Dealing with the Unexpected

Tuesday, February 13, 2007
7 attendees

Imagine this scenario – you’ve been asked by your boss to give a presentation at 3pm today. Or you’re asked to speak at a wedding or other special occasion. Your co-worker who was scheduled to make the presentation was out handling an emergency and since you’ve worked together closely, you’re it.

As described so effectively by Club Secretary Gene Hargreaves during the meeting, having the ability to improvise in a pinch or as I say “make lemonade when the world hands you a lemon” is a key element to the Toastmaster’s experience.

Tuesday was one such occasion. The President, Toastmaster and Table Topics Master were unable to make the meeting and on short notice other members bravely stepped in and filled the unexpected void.

On Monday, Vice President of Education, Bertha Bruner called upon other members to fill these roles and functions. This in addition to a little bit of shuffling the day of the meeting completed the task. For first timers, what does the Club President do during the meeting? What about the Toastmaster and Table Topics Master?

If you haven’t done so in a while, take a look in the back of your Communications and Leadership Program Manual. It contains descriptions of all of the roles and functions involved in a Toastmasters meeting. These descriptions in addition to just doing it give everyone great experience in all the aspects of our club and its function.

In addition, if your interest in the club is in terms of becoming a better leader, there is a Leadership Track as well. Briefly, after completing the Communication Track and receiving your Competent Toastmaster designation, you must:

• Serve as an officer in a club and participate in the preparation of a Club Success Plan;
• Participate in officer training as a club officer (fill certain functions during meetings tracking them on a matrix to be submitted on program completion); and
• Conducted any two programs from The Successful Club Series and/or The Leadership Excellence Series.

Thanks again to Bertha and member Richard Perez for dealing with the unexpected and handling new roles today.

Finally, a big congrats to member Jiceri White, who, though by his own admission, is no “American Idol Singer”, completed his inaugural speech (Project 1 – The Icebreaker). Very informative and entertaining; I look forward to hearing (though not in song) from you in the coming weeks.