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- Build membership. A good public relations
program attracts prospective members.
- Increase benefits. Those members actively
involved in public relations campaign gain experience not just
in public, but in writing, advertising, publicity, promotion,
and marketing.
- Gain public recognition. This benefits the
Club and the individual members. Members discover that public
relations efforts can lead to outside speaking engagements in
the community.
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best aspect of public relations is that it’s free.
Interviews with the local media, press releases in the
newspaper and public service announcements, or
appearances on radio and television are the most
effective forms of public contact. And they are all
free. |
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