Toastmasters International has been the most influential organization in my personal and professional development. Over the years I have been a member, I have become more confident, more action orientated, and better able to accomplish the goals I have established for myself. With that being said, there is one trap that Toastmasters has created and I wonder if you have fallen into it yourself.

What is the trap?

Imagine for a moment that you are in a presentation outside of a Toastmasters meeting. As you sit there listening to the speaker, what do you notice?

• Is the speaker pacing the room in a way that is annoying?
• Does the speaker laugh too hard at his or her own jokes?
• Did the speaker point directly at someone in the audience?
• Was the speaker using ums, ahs, you knows, and other filler words?
• Did the speaker not have a clear opening, body, and closing?

If that is all you picked up from the speaker, then you have fallen into the trap.

The trap is expecting every speaker to speak like a Toastmaster.

As a Toastmaster, you learn a system for speaking more effectively. The Toastmasters system makes you more confident, effective, and better prepared as a speaker. What the system also does is create a trap that makes you believe that every speaker has to speak like a Toastmaster.

The secret to being a respected speaker is not that you have eliminated filler words, but that you have changed the lives of the audience for the better.

If you have a desire to become a professional speaker, then know that the person that is writing the check is not deducting money for each um and uh. They are paying you to make a lasting impact on the lives of the audience. This can be done with or without the techniques taught by Toastmasters.

I was reminded of this fact when I was reading a public speaking advice blog. The writer of the blog was critiquing one of the most highly paid coaches and speakers in the world, Marshall Goldsmith. In his critique, he talked about the bad habits Marshall had and how it distracted from his effectiveness as a speaker.

Having read Marshall Goldsmith’s bestselling book, I was interested, so I watched the video the blog referenced:

Was laughing at his own jokes annoying?

Did he not follow all of the “rules” of public speaking?

Yes, but that video changed my life for the better. After the first few moments, it didn’t matter what habits he had. All that mattered is that I am far better off in life after watching the presentation. That is more than I can say from many technically perfect presentations I have seen.

Do we need to continue to improve our speaking habits?

Yes, but the most important part of the speech is the message. Focusing on the techniques can be a trap for many Toastmasters and loosening up a little on “the rules” could be good for us all.

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I have noticed a disturbing trend in the Toastmasters clubs that I am active. A new member will join, give a speech or two, and then send an e-mail that says, “I am sorry, but I just don’t have the time for Toastmasters anymore.”

The irony of these e-mails is that they tend to come from people that would benefit the most from being an active member. I have collected some excuses that people use and want to present some ideas on the meaning behind the excuses.

I don’t have time for Toastmasters

Did you know that Toastmasters can make you more efficient in managing your time? By working with the Vice President of Education, you can plan out when you are going to give your first ten speeches and when you are going to do your first ten Competent Leader projects. Doing this will demonstrate how to effectively make time for meetings, roles, and projects in your life.

I am not advancing as quickly as I wanted to in Toastmasters

In Toastmasters, you only get out what you put in. Have you put the time in preparing and practicing your speeches? Have you been proactive in scheduling roles on the club calendar? Have you served as a club leader? Have you asked someone for feedback on where you are now compared to when you joined? If you answered no to any of these questions, then you might not have put anything into your club, so how do you expect to get anything out?

It’s Not the Right Time in My Life

Really . . . when is it ever going to be? For any activity in you life, there might never be a right time. There will always be work, family, and other issues that can be used as excuses to not doing something. In many cases, these excuses are nothing more then an excuse for your fear of improving. Where else will you find a supporting environment for improvement? No where that I know of.

What excuses have you heard?

Depending on your length of time in the organization, you might have heard similar excuses or many more. What have you heard? What do you think the reason is behind the excuse? How can a club overcome them to keep the people that need this organization?

Let us know in the comments.

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I Have a Dream

I dream of traveling the world to speak to audiences about technology, leadership, and personal development. The past five years, I have worked hard at becoming an excellent speaker. However, being a great speaker is only part of the equation.

What it Takes to be a Professional Speaker

In order to be a professional speaker, you need a combination of speaking skill, knowledge, and marketing.  I have the first two, but I am struggling at becoming a marketable speaker.

You Can Help Me

One of the top ways to be recognized as a marketable speaker, is to be seen speaking at major events. An event that I have always wanted to speak at is South by Southwest (SXSW), a music, film, and interactive media festival. The SXSW event is a key event for me, because it lets me reach a young, technologically savvy, and forward thinking audience.

To help me, you can vote for my proposed presentation for the event.

What you need to do:

1. Visit http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/3264
2. Register on the site in order to vote
3. Vote for my presentation
4. Leave me a comment after you vote

If you vote for me, you rock.

If not, then that is OK too.

Thank you for your support!

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Today’s guest post is from Bob Jensen, a fellow Champions’ EDGE Member. In his post, Bob discusses Club Coaches and how a coach can assist struggling Toastmasters clubs. Bob’s article is a great overview of the club coach program and I am grateful for his contribution.

Toastmasters International recognizes that there is a natural ebb and flow to club membership cycle. Unless proper care and feeding is given to a Toastmaster club’s membership program, an otherwise strong club might find itself facing a precipitous decline in membership in a relatively short period of time.

Once a club has 12 or fewer members, the chances of the entire club folding are very high.  “Club Coaches” are promoted by Toastmasters International as the official remedy for clubs on life support.

Why does club membership decline?

Toastmasters International points out that there are many factors affecting club membership, such as unexciting/routine programs, layoffs in corporate clubs, etc.

