Fulfilling Objectives of Project Manuals - Workshops, Mentors

Many people treat Toastmasters as a place where they can practise speeches for their business, for fun, for an objective, prepare a speech without looking at the manual, then look for a project it will fit. They are too busy to read the manual. Several ways to address this: Firstly ensure that the speaker has the manual at every meeting. Add bring your manual to the agenda sent out. Keep doing show of hands, who remembered the manual, who forgot. Ask those who remembered their manual to explain why they bring it and how they remember and find it.

 WORKSHOPS Run a regular workshop at a meeting every three months on using manuals for all new members.

MENTORS Ask mentors to explain the manual before new members give the first speech. Assign mentors for all ten speeches, not just the first three. Remind everyone that to obtain a credit in the leadership manual they have to mentor. Try reverse mentoring. Some clubs insist that members alternate a speech and a role to ensure that roles are filled and that pressure on speech slots is reduced and each member completes both manuals. Assign the person who got the CC without doing projects to be a mentor. Ask their mentee, a member who has completed their CC and is doing it again, to ask the mentor for help in choosing subjects fitting the role. Pick the most diplomatic member to discuss this privately. Hold a meeting workshop devoted to the subject of using manuals, with demos of speeches or how to tweak them to fit the manual.

READING ALOUD OBJECTIVES AT MEETINGS Ensure that objectives are read out by the evaluator before each speech.

OPENING SPEECH AT MEETING COVERS MANUALS Ask whoever opens the meeting, The President or the Toastmaster of the evening, to remind audience before voting that the project should have fulfilled the objectives so the speakers are more likely to win a ribbon if following objectives. Run regular workshops on using manuals or ask TME to describe the use of manuals in the opening speech at every meeting. Assign mentors for all ten speeches, not just the first three.

PRE-VOTING REMINDER Mention manual objectives before voting for best speech.Assign mentor whose job is to speak to each speaker after their speech, in the break, to discuss how project objectives can be filled in next project to ensure speech follows manual. Ask the evaluator to mention whether speech fulfils the objectives. Point out that all aspects of speaking covered by projects are used in judging at contests. Do a 'roast' on the person who does not follow the manual, the real person, or a fictional character. (Anybody doing a roast should check that the person they are mentioning is happy with every part of the speech. Even if the subject says he does not want that subject mentioned, you have had the chance to raise it.
Angela Lansbury