July 28, 2023
Dear Toastmaster,
Over 4,500 of you registered to join us live for the Talking Toastmasters webinar that was originally planned for last month—wow! We were both looking forward to talking about our organization, sharing some upcoming changes with you, and responding to some of the over 700 questions that were submitted ahead of the event. We are both eternally grateful and proud to represent such a passionate membership base.
Despite our best efforts to reschedule the Talking Toastmasters webinar, we unfortunately haven’t been able to find a time between our respective personal and professional commitments and the upcoming 2023 International Convention. We’re sorry that this webinar needs to be postponed further and are thankful for your understanding.
One of the topics we were planning to discuss during the webinar was upcoming Pathways changes. You may remember that in March we announced that Base Camp, the online system where Pathways is accessed, is moving to a new learning management system (LMS) early next year. This will lay the foundation for many exciting improvements to the Pathways learning experience, including easier platform navigation, more frequent content updates, and a future mobile application. We can now share more changes coming with the new LMS next year.
Transitioning to a new LMS has been an ideal time for the Board of Directors to consider Pathways as a whole. Based on our deliberations, we can now make adjustments that better align with our members’ preferences, as evidenced by data and member feedback. With these considerations and future Pathways developments in mind, the new LMS will launch with six paths:
Dynamic Leadership
Engaging Humor
Motivational Strategies
Presentation Mastery
Persuasive Influence
Visionary Communication
The new LMS will have paths optimized for six languages:
English
Arabic
French
German
Simplified Chinese
Spanish
If you start a different path, or a path in a different language, before the new LMS launches next year, you will still be able to access your educational content, complete projects, and receive credit for path and level completions. The content simply won’t look like updated Pathways content. Additionally, World Headquarters will work closely with the District Translation Program for new content to be translated and available in other languages.
Focusing on optimizing the new LMS for the paths and languages that have the highest levels of member engagement will enable us to explore and develop new, relevant educational content.
For example, we’re thrilled to announce that a new educational offering, called explorations, will also launch next year! Explorations will each consist of a small collection of projects that provide targeted focus on a specific topic. We can’t wait for you to start exploring two new explorations next year!
Stay tuned for more information about explorations and the upcoming LMS transition. In the meantime, if you have questions about the Toastmasters education program, including about any of these changes, they may be answered on the Education Program FAQ page.
The two of us are consistently inspired by you, the members, who remained dedicated to your personal growth journey while simultaneously supporting the journey of each of your fellow club members. Thank you again for your understanding regarding the postponement of the webinar. We hope to connect with you after convention.
With warmth,
Matt Kinsey, DTM
International President 2022–2023
Toastmasters International
Morag Mathieson, DTM
International President-Elect 2022–2023
Toastmasters International
