Top Toastmaster Club Meeting Tips

As an Area Director of Toastmasters, one of my duties is to visit each of the clubs and give a report on what each club is doing well and what each club should consider improving. I’ve finished my rounds for Spring 2018 and I can say that there are definitely some best practices that I think could be applied across the board. Even within a 10 mile radius, the clubs I oversee have their own set of quirks which sets them apart, here are my top 3 I’ve seen this Spring!

1. Using Speech Evaluation for all Evaluations

Typically, all club members are invited to provide feedback to the speaker via generic evaluation slips based on what you saw, what you heard, and the material quality of the presentation. Specific speech evaluations are only filled out by the evaluator for the day. Given how subjective speeches are by nature, I have found that using the more tailored evaluation slips give the speaker a better overall view on how they met project goals through a variety of perspectives. This can easily be implemented by the speaker if they copy a few evaluation slips from their book or the Toastmaster of the Day can implement this if the speaker knows the project speech ahead of time.

2. Creative Table Topics

One of the easiest ways to add flair to a meeting is through the Table Topics section. You can try searching online for creative questions or use a chat pack or the TableTopics game. Of the 6 clubs I visited, 2 added a twist to the normal question and answer session. One Table Topics Master included a portion where members were instructed to give their response to a question to someone they don’t speak to often in the room. This allowed guests and members to connect in a casual way, but was also constructive for member development since the question was around goals. The second Table Topics Master had a bag of mystery dollar store items that members would volunteer to come up to the front, pick one, and sell it to the crowd. I’m not sure how to take the fact that the item I was specifically asked to sell was a rainbow manure emoji battery bank charger, but I am a little more disturbed that no one that I worked with has questioned why it is at my desk yet…

3. Add Education Designations to the Agenda

If the only time people notice the achievements of another is when they achieve the award and it’s not mentioned ever again, the excitement is very fleeting. If you add education designations for everyone in the agenda, it is a visual reminder of the progress they made towards their goal and incur a sense of pride. It can build a sense of achievability and camaraderie if two members are working toward the same goal. This is something relatively easy to do and easy to keep going once the initial entry is complete with the Free Toast site.

Bonus Tip: Question of the Day

At the beginning of one club meeting, the Sargent At Arms posed a question of the day for everyone in the room to answer after they introduce themselves. This gave everyone a chance to get to know each other in the room and start the speaking juices flowing. It also enabled everyone a chance to speak, whether they had a role or not in the meeting. Also, any guests in the room would benefit from the introductions.

Toastmaster club meetings are very unique and it wasn’t until I became an area director and purposefully had to visit a variety of clubs that I was able to appreciate the nuances each group brings to the table. This also means that if one club doesn’t suit your tastes, there are many more available in your area. Using Toastmaster International’s “Find a Club” tool is easy and will let you know if local clubs are restricted to a corporation or open to all as well as an officer contact number.

What best practices have you picked up in your club?