I didn't expect to become the President of Goodyear Toastmasters, especially just months after joining. Somehow, I got nominated and then elected. I knew I could fill the role but still felt awkward.
Modesty
At the start of club meetings, we introduce ourselves. In the beginning, I was reluctant to say I was President. I didn't want to look superior to other members. I'm more of a servant leader. Titles don't matter. Being President doesn't make you better at Table Topics or speaking. Yet titles raise expectations.
Within weeks, I became comfortable stating my position in person and on LinkedIn. It's funny how a title bestows more authority. Your opinions carry more weight. I knew that happened from my years in the corporate world. I had 10 staff and indirect influence over dozens more.
Mandate
Now I feel proud of the role and what we've achieved in our club. If you want to run for club executive, have an inspiring vision in mind backed by a plan that can be implemented within a year.
My focus was on leaving a legacy that the 30 year old Goodyear Toastmasters club could celebrate in 10 years on our 40th anniversary. This required replacing the website and embracing social media to accumulate our history (see the living legacy Viewpoint).
The Meetup group is successful. Twitter is sporadic (@gytm81). This blog is doing well (this is the 49th post!) and traffic is growing (but there are too few contributors). Some members have put videos on our YouTube channel.
Overall
Overall, I feel more confident due to being President. I'm perceived as a better speaker. My LinkedIn profile looks more credible too. The overall experience has been excellent.
A club role may be ideal for you. There are positions for different levels of experience (including none). If don't want to run but get nominated, please don't reject the nomination without suitable consideration. You’ll lose an opportunity to make a difference and improve yourself.
This is post is specifically about Goodyear Toastmasters but our process can apply to other clubs. We've already appointed an Election Chair and held an Election Panel.
Election Chair
The Election Chair oversees the whole election process. This includes informing/motivating members, collecting nominations and running the election. Our Chair is a former club President who is not running for a position.
Election Panel
Members may not know
the specifics of an executive role
the profile of a suitable candidate
As a result, members --- especially new ones --- may feel a role is beyond their capabilities.
To overcome these concerns, we had an election panel in which the current executive explained and answered questions.
Since some members were unable to attend and others might want a refresher, we put a video on YouTube. I can't share the link since the video is candid and some people get concerned about being filmed. That means viewing is restricted to club members.
Nominations
The Election Chair will send additional details to members and answer questions. The names of nominees are not announced until the time of the election. That means there is no formal campaigning.
Exceeding Expectations
If a club has problems, you can likely make improvements and get labeled a hero. What if the club is already running well? Candidates may wonder how to exceed the already high expectations. This is a false concern. Improvements can always be made.
The unexpected happens too. During this term, there were rumours that our room rental rates might skyrocket. That could have required an unwelcome boost in membership fees. Luckily, nothing materialized.
Voting
The club has excellent members which will make voting challenging. Members who do not get elected can still participate.
You can discuss taboo topics in Toastmasters if you're inventive. What you want to achieve? That's the core question.
Let's say you want to talk about politics. What's your goal?
Do you want to test your persuasive skills?
Do you want feedback on the logic of your arguments?
Are you trying to share your passion?
Your approach would vary for each.
Persuasion
If your topic is controversial, you'll have difficulty convincing members with strong opinions. Why not let them persuade themselves?
You could give a Viewpoint. Here you share you give background and your opinions for a few minutes. The Chair then leads a group discussion. You take notes and summarize the results at the end.
A Debate is another option. Here attendees think of arguments to support their side and negate their opponents. The discussions tend to be lively but not deep. The goal is to win rather than have a civilized discourse.
Involving your audience gives you a better understanding of how others think. You will likely see that opinions vary. You might even change your own thinking.
Logic
If you want to test the logic of your arguments, get group feedback. With a Viewpoint, the Chair runs most of the segment. You may wish to maintain control by giving a Lesson instead. Express your thoughts and leave enough time for a group discussion (which you lead).
Perhaps you want the audience to role play. Perhaps you want us to pretend that we're undecided voters or opposing voters.
Passions
You might be passionate about a polarizing topic like abortion. Remember that your Toastmasters club is a place for you to develop your skills. Your topic may get in the way and prevent you from getting better.
When you're passionate, your enthusiasm will affect the audience. You might not see flaws in your thinking because you see your views as "obvious". You could easily be wrong.
If your topic is controversial, you may get labeled a zealot. How does that help you going forward?
Substitution
You may be better results by discussing an uncontentious topic instead. Perhaps a topic that members know little about. For instance, you might talk about a hobby like woodworking. Since you know the subject, you can focus on developing your skills.
Promod Sharma has used Toastmasters to discuss topics ranging from the boring (e.g., insurance) to the polarizing (e.g., social media). His website is at promodsharma.com.
You practiced your presentation in your club but you made many mistakes in your delivery outside. You know because you recorded yourself. How could you get worse? Let's explore what goes wrong.
Cocoon
Your club is a warm, friendly environment (if not, look for another club). You know the members and they know you. You're familiar with the layout of the room and the equipment.
Outside
Outside is different. You may not know anyone where you're speaking. Traffic may have frazzled your nerves en route to the event. Construction, accidents and traffic jams occur at the most awkward times.
You may never have seen the venue before. The room layout may have obstructions. The audience may be closer or further away than you'd like. The microphone may be fixed to the podium rather than wearable. The sound system may be weak or cause distortion.
You may not have time to setup because another speaker is preceding you and you prefer to use your own equipment.
