Real Benefits from a Virtual World

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By Anthony Garvey, Shilling Speakers & D91 International Speech Champion 2023

Online Clubs in District 91

Do you think the majority of Toastmasters clubs in District 91 are online only, face-to-face or hybrid clubs?  The answer may surprise you.

38% of clubs in our District are hybrid clubs, just 30% have fully returned to face-to-face meetings, while 16% of our clubs are online only.  If you are wondering where the other percentages have gone, 11% of our clubs alternate between face-to-face and online and 5% switch between online and hybrid. I am Anthony Garvey, the recently crowned D91 International Speech Contest winner. Let me tell you my story:

It was a freezing Winter’s night.  I faced a 30-minute drive on icy roads to sit in a village hall with minimal heating for our Toastmasters meeting. Brrr! Later, I would have to navigate my way back safely, knowing my two kids would be fast asleep by the time I arrived home.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Toastmasters.  But I wondered if there was a way to get to meetings without risking life and limb, while staying warm AND being around to tuck my kids in at night.

District contests as we know from our recent conference are now hybrid and with practice, you can win the contests if you compete online – I am living proof! And there are other benefits too.  While my fellow competitors were biting their nails nervously in the Barbican in London, I took time out in Tralee in the Republic of Ireland to nip down and make a refreshing cup of tea!  Try doing that at a live contest!

I began to visit online Toastmasters clubs – there are lots of them – and in just ten weeks, I had visited clubs in every continent in the world!  I was impressed by the warmth with which I was greeted at the meetings and by how much I was learning. As most of my work is now conducted online, I was also noticing an improvement in my communication skills, thanks to the tips and advice I was picking up on my journey of discovery.

Because of the time difference and scheduling Toastmaster meetings around work and family commitments, I began to narrow my search back down to the UK and Ireland, where there are 350 clubs. Some meet in person, others meet online and there are hybrid clubs too.  The variety is staggering. Let me tell you a little about just four of the clubs.

Melting Pot Toastmasters was originally set up as a corporate club in 2018 for employees of the businesses within Milton Park, a 250-acre mixed use business and technology park in Oxfordshire.  The club currently has 16 members and was originally chartered as an in-person club but has moved to online only.  Melting Pot Toastmasters meet every other Tuesday on Zoom, at 1200 GMT for one hour.

“We run a few joint meetings with other clubs in Abingdon and Didcot, to give our members an opportunity to socialise face-to-face, now that the pandemic has eased somewhat,” said Andrew Graner, the club’s VPPR, who carries out his club duties while working from California in the US.  “Whether you need help delivering a best man speech, preparing for an interview or developing your management skills, our club will help you along the way, plus you will also be able to meet an amazing group of people who share similar ambitions and challenges.”

Experience French Toastmasters also started as a physical club in London in September 2012 and moved to meet online in March 2020 during the pandemic. Their meetings are on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Mondays of the month at 1845 GMT/BST.

This is a Bilingual French and English club,  they alternate between English and French language meetings and are open to people speaking both languages. An unusual trait is that the Toastmaster speaks the opposite language during their meetings, so you can experience and practice both French and English every time you attend an Experience French Toastmasters meeting. The club meetings are currently hybrid, at the London campus of Dauphine University near Angel.

“We have members based in the US, Greece, Cameroon, France, and the UK in our club,” said Club Mentor and Immediate Past President, Annelise Lepage.  “Hybrid meetings offer our members the flexibility to visit us in person or connect with us online, depending on their circumstances.”

Unlike clubs which have experimented with online and hybrid formats due to the pandemic restrictions, Firebirds was originally founded as a global advanced online club at a time when there were hardly any online options.

“We meet every Sunday and alternate between morning and evening meetings to allow for time zone differences. We currently have members in Australia, New Zealand, Nigeria, France, Germany, Ireland, UK, Canada, USA, Spain, Argentina, India and have guests from many other countries,” said club member Andrew P Bennett, twice a District champion.  “I enjoy the global feel of the club. It is truly Toastmasters ‘International’ and several members have won contests and undertaken roles in Districts around the world.”

Bennett said he was thrilled to see some clubs returning to in-person meetings, as he knows that for many, that is an important part of their club identity.

“Online clubs provide a different sort of experience. There is the possibility for Toastmasters who live a long way from an in-person meeting to join us or those whose working lives make in person attendance at a meeting difficult. From my perspective , with some mobility difficulties, it is helpful to be able to attend online.”

