Attracting Guests

“ If you build it, he will come” is a line from the 1989 Kevin Costner movie "Field of Dreams."  That means if you create something that everyone needs/wants, then they will come to you rather than you having to go find them.  With all due respect to Kevin Costner, this doesn’t work as well with open houses.  Although I believe Toastmasters would be beneficial in everyone’s life, just the fact that you have an open house does not guarantee that people will come.  I  believe open houses need to be promoted by fliers, social media, and, of course, the best way is word of mouth. 

Most open houses that my club has are promoted very heavily. However, I remember a certain open house where we really fell flat on our face.  We had a member who was also a professor at a local college and he wanted to start a Toastmasters club there.  He was certain that all the professors would find the same value in Toastmasters that he had.  He begged the club to come do a demonstration meeting at the college.  He said he would promote it.

The day of the event was drawing closer and he kept assuring me this meeting would be well attended. He said we didn’t have to do a thing. Just show up and present the concept of Toastmasters to the group.   He was full of excitement.  The day came for the meeting and not one person from this college showed up.  I asked how he had promoted it.  He said he told a couple of professors about it and they seemed eager to come.  He hung no signs.  He did no follow-up.  That demo meeting was a bust and to me the main reason was lack of promotion.

In this era of online clubs, I have now travelled around and attended four online open houses.  One had no guests except  me and Steve, two had a few guests and one club had a whopping 13 guests.  In talking with members of some of the clubs, I found the difference was promotion.  

One club has only two members and really did need the open house.  I asked how she promoted it.  She said she mentioned it to a couple of people.  Did you put it on social media? Her answer, “Not really,  I don’t think people are really on Facebook anymore.”   Steve and I were the only visitors at that open house.  

The club that had 13 guests is what really impressed me.  Steve and I were the only two guests who were already Toastmasters.  The majority of the others were invited by someone in the club.  Most of them had never been to a Toastmasters meeting before and were eager to learn what Toastmasters has to offer. 

So I guess my next question is what is the follow-up after the visitors come?  But I will save that for another blog.

Balboa Park Toastmasters San Diego, California

 8/5/20

As the tune of "California Dreamin" played in my head, I was beginning to understand why The Mamas and The Papas wrote a song about California.  This is a club that all clubs should dream about having.  As Steve dressed in his prim and proper button-down shirt, most of these free-wheeling spirits dressed in beach casual with their tank tops and colorful attire.  We entered Zoom early and found seven members chatting away.  Laughter, and lightness filled the spaces.  We were greeted right away and felt some of that light-hearted spirit settle on us.   

Now I can’t speak for all clubs in California, but this one really has it going on.  They have 22 members and are currently President's Distinguished.  I was impressed that they had their Zoom information on their website and FaceBook page.  No one has to search to figure out how to get to their Zoom meeting.  The members were positive, enthusiastic, energetic and friendly.  They had one speaker who spoke for 21 minutes.  How can someone take a flaw, such as her blindness and turn it into a humorous, inspiring presentation?  Speaker Margaret was able to do that with ease. 

Megan,  who invited us to this meeting was Table Topics Master, gave some thought provoking questions and Steve ended up winning Best Table Topics answer.  Whoo Hoo!  That’s always a plus for making a good impression with guests. 

The meeting flowed seamlessly and the hour time flew by.  At the end of the meeting, members discussed having an upcoming virtual Happy Hour on 8/17.  I am so excited that people are figuring out a way to adapt to this new way of socializing.  Who knows I may even pop in on it?  I think this may be a good membership-building tool.  Our club will be doing a social event in a couple of weeks, Family Feud.  I am excited to see how it turns out.  I invited them to join us at the event.

During this COVID-19 pandemic when clubs are not meeting in person, Toastmasters will need to reach into the depths of their creativity and think of new ways to make their clubs sparkle and shine.  New ways to entice people to join their club.  What makes their club different than all the others?  I think Balboa Park is doing just that -- setting their club apart by having virtual social events.  They already have a top-notch meeting and an active Facebook page.  I wish all the best for this club.  I hope they realize what a gem of a club they have and they continue to get the word out.  Way to go Balboa Park!  And thanks Megan for inviting us.

Mountaineer Toastmasters Morgantown, West Virginia

7/16/20

 

West Virginia was a very difficult state to visit.  We wanted to visit a club outside our home district.  Many of the clubs in West Virginia are closed clubs.  We contacted one club that never responded to us.  This was our last state and then we will have completed our journey of visiting a club in all 50 states. 

Needless to say I was very impatient. I was afraid clubs would start meeting in person soon and I will have lost my chance of meeting my goal.  That impatience drove me to get on Facebook to see if I could find any clubs in West Virginia to visit.  This is how I found Mountaineer Toastmasters.  This club was also proving hard to visit.  

