TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS

For the Toastmaster of the Meeting: Tips for a Successful Meeting

Note: These tips are written for members of Village Toastmasters and apply to our particular traditions. Our meetings are held Thursday mornings, and the timeframes here reflect this. However, the basic principles contained herein can be applied to any club's meetings.

Have you noticed that all of our meetings are good, but some are just better? Sometimes it seems like a second waker-upper is needed, while other meetings are full of energy. What's the difference?

The difference is preparation. The job of the Toastmaster of the meeting is not particularly difficult. The Toastmaster need not make speeches or evaluations. The Toastmaster is the person who ties the meeting together - the common face seen from beginning to end. However, for a meeting to go from ordinary to extraordinary, the Toastmaster should make his or her presence felt not only during the meeting, but from the time the previous meeting has ended!

1) Confirm your speakers and general evaluator before the previous meeting ends. Your speakers are responsible for finding their own replacements if they can't make it, but some do not, so finding those replacements at the meeting is much easier.

2) Call your speakers, general evaluator, and functionaries twice! The first time should be Thursday morning, just after everyone is back to work, when you can catch them by the phone.

Don't wait until the weekend - that's the time your speakers need to practice. Better yet - call them the day before the meeting which precedes yours, you will know who can't make it, and can try to find replacement functionaries at that meeting. Even though it is the functionary's responsibility to find a replacement, the Toastmaster often gets stuck with this task!

Don't delay placing your first calls because you have not come up with a meeting theme. Instead, solicit suggestions during those first calls. Your functionaries will be glad to be able to contribute to the selection of theme.

The second calls should be placed Sunday evening. This should be a follow-up call to remind people of their duty, and find out if there are any problems in time to correct them.

3) Don't call evaluators. Delegate this job to the General Evaluator. But check up on your General Evaluator, and be prepared to scrounge up Evaluators at the last minute.

4) Do not trust voicemail. I find that about 75% of our members do not respond to voicemail (!). Do not considered someone notified until you speak to them in person. Do not give anyone more than a day to respond to voicemail; in fact, try calling back an hour or so after you leave your message. Leave messages at home and work. Stress the importance of calling back either with a confirmation, or the name of their replacement.

The best way to avoid voicemail is call people when they are likely to be there! During the week, this is between 8:30 AM and 10 AM in the morning, when people are at their desks, or at home around 7:00 PM in the evenings. Calls on weekends should be made early Saturday morning, before people go out, or early Sunday evening.

5) On Wednesday, call everyone else on the roster. I like to say, "I'm not sure I'm going to need a Waker-Upper tomorrow, and it would be great if you could help me start the meeting." If you're uncomfortable with this, just say that you're not sure all your functionaries will show up, and you may need help with perhaps timer or waker-upper or ah-counter. This not only gives members a reason to come, but you can make this statement truthfully because functionary switching is a fact of life. A third call to your functionaries would be a good idea.

6) Prepare introductions. Before you call your functionaries with the meeting theme, see if you can think of an introduction for them on your own, first. Then, run it by them. They will often suggest something else, so you have two choices to make. Don't get bent out of shape about being entirely accurate about an introduction. It should be lively, colorful, and complimentary, and the Toastmaster is entitled to use a little artistic license here and there to make this happen.

7) Make an agenda so that members and guests can follow the flow of the meeting. List your functionaries names, speech titles, times, and which manual speech is being presented.

8) On Thursday morning, show up early. Greet your functionaries. Loosen up and say 'hi' to your friends, and even guests. The key here is to loosen up. Ensure that the meeting starts on time even if not all of your functionaries are present.

Don't worry if you can't find a replacement for a missing functionary before the meeting starts. It is an always an easy matter to get a volunteer at the time the functionary is to be introduced. For example, when it is time to introduce the timer, say "It would appear that my Timer is not here yet. Would someone mind volunteering as Timer? ... Mary, would you mind doubling up as Timer and Grammarian? Thank you!" You don't need to berate the person who does not show up. First of all, it is possible that an emergency prevented them from showing. Second, it will be obvious to everyone that they did not show up, especially if their name was listed on your agenda. You need not be embarrassed, because you have done your job - in fact, more than your job, because you have found their replacement for them! This problem is a fact of life in any meeting, so if you are able to handle it deftly without getting bent out of shape or being apologetic, you have truly become a Toastmaster.

Good Toastmasters know that meetings are fluid and cannot be completely planned out. They are flexible so that they can not only overcome small problems with ease, but can take the meeting in new directions if these opportunities present themselves!

9) Afterwards, thank all those who came for showing up to the meeting. It does not hurt to call. It will make them feel good, and be willing to help again next time you are Toastmaster.

The short list of all this follows. As you can see, there is not a particular large amount of work involved, but a time commitment is required. I would suggest writing these in your planner as action items.

* Thursday AM:

Confirm functionaries Thursday morning after the preceding meeting. Solicit ideas for a meeting theme if necessary.

* Saturday AM:

Find replacements for functionaries who have not responded to repeated voicemail messages. (This is not your job, but having to do it from time to time is a fact of Toastmasters.)

* Thursday through Sunday:

Think about your theme, and write down some ideas for introductions for your functionaries.

* Sunday evening:

Reconfirm functionaries. Finalize ideas for introductions. Practice anecdotes you plan to tell as part of your introduction, between speeches, and at the end of the meeting.

* Monday, Tuesday:

Handle any last minute functionary changes.

* Wednesday morning:

Call the rest of the members on the roster for "possible functionary replacements." (If the roster is particularly large, ask your President and other board members for help.)

* Wednesday afternoon:

Prepare your agenda and print 20-30 copies. Prepare your meeting notes. I suggest one small sheet of notes for each time you will be at the podium. See if you can eliminate your notes.

* Wednesday evening:

Get a good nights sleep.

* The Meeting:

Arrive early. Give every functionary a warm welcome and a thank-you before the meeting starts! Find any replacements if you can, but don't let it consume you or prevent you greeting your functionaries. Tell your waker-upper to start the meeting on time, even if everyone has not yet shown up. Remember that you are talking to your friends, and volunteers are easy to find even mid-meeting!

* After the meeting:

Follow up with a thank you to your functionaries.

The reason that these tips lead to a successful meeting is that your attendees are no longer bystanders, they are participants. You don't need to work hard to build up energy during the meeting, because they have arrived already full of it. They feel good because they know they are playing a key part in making your meeting successful. Being Toastmaster is one of my favorite jobs, because after building up this energy, I get to be "king of the hill" for a day, and have an opportunity to flatter everyone with fun introductions. Approach the job of Toastmaster with preparation, enthusiasm, and an open attitude for the unexpected, and you and your audience will have a great time and a rewarding experience.

Sean Sheedy