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. 

Living Truth Center Toastmasters Cleveland, Ohio

6/28/20

 

The Toastmasters educational program hadn’t been upgraded for nearly 40 years: thus the creation of Pathways, the new educational online program designed to bring Toastmasters into the 21^st century. It was created to introduce relevant topics such as like writing a blog, managing webinar, and creating a podcast.  

Most clubs have embraced this new technology.  Members sometimes struggle with the user interface, but most press on with help.  In fact, our Vice President Education meets with a great deal of our members when they hit a snafu on Pathways.  Sadly, Living Truth does not seem to have embraced Pathways that well.  This club has 12 members and 4 new members.  They have 6 legacy awards and no Pathways awards.  Are the new members being trained in Pathways?  The club president did mention that this summer maybe they could have a Pathways orientation at one of their club meetings.  This is really doing a disservice to the new members. New members have no option; the only educational system they are allowed to use is Pathways. So do the new members have to wait until this summer to speak or begin their educational path? Has the club reached out for help from the district? 

 

Their website was the bare minimum.  They had a small picture in front but nothing eye catching. No "Meet Our Members" section.  I was glad they started on time, but was surprised to hear at the end someone say “Tony would really be proud we started on time!”. Does that mean they usually don’t?  They are slated to end at 8:30 and ended at 8:45.

This is an hour-and-a-half meeting and was surprised that they had on the agenda four long speeches.  One was scheduled to be 20-30 minutes and another one for 10-15 minutes.  However, maybe this fits into the time frame perfectly.  The speeches were interesting and educational. Topics were “Giving Effective Feedback”, “Parliamentary Procedures” and “Handling Challenging Situations”. The other speaker left the meeting before it was her time to speak.   The evaluators gave really good feedback.  In Eugene’s evaluation he mentioned the speaker could have employed the facilitation technique IEEI (Inform, excite, empower, involve). I had to look it up to see what it meant)

 

One cool thing that I found out is this club recently received a trophy from the district for having all seven officers trained.  Never heard of that before, but getting a trophy certainly can be a motivator.  When we logged into the meeting 15 minutes before the meeting started, they were having an officer meeting with their Division Director.  It was interesting to me. However, for non-Toastmasters visitors, I am not sure they would be interested in seeing how the sausage is made so the officers may want to consider having this meeting in a breakout room when it gets close to meeting time or have it at a different time. 

 

As my husband and I travel to different clubs, we don’t mind participating in roles or not participating in roles.  It doesn’t matter to us, however, I really hate it when I see members taking on double and triple role duties instead of asking help from fellow toastmasters from other clubs.  At the start of the meeting, the president said they had empty roles to be filled and she was already Toastmaster of the Day and Timer but would be an evaluator if needed.  Tamara was speaker and general evaluator.  Steve and I piped in and offered to assist as needed.  She politely thanked me but said we were guests and she didn't want to make a guest do it.  

I appreciate her not burdening a guest, however, in Toastmasters I think it is perfectly acceptable since so many meetings are interchangeable in the format, plus how exciting it would be to learn a role a little differently from someone outside the club.  But they didn’t ask us to help and we were perfectly content to be silent observers.  (By the way, the timer forgot to put the timing cards up for most of the speakers, was it because she was overwhelmed having other roles also?)

 

There were some members that seemed more knowledgeable about zoom than others and that’s probably the same across the board with all toastmaster clubs. We were greeted well at the meeting and members laughed and seemed to get along well.  They seemed like a very friendly group.  Although it was a fun meeting, as with any club there are always areas for improvement.  

 

In my limited observation as a visitor, I would suggest the club do consider the following:

1. Dress up your website, make it enticing for viewers, that may be what causes people to attend or stay away.
2. Be mindful of time-start and end on time if at all possible.
3. Embrace Pathways (ask for help if needed).
4. Instead of doubling up on roles, ask for help from visiting Toastmasters. If they are like me, they will feel honored to be asked, to be able to contribute. 

 

Good luck Living Truth Center Toastmaster, may your club continue to thrive!

Blue Nile Toastmasters Memphis, Tennessee

6/28/20

 

This club knocked it out of the park!  It really impressed me.  The meeting ran smoothly and efficiently.  It was organized and professional.  We were greeted warmly and felt welcome.  Everything you could want in a Toastmaster club was there.

