Pathways Enhancement FAQs
Toastmasters International FAQs covers several common questions including:
What is changing, what will change in my current path, what about legacy and translated paths, how to track meeting roles and what is the introductory mentor role.
The FAQs below are extracted from online meetings run by District 20 and District 17. They are based on knowledge at the time and will be updated as more information comes from Toastmasters International and practical experience from clubs and members.
Meeting roles are a core part of the Toastmasters experience because they keep clubs running and give members hands-on opportunities to build skills.
- Member feedback drove this change to encourage participation and ensure everyone learns by doing.
- Completing specific roles at each level helps members see how these skills connect to their Pathways projects.
- When all members contribute to quality meetings, clubs become stronger and more successful.
The Educational Series—Successful Club Series, Better Speaker Series, and Leadership Excellence Series—are being added to Pathways to strengthen both member growth and club
excellence.
- Successful Club Series: Helps members understand what makes a club experience excellent.
- Better Speaker Series: Improves speech writing and delivery for all members.
- Leadership Excellence Series: Develops stronger, more informed leaders.
These additions give members more speaking opportunities, allow customization for club needs, and encourage reflection on leadership skills and teamwork—enhancing the overall learning journey.
If you have completed a level, that level will remain completed. The new section will not show as complete, but your actual progress in the path will be unaffected. You are welcome to return to the level and view or complete the new section but are not required to do so.
For any level you have not completed, you will need to fulfill the requirements in the new section and mark it complete before your Base Camp manager can approve the level.
Yes. If you are working in Dynamic Leadership, Engaging Humor, Motivational Strategies, Persuasive Influence, Presentation Mastery, or Visionary Communication in English, the update will be reflected in each level of your path.
For any level you have not completed, you will fulfill the new requirements and mark the additional section complete. Then you can submit the level to your Base Camp manager for approval.
With the Pathways enhancements, Table Topics speaker is now the first requirement to meet in a path, and it is a role that can be completed as a guest of a club. This is an excellent way to have your guests feel more comfortable speaking in front of your club as they are joining for the first time.
Meeting roles completed in different clubs as a dual member will still count toward that member's requirements to complete a level. A benefit of being in multiple clubs is the additional opportunities a member has to serve in meeting roles and perform speeches in Pathways.
Please note that the club that ultimately approves the level the member is working in is responsible for validating a member's meeting roles, so members should ensure to note their roles in their Base Camp profile or elsewhere.
The meeting roles were designed to be completed in sequence to help members succeed as the roles progress in complexity, similar to the path projects. However, members who wish to fulfill these roles in a different order may discuss exceptions with their club officers, as this decision is at the club’s discretion. It is ultimately the responsibility of the VP of Education, or approving officer, to approve level requests and ensure that meeting roles have been completed in the past or present.
Yes the requirements for each level must be met separately under each path. You cannot earn double credit for Pathways requirements, including presentations or meeting roles.
Speechcrafters registered with a Speechcraft event will still have the opportunity to earn Level 1 credit in Pathways if at least four speeches are performed and validated by their coordinator, as outlined in the Pathways Credit for Speechcraft document.
This includes the meeting roles in Level 1. If meeting roles are assigned in your demonstration or joint club meetings, then the club can determine if the requirements of that role have been fulfilled.
According to the Club Leadership Handbook, the VP of Education is responsible for verifying the completion of educational milestones and coordinating the club schedule; however, it is a club decision to decide on how to best track meeting roles, and the ability to approve level completions is available to all active club officers.
This task may be delegated to another officer or another volunteer member assistant if it makes sense for your club situation.
It is the responsibility of the member and the club to track the different meeting roles a member will hold in meetings. A member’s profile page within Base Camp can be used as a tool for members to track their roles, but any roles not listed, such as club mentor and specialized roles, must be tracked separately. The VP of Education, or approving officer, will determine if a member has served in the required roles when approving a level, so it is recommended that members keep a log of the dates they completed so all of their roles that can be verified by the club.
A member can also keep a log of their completed roles in the checklist page for that level. Just add a task and list the role and date and check it off as completed.
A member can hold more than one meeting role in a meeting as the upcoming enhancements require meeting roles to complete levels. If members hold multiple
roles in the same meeting, they will receive credit for both roles.
We ask that members continue to uphold our core values and work together to support their club. Please try to ensure that opportunities to complete these roles are shared amongst all members of the club.
