Dear members and distinguished guests, I am Elena. Tonight, I am going to deliver this workshop: Creating the Best Club Climate
Self-introduction
Before the main part of my workshop, I’d like to do a self-introduction, my name is Elena Li and my Chinese name is 李琴。
I joined toastmaster on September 1, 2016 and became the assistant of VPPR, made many posts and Wechat articles. Then Carol, one of our old member asked me to be the VPM in the first half 2017 and in the second half of 2017 I ran for the position of president. And now I am the SAA of our club.
(Interaction)
So how long have I been a member of Toastmaster?
In your opinion, what should a good toastmaster club should be like? Or what do you think what our club should be like? (Interaction)
Why do we create the best club climate, because it is vitally important for a club.A club’s climate is the deciding factor in whether or not guests become members and whether our members continue to participate and remain active. The slogan of our club is we are determined to be excellent and have fun. Do we really make it?
The two deciding factors are learning environment and member interaction.
The learning environment is physical, it means that our meeting room should be clean, the arrangement of the tables and chairs should be suitable for us to deliver lecture. The materials of TMC should be displayed, like our banner and books.
The member interaction means that members give each other encouragement, feedback and support.
The climate of our club will influence the performance and growth of our members. Members want to attend our meeting and eager to deliver their speech and raise hands to take part in the TT section.
Since the club climate is so important for a club, what could we do to create the best club climate. I have three suggestions for that.
Suggestion 1: set a good example for others
If you could do those, you can make a good impression on visitors, set an excellent example for new members, demonstrate your leadership skills to the more experienced members, and continue to enhance your club’s climate:
Firstly, arrive prepared and on time.
Our meeting starts at 7:00PM, you could arrive at least 10 minutes before the meeting begins. And Make sure you have all the appropriate materials, including your office pin or badge, education manual, especially your CL manual and other necessary items.
Secondly, offer to help.
Usually it would take me 10-15 minutes to arrange this room for our meeting. And I would be so glad if someone could help me set up the meeting room before the meeting and help me put away materials after the meeting.
Thirdly, volunteer for committees and offices.
You could be the assistant of VPPR, VPM and VPE and help them deal with club affairs. When your take responsibilities you can grow faster.
Fourth, be supportive
Supportive is one of the feature of our meeting. Listen carefully during the meeting, don’t play your phone or talk to others. Show the speaker your respect and support attitude. When someone come or leave the stage, give them enthusiastic and warmly applause. If it possible, show your big smile.Everyone want to be respect and listened carefully during the speech.
What would you feel when you are delivering your speech, others are playing their phone or don’t care what say. Oh my god! Am I a bad speaker? What I said must be boring so that they don’t want to listen to me. I just want to finish my speech as soon as possibly.
The second suggestion is greeting guests
Many people have never visited a Toastmasters club and will just rely on their first impressions when deciding whether or not to return. If they feel good, they will come again and again and maybe join us one day. But if the feel bad about our club, they may never attend second time.
So making a good impression on guests is critical to the club’s success. By using the following tips, so we could help guests feel welcomed and informed during their first Toastmasters meeting.
Greet guests
Before the meeting:
Greet each guest in a friendly fashion. How are you? How do you know our club. This is not only the job of our greeter and VPM, it is a job of every member. The greeter could introduce the guest to another member, like, hey, Sophie, this is Bona.
Engage them in conversation
Or you could ask, “How did you hear about the club?” and “Why did you decide to visit?”to let them engage them in conversation and you can be more relax when you talk to new person. One tip is that you can introduce the agenda to them and in which session they can attend.
Ask her/him, whether they are in our Club Wechat Group and add them into our group.
Be ready to answer questions
The guests may have many questions about our club, agenda, TMC, or how to join our club please try to answer their questions. if you don’t know the answer to the guest’s question, introduce them to the club officers for further information.
Make an effort to befriend a guest.
Not only will this make a good impression on the guest, it also allows you to earn credit toward the Competent Leader award.
Invite them to another meeting or join in
After the meeting: Ask them, “What did you think of the meeting?” and Ask if they would like to come to another meeting. Or invite them to join the club.
The last suggestion is to show members that you care.
Members are the most important part of a club. Once a person has made the decision to become a Toastmaster, you must be consistent in helping that person participate and learn. Use the tips below to help motivate and encourage both new and existing members.
Firstly, be a mentor.
Be a mentor, you could volunteer to serve as a mentor. When you finish your CC5 speech you could be a mentor and have your mentee. You could encourage new members to present their Ice Breaker speech soon after they join, preferably within the next two meetings. And help your mentee to take roles from easy one.
Or if you haven’t finish your CC5 speech, you could also mentor others, like be a individual evaluator of a speaker or help new members to take role. Share with them your experience. You could encourage new members to present their Ice Breaker speech soon after they join, preferably within the next two meetings.
Secondly, pay attention to continuing members.
Show interest in other members’progress when they finish a prepared speech or a new role. Be aware of your fellow members’goals and do your best to support them. Like when Edward finished his CC3 speech, you could talk to him, what do you like about his speech and your suggestions for him.
What’s more, don’t forget the old members. Be courteous and caring toward old members, like Clay, Victor, also they are experienced members, they still need encouragement and support.
Thirdly, Be considerate.
It means that you should prepare you lecture or assigned meeting roles carefully before the meeting. For example, when you take a new role, like timer, you should take to your mentor or get the material and practice what to say before the meeting, at least one hour.
Then if you are unable to fill a meeting role please tell VPE in advance. Inform your vice president education that you will be ready to give a speech or in our Wechat group. Take on a vacated role if a scheduled participant is unable to attend.
Fourth. Give excellent evaluations.
When you serve as IE,GE please be positive and honest, implement careful appraisals and thoughtful suggestions for improvement.
Consider the project’s objectives.
Think about the speaker’s learning needs. Maybe this is a lot for her/him to improve, but maybe she/he could learn at once.
Fifth. Recognize achievements.
Congratulate speakers who have shown particular improvement. Congratulate members who have achieved recognition.
Acknowledge individuals who have earned an education award. Like they finished their CC or CL manual.
Six, Foster camaraderie means friendship
Be warm and friendly toward other members. Establish a sense of fellowship within your club. Like we could also eat together or climb the mountain. There is a saying, TMC where leaders are made, and TMC, where couples are made, maybe one day, there would be couples
Let’s have a review together, the two deciding factors of a club climate are learning environment and member interaction. Three suggestions are Set an example, welcome guests, show members that you care.
Together, we can create the best club climate and keep our club thriving.
We are determined to be excellent and have fun.