 

Before the meeting, I did research on this club. They had a nice picture on the website that made me think I would like this club immediately.  Stats show they have 20 members and are President;s Distinguished.  They started off by putting the agenda in chat which is helpful to all. They worked out the times of speeches and filling roles before the meeting started and they started on time.  They began by telling us the house rules; mics off when not speaking and explained to the speaker how to pin the timer.

 

Both speakers were good, but the first one really wowed me.  He spoke of a trip to Egypt that he and his father took.  The second one told us about her High Performance Leadership project which was a seminar about how to be a better listener.  She gave us time after her speech to ask questions (probably to see if we were listening)

 

This club has much to be proud of.  They have 7 DTMs in their club and two outgoing area directors and one incoming director.  Some people have multiple DTMs. One person even has 5 DTM's!  The general evaluator and evaluators gave spot-on comments.

 

One area of improvement which the incoming VPPR mentioned is there is no link to Zoom on their webpage.  That’s the reason my husband and I had some difficulties getting to the club.  But I think that is one of the first orders of business that he is going to rectify.

 

This is definitely a club all clubs should aim to be like.  Great job Blue Nile Toastmasters!!

Aero Achievers Toastmasters Wichita, Kansas

6/24/20

 

My husband says Toastmasters is a Life Long Learning Laboratory. He just adores alliteration.  But when I think of a group of people who has taken that laboratory literally, it would be Aero Achievers.  They are a group that really wants to learn and grow individually and as a club.  In every action, in every word spoken, the members seemed to pick up on new ways to improve their club.

 

At first, I didn’t think we would be able to get to Kansas like poor Dorothy stuck in Oz. One club in Kansas we contacted is not having any virtual meetings anymore; they have gone back to having meetings in person. Two clubs did not respond to emails to attend their club. But finally we hit the jackpot with Aero Achievers.  And the jackpot it was!  They embody what a Toastmasters club should be in professionalism, in adaptability, in friendliness and organization.  

Although they only have 11 members, they have 15 educational awards. 15!  I mean these members are really working the program, which is evidenced when they had three speakers and three evaluators with so many roles not filled at this meeting.  Poor Vickie, club president doubled and tripled up on the roles of speaker, general evaluator, evaluator, and ah counter due to last minute crises of members not being able to attend.  I probably would have cancelled the third speaker and third evaluator to spread the roles around.  But I have to hand it to them.  They handled it with ease and Vickie and others navigated the roles seamlessly.

 

Before the meeting began, Dale responded to Steve’s email and asked if we would be willing to serve in roles.  We, of course, said we would help in any way they needed.  Steve served as one of the speakers and I was an evaluator…for VICKIE!  There were 11 people that attended the meeting and five were visitors.  The meeting did start late due to technical difficulties.  Zoom kept kicking us out of the meeting or not letting us in. Vickie said maybe its because their club has a shared account within her division.  With all the positives about Zoom, this may be something that needs to be explored.

 

One difference I saw in this club is that they not only vote for Best Speaker, Best Evaluator and Best Table Topics response, but they also vote on Best Facilitator, which would be between the Toastmaster of the Day, Table Topics Master and General Evaluator.  I have never seen a club vote on Best Facilitator, but I guess it stands to reason these people might want to be recognized too.  They make a big deal out of giving people awards. In their physical club they have a traveling trophy and at the end of the year they recognize whoever has been voted THE BEST  the most times  through the year and I assume gets further recognition.

 

All in all, I think Steve and I lucked out that we couldn’t visit the other Kansas clubs, otherwise we wouldn’t have found such a jewel.  Definitely a club worth going back to if we get the time.  It’s also a club I would recommend others to visit.  Maybe help their membership numbers but most importantly you will be entering a life long learning laboratory.  You will be the one learning and growing at this club.

One State Street Toastmasters Hartford, Connecticut

6/24/20

 

Is Zoom the best platform to use for online Toastmaster meetings?  That’s the question I asked myself when I saw that One State Street Toastmasters was using Microsoft Teams as their platform for their Toastmaster meeting.  After being part of the meeting, in my opinion YES!!! Zoom is much better than Microsoft Teams.  This club meets at the workspace and I assume many were using work computers and that is why I, as a guest couldn’t see their faces.  I couldn’t see the first speaker and I would hear the timer chirp in every now and then with “green”, “yellow”.  There was no visual-no lights, no cards, no colors.  The people that I did see on video I assume were using the computer outside of the workspace.  But that is just conjecture, I don’t know for sure.  But even the “circles” of participants had only their initials so we didn’t know their names. Maybe it’s a privacy issue.  In any event, to me, it made me feel disconnected from the other participants at the meeting.