It’s like some Toastmasters are viewing their club as a secret club with a secret handshake and  password and only the elite get to be a part of it.  I just don’t understand the secrecy. There was no Zoom link on their website or Facebook page.  I sent a message to the president through Facebook and also in the comment section of their Facebook page but no one responded to me either. 

I felt like this secret club was giving me the message loud and clear “YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED HERE.” They meet on the 1^st and 3^rd Thursday of the month and the 3^rd Thursday was getting closer.    In exasperation,  I messaged the area director of that club the day before the meeting to see if she could help me contact someone to get the zoom link and password to visit their club.  I guess that’s what it took because very shortly, the VP PR contacted me as well as the President to provide the Zoom link and password.  Honestly, though, it shouldn’t have taken that.  But I admit I should have been more patient.  Maybe someone would have contacted me eventually.  

 

So that’s my rocky history with them, I entered the virtual room 15 minutes before start time with trepidation.  Would they be angry at me for contacting the area director?  Is this like tattling? Would they treat me badly?  Steve and I sat in the waiting room for about 5 minutes. Would they leave us there? I began second guessing myself for my impatient actions.   Ok,  I admit I was probably catastrophizing as my husband would say.  But that’s how I felt at the time.  The good news is none of that “would they” happened.  They did welcome us with a smile and were very friendly so us.  

In conversation before the meeting started I found out they have had 2 other out of state visitors doing the whole 50 state tour as we were and West Virginia  was their last stop too.  It got me wondering if these other fellow travelers have had as much trouble as we have visiting some clubs. One telling thing the president said when talking about a Toastmaster visitor they had from Washington “I don’t know how he got to us.”   I tend to agree, Mr President, I don’t either. You really have to jump through some hoops to get to your club.  

I do give credit to  Mountaineer Toastmasters for reaching Select Distinguished this year.  They have 15 members and the members are really working the education program.  They have 2 legacy awards and 7 Pathways educational awards.  One thing that stood out though is they have had 15 new members join this year.  This tells me there have been a lot of turnover. 

They have two club coaches, Peggy and Donna, who began November of 2019.  Donna was at the meeting we attended.  Kudos to these coaches for helping this club become Select Distinguished this year. 

At the beginning of the meeting, the president talked about Tim writing an article for the local newspaper promoting their club.  The article talked about the awards of the members and becoming Select Distinguished.  This promotion is what is missing in a lot of clubs.  You have got to get the word out there.  Toot your own horn.  Celebrate your successes. (The president sent all of us a copy of the article in Chat.) 

The members also discussed outreach techniques “boots on the ground” flyers across town and of course keeping up the Facebook page.  I am glad they are discussing ways to let people know about their club and these are all good ideas, however,  I as a visitor would like to give them some advice right now…make it easier to get to your online meeting.  Answer your “contact us” on your website. Respond to requests on your Facebook page in a timely manner.  If you can’t do it, get other people to do this.  Most people would have given up coming to this club, I would think, unless they were on a mission like us.

 

Steve and I had some positive experiences at the club.   Steve and I tied for first place in Table Topics and we also won the trivia contest about birds.  I say the general “we” but of course, Steve was the one who actually answered the questions.  One really good thing that Mountaineer does that I hope most clubs start doing is giving a best ribbon virtually.  Since Steve and I won Best Table topics they uploaded a ribbon in chat for us.  If we wanted, we could print it out and keep it.  I think that is a really a good idea adapting to how we do our meetings now.  Donna used the chat to tell Steve and me that we did a “great” job with our table topic answers.  I like when people put messages of encouragement in chat for other people.  

I applaud Mountaineers for embracing the theme of the day, Birds. Bird sounds, bird trivia and more facts about birds than I ever wanted to know were interspersed into the meeting.  But now if I ever need to answer the question of “What is the state bird of West Virginia?’, I know the answer…Northern Cardinal. 

 

Mountaineer Toastmasters has a lot of good things going for them. They were friendly and the president reintroduced us every time someone new logged on.  We did feel welcome in the meeting. However,  as mentioned above, they need to make their Zoom link more accessible. (ok now I am just beating a dead horse). Mountaineers also need to be respectful of other people’s time. Starting and ending the meeting on time is something I value.  The meeting time was over but the President kept on rambling “about birds” so Steve and I  had to go ahead and log off because Steve was now late for another meeting. I hate doing that but it had to be done.

 

All in all, it was worth the hassle of getting to the meeting.  We discovered some new things, had some laughs and definitely another chance to rant about the inacessiblity of getting to online clubs -- my new pet peeve.

Associated Speechmasters Toastmasters Club Indianapolis, Indiana

7/10/20

 

Talk about tackling a subject head on.  Associated Speechmasters did not dance around the polarizing issue of Black Lives Matter.  The topic was out in front for all to see, it was their theme for the day and all the table topics questions revolved around it.  

