Speaking and Listening: Toastmasters Experience

 A fellow Toastmasters member asked me for tips on running a hybrid meeting and I realized:  What a great opportunity for a blog post!  So here it goes... In our "life with COVID" world, many organizations (including Toastmasters and its clubs) are seeking to offer flexible participation in events.  In other words, we give people the option of whether they want to travel to a designated location to participate in a meeting where fellow participants are also gathered OR join on their own computer, tablet, or phone from their home, office, etc.  This meeting with options for how to attend is often referred to as "hybrid." To run a successful Toastmasters hybrid meeting, you need to consider all four of the following types of participants: "In person" audience member "In person" speaker Remote audience member Remote speaker You will always have both "in person" and remote audience members.  Whether you currently have an "in person...

Last month, I was elected to the position of "Division Director" within Toastmasters.  In this role, I must recruit three "Area Directors" who will each provide insights and guidance to five Toastmasters clubs.  As I reach out to individuals and ask them to fill this role, I reflect on my experience as Area Director back in 2015-2016.  When I agreed to the role, I knew some basics of what was expected of me, but did not understand the whole scope of what I would experience until I was "on the job."  Fortunately, the surprises were overwhelmingly positive and I learned a lot.  What follows are some of my key experiences from my time as an Area Director. Leadership Skills Training .   Area Directors in my District get to attend training every month.  While this may seem like a "responsibility," I found it to really be a reward of the role.  The year I was Area Director, we all took an "Emotional Intelligence" test and reflected on our res...