 

One State Street Toastmasters has 15 members and 13 educational goals.  Wow 13 educational goals! They are definitely working the legacy and Pathways programs!  They use WordPress for their website which to me is not enticing to the eye.  However, they do have a FAQ section which contains good information about Toastmasters.  There was a rushed feel to the club as with many midday meetings. They had two speakers and two Table Topics responses, and barely finished on time, this is probably due to having 10 guests and them taking time to introduce themselves

 

They took time to explain all the roles, which was good for visitors who had never been to a Toastmasters club.  One thing I really liked was people used chat a lot.  They put the WOD and meeting sections in chat but the best part is they used chat to “encourage” each other.  Some of the chats that I read: “great report,” “thanks,” “point well taken,” “great feedback,” “great virtual background on your screen.”

 

In person, this meeting probably POPS, but online I didn’t come away with a good feeling.  Again, though, this could be due to  the online platform they were using.  So my vote is still ZOOM for the best platform to use for online Toastmasters meetings.  Go on, convince me otherwise.

Twilight Toastmasters Brigham City, Utah

6/25/20

 

Friendly and upbeat is how I would describe this club.  Although they only have seven members and four educational awards, they press on with confidence.  Steve and I logged on 15 minutes early and there were two members already there. They quickly greeted us and began a conversation.  As other members began to arrive, we were introduced to all the other members. That has never been done before.  Although I wouldn’t be able to remember all the others names, I appreciate the effort.  

We had 11 attend the meeting including 3 visitors (Steve and me).  The other visitor said she would be joining the club soon.  The person that gave her Ice Breaker speech had just transferred from another club.  This means the club had 100% attendance; you rarely see that.  But I can understand it.  They had friendly banter before the meeting and throughout.  They all acted like old friends and quickly swooped us into their friend circle. I felt very wanted.

 

Peggy, was quick to respond to Steve’s email about coming to our club.  That should be a given, but  you would be surprised at how many people do not respond.  Could this have anything to do with poor attendance at other clubs?  Peggy said we were welcome to join their meeting and they had the roles of evaluator and speaker open and would we like to fill those roles.  We quickly responded that we would be happy too.  We looked forward to taking part in this meeting.  After the meeting, Peggy sent an email thanking us for attending and inviting us back anytime.  Sometimes people forget those little gestures that could mean so much to a visitor.  It could be what makes a person go back and actually become a member.

 

 

They had two speakers, including an Ice Breaker, which was fantastic.  The speaker checked all the boxes in the compelling way a speaker should speak.  The second speaker was completing his 10^th speech in the Competent Communications (CC) manual which is supposed to be an inspirational speech.  He gave a PowerPoint presentation about how to do PowerPoint presentations and committed three primary power point presentation faux pas.  He had way too much information on each slide, the font was too small and barely readable in some slides and he read off each slide for his presentation.  Big no-no’s for me.  This definitely was not an inspirational speech. However, in Toastmasters you get credit for doing the work, not in how well you do it.  So kudos to him for completing his CC and from his comments it sounds like he took a LONG time doing it. 

 

Although, I thoroughly enjoyed the club meeting, they really are struggling in membership.  From this one meeting, it isn’t obvious why and I don’t know their history.  However,  here are a few thoughts from my limited experience:

 

1. Work the educational program.  Another long time member mentioned that she still has not completed her CC. 
2. Dress up the website; make it more compelling to visitors
3. Don’t wait on others to log on.  When the meeting is supposed to begin at 8:00, then begin promptly at that time.l
4. Make better use of the chat feature. After the speakers, spoke the Toastmaster of the Day, said “we don’t usually do this but you can put a love note in chat to tell the speaker how they did-not anything bad.”  First, use chat more frequently and put “feedback” in chat for the speaker.  We are here at Toastmasters to help the speakers get better not give them lollipops.  They can’t improve if they don’t know what to improve in. Feedback is not bad.  That attitude needs to change.  I used to hate giving evaluations when I first started Toastmasters.  I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.  After a while I realized, I was hurting them more by telling them they were great instead of giving them constructive feedback in a positive way, which I have figured out is harder than it looks. 

