There is loads of lingo to wrap your head around as you spend more time in Toastmasters. It can take years to understand it all!
Here is a list of common jargon, terms and acronyms you may come across. Please let us know if there's any words you've come across and don't know, or would like to see added.
Area: An administration level of Toastmasters. An Area consists of 4-6 clubs, and has an Area Director. Also, in Q2 of the year, each Area hosts an Area Conference that contains the Area Contests.
Base Camp: This is the software platform and interface that runs Pathways. It's accessed by signing into your toastmasters.org profile, and navigating to Base Camp.
Changeover: The time around June-July when the club officers change over for the year, with new members filling the roles. This is often marked by an official Club Officer Changeover Ceremony facilitated by usually the Area Director, or another dignitary/district leader.
Club Officer Training: Twice per year, Districts must provide training for club officers. We call this Club Officer Training (COT) and it happens twice per year for 3-4 hours each. At least one of those hours must be role specific to each of the seven elected club officer roles, and the rest is aimed at leadership or issues pertaining to clubs at the time. The first round (COT1) can be held between 1 June and 31 August. The second round (COT2) can be held between 1 November and 28 February. Attendance at Club Officer Training contributes to the Distinguished Club Program.
Coach: A club coach is an experienced member who works with a struggling club (that is, 12 or fewer members) to rebuild the club's strength. A coach sevres a at least 6 months and is considered successful when the club achieves at least Distinguished in the DCP. Read more here.
COT: see Club Officer Training
Council Meeting: The formal business meetings that are held by each administrative layer (Area, Division, and District) of the organisation. Area will usually hold 1-2 council meetings per year where club Presidents, VPs Education, and VP Memberships carry a vote. Divisions usually hold 1-2 council meetings per year where club Presidents and VPs Education carry a vote. District holds two council meetings each year (September and April) where club Presidents and VPs Education carry a vote. The second District Council Meeting will also be where District Leader elections take place. All members are able to attend the council meetings of their Area, Division and/or District.
Club Central: The online portal accessible to all club officers to help manage the club throughout the year. Of importance, is access to membership lists, access to add and renew member payments, club contact information, club success plan submission, and club officer assignment. Access it by signing in to the Toastmasters International website, navigating to 'My Home' then scrolling down a little.
Club Officer: Any of the seven elected club leadership roles. They are (in descending order of seniority): President, Vice President Education (VPE), Vice President Membership (VPM, Vice President Public Relations (VPPR), Secretary, Treasurer, and Sergeant-at-Arms. Sometimes the Immediate Past President (IPP) is included as an extra. The roles are elected by the club each year in May and serve a July-June term.
Club Officer Meeting: Meetings that are external to regular club meetings where the Club Officers meet. Sometimes done before/after the club meeting, or on a non-club-meeting-week online. Sometimes very formal, more often casual sharing of role updates, challenges, and strategically managing the club as leaders.
Club Success Program: A plan of how the club will achieve its desired goals within the Distinguished Club Program. Completing this form online through Club Central is a prerequesite for qualifying for the DCP.
Contest: (Also somtimes incorrectly; Competitions). The series of four speaking contests that are held each year. These originate at the club and progress through the Area, Division, and District levels. Table Topics, Evaluation, and Humorous Speech Contests are open to all members. The International Speech Contest is restricted to members who have completed a Level 2 in Pathways. Club contests are usually held in August - October.
CSP: see Club Success Plan
Dashboards: The online, official display of all clubs and their progress in the Distinguished Club Program. Also contains information about Area, Division, and District performance, as well as additional reports. Accessed at this link, it is an extremely useful resource for Club Officers and District Leaders to understand and reference throughout the year.
Distinguished Club Program: The set of ten goals clubs strive for each year. The goals are grouped into four categories: education, membership growth, officer training, and administration. It can be thought of as a set of KPIs for the club, where achieving the goals is an indicator of a strong club. The progress of all clubs in the Distinguished Club Program can be monitored on Dashboards. At the end of the year, clubs are awarded a "Distinguished Status" if they achieve 5 or more goals, and have a baseline of total club members. Refer to Item 1111 for more information.
Distinguished Toastmaster: The Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) is the highest level of educational achievement in Toastmasters. It requires completion of educational, leadership and club support goals, and will take about five years to complete, reflecting service to the organisation. Members who have completed it have a yellow and burgundy badge. Read more here.
District: An administration level of Toastmasters. A District is generally the "highest" administrative level that members will interact with. A District consists of up to 9 Divisions, and has a District Trio. In Q4 of the year (the May long weekend in District 69), the District hosts a District Conference that contains the District Contests, and it usually spans 2 days.
District 69: If you're in Queensland, Northern Territory, Papua New Guinea or a handful of clubs in the Northern Rivers, you are in District 69. All Districts are numbered sequentially from 1 to over 100 - It's genuinely not a joke, just chance numbering that you're in District 69.
District Leader: Members who have taken on leadership roles beyond the club. These include the Top Table, as well as the Division Directors and Area Directors. They serve a year term from July - June. Disivion Directors are elected positions, and Area Directors are appointed by the District Director.
District Leader Training: Each year, Districts are required to provide training for District Leaders. In District 69, this usually happens three times per year; DLT1 is two days in late June for the incoming team, DLT2 is one day in September, and DLT3 is one day in February.
