President's Tip of the Week

The Ah Counter
(3/10/08)

At our first new member orientation, there were a lot of questions asked about the role of the Ah Counter. I'd like to take a moment to go over why we have the Ah Counter and how the function works.

Most important rule: We don't click guests.

Second most important rule: We don't click the three prepared speakers for the night.

Exception: Guests or prepared speakers may ask that you click them. If so, that means that decreasing their fillers is important to them and you should click as if the rule didn't exist.

My personal rule: I don't click evaluators unless they ask. This is totally up to your discretion.

Why do we click anyway?

Clicking provides immediate feedback that a filler has been used. Countless psychological studies have shown that people have an easier time changing behavior when they receive immediate feedback. Getting a report at the end of the meeting (delayed feedback) saying that you had 10 fillers, on the other hand, is not helpful. By this time, you can't remember what you did, so your brain can't process the necessary changes.

At a recent TI training event, one club rep shared that their club had discontinued the click but continued giving end of meeting reports. New members eventually complained that they were frustrated that they weren't decreasing their use of fillers. Once the click was reinstated, those new members were able to clean up their speaking habits rapidly. Clicking works!

If you are the Ah Counter, please use the clicker. You are doing people a service and helping them progress towards their goal of becoming a better speaker.

I just got clicked. What should I do?

When you hear the click, keep going. Don't apologize, don't acknowledge the click, don't thank the ah counter, and don't make a face. Just keep going. Your brain is processing the click and why it happened. That's all that is important. Any other reaction to the click is a distraction from the other things you are trying to achieve with your speech, evaluation, or table topic.