 

So kudos to Twilight Toastmasters to a good meeting!  Keep up your energy and welcoming open arms and may your numbers increase.

Roaring Toastmasters (OPEN HOUSE) Frisco, Texas

6/21/20

 

I’m on the hunt for a WOW open house!

 

My friend, Missy, a top-notch realtor, says to have a successful open house, you start off with curb appeal. Then you have three seconds to WOW prospective buyers when they walk in the door.  They should be greeted with a home that is full of appealing sights (bright light, curtain pulled back) and smells (cookies just baked in the oven).  Last is the pricing.  Is it worth the price?

 

A Toastmasters open house is no different.  Some people believe you just have a regular meeting and invite people to come in.  Well, that would be like Missy giving an open house while the house is in disarray, yard overgrown, and the owners were sitting at the table eating as the  prospective buyers sat on the couch and watched.  I mean is this the most inviting way we can display our club to prospective members?

 

Our club has given some WOW open houses over the years.  We have had guest speakers, raffles, coupons, balloons, Toast-amonials, special guest packets, food, and the list goes on.  Our open houses are definitely not just come into our meeting and watch what we do.  We want to grab people’s attention from the first three seconds (if not sooner, since we have welcome signs all over the doors and someone to escort the visitors to the room).  We want the visitors to be treated like royalty.  They are the guests of honor.

 

So now that we have online meetings, I am struggling exactly how to do a WOW open house online.  I have visited two open houses online. Roaring Toastmasters was my second one.  And both clubs just had a regular meeting.  Nothing else.  In fact, this club seemed very unorganized and disjointed.  I think with good planning this could have been prevented.  For example, one of the evaluators didn’t even know he was evaluating at the meeting.  All the open houses I have chaired began weeks in advance.  Everyone knew exactly what role they would be doing.  In fact I had visualized the whole open house in my head before it was even planned out. 

 

Roaring Toastmasters has 10 members and 4 educational awards.  Kudos to them for having an open house! They had at my count 12 visitors from other Toastmaster clubs, many from other countries like Portugal, Nigeria and Germany.  The first evaluator gave some insightful feedback, however, neither speaker gave a speech that made me want to join Toastmasters. Or specifically THEIR club.  I realize that the meeting is the product, but this meeting did not answer the question, “Why should I join Toastmasters” or “Why should I join Roaring Toastmasters”  In fact, I felt like the lawn was overgrown and dishes were left in the sink.  I was not compelled to buy this house, even though I might be in the market.   

 

So here I am still on the hunt for a WOW open house… for good ideas for a successful virtual open house, something that will WOW anyone who walks in the cyber door. I need to prepare early and make sure I have curb appeal.  I need to light the room with excitement and fun.  The price? Well of course there is no question that the price of a membership is a bargain.  Any Toastmaster realtors out there willing to share your cyber secrets?  I am sure the answer is out there somewhere.  

 

The hunt continues….

No Ka Oi Toastmasters Maui, Hawaii

6/19/20

I really am not a fan of mid-day Toastmaster meetings.  The very first club I was ever a member of met at noon every Monday. It suited my needs at the time, but we always felt rushed to get the meeting wrapped up at exactly 1:00. There was no time to socialize after the meeting.  Many people left the meeting early so they could get back to work.  You figure 15 minutes travel time to and from the meeting site and your allotted one hour lunch time has been eaten up.  Every Monday I had to stay longer at work to make up the time.  My supervisor was not very happy with me.  

My husband and I finally found a club near us that met after work and that made all the difference.  I still understand why some people prefer middle-of-the-day meetings, especially meetings that are corporate clubs that meet in the building that they work at. What a convenience! Many people have other obligations after work and mid-day meetings work best for them.  Me, I don't have those obligations so I just am not a fan,  I am not a fan of early morning meetings either but that's for a totally different reason.  Anyway, after-work meetings meet my needs perfectly.