As soon as we began the meeting we each introduced ourselves and shared our observations of Black Lives Matter.  Aside from the Politically Incorrect Toastmasters club that Steve and I visited, this is the only club that took this subject and planted it right in front of us.  The Toastmaster of the Day told us her church is doing a 21-day challenge about Black Lives Matter and they are learning each week about structural racism.  This club had two black members that attended that day.  Every person had an opportunity to give their opinion on the issue of Black Lives Matter.  

I do applaud them for handling this current topic.  However, from my observations, it seemed like everyone was on the same side of the issue.  It would have been interesting to see other points of view and how they handled them.  I think conversations on all sides need to be heard.  The only way we can learn the real truth is listening to each other instead of the way the media is telling us how others think and feel.

 

Associated Speechmasters made a good impression with me right off the start with their website.  They had pictures of the members and I really liked reading the "Meet Our Members" section.  Another plus is that their Zoom link is right on their website.  I really wish more clubs would do this instead of people who want to attend meetings having to jump through hoops to get Zoom links and passwords.  Why are we making it so hard for people to come to our meetings?

 

This club has 12 members but only seven in attendance that day so Steve and I were asked to help out.  We each did a role that we had never done before.  We were Table Topics evaluators.  Guess this was an opportunity for me to grow. 

I am not sold on Table Topics evaluators at least not in the way this club handled it but with time I probably could get used to it and maybe appreciate it.  They had one prepared speaker for the day.  One member was asked to evaluate the prepared speaker and the 3rd table topics response, I was assigned to evaluate the 1^st and 4^th table topic response and Steve to evaluate the 2^nd and 5^th table topic response.  I was getting confused counting the speakers.  Luckily we ran out of time and had only 3 Table Topics responses so I only had to evaluate one person. 

 

Associated Speechmasters members have received six legacy educational awards but no Pathways awards.  I'm not sure why they haven’t embraced the Pathways program.  They greeted us as we arrived and asked us to put our email address in chat IF we wanted to them to communicate with us.  I would just ask the visitor to put their contact info in the chat because we DO want to send them a thank you for attending our club email.  No IF’s about it. 

 

This club does things differently than I have ever seen before.  This may be usual for them or it may be due to low attendance that day in how they performed this meeting.  Stefanee served as Table Topics Master and Toastmaster of the Day.  As Toastmaster of the Day she also called on all the reports and the evaluators.  The only responsibility the General Evaluator had was to give a general report of how she thinks the meeting went.  Stefanee also held the business meeting and closed the meeting.  However, that could be that they do not have a president yet and looks like no one is jumping up to take that position. 

 

So Kudos to Associated Speechmasters for confronting subjects that most clubs shy away from due to potential clashes.  I wish you much success in your future and get on those Pathway awards!  You can do it!

Riverbend Toastmasters Henderson, KY

7/08/20

 

A secret find!  

Riverbend is one of those hidden jewels tucked away in a small  unassuming town like my own club.  But its quality rivals any club set in the metropolitan areas. 

Although Riverbend meets in the middle of the day, There was no rushed feel to the meeting and each member seemed excited to meet up at their lunch time. 

 I logged on 10 minutes before the start time and there were already seven people there.  They were talking and laughing and when they saw Steve and me, they just drew us into their little group and made us feel so welcome.  I don’t know if it is custom or if they  did it because we were there but one of the first actions of the club was to have each person introduce themselves and tell something they have celebrated this year.  Steve and I have had a lot to celebrate this year so we were happy to join in the introductions.

 

Toastmaster of the Day, Debbie, took the first part of the meeting to celebrate how the club “accidentally” became President's Distinguished this year.  She discussed losing members, then gaining members. She discussed members doubling up on roles and trying to figure out ways to build membership.  Each member put the pedal to the metal and began earning awards in Pathways.  Debbie named each person by name and listed their contributions to the year's success.  She ended with all of us raising a glass to toast the club.  

I love that they are taking the time to celebrate their successes.  They have 12 members (14 last year) and members have achieved 11 Pathways educational awards and 1 legacy award.  I would like to correct Debbie though...  They actually did not achieve Presidents Distinguished.  They did meet the criteria in number of awards; however, the club had to have a gain of 5 members or have 20 members and from my calculations they did not do that.  Debbie did say that at the first of the year she was despondent that they had lost so many members and she even thought they would have to close the club.  If that’s the case, the club really did a great rebound and though attendance wasn’t met they have a lot to be proud of.  

My home club was just like that.  For a few years we were “President's” in the number of awards but never could reach that membership.  My club kept going though, each year adding a few more members, never giving up.  And with the enthusiasm I saw at today’s meeting, I think Riverbend may just hit “President’s Distinguished” for real in the coming years.  