Ideally you would complete the required roles during the level you are currently completing. It’s also recommended that you work through the roles in sequence with the level requirements. However, in large clubs, monthly clubs or corporate clubs that only meet for an hour, this may be impractical. Make time to go through your emails/messages and past agendas to confirm which roles you did at which meetings over the past year and update your preferred record.
Yes, always. At each level you need to complete the required meeting roles. Each role can only be used once to meet a level requirement. Though all members are encouraged to complete their required roles while working on the level and in sequence, that is not always practical.
The club executive should consider what is practical for their club based on number of members, club meeting frequency and club meeting duration so the VPE can roster accordingly and can consider past roles as meeting the requirement.
The VPE is ultimately responsible for role allocation but role completion, including TT responders, is something everyone plays a part in tracking. As a member, we should be keeping track in Base Camp in our member profile and/or as a task in each level.
As a club decide how you will track final meeting attendance and roles - update the online roster or handwrite on an agenda and take a photo or keep a paper log with club equipment - whatever works best for the club.
No but they are complementary. The evaluation tutorial is a short online recording and interactive module to help members better understand how to complete the evaluation form. It allows you to watch a speech, complete an online evaluation form and then compare your scores with those of the narrator for the same speech. The third speech requirement learning on giving and receiving evaluations must be completed within the Pathways project to get the green checkmark. It has some similar content to the tutorial but also unique content, especially the video examples of a poor evaluation, a mediocre evaluation and a good evaluation.
Yes, for those members working on the new paths in Pathways. The member needs to complete the required roles and any required educational presentations for any incomplete level before the Level can be submitted and approved by a Base Camp Manager. You do not have to do the required tasks for levels that have already been approved previously.
No, for members still working on paths in the legacy program. They should continue to complete that path’s requirements and submit them for approval by a Base Camp Manager. The requirements are unchanged, and the enhancements will not be added to the legacy paths.
No, for members working on translated paths. At this time the enhancements are not yet available for paths in different languages. Members are encouraged to complete
the role assignments independent of their path and update their member profile accordingly.
Levels in Pathways can only be approved in sequence – you can’t submit Level 3 if you have not got approval for completing Level 2. Only approved levels count towards achievement of the educational goals in the Distinguished Club Program (DCP). These can be the new paths which requires completion of the enhancements, legacy paths which have no new requirements, or translated paths which have no enhancements yet.
Ask a more experienced speaker to privately give you a written evaluation as well as the official evaluator.
Yes, absolutely. The evaluator of an educational presentation can get credit as a speech evaluator in their current level. They should track that role in their Base Camp checklist as an added task or have it noted on the club tracker.
Each educational comes with a facilitator guide and a slide presentation. The guide provides an outline of what you should cover in the educational,so you can build your own speech with your own words with your own examples, stories and experiences. Some educationals also suggest an activity you can get your audience to complete. Using the slides is optional and members can, if they want to, enhance the text-based slides with images or examples.
Yes it could, especially if the member just uses the outline as a script and the slides as is. Instead, the VPE and club members working on completing level 3, 4 & 5, should plan which educationals they would like presented in the club. Then a range of educationals can be scheduled which will provide more opportunities for knowledge sharing, club building and leadership development. The member should also ensure they tailor the educational with personal examples and not just read the guide as a script.
One way to make your meetings more lively and engaging, especially for current members, is to change up your agenda from time to time. Consider scheduling an educational presentation now and then and drop a less important role on the agenda. Alternatively, schedule a Speakathon, where you feature several educational presentations. Finally, there are struggling or new clubs that would love to have an experienced Toastmaster visit and present an educational to their members as a guest speaker. Another suggestion is to offer to do an educational at an Area, Division or District training event where you can present to many members of different clubs.
Variety is the ‘spice of life’ and quality clubs vary their rosters to keep their members engaged. No agenda should be cast in stone, repeated meeting after meeting. Some roles can be alternated, others can be shared – it’s up to the VPE to roster a variety and members to step up to fill them.
In clubs with a longer meeting duration, you can and should look at sharing roles. A 2hr meeting is like 2 x 1hr meetings and roles could be assigned accordingly.
That’s correct. To complete a level you must do one of the options in that level. They have been chosen based on expected capability of a member at that level and the complexity of that educational. So the Successful Club Series educationals at level 3 are a little easier to prepare and deliver than the more complex educationals listed for level 5. This means you can’t complete a Level 4 or Level 5 Successful Club educational and claim it for completion of level 3.
Just email your question or query about a question already listed to pqd@toastmastersd17.org