I was looking forward to this trip to Hawaii, probably the only time I will ever go (even though it is on my bucket list) so I took advantage of the virtual trip.  Seemed like many people had the same idea.  There were 12 visitors at the club from all over: Germany, Nebraska, New York (Dave, who we have seen at 2 other clubs), Alabama and a few others.  This is a meeting that meets at noon Hawaii time (which explains my rant above). A perk of this sheltering in is that clubs are now online, so I and many others can visit this mid-day meeting.  However, it seems like the rush was still there so it is likely many members are possibly still at work while attending this meeting.

No Ka Oi has a great website with colorful and inviting pictures and testimonial videos of club members. I was really impressed.  They have 21 members and are President's Distinguished. 

We arrived 15 minutes before the meeting started and there were already four in attendance.  They were having a nice little chat with Stephen, from Germany.  They did stop and greet us, which I appreciated. 

They spoke of having a BBQ at the End of the Year party (outside).  Guess they aren't too worried about COVID19.  Our club voted to have our End of the Year party virtually this year. 

Before the meeting started each visitor introduced themselves and where they were from and with 12 visitors that took awhile.  With a one hour time slotted, I was surprised that they had 3 speakers and 2 table topics respondents. But one person did mention that they don't usually have 3 speakers.  They did go over time a little, but kudos to them for the attempt.  Again, the meeting did feel a bit rushed and they didn't have time to ask visitors for their thoughts afterwards but we did sneak in a picture so I could post it in my blog.  There are mid-day meetings all over the world and it works for them. No Ka Oi Toastmasters is President's Distinguished so I can't argue with that.  They are doing what meets the needs of their members and that's what it's all about. 

Well now I can say during this shut down that I visited Hawaii, which is strange because the majority of people that were "there" weren't from Hawaii at all. However, can I still cross it off my bucket list?

Downtown Jackson Toastmasters Club Jackson, Mississippi

6/17/20

There are some clubs that lift me up (which most are) and there are some clubs that drag me down.  Sadly this club was one of the latter, however, it must be noted that visiting a club on a one-time basis gives a very limited view and it is possible that other meetings are wonderful.   

They have 15 members and five educational awards and are distinguished so it should follow that this club should be one of the ones that lift me up.  But further exploration shows they have been struggling and they may now be getting their footing.  They have two coaches, Toastmaster Jones and Toastmaster Tucker.  They had 12 new members join this Toastmasters year and currently have 15 members so there is a lot of turnover.  We arrived 15 minutes early.  There were a couple of people there, but no one greeted us.  Coach Tucker was busily trying to fill roles.  She kept asking if anyone would fill roles and no one responded.  Finally I piped up and said that Steve and I would be willing to step in and do a role if they needed help.  She  said we could be general evaluator (I really hate it when we are treated as one person instead of two, but I have addressed that on a different blog).  

The Toastmaster of the Day seemed woefully unprepared.  He asked if anyone had the Word of the Day which no one did so he moved on to the speakers.  No intros were provided.  Toastmaster Tucker introduced the first speaker and the other two speakers were left to introduce themselves before they spoke.  Early before the meeting started the coach did ask one of the speakers to put her intro into chat and I assume she did, but it was not there when the Toastmaster of the Day arrived.  I believe that is a feature of chat, that if you arrive after something has been put in chat then you will not be able to see it.  It has to be copied and pasted in again.  

They are very formal in the way they address the members.  For example, we would be Toastmaster Lanham.  Which would be okay, but when they put their name on the screen like that the last name can’t be shown, especially when they put Toastmaster/Table Topics Master Smith.  So Steve and others were at a disadvantage trying to introduce someone when the person’s name didn’t show on the screen.  My suggestion is forget putting the word ‘Toastmaster’  before their name on the screen if they are members of Toastmasters or just type TM. Because you know EVERYONE IS A TOASTMASTER.  It’s one thing to orally introduce someone as Toastmaster Lanham, but it’s another thing to put it on the screen in front of your name.  When the lectern was given back to the Table Topics Master,  it became really wordy with “back to you Toastmaster and Table Topics Master Smith.  When this culture was highlighted by the general evaluator, not as right or wrong but just different since no one in our division does it or any of the 30+ clubs in all the states we have visited do this,  one member  was quick to defend it and said she went to the international convention and they do it there so that’s why they do it.  All power to them but the intros do get a bit wordy and writing it on the screen could be confusing so that might be something they want to think about

They ended up with 15 attendees (5 visitors) at the meeting and I was disappointed that they doubled up on roles. Coach Tucker served as  Table Topics Master and an evaluator. Coach Jones served as a speaker and an evaluator.  It reminded me of a club Steve and I used to be a member of, where one guy would just put himself in for all the roles if no one signed up for a role.  An unintended consequence,  many members felt like they were not wanted in a role and continued to allow him to do it all.  They all eventually dropped out of the club.  I certainly hope this meeting was an aberration and not the norm.  Members need to be encouraged and asked to do roles even if it is outside their comfort zone.  You can’t grow a strong club if only a few carry the load.