Division: An administration level of Toastmasters. A Division consists of 4-9 Areas, and has a Division Director. Also, in Q3 of the year, each Division hosts a Division Conference that contains the Division Contests. In District 69, there are 7 Divisions; Central, Eastern, Northern, Metro, Pasifika, Southern, and Western.
DCP: see Distinguished Club Program
DLT: see District Leader Training
DTM: see Distinguished Toastmaster
Dues: see Fees, Semiannual
Executive Meeting: see Club Officer Meeting
Fee, New Member: This is the membership application fee for the first time any member joins Toastmasters International. It is set at US$25 and any member pays this once ever - no matter how many clubs they join, move, or take a break in membership. It also includes access to a member's first Path. Clubs may also charge additional to this fee to cover the cost of a badge etc.
Fee/s, Semi-annual: This is the renewal fee for membership to a club of Toastmasters International. It is set at US$72 for each semi-annual period (April-September, and October-March). Most clubs will also charge a "club component" of semi-annual fees to cover costs throughout the year such as room hire, conferences, training etc.
Form 800: The Membership Application. More commonly called the 'new member form'. The name derives from the item number of the document; Item 800.
Guest: A non-member attending a club meeting, usually in inquiry towards determining if membership appeals to them. VPs Public Relations strive to bring guests to the club, and VPs Membership strive to convert them into members. A member from another club is sometimes distinguished as a 'Visitor'
Level: An accomplishment milestone within a Path. There are five levels that a member will progress through with Level 1 being "Fundamentals", through to Level 5 being "Demonstrating Expertise".
Member, Dual: A member who adds another club to their membership. This means a dual member is a member of two (or more) clubs and can actively and fully participate in each.
Member, New: A member new to the organisation! The most common type of member coming into most clubs.
Member, Reinstated: A member who re-joins after a break in membership. To be reinstated, they need to know their old membership number and/or the same member name and/or the same email address.
Member, Transfer: A member who decides to move their membership from one club to another. For example, a member moves from Melbourne to Brisbane; with no need to be in the Melbourne club anymore, they transfer their membership to the Brisbane club, meaning they're no longer a member in Melbourne, and with no extra fees to pay, continue their membership in Brisbane. Transfer members do not count towards Goals 7 and 8 in the DCP.
Membership, Base: This is the number of financial members a club has at the very start of the year on 1 July. You will find it clearly on Dashboards.
Membership, Active/To Date: This is the number of financial members a club has currently. Comparing this to Base Membership gives a net member growth for the current year. Dashboards also track both of these numbers.
Mentor: A sponsor is an experienced member who helps to coach a new club, providig support and guidance for the club's first 6-12 months after charter. They normally work closely with the Sponsors. Read more here.
Path: An education "stream" within Pathways. Each new member is given a path to choose from, and all members can purchase a new path at any time from Toastmasters International (see here for how to do this). There are six paths to choose from, plus two "Vintage Paths". Members access their progress through a path on Base Camp.
Pathways: The educational program of Toastmasters; they're intertwined. Pathways became the full education program in 2020 (see History here) and as of 2026 features 6 Paths to choose from (plus two "Vintage Paths"). Pathways is accessed through Base Camp and each Path contains 5 levels consisting of several projects each.
Project: The foundational part of any path. Each project usually requires some pre-reading, and a speech at the club, with more advanced projects requiring some extra activities besides. Completing projects leads to a level completion with each level needing 3-4 projects to complete (some of these will be electives), as well as some additional meeting roles (refer to the Path Completion Checklists).
Region: An administrative level of Toastmasters International. There are 14 Regions globally, with each containing 5-7 districts. Each region has one elected "International Director" who serves for 2 years and sits on the board of Toastmasters International. Each Region also has an elected Region Advisor who mentors Trios. It is highly unlikely that regions will affect any member unless they get involved with the Trio or beyond.
Speechcraft: Speechcraft is a finite public speaking and leadership course that normally a club runs to achieve public outreach and membership building. It is a significant project that runs over multiple meetings (usually 5-6). Read more here.
Sponsor: A sponsor is an experienced member who helps to sponsor, or set-up a new club. They are responsible for getting that new club officially started, and to the point of chartering. Read more here.
TI: Acronym for Toastmasters International. Sometimes incorrectly called TMI or WHQ (World Headquarters).
Top Table: This is the senior leadership team of the District. Their roles reflect the club officer roles. They are (in descending order of seniority): the District Director (DD), Program Quality Director (PQD), Club Growth Director (CGD), Public Relations Manager (PRM), District Administration Manager (DAM), District Finance Manager (DFM), and District Logistics Manager. Excepting the Trio the Top Table are appointed positions.
Trio: This is the three senior roles that lead a District. They are (in descending order of senioriity) District Director (DD), Program Quality Director (PQD), Club Growth Director (CGD). All three of these are elected each year at the District Council Meeting. The custom within District 69 is that the CGD will promote to the PQD, the PQD will promote to the DD, and the DD will become the Immediate Past District Director. And, the new CGD is a contested election.
Year: Nearly all of the time Toastmasters tlak about a year, they're referring to the fiscal year; July-June. The DCP, club officer terms, district leader terms, contest cycle and more operate on this definition of year. The calendar year is not really used.