Eventually I whittled my shortlist of clubs down to just one and I joined Shilling Speakers.

Shilling Speakers has 28 members from 9 different countries, with three TEDx speakers and 7 Distinguished Toastmasters (the highest level a Toastmaster can reach), but the club is open to speakers at all levels. We also have 8 members who are completely new to Toastmasters.  We meet on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month at 1930 GMT.

This year I was lucky enough to be elected President of the club, which is a great honour and even though it involves a little extra work, I still manage to get to our meetings.  I’m warm and cosy on freezing cold, Winter evenings and I also get to tuck my kids into bed at night.

So, if you are reading this and you want to improve your communication and leadership skills, or you simply want to try something different, pop along to an online or a hybrid Toastmasters club near you.  There is a great range of clubs both on your doorstep and online and I would encourage you to try a few out before settling on one or two to join.

We would of course love to see you as our guest at Shilling Speakers.

Register for any of our meetings by clicking here: https://bit.ly/ShillingSpeakers

To attend Melting Pot Toastmasters, register here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/melting-pot-toastmasters-tuesday-lunch-meeting-tickets-394686236157

Should you wish to attend an Experience French Toastmasters meeting, please register via their Meetup group: https://www.meetup.com/experience-french-toastmasters or contact them on https://www.experience-french.org

Drop into Firebirds Collective through their meeting link: http://bit.ly/firebirds-collective or follow them on the Firebirds Collective Facebook page: firebirds.easy-speak.org

Check out the new online search tool on the Toastmasters’ website for the full range of clubs:  https://www.toastmasters.org/resources/online-only-clubs

Anthony Garvey, President, Shilling Speakers & D91 International Speech Champion 2023

District 91 Leaders: Talk Up Toastmasters!

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Over the last few weeks, as part of the PR effort around the Talk Up Toastmasters campaign, (inspired by idea in a speech by Rupa, our District Director) I have been setting up interviews between the District Leadership team and Division Directors to ask them what brought them to Toastmasters and why they keep coming back. The Talk Up Toastmasters campaign is designed to get new Guests to visit Clubs. The campaign runs until the end of March 2023 and D91 Clubs will be rewarded if they add 5 or more Members in this period. What better way to do this than to reflect on what we have both got out of our time in the organisation. Hence these great videos!

You can see the individual videos below which I’m sure you’ll agree are very heart warming. I love to see the rapport and interaction between professionals who respect one another.

For my part and reflecting on what I have taken out of (in some cases filming) viewing and editing these interactions is that people come to Toastmasters for all sorts of reasons, and the reasons they come for and seldom the reasons they stay. I’d go further than that it’s impossible to predict how your journey will go when you first join, mainly because you have no idea of the different learning and leadership possibilities the organisation presents. When you meet people who have never heard of Toastmasters, don’t just sell them on the features and benefits tell them why are you came and why are you keep coming. Just as it is on stage with in the club personal stories and anecdotes are the most powerful ingredients for creating emotional connection and provoking action. Try it for yourself and gain inspiration below.

Chris Arning, Public Relations Manager & Debbie Williams, Club Growth Director

As D91 PR Manager, I caught up with Debbie Williams, Club Growth Director this week to speak with her about the Talk Up Toastmasters campaign designed to get new Guests to visit Clubs. The campaign runs until the end of March and Clubs will be rewarded if they add 5 or more Members in this period. What better way to do this than to reflect on what we have both got out of our time in the organisation. It was a short chat and we answered just two questions. One: what first brought you to come toToastmasters AND Two: what keeps you coming back to Toastmasters.

Amy Jones, Admin Manager & Diane Richardson, Program Quality Director

In this Talk Up Toastmasters video District 91 Admin Manager, Amy Jones and Program Quality Director, Diane Richardson discuss what brought them to Toastmasters and what keeps on coming back year after year as they joined in 2016 and 2015 respectievely. In this succinct but wide ranging chat they cover off being pestered by friends to join a meeting, creating community, living by a service ethos, why are you will never leave if you keep learning, and how Toastmasters ultimately makes us become ‘better pack animals’.

Rupa Datta, District Director & Eddy Quah, District Finance Manager

In the latest in a series of DISTRICT 91 Talk Up Toastmasters videos our District Director, Rupa Dutta sits down with District Finance Manager, Eddy Quah to Talk up Toastmasters. They ask each other why they first came through the door of a Toastmasters meeting and what keeps them coming back. It is a heartwarming chat, full of emotion, peeling back the onion and tears of laughter.