There were a lot of technical difficulties during this meeting.  People couldn’t hear each other, there was static throughout.  However, this technology is new to most Toastmasters and I was happy to see them brave through it.

At the end, the president did ask the guests to share a few words, which I always appreciate.  One guest was from New York and he said he had visited all 50 states and many countries and he was making second visits to clubs he had already visited.  This was his second visit to this club. He remarked the meeting looked like the last time he visited “it looked put together at the last minute”.  Maybe it was a nice way of saying preparation was lacking.

The president remarked at the end that it was a great meeting because “WE HAD SPEAKERS!!”.  She said this a couple of times, which makes me think that they usually don’t have speakers?  That certainly made me wonder.  On paper they seem like a thriving club being distinguished and having  15 members in attendance today (which is more than most of the clubs we visited and more than some of my home club meetings).  

At the end of the meeting right before they adjourned, one person announced that they usually meet 10 minutes after the meeting for an educational moment to talk about how to make their meetings better.    This is something the club coaches may have implemented, which is a great idea.  So how does a club that looks so good on paper make me feel so "draggy"? (is that even a word?)One idea is something that happened in my division with an over-enthusiastic coach.  She really wanted the credit for club coach and the club was in such bad shape that she took some creative liberties.  She had people join from other clubs that were never intending to ever come to the club.  She ended up giving all her awards to the club, which were quite a few.  In these creative ways, she lifted the club to distinguished status and never really helped the club or members.  She never encouraged them to “buy in” and take ownership of the whole club.  I hope this isn’t what is happening here, but if it is, I don’t believe it’s in the club's best interest.  On paper this club looks great but once those coaches leave, they may end up dropping back down or even worse.  Paper numbers are good in the short term for recognition and credit's sake but for the club and its members-not so much.

I wish this club well,  if it is building and on a road to success I am right behind them applauding them all day long.  If this was a quick fix by the coaches, then I hope the members learn to stand on their own two feet and grow in spite of the coaches.  The coaches may not always be around.  Members need to volunteer for roles, members need to step up and give speeches. They need to create goals for themselves and work towards them and this means actively working in the  educational program and the only way to get members to jump onboard is to show the clubs value to them.  Additionally,  make the club inviting and fun.  Make visitors feel welcome from the very start, which did not happen for me.   Good luck  Downtown Jackson!!  I wish you all the best.

Bold & Blue Toastmasters Fargo, North Dakota

6/18/20

 

I have traveled all over the world and finally found my club's doppleganger.  What a refreshing surprise!  I did the research beforehand and was looking forward to attending the meeting.  The club has a very engaging website with pictures and videos of testimonials from Toastmasters members.  They have an active Facebook page.  They tick all the boxes of what makes a club successful and it shows. They currently have 23 members and are President's Distinguished.  Their members are actively working the educational program (both the legacy and Pathways).  I was chomping at the bit for this meeting to start.

 

We received a welcome email ahead of the meeting along with the meeting’s agenda and other information about roles at the meeting.  All roles were filled and they would be having 3 speakers. 

 

We arrived 15 minutes ahead of time and there were already 5 or 6 members there chatting. We were greeted warmly and ebulliently.   Their Word of the Day was "ebullient" and I had to use it now, because that’s how we were greeted and treated throughout the meeting.  All members who spoke, from Table Topic respondents, evaluators to speakers, creatively sneaked that word into their conversation. 

 

I was happily surprised to see Bryan from WA and David from NY, whom we saw at last night’s zoom meeting in Mississippi.  Nice to see fellow travelers again.  Dave even invited us to go to Brazil with him tonight to another Toastmasters meeting. 

 

The president mentioned the acronym POP (prepare, organize, plan). If your meeting doesn’t POP then it will fizzle.  This meeting definitely POPPED and it was obvious all the behind-the-scenes work that went on before the meeting even happened.  The meeting flowed well, all those who ran the meeting seemed very proficient with technology.  This is the kind of meeting we all should strive to have.