What I’ve noticed are several distinct trends, in particular:

• Corporate clubs start out very strong, but around the 18 to 24 month mark in a club’s lifecycle, membership drops off as members get their Competent Communicator award and do not wish to pursue any of the advanced manuals. This is typically around 35% of a club’s membership! Without a steady stream of replacements within the company (new hires and newly interested employees), a club chartered at the usual strength of 20 can dip down to a precarious 12 or so members very quickly.
• Some clubs have a number of “grizzled veterans” who have plans to become professional speakers. They have completed many advanced manuals and now use their club to practice their off-manual speeches. New members may join but often get frustrated after delivering their icebreaker speeches and disappear.
• Many clubs will have a year being led by very successful “Type A” leaders. These leaders often do a less-than-adequate job of grooming their successors, or promote “followers” who lack the leadership experience to continue a club’s success in subsequent years.

Enter the Club Coach

A club that hits the magic 12 member threshold can (and should) request a club coach from their District Governor as soon as possible.  A District Governor can appoint up to two club coaches to a specific club.

I’ve seen three types of club coaches:

• The hard-charging energetic newcomer, relatively inexperienced in Toastmasters (maybe has a CC) but has the enthusiasm to make a difference.
• The midlevel Toastmaster, three to five years experience, who is looking for the checkoff required on the DTM requirement to serve successfully as a club sponsor/club coach.
• The Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM), who has done this before and enjoys doing this….or is doing a favor for the District Governor.

Each of the above club coach types has its own unique benefits and pitfalls. A DTM, for example, while having a wealth of experience, may be somewhat older and set in his/her ways.

It is vitally important to negotiate a good fit between the club coach and the toastmasters club. It is perfectly acceptable to ask the District Governor for a trial period (60 days should be fine) to see if a Club Coach is agreeable to your members. Make it very clear to the District Governor that your club reserves the right to seek a replacement club coach if it feels there is not a good fit!!

Club coaches do receive training from Toastmasters International, however, a good many coaches tend to disregard some or all of this training. Some club coaches arrive at a club with the intention of remaking the club into the image of their “home” club, in direct contradiction of Toastmaster policy.

Members should realize that the primary function of club coaches is to provide advice and direction.

Beware the Ides of ….APRIL?

Toastmasters collect club dues in October and April of each year. Quite often, club membership will decline in the April dues period to the magic number of 12.

There is a special situation you should watch out for in April: there is a certain type of Toastmaster who sees an opportunity to get a “quick” club coach credit by volunteering in April with the intent of manipulating the system to get a quick DCP credit by June 30th (the end of the Toastmaster year). In essence, these Toastmasters want to compress a year’s assignment into a few short months. Be particularly wary of accepting any club coach in this period. They’ll often join your club and contribute a CC or an advanced award they’re working on, and will focus almost entirely on membership building, including applying heavy pressure on former members to rejoin  (offering unofficial “club discounts” for renewals) and occasionally signing “phantom members” (club coach spouses being first and foremost). These club coaches won’t fix underlying issues, they merely supply a fresh coat of paint over a rickety foundation.

Club coaches CAN help

Like everything else in life, there is a vast range in the quality of Toastmaster club coaches. Some Toastmasters can give great speeches but cannot supply club leadership, and vice versa. A club coach is only as good as the Toastmaster filling the role. Make sure you have a good fit with your club, have expectations  discussed and agreed to in writing, and work as equal partners with your club coach and a faltering club can right itself and become successful once again.

Bob Jensen is a District 14 Toastmaster living in Peachtree City, GA.  He is a member of the Peachtree City Toastmasters club.

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Sitting in a training class, I found myself starting to wonder about the point of the class. We had an agenda, workbooks, and trainers but the point was slipping away. You could see the attention of the audience slip and the trainers begin to go on to autopilot. What was one thing that the trainers could have done to get our attention from the start and keep it through the two days of training?

Ed Tate in one of his lessons on the Champions Edge shared with me a technique that gets the audience interested in your presentation, and keeps them engaged in long speeches or training sessions. Before we get to the lesson, let me share with you how our facilitator started the class I attended.

She first reviewed the agenda for the next two days. After reviewing the agenda, she gave an introduction to the HR department and talked about the resources that the HR department had available for managers. Though the speaking was pleasant, it didn’t get my attention or keep me engaged. I have attended many classes, presentations, and workshops where the opening did not compel us to be engaged. Not engaging the audience reduces the value of the information you will share and makes it more difficult to sell your message over the length of the presentation.

The lesson that Ed Tate shared was to sell the benefits of the training at the beginning of the class. Don’t review the agenda, which only describes the content of the training, but share what the expected outcome of the training will be on the participants.

Think of how this could have been accomplished in the class I attended recently:

“At the end of this training course, you will have the tools to save at least an hour a week that you would have spent looking for the information we will share with you. In one hour, we will share with you nine HR pitfalls that managers trained in avoiding, have saved 10 million dollars of litigation expenses for our company and they will help you keep your. Managers that have taken this course previously, have saved the company over three million dollars in expenses related to employee medical affairs.”

In order to capture the attention of an audience, you have to sell them on what they are going to learn. If you demonstrate to them that this information can be used to have a positive impact, then you will get your audience to pay attention to what you have to say. Not selling your major points can cause confusion and it will make it harder to sell your points when you get to them in the presentation.

As you work on long presentations, training sessions, and workshops be aware of the benefits that your attendees will gain. Then when opening your session, share specifically what monetary, time, or other benefits can be had from paying attention. Sharing the benefit will increase attention, engagement, and give people a sense that you are providing value which makes them engaged.

Leave a comment and let us know the last time you heard an engaging or disengaging opening to a speech.

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