 

Riverbend Toastmasters is doing so many things that stand out in my opinion.  Their business meeting is at the END of the meeting.  I am so in favor of this.  That way, visitors are not held hostage at a business meeting that they really don’t want to be a part of, especially if it gets a little “heated” and I have seen them get that way. 

Their website site is fantastic.  They have a short role-playing video of someone actually dying of public speaking.  It is hilarious and so creative!  I was told that Lewis, the VPPR at the time made this video for a contest the district was having.  It is no wonder that this video actually won in their district.  This is something so creative that I recommend all Toastmasters take a gander at.  I don’t think Riverbend will care if you steal the idea and put it on your website.  I already told them that my club will be stealing the idea and they seemed OK with it. 

 

Another PR tool that they use successfully is Facebook.  I enjoyed going onto their Facebook page and seeing all the current  pictures. I noticed that the picture of today’s meeting was already there.  Someone is really on the ball!   Looking at all the pictures of the activities the club had this past year told the story of a fun, exciting group.  If I lived a little closer, this is definitely a club I would consider joining.

 

Other than my club, I have never seen a club recognize its members accomplishments as much as I saw today.  One award that I guess I took for granted was the Triple Crown award.  My district recognizes those who get three awards in a year and we each get a Triple Crown pin.  Apparently the district of Riverbend does not do this and it was announced that Nicole got a Triple Crown and the club will be buying her a triple crown pin.  I guess I need to appreciate my district more in recognizing our accomplishments.  I did not realize it is not something that all districts do.

 

Another plus for Riverbend is before the meeting they asked Steve and me to be grammarian and ah counter.  I loved that they just jumped in and asked since numbers were low.  Of course,  this made Steve and me feel even more a part of their family.  And that hits the nail on the head.  This club had a family feel.  You could tell from listening to them how much they appreciated each other and have become friends.   

 

One more thing that stood out was the speaker, Brian.  He had had a stroke and his speech was affected.  Giving speeches in Toastmasters has helped him enormously and he really did a great job.  There have been two others that I know about who were members of my club that Toastmasters helped them when they lost their ability to speak well.  Who knew Toastmasters can even help a person after they have had a stroke. 

 

This was definitely a great find and in my own home state!  There was high energy and enthusiasm.  Definitely a club people should visit to see how a midday club does it right!

St Augustine Toastmasters Washington D.C

7/5/20

 

“Evaluations are the hallmark of Toastmasters,” as my husband likes to say. (He is full of pithy sayings like that).  Evaluations are what sets Toastmasters apart from being just a speaking organization like the national speakers association or even Kentucky Storytelling Association which Steve and I are members of.  We are an educational organization to help speakers get better, not just give them opportunities to speak.  

St. Augustine's evaluators today knocked it out of the park.  They focused on the mechanics instead of content.  They talked about things the speaker might want to consider and then challenged them on future speeches.  The speakers also wow’ed me.  Bernadette's speech about not making assumptions about a person was very relevant today as well as Lesia’s speech about prayer/meditation.

 

St. Augustine had a dubious beginning.  They chartered in 2018 with 21 members.  However, by 2019 their numbers had dwindled to 11.  I am just speculating but it seems as though the originators may have started the club with members from other clubs just to get to the requisite 20 members so they could start a club. Then what many times happens,  those members leave.  Of course, I may be wrong but I have seen it occur more than once with other clubs.  To me, this does not set these clubs up for success for the future.  St. Augustine currently has 12 members.   However, handicapped their beginning, it has not stopped them from jumping in with determination and with the help of club coach, Bernadette, to increase their membership.  They did end the year with seven Pathways awards which shows members are working the education program.  That is a great indication of their commitment.

 

The members were very welcoming when we logged on and we all had a great conversation together.  There was a lot of laughter and smiles.  This club definitely has a makings of a great club and I am sure Bernadette is helping get them on the right track to increase membership. 

 

I love that they started and ended on time.  They had the agenda nailed down with all roles filled before the meeting.  There were seven members in attendance.  Which is pretty average.  I have observed that most clubs have half their membership attend meetings.  

 

Since the main issue with St. Augustine is membership,  I want to share a few things I have learned from traveling to different online clubs.  These are things I never would have thought was important until I saw it from the eyes of a visitor.  I notice a lot of Toastmasters are becoming dual members of clubs around the world.  So this advice is for St. Augustine as well as my club to help Toastmasters visitors feel at home in our online clubs.  So much at home, that they may consider joining our clubs.