 

While some clubs are not even meeting during this challenging time, this club not only continues to meet each week but is thriving.  They even have online social events to keep up the enthusiasm of the members.   Examples of a few social events they have had are a scavenger hunt, trivia night and a storytelling event.  I really would have liked to watch how those were done.  I’d like to do something like that with my club if I could figure out the best way to do it.  The president said she would send me an invite for their next event on July 10^th.  I am looking forward to that.

 

They have an End of the Year celebration coming up the end of June.  I was thrilled to hear about that.  Our club has been having an end of the year party for the last five years but I haven’t really seen any other club (at least in my division) have one.  Members need an opportunity  to look back and celebrate all their hard work.  And it looks like Bold & Blue has a lot to celebrate as does our club.

 

They are mentoring new members and growing them into leaders.  Kimmie joined in October 2019 and she is chairing the end of the year party and is slated to become an incoming officer.  Linsey, who joined in February 2020 has agreed to use all her technology prowess  to be an administrative assistant to the club president.  Great job of helping her gain her confidence.  I see a club officer position in her future.  

 

I can’t say enough about this fantastic club meeting and the 19 ebullient members who attended.  (See how easy it was to slip that Word of the Day in.) The General Evaluator reminded the Table Topic master to ask members who don’t have a role a question so more members will get a chance to participate.  With a large group such as this, we must be mindful of ways to give everyone a chance to speak.

 

After the meeting the president invited anyone who wanted to stay and chat for 15 minutes.  Steve and I stayed and chatted a little.  We found out the president is planning an event for the officers in the near future and will be having a trainer come from Montana.  As incoming  President this year, and with everybody online, maybe I need to think about that for my officer team.  Just as they do, our club likes to tweak here and there to make our club even better. 

 

So here’s to our doppleganger,  I am sure we will see you in our future. 

Tri-Parish Toastmasters Club Gray, Louisiana

6/17/20

 

Serendipity is what I would call it.  Steve and I were slated to visit a club in Arkansas today but a last-minute email told Steve that their meeting was cancelled due to “a series of unforeseeable events.”  With great herculean swiftness, Steve contacted the president of Tri-Parish in Louisiana and asked if we could join his club that would be starting in less than an hour.  President, Eddie contacted us almost immediately expressing deep gratitude that we would be joining his club.  He asked if we would be willing to fill roles because, as it turned, out a few members would be out that meeting and they were very shorthanded.

 

Tri Parish has six members and poor Eddie carried the bulk of the roles. He served as Toastmaster of the Day, Timer, Table Topics Master and General Evaluator.  There were three members who gave their ice breakers (turns out all three are co-workers of Eddie’s) and then Maria, Steve and I served as evaluators for those three icebreakers.  You would not think a meeting with only seven  in attendance would run smoothly but in this case you would be wrong.  It was a very successful meeting.  Eddie ran the meeting “as if they had 20 members” and that made all the difference.  The meeting was fun and energetic.  I enjoyed that meeting better than I do some meetings that have many more people in attendance.

 

I was pleasantly surprised to see how his Table Topics session was conducted.  In our club we use the HARDR method in answering table topic questions.  The respondent can answer (H)umorously; (A)void the question and talk about something else; (R) edirect question to someone else to answer; (D)irectly answer the question(which most all do); and (R)everse and ask the Table Topics <aster to answer the question.  In my travels of 30+ states so far, my club is the only I have seen do this.  In all the other clubs we've attended, everyone answers the question directly.  No other options given.  Except…now Tri-Parish.  As the new member, Samantha, was struggling to come up with an impromptu answer Eddie told her she could deflect the question and talk about something else or pass on the question.  This is a variation of what we do at our club.  I felt a kinship between clubs.

 

Eddie expressed gratitude over and over towards us for stepping in and saving their meeting by our willingness to serve a needed role.  He even sent a thank-you email after the meeting was over.  When we first arrived at the meeting, he asked if we were there because we had to give so many speeches by the end of June  like so many Toastmasters at this time are doing.  He said he could squeeze us in to speak if we were.  However, when we said no, we were just there to visit but can help in any way needed, a sigh of relief came out of his mouth.  That made me think of so many Toastmasters traveling to other clubs just to give speeches, just to help themselves “over the finish line,” to get a number of speeches completed but giving no thought to the club they are visiting and what they need.  Maybe we need to be more mindful of that.  Eddie made us feel like superheroes and his gratitude was palpable.