Example
Here's an example of a recent presentation. I was setup but an organizer did a brief presentation first. There wasn't enough time to put both presentations on the same computer. I could only setup again after getting introduced and there was a slight glitch (which I removed from the video). This made the introduction more stressful and less impactful.
The camera angle is awkward but I needed a spot that didn't obstruct the audience's view or pick up sound from the projector's fan.
I used more crutchwords than usual. I'm glad there's no royalty for "so". Some sentences should have been been split up. After all, periods are free. I lost my train of thought on occasion. I have better answers to questions now than at the time.
Whatever
Despite the shortcomings, the audience was satisfied. We tend to be more critical of ourselves then they are. They didn't know that I forgot to deliver my summary after the question period. They do know that, my microphone transmitter fell to the floor with a thump. That's embarrassing but not a show-stopper. A show-pauser perhaps?
If you don't record yourself, your memory will distort the events. You may think you're better or worse than you were. Either way, you lose an opportunity to improve.
Keep practicing in your club. You may never be as comfortable outside but you will get better.
The Chair or Toastmaster reads the thoughts when introducing the club member. Examples follow.
Thoughts From The Table Topics Master
This is what Magie wrote:
The title of my book would be “The Hard Asked Questions”. It would be recommended for married couples or those who plan to get married. My book would cover controversial questions that you dare to ask your significant other. It encourages open communication to help couples get to know each other better in your not-so-typical discussions. It would be located in the self-help section in the book store right beside Dr. Phil’s book called “Relationship Rescue”.
Thoughts From The Toastmaster
This is what Ed wrote:
My new novel is about a homeless man who kicks a can out of anger and frustration one cold night. He hears a rattling inside the can and empties it into his palm. A shriveled green pea falls into his hand. Something beyond his understanding compels him to make a wish. A most incredible, supernatural tale unfolds at this point but I shall not ruin the rest of the story for you. The book is called, " The Old Can and the Pea". My pen name is Bernie Hemway and I'm self-publishing because most publishers don't know a good story when they read it. Look for it in paperback. No tree has every saved me from anything.
Thoughts from the General Evaluator
This is what Jonathan wrote (not read due to timing constraints):
I LOVE writing - no joke! When I was less than 10 years old I started writing a Pokemon story that was nearly 100 pages long, handwritten (never finished it). I've been in the process of writing a fantasy novel for the past couple of years but so far I've really only worked on the backstory for it - hope to be able to take that a little more seriously!
As you can see, these thoughts are well-considered and diverse. They are also lengthy, which can affect the meeting timing.
Building rapport with your audience is essential, but how? One common way is to thank the introducer and make irrelevant comments. Telling a joke falls into this category. Common doesn't mean optimal.
The Big Stage
There's another way: Get into your talk. At big events, you may notice the speaker enters from the side of the stage away from the introducer. While the audience claps, the speaker gets into position. After a pause, the speaker starts. This gives the speaker maximum impact and control.
Common
Contrast that with thanking everyone and giving a preamble about what you're going to talk about or other miscellaneous thoughts. You're building rapport but you're not building anticipation.
Concerts start with the music. There's time for the "How are you all doin'? It's great to be back in (fill in the blank)." later in the performance.
Movies and stories don't start with a roadmap. They grab you at the start and draw you in. Your speech can too.
Backstory
Your audience may be interested in the backstory to your speech. Where did you get the idea? How did you go about preparing? What mishaps did you encounter? What did you take out? What else do you want the audience to know?
In a movie, there’s the Director's Commentary. In a book, there are footnotes. For a speech, there's a blog.
A blog gives you unlimited space to augment what you did on stage. You can post a video recording and add your commentary. I've done this. For example, here is a behind-the-scenes look and a backstory. What do you think?
When you remove the preamble, you maximize the impact of your performance and enhance your digital tapestry. For some, your backstory may prove to be more interesting and lasting than your actual speech.
Promod ("pro-MODE") Sharma blogs about marketing and risk.
No matter what you do, you will be misunderstood. Everyone is but you're not powerless. These three steps reduce the risk.
Simplify your content
Energize your delivery
Practice in your club
Simplify Your Content
You know your content but what's "obvious" to you may baffle your audience. It's very easy to include too much content without realizing you have. You might leave out intermediate steps that lead to your conclusion. You may make references that aren't universally understood or that have multiple meanings.
Reducing your content to the essentials adds impact to your message. TED Talks provide excellent examples of what you can do in 18 minutes or less.
Energize Your Delivery
When you have less content, you have less to remember. Now look for ways to add impact to your delivery. Your Toastmaster manuals give tips. Use vocal variety.
Record yourself on video. During the playback, step out of your body and pretend you're watching a stranger. What would you change?
Practice In Your Club
Arrange to practice in your club. At Goodyear Toastmasters, we have a weekly 15-20 minute segment for a Lesson, Debate or Viewpoint. That's ideal. There's enough time to speak for 10 minutes and get suggestions from members. I have used this facility several times.
How do you get on the agenda? The best way is through the VP of Education. Ours sets the schedule a month in advance. Another way is by contacting the meeting Chair in advance.
The group feedback is especially valuable since you're getting an appraisal of both your content and delivery. You still won't be understood by everyone but you'll get suggestions on how to increase your chances.
Promod Sharma is an actuary who keeps looking for ways to be understood (www.promodsharma.com).
by Promod Sharma, President 2011-2012, CC
