Chapter Toolkit
How to Run for District Office
Becoming a Texas DECA District Officer is a huge accomplishment and privilege while being a part of the organization. However, the steps and process to get there can seem somewhat daunting and out of your limits. It’s my goal to help you out of that mindset and provide the best advice to help you on your officer journey.
1) Intent to Run
The first thing as an emerging officer candidate is your intent to run or “Your Why?”. It’s important, to begin with seeing a need. A need to change something, a need to help others, a need to better the district. Regardless of your intentions, make the most of your passion and allow that to fuel you while campaigning and throughout your term in office.
2) Test
Yes, the ol’ t-word. In order to become an "official" candidate, you must pass the Texas DECA certification test. Now, before you get nervous and completely forget about running, Texas DECA provides the necessary resources to help you prepare.
What I recommend studying: Texas DECA Fact Sheet Texas DECA Bylaws Know the Texas DECA Website National Officers, DECA INC. History, Core Values, Mission Statement Basic understanding of the competitive events
Don’t think of this as a way to deter you, think of it as a way to see how well of an ambassador you would be!
3) Interview
Another aspect of running for office is participating in an interview with a committee. The great thing is that in the district officer application, there is a list of provided questions to aid in preparation. I HIGHLY recommend briefly looking over these to get a feel for what your answers are going to be and make sure you understand the wording. I don’t recommend creating a separate document, pasting all of the questions, and typing your responses. The goal of the interview is to get a feel for who you are! Not to seem like a robot who memorized word for word. Just relax, take a deep breath, and let your personality shine!
4) Votes/Speech
This part of campaigning has to be my favorite since it’s the culmination of everything! Voting delegates (members selected from a chapter to vote) ultimately decide if your dream becomes a reality. In order to win everyone over, you must give a timed (2 minute) speech. I’m not going to go into detail over this section since I live by the quote:
“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”
The stage, podium, and room are yours. State who you are, where you’re from, why you’re there, and what you plan to do. Be sure to follow the guidelines on the application for proper stage presence, but seize the moment!
BY: SIKYRA CASTLE
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A Day In The Life Of An Officer
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Conflict Resolution Strategies
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The Responsibilities of Being and Officer
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Tips and Tricks for Officer Meetings
With the new school year starting, so is DECA. This means your chapter officers will begin to plan so much for your chapter to have a Limitless year! So here are a few tips and tricks as chapter officers to get the most out of your officer meetings and your year.
1. Have an officer group chat
If you don’t already, get an officer group chat started. That way you can plan your meetings easily and efficiently while also keeping an open line of communication. A group chat is also a great way to bond with your fellow officers outside of a stressful environment. A good app to use for group chats that need to include both iPhone and Android users is GroupMe.
2. Make an agenda
Create an agenda for your meetings. This will keep your officer team organized and ensure your meetings are purposeful and have a goal to them. Whoever is responsible for creating these meeting agendas should send them out to the officer team a couple days in advance so all officers are aware of what will be discussed.
3. Plan a small social event after your officer meetings
If you are planning your meetings to be after school or during the weekend, then plan a small outing together afterwards. This can be as simple as going out to dinner. This way, all your officers have something to look forward to after the meeting and can feel rewarded and relaxed after their hard work at the meeting.
BY: SHARIKA MENON
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Creating an Effective Meeting Agenda
One of the most important aspects of hosting an effective meeting is being organized and prepared. The best way to do this is to create a meeting agenda. Whether you are hosting your meeting online or in-person, things will run much smoother if you have a plan of action to follow. Below are three tips on how to create and utilize the perfect meeting agenda.
First, you should brainstorm what you want to talk about and write down all of your ideas. Next, you will want to organize your ideas in the most coherent way to ensure that the meeting flows well and each topic leads into the next. When creating the agenda, try to limit each line to 2-3 words that convey the topic of the section for easy readability.
Another important reason to create an agenda is to get an estimate of how long the meeting will run. In order to be best prepared for the meeting, try to estimate the time it will take to complete each section and denote that next to each topic. A good way to do this is by thinking about what you might say as you plan the presentation.
Additionally, having an agenda can be beneficial for you as well as your audience members. If you send out the agenda beforehand, this gives participants the ability to prepare for any parts where they need to contribute. This will also provide audience members with an estimate of how long the meeting will run and the topics that will be discussed in case they have any questions.
Agendas are essential when hosting any type of meeting because they benefit not only the speaker, but the audience as well. For an example of a meeting agenda, click below.
BY: LUCIOUS MCDANIEL IV
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Marketing Your Next Chapter Meeting
School is back in session, and so is DECA. Our main focus is to obtain new members. Being that meetings are where new members can get information, we need to inform students where to learn about DECA. Here are some ways to market your chapter meetings:
• Announcements and Flyers: this is an old school way of doing things, but it works. If your school does announcements, send in a script to the school office. When writing the script it should be quick and to the point, like "Don't forget to come to room #001 and discover all of the opportunities DECA can offer you!" When using this tactic be sure to have an announcement every day the week before the meeting. Flyers are a great option as well because students can read them while waiting in lines or walking in the hallway.
• Social Media is a fun and interactive way to publicize your next chapter meeting. Using social media such as Instagram, Twitter, or Snapchat can set you apart from other chapters because you get to create the design however you would like. If you want to make an eye catching design you could use Canva to make all sorts of designs for Instagram or Twitter, as well as Snapchat geofilters. When posting on Twitter or Instagram you should tell about the meeting three or four days ahead of the date and the day before. Snapchat, on the other hand, needs to be done the night before and the morning of the meeting.
Have fun marketing your next meeting!
BY: ALEXIS WESTERN
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