Club officer training - what I'd like next time

What did I enjoy?

New information - from Coralie.
Display of Toastmasters Promise.
Display of banners with ribbons.
Slide presentation.
Coconuts as prizes.
Food and drink on arrival.

What could be improved or changed?
Get to the other participants, their names, position in their club, their contact details.

Photo of those at the event to put on Facebook/website and encourage others to attend the next event.

Show manual cover and say on which page to find information. (I was faffing around in wrong manual and interrupted speaker Coralie before I found it.

Something for everyone so those not getting the coconut prize got a pen or a chocolate.

Give out pen and paper at start or check everybody has got them or ask everybody to get out paper and pen from their bags or email asking them to bring paper and pen.

Email venue organiser/club president, ask who is booking venue eg Sergeant at Arms AA, email them (SAA or whoever) and ask for written confirmation that venue is booked.

People should not sit behind others with the same name. Those with same name should have first letter of surname on badge. We had two Angela's at this meeting. Only two days earlier two people called Mike, one behind another, stood up when TME called on Mike to speak.

What extras would I like next time?
A Speed-dating style start where you exchange your details with other participants to encourage networking.

Name badges with club and current or previous or potential posts held. Ask me about/I'd like to know about tick box on badge.

Trouble-shooting guide on each committee post. eg Challenges of a President and falling numbers; quick panel one sentence anser on how to deal with it. How to replace a committee member who resigns a week later.

A write up of the event to remind us what we learned and pass it on to those who did not attend and keep a record for future years.

To create your own survey go to: surveymonkey.com/survey

Angela Lansbury, speaker, author of: Quick Quotations; Wedding Speeches & Toasts.
Member of Harrovians and HOD Toastmasters clubs.
Posts held previously:
Secretary, HOD.
President, Harrovians.

Checklist for speakers, training, contests and other meetings

We just had a setback to a an area training meeting. Only three days before the training we discovered the person who normally books the venue where we meet had not booked it. He now said that the venue had been booked by another group. Other choices included a church hall which would be occupied with religious ceremonies on a Sunday. Other committee members said they had no time and it wasn't their problem.

The President was cross, conceded that the buck stopped with him, but he was out all next day (Friday) and had to find somebody else to fix the problem. You either delegate down or up. So he texted up to the Area Governor.

How can you prevent this sort of disaster happening?

I think the only way is to send around a checklist to every person involved station what you are expecting them to do and asking them to confirm by email that they have successfully decided, done or planned to do tasks including:

1 Book venue.
From time you need to set up until time you have packed up.

2 Arrange catering.
Inform attendees about catering lack or catering and restrictions. (Tea and biscuits provided. Free sandwiches / cake/ fruit provided before, at interval, at end. Please eat first. Please bring sandwiches (any kind - or any restrictions eg no meat in Hindu/vegetarian venue). Please bring drinks/ water. Or no drinks allowed.

3 Organise Props and stationery:
Flip charts, projection, extension leads, computers, thumb drives, banners, certificates, agendas, voting forms, badges. Lecterns.

4 Reminders and directions.
Send participants reminders of date, time place and directions. Google maps. Club website.

Organise key holder and those setting up room.

Contacts
1 List phone numbers of contacts of property owner (in case you reach venue and find it is locked);
2 Tell everybody the phone of the trouble shooting contact: club president, or SAA, or VPE, key holder, whoever is required to be first on the scene.
Tell everybody the contact before and during meeting who has a phone on silent vibrate to help anybody lost en route, near the building, outside, or inside looking for the room.

Angela Lansbury, speaker, photo journalist and author.

How to revive a dying/dwindling speakers club

A man who has started fifteen clubs and revived a dying/dwindling club gave me the benefit of his experience which I am passing on to you.

Andy O'Sullivan is the man. He is a member of a London public speaking club. I had met him previously when I sat next to him at a workshop in central London. He visited HOD Toastmasters and gave me this advice:

1 Fit the room size and chair numbers.
He went to a club which had dwindling numbers. They met in a huge hall seating 1-200, but put out 30 chairs and had only 15 or fewer members who looked lost in the huge space. He moved them into a smaller room which they could fill.

2 Have a friendly welcome at the door.
Put one or two people on the door so the moment a visitor walks in somebody speaks to them.
(I was the meeter and greeter at HOD. I and the topics master sat at a small desk by the door.

I had copies of the Speakers' CC manual clipped to a clip board by the blank back cover with the club name on the cover, so the copy did not get lost or abandoned and could be seen easily when I wanted to retrieve it and replace it in the cupboard at the end of the evening. I attached a piece of A4 paper to a clip board. I wrote down the name of the person entering, or asked them to write their name in capital letters. I added the short form or nickname in quotation marks and underlined the name or nickname we should use.

I write M for member or G for guest. I ask whether they came through a friend or website.
We achieved getting the names of the guests so we could ensure a confident members of the club spoke first to demonstrate how to do a table topic, then guests to ensure those without a role (of speaker or evaluator etc) all got a turn.

However, one of our guests declined to stand. Another stood and could not understand the question or formulate an answer. Despite our reassurance that simply standing up on stag is the first step, it will probably take a phone call to enthusiastically invite him back to ensure he has the confidence and enthusiasm to return.

I should have asked guests if they were happy stand up and speak for a minute or two in a table topic, and any subjects they could talk about. (We had two guests with broken English who were nervous about standing up. If we had asked them about their job, or home or family or their native language or why they want to learn public speaking, we could probably have got them on stage.)

3 Make your club name clear and findable on the internet
We have discussed changing our club name at both clubs of which I am a member, Harrovians and HOD. Each time we had objections, about confusion, tradition, and especially about the cost of new banners and stationery, feedback forms and badges, changing certificates, the cost and time needed to inform HQ and change websites.

Andy said you don't have to change the club name. All you need to do is have a headline of the new 'name' which people might search for, such as French Public Speakers Club, New York Public Speakers Club, and direct readers to your website and venue.

Angela Lansbury, speaker and author.