Serena Says - Area Director Club Visit
Tunbridge Wells Speakers Club is affiliated to Toastmasters International which provides the support, materials, structure, and development pathways for our members who want to improve their public speaking skills. To help us improve, all speakers are evaluated, but not only our the speakers evaluated, so is the club.
Club Visit
Area Director Serena Gilbert visited us on Tuesday 13th April and members may recall her winning the Table Topics that evening. Serena’s visit was a mix of business and pleasure. As members will know, everything we do at Toastmasters is evaluated, and as Area Director, part of Serena’s role is to evaluate our club. The evaluation looks at the first impressions we create as a club, how members, especially new members, are supported, the club’s competence in planning, facilitating effective meetings, and communicating, the leadership attributes of the club, and the club's progress in the Distinguished Club Program.
Serena’s observations are very favourable saying, ‘What a treat. Tunbridge Wells is always enjoyable place to visit. Chris the President sets the tone with his chipper approach and everyone is always very welcomed and acknowledged. The zoom room is open in advance of the meeting so that people can chat, get advice and support.’
A Welcoming and Supporting Environment
Our welcoming approach to guests and supportive approach to eachother, plus the variety we inject into meetings such as a device of the day, rather than word of the day, and creative Table Topics.
Serena did make a recommendation which was to share our skills and expertise (more) across the area; gaining experience of other clubs (through evaluations, for example) then feeding back into our club meetings.
The club’s support for new members including encouraging them to deliver speeches and engage with Pathways was noted, with the pre-meeting mentoring session also gaining a commendation. Serena also noted the Pathways Level 1 awards that had been made over the last year, recognising the progress made by newer members.
Communication is of course a crucial component of the club’s operation both for engaging members and also building awareness outside the Toastmasters world, and both were acknowledged in the feedback.
Club Talent
With two of our most experienced members enjoying competition speaking success this year, the club enjoyed great visibility within the Area, Division, and District, But Serena encouraged us to not, ‘wait to be asked to get more involved with the Area. You have lots of talent to share (but you can also benefit from spreading your wings too),’ she said.
The club’s mastery of regular meetings managed by the Education Team was acknowledged together with the recruitment and on-boarding process (Membership Team) and the supporting PR work. All of which led Serna to suggest that individuals within the club might consider exploring District leadership roles in the future.
Acknowledging Success
The Toastmasters system tracks speeches and completion of assignments through each Pathways level. While the club motivates members to deliver their Pathways speeches and make progress toward completion of the level, we are slower at submitting completed award applications immediately and consistently which are designed to recognise member achievement.
Club President Chris Murphy responded to the evaluation by saying, ‘I am absolutely delighted at the very positive feedback we have received from Serena. It goes to show both what we have achieved as a club but also how we can improve even more.’
Enquire About Membership
If you would like to know more about membership, then please email hello@tunbridge-wells-speakers.org.