Are you looking to spice up your club meetings? Why not plan a special meeting? Special meetings add a fun, exciting twist to the regular meeting schedule and can help members, old and new, to get out of their comfort zones, build relationships with each other, and, most importantly, have fun! Below are some ideas for special meetings.
Theme Meeting
If you don't want to shake things up too much, too fast, then try a theme meeting first. Planning a theme meeting is simple. Either officers or the Toastmaster can select a theme for a given meeting. This theme should be shared well in advance with members so that all role takers can incorporate the theme into their roles.
For example, if the theme was "Music," then Speakers would be encouraged to give speeches related to the topic of music, and the Table Topics Master would ask music-related questions. The Grammarian might choose a word of the day that goes with the music theme, and the Fellowship Master might ask members to discuss their favorite songs at the start of the meeting.
One of the greatest strengths of a theme meeting is that the theme provides everyone with something to talk about. This can help guests and new members to feel more confident about socializing, volunteering, and trying new roles.
Formal Meeting
We all love to socialize with our Toastmasters friends, sometimes, it's nice to polish our professional skills. For a formal meeting, everyone should be asked to dress in their business attire and to conduct themselves as professionally. Typically, Fellow and Table Topics take on slightly more serious tones, and Speakers for the night may want to give speeches related to their profession or professional development.
Formal meetings aren't for every club, but they are a great way to remind members of what Toastmasters is all about: self-improvement.
Potluck Meeting
I've written about potluck meetings before, but it's been a couple of months, so I'll quickly review.
For a potluck meeting, only the speaker sign up in advance. Every other role remains empty. Before the meeting starts, the club president should write down every role required for the meeting: Toastmaster, Fellowship Master, Table Topics Master, General Evaluator, Evaluators, Grammarian, Ah-Counter, etc. For large clubs, the president may want to include special roles for the night such as Joke Master, Review Master, Table Topics Evaluator, Table Topics Participant, etc.
As members arrive, they draw a surprise role out of a hat and fulfill that role during the meeting. This is a great way to help your members try new roles in a low-stress environment.
Reverse Meeting
For a reverse meeting, the meeting begins with personal reports and upcoming events followed by the General Evaluator's report. Be sure to choose a fun General Evaluator for this meeting! Whatever the General Evaluator predicts must happen during the meeting.
For example, if the General Evaluator comments that Ji Soo said, "Because I'm awesome," ten times during her evaluation, then Ji Soo needs to say, "Because I'm awesome," ten times during her evaluation.
From the General Evaluator's report, continue working backwards through the normal meeting agenda. Ultimately, the meeting will close with Fellowship and Opening Announcements.
This is, admittedly, a pretty silly meeting, but it's a lot of fun and can be a great way to help members loosen up and get to know each other better. If you haven't tried a reverse meeting already, I hope you will!
Club Speech Contest
You're not limited to holding club speech contests just twice a year. Why not choose a club speech contest just for your club to build excitementwhen the regular contest seasons wrap up?
Toastmasters has four specialty contests to choose from: Humorous, Table Topics, Evaluation, and Tall Tales. Given that each contest requires Toastmasters to practice a different skill, you may want to consider conducting a workshop a couple of weeks prior to the contest.
For example, suppose your club wants to run an Evaluation Contest in June. Two or three weeks before the contest, you can replace Table Topics with an Evaluation workshop to help members prepare for the contest and to generate excitement.
Club contests can be a great way to get members excited about refining their public speaking skills; they also allow members to get extra competition practice before the regular contest season starts up.
Has your club tried any of these special meetings? Which ones are your favorites and why? Are there some other special meetings that you recommend? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section!
Theme Meeting
If you don't want to shake things up too much, too fast, then try a theme meeting first. Planning a theme meeting is simple. Either officers or the Toastmaster can select a theme for a given meeting. This theme should be shared well in advance with members so that all role takers can incorporate the theme into their roles.
For example, if the theme was "Music," then Speakers would be encouraged to give speeches related to the topic of music, and the Table Topics Master would ask music-related questions. The Grammarian might choose a word of the day that goes with the music theme, and the Fellowship Master might ask members to discuss their favorite songs at the start of the meeting.
One of the greatest strengths of a theme meeting is that the theme provides everyone with something to talk about. This can help guests and new members to feel more confident about socializing, volunteering, and trying new roles.
Formal Meeting
We all love to socialize with our Toastmasters friends, sometimes, it's nice to polish our professional skills. For a formal meeting, everyone should be asked to dress in their business attire and to conduct themselves as professionally. Typically, Fellow and Table Topics take on slightly more serious tones, and Speakers for the night may want to give speeches related to their profession or professional development.
Formal meetings aren't for every club, but they are a great way to remind members of what Toastmasters is all about: self-improvement.
Potluck Meeting
I've written about potluck meetings before, but it's been a couple of months, so I'll quickly review.
For a potluck meeting, only the speaker sign up in advance. Every other role remains empty. Before the meeting starts, the club president should write down every role required for the meeting: Toastmaster, Fellowship Master, Table Topics Master, General Evaluator, Evaluators, Grammarian, Ah-Counter, etc. For large clubs, the president may want to include special roles for the night such as Joke Master, Review Master, Table Topics Evaluator, Table Topics Participant, etc.
As members arrive, they draw a surprise role out of a hat and fulfill that role during the meeting. This is a great way to help your members try new roles in a low-stress environment.
Reverse Meeting
For a reverse meeting, the meeting begins with personal reports and upcoming events followed by the General Evaluator's report. Be sure to choose a fun General Evaluator for this meeting! Whatever the General Evaluator predicts must happen during the meeting.
For example, if the General Evaluator comments that Ji Soo said, "Because I'm awesome," ten times during her evaluation, then Ji Soo needs to say, "Because I'm awesome," ten times during her evaluation.
From the General Evaluator's report, continue working backwards through the normal meeting agenda. Ultimately, the meeting will close with Fellowship and Opening Announcements.
This is, admittedly, a pretty silly meeting, but it's a lot of fun and can be a great way to help members loosen up and get to know each other better. If you haven't tried a reverse meeting already, I hope you will!
Club Speech Contest
You're not limited to holding club speech contests just twice a year. Why not choose a club speech contest just for your club to build excitementwhen the regular contest seasons wrap up?
Toastmasters has four specialty contests to choose from: Humorous, Table Topics, Evaluation, and Tall Tales. Given that each contest requires Toastmasters to practice a different skill, you may want to consider conducting a workshop a couple of weeks prior to the contest.
For example, suppose your club wants to run an Evaluation Contest in June. Two or three weeks before the contest, you can replace Table Topics with an Evaluation workshop to help members prepare for the contest and to generate excitement.
Club contests can be a great way to get members excited about refining their public speaking skills; they also allow members to get extra competition practice before the regular contest season starts up.
Has your club tried any of these special meetings? Which ones are your favorites and why? Are there some other special meetings that you recommend? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section!