1. Are we including the guests in the meeting?  Whether by participating in roles or in table topics.  St. Augustine had seven members in attendance so they doubled up and tripled up on roles, instead of asking Toastmaster visitors (Steve and me) to help.  Table Topics is a great way to get visitors involved in the meeting.  I mean visiting Toastmasters, not non-Toastmasters (not sure how they would feel). St. Augustine asked for volunteers for table topics responses (which I am not a favor of anyway-rant in another blog). Members who had other roles answered.  Finally Steve raised his hand and the Table Topics Master seemed surprised, almost stunned. Do they not ask visitors Table Topics questions or do they not usually get visitors?  I don’t know but I would have liked to answer a Table Topics question too. It would have made me “feel” more like I was a part of the meeting.
2. Are we inviting guests to join the club during the meeting?  (OK, this is not necessarily about St. Augustine-just something I realized in visiting all these clubs.) A couple of clubs said they would love for us to be members of their clubs during the meeting. None of them told us how to join the club or who to talk to.  And only a handful of clubs sent an email after the meeting thanking us for visiting. No clubs sent us a visitor packet or asked us to join their club.  A few sent upcoming agendas.   My husband still gets sent emails from Clearwater Sunday Speakers in Florida letting him know they have roles open/speakers needed and he has gone back there to speak on occasion. (Kudos to you, Sunday Speakers!) The more a person visits, the more he connects with the members and are more likely to join.  In my opinion, of course.
3. Does our website draw people to our club?  Before I visit a club, I like to do research.  I look at their number of members, their education awards, but most important their website.  Some clubs make me think “they look fun!  I’d like to be a part of that!”  Some clubs make me not want to even visit.  St Augustine needs to think about its website.  It’s very bare, almost useless. No club pictures, nothing about their club, nothing about what Toastmasters is or why I should join their club.  There are no pictures of members or group shots.  I did not expect such a friendly group from viewing its website. It almost made me not want to even visit their club.  So to all clubs, my advice is to look at how you can make your website inviting to visitors.  Research other clubs and their websites if you aren’t sure what to do. (I have to admit my club's webmaster does a great job with our club website.)   St. Augustine has a lot to crow about.  Put it out there for all to see.  Make everyone that looks at your website take a double take and think, now that’s a club I want to join!

Again this is a great club.  I really enjoyed it, but the club does need to increase in membership so, these might be some ways that can help them do that.  Good luck St. Augustine.  You have a lot of great speakers, your meeting flowed well, and you were very friendly to us, guests.  Keep up the good work.  I wish you all the best. 

 

I will end with Bernadette’s quote from her speech.

 

“Make the most of yourself….for that is all there is of you.”

--- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Let’s Talk Toastmasters Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

7/2/20

 

Let’s Talk has a lot to celebrate!  They had 3 members achieve DTM status this year.  They are President's Distinguished. New members are embracing Pathways and receiving awards. Long-time members are giving presentations and mentoring other members.  This is a club that knows how to run a successful club. 

 

Let’s Talk has 20 members and has reached all 10 goals.  They have their Zoom link on their website to make it easier for people to attend their club.  Members have received awards in both the legacy and Pathways program.  Let’s Talk has a new president, who was aided in the business meeting with Roberts Rules of Order.  The Division C Director served as Toastmaster of the Day and brought the meeting to life.  Was she a cheerleader in a past life?  I don’t know but she really got all of us psyched up with her upbeat, energetic manner and music. 

 

Let’s Talk has members who have been in Toastmasters 20+ years.  One member was even a member of the original Toastmasters club in California.  Wow!  What changes he has probably seen.  They have a traveling trophy to bring awareness to their club and to Toastmasters in general, of course, during this sheltering in, the trophy has been on hiatus.

 

One difference I saw in this club is they call roles such as timer, grammarian, ah counter, ballot counter and evaluators technicians.  I had never heard that term used before. 

 

I really enjoyed attending this meeting.  This is the type of meeting all meetings should shoot for.  So give yourself a pat on the back and a big round of applause, Let’s Talk Toastmasters.  You have a lot to celebrate! 

Tundra Talkers Fairbanks, Alaska

7/2/20

 

Facebook saves the day!

 

Steve and I have been having trouble finding a member from an Alaskan club to respond to our emails.  So I started searching for clubs in Alaska on Facebook and Tundra Talkers popped up.  A link to their website on Facebook showed their Zoom link was posted.  I love that it was so easy to get to their club!  Tundra Talkers has 20 members and is Select Distinguished; however, from my visit, this club has it all!  

The meeting flowed well with nice transitions. It was professional yet filled with laughter.  The members are open and engaging.  This club felt like home.  Even before the meeting they greeted us, engaged us in conversation, and made us feel very special. They even asked that we put our club link on chat so that they could visit our club. 

 

Tundra Talkers has 20 members but attendance usually drops off in the summer. There were 10 in attendance at the meeting.  They asked if we would be willing to fill a role and of course we excitedly agreed.  Steve filled the role of grammarian and I served in my all-time favorite role, the Table Topics Master.

