In early 2008, as one of my last speeches before I completed the DTM requirements, I presented a speech at Pudong Toastmasters. This speech explained how you can achieve your DTM, and explored the challenges and steps that you can take. For this speech, I created a document to help us keep track of our speech progress, The Path to DTM. It’s now on the CAT website so please do use this as you can.
When I first joined Toastmasters, I saw the first 10 speeches as my focus. Along the way, I realized that there was much more that I could learn by taking things further.
Yet completing a DTM requires a very significant commitment over an extended period of time – a DTM will have usually delivered more than 50 separate speeches over at least 3 or 4 years. And there are some specific rules that you’ll need to follow – some projects count for some awards, but not for others. And you have to do things in the right way too – not just be a good speaker: I had to redo a component entirely because I didn’t have the records from when I completed one step years earlier… it’s almost like part of becoming a DTM is learning what the rules are, and making sure that you can follow them!
But it’s about setting your own standards. Where would you like to take your skills? It took me 11 years to complete my DTM – but I’m sure that you can do it much faster 
CAT has a number of specific initiatives that can help increase your chances of making it to DTM. And that’s one of the things that we focus upon – how to help you take your skills to the next level. You can find out more about The DTM Track here, on our website, or even better by attending one of our meetings.
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