Whether you have been with Toastmasters for a decade or just joined, you will hear the term Pathways pop up. But what is Pathways exactly?
Let’s start with the basics: Pathways is the (new) educational system of Toastmasters. It contains projects where you can learn more about public speaking as well as leadership. These projects can all be found online, on the official Toastmasters International website.
Pathways contains different tracks, or paths as they are called, that you can follow. You will have to choose a path to guide you through a series of speeches and assignments. At this moment there are 11 paths available to choose from, with more in the pipeline. Every path has 14 projects and (almost) each project contains a speech, but often also a leadership assignment, like being an evaluator, being a leader in an organization (e.g. Toastmasters), or even creating a PR strategy.
Each path starts from your first project, the ice breaker, in which you can introduce yourself, all the way to the last project, ‘Reflect on Your Path’. The projects are split up in 5 levels, each containing 2 to 3 projects, which gradually increase in difficulty so that you can improve your public speaking and leadership skills throughout the path. Each time you finish a level, you’ve reached a new milestone.
I already mentioned that Pathways is new. Pathways was launched in Europe in March 2018. From that moment onwards, all new Toastmasters Members would immediately start with Pathways. Anyone still on the old track can keep following the old track until May 2020. They can also choose to start with Pathways, both on its own or in parallel with the old program.
Before you can start with Pathways, there is just one thing that you need to do, and that is to choose your path. But how do you go about it? Please check out my blog on the topic [Click here].