 

One role I have not seen in any club is an Education Minute for Pathways.  I think this is a great way to help members adapt to our new educational program.  This might be something my club may start doing.  One other role I enjoyed was the Quizard.  Which is basically asking questions at the end to see how well people were listening to the meeting.  Steve and I were even mentioned in one of the questions, “Where are our guests, Cynthia and Steve from?”  and everyone got that answer right!

 

I can’t say enough good things about this club.  If you are looking for a great club to visit, this is one I would recommend.  Two more members and they will be President’s Distinguished.  Maybe there are two people out there looking for a phenomenal club???

Last Chance Toastmasters Helena, Montana

7/2/20

 

Steve and I visiting these 50 states has been an eye-opening experience in the area of how accessible clubs are to the average person.  Steve has been trying for weeks to get someone from Montana to respond to his emails to visit two other clubs.  No response.  Their Zoom link is not on their website.  What do we do?  In desperation, Steve put out a message on the International Toastmasters Facebook page and received a response from Kent.  Last Chance Toastmasters would love to have us visit their club.  I wonder what a non-Toastmaster would do if he/she wanted to visit a club in Montana?  Would they even know about the Facebook page?  I just don’t think we as Toastmasters are making it easy for people to visit our clubs. 

 

I guess I need to thank Kent for us finding this fantastic jewel.  It was well worth the effort.  The members made us feel like guests of honor.  Each role holder mentioned us in some way.  For example, “Thank you Mr. Toastmaster and Cynthia and Steve from Kentucky”.  Over and over we felt acknowledged and wanted.

 

This club meeting knocked it out of the park!  The meeting was friendly and organized. Each part flowed seamlessly from one part to the other.  They embraced the Word of the Day with ease.  They decided to unmute during the speeches so the speakers could hear the applause. I understand.  This is one of the disadvantages of Zoom.  A disconnect sometimes happens between speaker and audience when you can’t hear the laughter, sounds, and applause from the audience members. 

 

At the beginning of the meeting they had an installation ceremony and I appreciate that they streamlined it.  A copy of the officer handbook was sent to each officer ahead of time and they dispensed with all the reading.  I really liked this officer installation. 

 

The speaker’s topic, “Beef, It’s what’s for Dinner”, seemed like it would be boring.  Through Toastmasters, Steve and I have judged many 4-H speech contests whose subject revolve around topics such as this.  These topics are not the most interesting in the world to me, however, I forgot It’s not the topic but the speaker who can make the subject come alive.  And Tolly did just that!  Her speaking style drew me in, she was humorous and told great stories. She even made beef so enticing I had to have steak that night for dinner.  Thanks Tolly!   Her evaluator was spot on in his comments.  He made a very insightful comment that is applicable to all using an online presence today. “Our biggest challenge is understanding this virtual environment more," he said.  From my club and all the clubs I have visited, we all can improve our understanding of our virtual environment and use it more effectively.

 

One special role that this club has that most clubs don’t is a table topics evaluator. Dave pointed out organization but mainly his comments affirmed all the table topics responses. He displayed very good listening skills.  Steve and I together answered a table topics question which was pretty fun.    

 

I enjoyed myself immensely being there.  This is a club I recommend to anyone wanting to visit or join a club.  You can’t go wrong and you will feel like a million bucks afterwards.  They sure know how to treat their guests! 

NEA Toastmasters Jonesboro, Arkansas

6/30/20

 

We’re having a summer party!!

 

Or that’s how it felt coming into this club.  We arrived online and there were already members dressed in summer attire.  Their backgrounds were beaches and water scenes.  They had leis around their necks, and were decked out in  Hawaiian shirts and big beach hats.  They told us is it was a special meeting.  A summer themed meeting.  Steve and I quickly stopped our video and ran to get our own leis and beach type props.  WE ARE  GOING TO A PARTY! We needed to fit in with this summer crowd.  By then, many more members had logged on and they were laughing, smiling and, well... having a party!  Each person was greeted by name as they arrived. This was the most festive group I have been to yet online.

 

NEA has 20 members and is President's Distinguished and from their enthusiasm I can see why.  They are a fairly new club, chartering in 2014 but they have made a big splash, jumping into the Pathways Educational program with both feet. They have 28 awards on record.  Wow!  Now that’s impressive.  So as fun as today’s meeting is, they take their learning seriously.

 

They said this was their very first themed meeting online but have decided to have themed meetings every 4^th Tuesday of the month for the rest of the year.  Lacey (incoming Area Director) and George were two we had met before at Blue Nile Toastmasters.  In my opinion, this first themed meeting was a success.

