President's Tip of the Week

Life Beyond Gilbert
(5/18/09)

Say it isn’t so! Yes, it is true, there is life outside of Gilbert Toastmasters. No, I’m not talking about personal life — I, of all people, have no right to attempt such a discussion—I am talking about life in Toastmasters. I’ve learned a lot from other clubs while visiting around the District, some lessons that I could have done without, and others that have really enriched my Toastmasters experience.

I’m not suggesting we institute any of these things, but I did want to share a few of the gems I’ve picked up at other clubs to give you an idea of some of the things you can learn by visiting other clubs:

Secret Greeter: I tried bringing this to our club several years back, but it didn’t take. The goal is for everyone to greet everyone else. Fines are levied to members who failed to shake the secret greeter’s hand by the start of the meeting. We excel at friendliness and greetings and don’t really need this role, but I thought it was a fun idea anyway.

Latecomer’s Report: I saw this just a couple of weeks ago at East Valley Echoes and I thought it was hilarious! “Barbara, you walked in late this morning. Would you please stand and explain why?” Of course, it added to the fun when Barbara’s response was, “I come here every week but this morning I somehow managed to just drive right by. I can’t explain it.” By the way, this is a club that starts its meeting at 6:15 am.

Toastmaster’s Evaluation: The first thing that impressed me about the first club I was assign as club coach to was that they had an evaluation form for the Toastmaster. Personally I would prefer an evaluation form for the evaluators (we may be instituting this in the future), but I liked the concept.

There are others, but I think you get the idea. Probably the most important thing I learned by visiting other clubs is that we truly have the best club around. We are a well-oiled machine that encourages excellence. With our larger club size comes challenges, though. If you feel you are not speaking as often as you like, visiting other clubs might be an option for you. You could join a struggling club (in addition to ours, of course) and get the best of both worlds—quality (Gilbert) as well as quantity (struggling club) - while helping out this struggling club at the same time. The Toastmasters program is so great that even under less than ideal conditions, you can still learn and grow. Talk to me or Liz if you’re interested!