Speaking and Listening: Toastmasters Experience

 Every year, Toastmasters sponsors speech contests at which members can put their speaking skills to the test.  The progression of competition starts at the club, then advances to the Area, Division, and District levels.  Area speech contests start this week, prompting me to share three reasons I think speech contests are great: Pushed outside your comfort zone .  In Toastmasters, one can get used to the comforting setting of their Toastmasters club - a place where members are applauded and encouraged every time they speak.  They get used to the members of their club and can feel an increased ease speaking in front of them.  This is great!  Giving people greater comfort and confidence in presenting is a big part of what Toastmasters is all about.  Yet we don't want to become complacent  in the comfort of our club.  Speech contests challenge participants to speak in new settings in front of a new audience in a new format.  This chall...

Yesterday, I led a discussion among Toastmasters leaders on how to recruit leaders for the next "Toastmasters year," which starts on July 1, 2023.  While the discussion was largely focused on recruiting new leaders, I concluded with the question:  "What will you do next year?"  This was addressed to a group of individuals already in leadership positions, but with the intention of challenging them to continue in a leadership role in some capacity.  The three main options I outlined were: Continue in your current role to keep getting better and apply what you've learned this year Step up to a new, more challenging role to push yourself Serve as a mentor/assistant for a new leader While this was focused on Toastmasters leadership, I think it applies in our work and other volunteer experiences as well.  We should often ask ourselves, "What do I want to do next?" Do I want to continue to improve my skills in my current role in the company or organization? D...

One of my Toastmasters clubs has been getting a fair number of guests at our meetings.  Some come once and seem to disappear while others have come several weeks in a row.  How do I handle these different scenarios?  Essentially the answer is the same for both cases:  Ask and Follow Up! For those who visited once and expressed an interest to return but have not yet returned, I am sending them emails asking  them to come visit our club again and asking  them if they have any questions.  Because doing this only once is probably not enough, I have also saved off my emails into a follow up  folder in hopes that I will remember to follow up again if I don't hear back from them or see them at a future meeting.  This follow up  folder is new, so we'll see how it goes! For those who visit multiple times, I ask  them to join the club and ask them if they have any questions.  If I'm really on top of things, I'll ask them if they want to ...