 

Due to this being a special meeting, they did away with any reports at the end.  No grammarian, no Ah counter, no timer, no evaluations and no general evaluator for this meeting.  Only speeches and table topics.  Everyone seemed to have a great time trying to work in the Word of the Day, "coconut." There were four summer-themed speeches 3-5 minutes and four Table Topics questions along the same line.  Two of the speeches were regular speeches, one reveled in the joys of summer and the other the travails.  The other two speeches were different.  One was a dual poem recitation with another member and the other speech, a member recited an original free verse on why he hates summer.  I like poetry so I found it very enjoyable.

 

I really enjoyed being at the meeting.  If there was any low spot or lull,  I might say during Table Topics don’t ask for volunteers. It was like the teacher in  “Ferris Bueller's Day Off” repeating, “Bueller, Bueller”. Only the Table Topics master was saying “Any volunteers? Any volunteers? Any volunteers?”  Just call on someone!  He had already said the response could be anything you want to talk about so it shouldn’t be that hard.  One of the members that volunteered was one that had already spoken.  But that’s what happens when you ask for volunteers. 

 

To keep the meeting lively and fun, during the middle of the meeting they had a mini-dance session. They played the song “Surfing USA” by the Beach Boys and we enjoyed a few minutes of dancing. This club definitely gets the award for most creative meeting.

 

All in all, it was a fun meeting!  This meeting even gives me some ideas that I may use in my club.  Thanks for the laughter and smiles NEA Toastmasters! You gave me something we could all use at this time.

Toastatarians Toastmasters Club Rochester, New York

6/29/20

 

Murphy’s law says to the effect that anything that can go wrong will go wrong.  That was on full display at this meeting. I am just hoping this is a one-time occurrence and not happening with regularity.  It started off on the wrong foot for me when we logged in at 12:35 to a meeting that is touted to start at 12:45 but was told they really wouldn’t start until 1:00 since that’s when everyone gets there.  

Samir, the only person logged on at the time rationalized the late start saying “we are informal around here”.  Informal or not, you respect people’s time.  Steve and I were members of a club who did the same thing.  They kept waiting until everyone showed to start the meeting so those arriving early or on time had to wait even longer and eventually even they started arriving later and later because they wouldn’t be starting on time anyway.  My thought is if your club isn’t starting until 1:00, then advertise that is starting time. 

 

This club has 10 members and two pathway goals which tells me they need to increase in membership and need to work the educational program.  When we did start at 1:00, we were greeted cordially.  I do appreciate beforehand that Samir sent the Zoom link and then Shirley followed up with an email.  I wish all clubs took the time and attention to do this.  Once everyone started showing up they frantically realized none of the speakers were there.  One was supposed to be a guest speaker so they called her and she had the time mixed up and would be there shortly.  In the meantime, Steve did say he had a pocket speech if they needed a speaker and they quickly accepted. 

 

They had five members at their meeting. The three women did not seem very tech savvy and the men kept trying to tell them what to do.  Steve said they were “mansplaining”.  All I know is after the meeting began that the two men’s “knowledge” of tech is what caused the rest of the meeting to go awry.  Samir was the host, and he inadvertently  locked us out of renaming ourselves on our screen. So my husband and I were "Cynthia Lanham."  We couldn’t figure out the problem even after logging out and back in twice.  We finally asked Samir to rename us and he did.  We didn’t realize until later that Samir had locked us out of renaming ourselves.  Erol was the timer and wanted to share the timing screen. We found out the hard way that when he shares the timing screen no one else’s shared screen can be seen.  

Steve gave a beautiful speech about his baby birds complete with vivid photographs as he charted their growth. Who knew, no one could see the photographs? Samir, said during the speech he figured out how to see Steve’s photographs, but no one ever stopped Steve once to say they couldn’t see his pictures.  He is pretty proud of those pictures and it hurt him that they didn’t let him know so he could figure out the solution.  In an “informal” club, he should have been given the time to figure out the problem.  They did give him time before the meeting adjourned to show his pictures so I appreciated that.  The timer ended up having to hold up fingers as signals to the second speaker. From high tech to low tech in a matter of minutes.

 

I will say even though this meeting was a series of unfortunate events, the members maintained their composure.  They remained upbeat and positive and went with the flow.  Maybe that’s what they mean by “informal.”   

 

I am going to stop ranting now.  The experience is over.  The whole meeting would be sad if it weren’t so comical - like watching a Laurel and Hardy show.  I am going to hope this is a one-time thing and most meetings run smoothly. But then again, maybe these members like constant chaos.  Maybe it keeps them on their toes.   I am going to refrain from giving my thoughts or suggestions.  Maybe today is one of those days you just crawl back into bed and pull the cover over your head and wait for tomorrow.  So I leave it at that.  Visit the club or not and draw your own conclusions.