 

I encourage anyone looking for a club to visit or join to consider Tri Parish Toastmasters.  Such an upbeat welcoming club.  I hope people find this gem of a club and their numbers increase.  They have a lot to offer members and members can help this club as they grow.

Pure Talk Toastmasters Club Glendale, Arizona

6/13/20

 

Have you ever had a day where you felt like the alarm clock didn’t go off, the dog ate your homework and you missed the bus all rolled into one?  A day where you were always feeling two steps behind?  That’s how I felt going to this meeting.  Lack of preparation was the first thought that popped into my head when Steve and I arrived on Zoom 15 minutes beforehand and no one was there.  10 minutes before the meeting started one person showed up but never spoke, turns out he was a visitor, Amin, from Canada.  

Five minutes before the meeting was supposed to start, people started logging in and as it turns out the agenda was not sent out that week and they had not filled the Toastmaster of the Day role and many others.  Amin asked to be a speaker which took me by surprise.  Showing up at a club that you have never been to before and no one knows you and you ask to speak, but he was graciously accommodated by Brenda, nodding out of speaking and becoming Table Topics master.  It took about 15 minutes for everyone to get roles and the meeting to actually start.  The members definitely were not set up for success in this meeting. 

 

Background research showed this club has 12 members and in one year have only accomplished 2 educational awards.  For  comparison, my club currently has 85 educational awards for this Toastmasters year, but then again my club is full of overachievers. However,  if members are working the educational program and giving speeches it is reasonable that a club could get 8-10 awards each year.  No members at this club had earned any Pathways awards (new educational program)which are probably the easier awards to get.  I believe it is the Vice President Education's job to encourage members to do speeches and reach their goals.  In our club, it’s also the Vice President of Education's job to make sure the agenda is filled beforehand so the meeting will flow smoothly.  However, I am not sure whose responsibility it is in this club but whoever it is, if that person is not able to do the job, the other officers and members must take up the slack for the good of the club.

 

This was the club's second attempt at “blended meetings.”  We call them hybrid, a combination of participants on zoom and in person.  They are still working out the kinks so I won’t spend much time on that.  However, one of the members in a room filled with three participants was out of eyesight.  He mentioned later he didn’t want to be seen on camera.  (witness protection?). But camera placement does need to be a consideration when clubs start deciding to turn their all in-person meetings to hybrid clubs.

 

One thing that left a very bad taste in my mouth, which has nothing to do with the club really, was the visitor.  He showed up, gave a speech and then left right after.  Not even staying for the evaluation of his speech. That made me feel he was just checking off a box, not even caring about the audience or how he did.  Perhaps his goal is to speak in a certain number of clubs, however, he is losing the most valuable asset that the club has to offer and that is receiving evaluations. We can’t get better if we don’t have that. From the introduction, it seemed like this speaker wanted to give this speech in the international speech contest next year.  If so,  it really would have benefited him to hear the evaluation which I thought was pretty insightful.  

 

Final thoughts:

 

The officers need to lead by example.  They need to be the first to sign up for roles and at least 3 weeks in advance.  They need to strive for excellence in the club.  Teach members about using zoom.  Log on to Zoom about 15 minutes before the meeting.  PREPARATION IS KEY

 

The website could be vamped up to attract more members

 

Hold up the timing cards the whole time instead of just when the time reaches the minute mark would help the speaker follow the time better.

 

Brenda was the most enthusiastic member of the group and tried to lead a rousing table topic session to include the Word of the Day.  However, it was very hard to see and hear her on the screen because she was so far back.  She told us at the end of the meeting that she is an incoming Area Director.  Sometimes we learn by doing.  My hope is that as she visits others clubs she can take back tips to make her own club better.  That is one thing Steve and I have done over the years.  We have traveled to different clubs and “stolen” ideas to make our club better.  That’s even what this whole visiting all 50 states is about too.  So good luck in your tenure Brenda and much luck to your club.  My advice is to all their club members, but especially officers,  visit other clubs and “steal” ideas that you can use in your club.  This kind of stealing isn’t against the law.