You can do the same with football/soccer-the General Evaluator becomes the referee, the Topicsmaster becomes the goalkeeper, kicking ideas back to members, and the speakers become the offensive line. Turn a normal meeting into a special event! One club in the United States held an Academy Awards meeting where the Toastmaster wore a tuxedo, the Table Topics questions related to movies and the winners gave acceptance speeches! Another club honored the American baseball season with a meeting in which each member assumed a baseball- related role: The Toastmaster became the manager, the General Evaluator became the head umpire, speakers became batters and the Topicsmaster became the pitcher. The drama adds a layer of excitement as even the prepared speeches feel like Table Topics. Any member may end up as Toastmaster, speaker or evaluator. Use a fill-in-the-blanks agenda, or a flipchart or whiteboard where you write in the roles chosen from the bag. Designate your next meeting as a grab- bag where, upon the arrival of members, all meeting roles are drawn from a bag filled with slips of paper. For example, a Minnesota club with a connection to a club in Sao Paulo, Brazil, joined a lively charter Skype party for the new Brazilian club.Ī grab-bag meeting. It will require some creative logistics and cooperation between clubs. The extra people and energy from this joint meeting doubles your fun! For a truly different experience, schedule a Skype meeting with a club in another part of the country or the world. It’s exciting to entertain guests who already know the Toastmasters traditions. You can host them for one meeting, and they can reciprocate another time. Create a new environment and the experience will surely feel fresh and exciting.Ĭampinas #1 Toastmasters, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, shared its charter party via Skype with the Minnesota Returned Peace Corps Volunteers club in the U.S.įind one that meets nearby at the same time.

Add flowers, a scent or some fun decorations for further effect. Remember, environment informs experience. Or consider removing the table and holding the meeting in a circle or semi-circle, a chevron pattern (inverted-V shape) or some other configuration of chairs. Other variations: If your lectern is at the narrow end of a long table, try placing it in front of the wide side. If possible, put it at the opposite end and feel the difference. Change it up by reversing the location of the lectern before the next meeting. Many times, we accept the room layout as a given: the placement of the lectern, chairs and tables. Here are some ways to spice up meetings with changes of pace, fresh ideas and a dose of fun to create a renewed vitality: Changing your meetings helps to keep it exciting.”

Everything is exciting at first and then, if you’re not careful, it can become dull and routine. Past International Director Paula Tunison, DTM, puts it this way, “Toastmasters is like a love affair. The Leader Ship club in Lodz, Poland, provides a fun learning experience in a friendly atmosphere.Īdminister this vitamin to your club whenever you feel you’re in a rut or want to do some team building. Yet the remedy is as easy as a little dose of vitamin C-creativity. Over the years I’ve watched clubs succumb to lethargy. Sometimes it’s a result of the sameness of the room, identical meeting formats or the absence of enough new members to infuse the club with new energy. Over time, many clubs become a bit stale, with members lapsing into a routine pattern each week.

Toastmaster meeting agenda template