Once Upon A Time Toastmaster Club Lewisville, Texas

6/28/20

 

My husband and I are avid readers.  I admit he is the more intellectual reader. Each morning he enjoys his coffee and reads the Lexington Herald-Leader and Courier-Journal online and on Wednesdays he enjoys the weekly newspaper dropped off by an actual paperboy.  His choice of books are Pulitzer Prize winners, while my tastes in books run the gamut from Silas House to Michael Crichton. No book is out of bounds as long as I am enjoying it.  Imagine our excitement when fervent readers, such as ourselves, ran across Once Upon A Time, who described itself almost as a book club. My husband and I  jumped at the chance to see what this club was all about.

 

We were greeted enthusiastically almost like we were old friends who met previously between the well-worn pages of a favorite novel.  “Where the Crawdads Sing” was the book for this month’s discussion.  The Table Topics questions loosely revolved around the book but I was able to answer a question deftly even without ever reading the book.  Great job to the two speakers for casually working in scenes from the book as they delivered their Ice Breaker speeches.  Fifteen minutes was devoted to conversation about the book at the end of the meeting.  That discussion was so interesting and lively, I knew I would be getting a copy for that book for myself.  It sounded right up my alley.   

 

The evaluators used two different evaluation methods.  Andres, the visiting area director, used the” Roses, Thorns, Rosebuds” method. He said, for example, the first rose: the speaker had good transitions, for the second rose: the speech had good organization. The thorn would be how the speaker could improve and the Rosebud is something to challenge the speaker.  I had never heard of this method so I was thrilled to be learning something new.  The second evaluator, Sara, used the “What I heard, What I saw, What I felt” method.  I have seen this method used a few times.  Both evaluators gave some valuable insight in their evaluations. 

 

Kudos to this specialty club for combining the best of my two worlds, the love of reading and speaking(Toastmasters).  Next month the book they will be reading is “Bluebird, Bluebird" by Attica Locke.  Time to make a trek to the library or a purchase online, because my husband and I may just end up joining in for the discussion next month.

Top 5 Toastmasters Club Rapid City, South Dakota

6/29/20

 

Many people are getting restless right now in the United States with the sheltering in place due to COVID-19. Despite a rise in cases, people are wanting to get out and do.  Businesses and swim parks  are beginning to open back up. People are beginning to attend events.  Some patrons are wearing masks, some are not. Some are social distancing, some are not.  Some believe cases are on the rise, some believe they are overblown.  Some believe it’s all a political hoax.  

Much of what people believe depends on where they get their information and with whom they surround themselves.  However, all people seem to be doing what they believe is right for them depending on the information they hear.  

Top 5 Club is no different.  They are trying to determine if as a club they should start meeting in person and if they do,  what would it look like.  Steve and I were silent observers as they volleyed back and forth the pros and cons of meeting in person next week.  Is it safe to meet inside? If they do meet inside should they wear masks or social distance?  Is it safer to meet outside?  A hybrid club was even mentioned and quickly dismissed. Where could they meet if they meet in person?  Some had some strong opinions that conflicted with each other.  One member definitely was not ready to have an in-person meeting.  Another one definitely wanted to meet in person but could not wear a mask.  These conflicting opinions mirror the outside Toastmaster world confusion.  There was no agreement after the end of the debate and as a group decided to meet online next week and see how it goes.  That is what most of us are doing with our lives: wait and see. 

 

Top 5 used a platform called Webex that was unfamiliar to me.  Steve and I began playing around with it to try to  figure it out.  Some had a lot of difficulty with it.  Especially the speaker for the day.  For 20 minutes the host tried to help her get her sound to work. She finally called in on a cell phone but lost her picture.  She eventually gave up and delivered the speech with no picture except here and  there.  I'm not sure why members had technical difficulty.  The host never figured it out.  I think I still vote for Zoom so far as the best platform I have seen for Toastmasters meetings.

 

One thing I really like about this club is it seems to give chocolate enticements.  Of course, at this online meeting they were giving virtual chocolate.  Virtual chocolate for saying the Word of the Day, "argot" (which I don’t think anyone said), and virtual chocolate for best table topic answer(which was ME!).  This kind of chocolate is good for my waistline. 

 

Although the members were friendly and seemed to have "bought in" to the Toastmaster program, background research showed they had no educational awards this year.  I am not sure why.  The speaker gave an Ice Breaker in Pathways so I guess she is starting out.  What about the rest of them? They have 13 members and records show 12 new members joined this year.  Is that the reason for no educational awards?  All they all new?  Why the turnover? Only one officer went to training and the officer list was not submitted on time.  Another piece of business is that they are currently looking for a Vice President Education.  No one wanted to volunteer. Maybe they aren't as "bought in" as it seems on first glance.