Gillian Prior Division J Director and John Akers Division L Director

Gillian and John discuss how joining Toastmasters helps us gain an extra-curricular activity and builds networks for some people. For others Toastmasters help them navigate career changes and to face their fears and to go in a new direction by building the skills to face an audience, and how for us all the learning never stops. Even the quietest little mice can find their voice at Toastmasters!

Division C Director, Emily McQuillen and Division H Director, Emmanuel Karamagi

Emily and Emmanuel talk to each other about how they both arrived at Toastmasters. It is as often by accident as by design, but whether it is arriving through a date night or more purposeful in improving one’s interview skills, Toastmasters gets us on a journey where we can develop and as these Division leaders have shown once you are on the learning track you keep developing in leadership growth and finding new paths in the organisation.

Division B Director, Andy Hessey and Division K Director, Rose Nakibirango

Andy and Rose talk to each other about how they both arrived at Toastmasters. Sometimes it can be an intriguing new pastime to take up when you have moved to a new area but that it often develops from there. The wonderful people, the learning and the fun is what keeps people coming back to meetings. And during lockdown some people ever became Key Workers!

Division A Director, Suhas Kumar and Division D Director, Janet Alkema

Suhas and Janet talk to each other about how they both arrived at Toastmasters. Starting one’s own business means that you cannot avoid getting up and speaking. For some people joining TM is an accident, for others it is more purposeful. Toastmasters can improve many aspects of your life – not only ones you might expect like speaking but others too like negotiation skills and time management – then you stay to pass these skills on to others!

We hope you will gain some inspiration and identification from what we said. Find out more about the campaign and what it could mean for your Club.

Talk up Toastmasters

Perhaps you will conduct your own interviews and put them out on social media? If so we will share them on D91 channels. We look forward to hearing from you.

Chris Arning,
PR Manager, District 91, 2022-2023

The Laughing Toastmaster: Call for Law Banning ‘Salescism’

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Legislation would make it mandatory to befriend salespeople

Having worked in corporate sales longer than The Lion King’s run in the West End, I still experience the sting of discrimination caused by ‘salescism’.
‘Sneaky salespeople’, ‘Bunch of crooks’ and ‘Annoying loudmouths’, are just some of the hurtful things people say without realizing the devastating consequences it has on us sales folk. The feeling of loneliness (no one wants to be your friend) and low sales-esteem can last a lifetime.

Now that I’m self-employed, selling is still an integral part of my life. Unfortunately, salescism has crippled me so much that even motional phrases like, ‘Don’t be small make that call’ make me bawl.
I’m not alone. Statistics show salescism (defined as: prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against salespeople on the belief that your job is superior), impacts 100 in every 100 salespeople. Stats not accurate. Like a true sales gal, I made them up.

Now you may think this has nothing to do with you. Maybe you’re the kind of person who’s never had to sell because the clients come to you (in which case you’re probably a drug dealer). For the rest of us, whether you’re selling ideas, services or ourselves (dating is the ultimate sell), nothing can shield you from the stigma of salescism.
Things are so bad we use covert language like, ‘Shall we explore the possibility of collaborating together?’. We feel the need to use encrypted job titles to hide our true identity:

• Business Development Manager (new sales)
• Key account manager (big clients but take tiny too)
• Account Manager (anything from serving coffee to whatever it takes)

Unlike secretaries who rediscovered themselves as ‘PAs’ (and are now allowed to look miserable and not help), these new sales titles have done nothing for us except make clients distrust us even more! After all, you wouldn’t want your plumber to be called ‘pipe dreamer’.

In Toastmasters it’s no different. Terrified of being called ‘salesy’ or ‘pushy’ we use phrases like, ‘Let’s publicize Toastmasters to the public’ or ‘We need to inform guests about our benefits’.
When one club advertised their open house as ‘Pizza & Toastmaster Night’, it wasn’t called a ‘fantastic sales idea’ (which it was!), but a ‘prudent marketing initiative’. Toastmasters is such an outstanding organization we shouldn’t be ashamed of selling its benefits, but proud of doing so! Sadly, salecism gets in the way.

When confronted, ‘salescists’ deny any wrong doing and claim history is full of dodgy salespeople. They have a point. Starting with the great car manufacturer and ultimate sales guy Henry Ford who said, ‘Customers can have a car painted any color they want … as long as it is black’, giving all car salesmen a terrible reputation.
Then ‘The Godfather’ comes along with the most effective (if extreme) sales pitch, ‘I will make you an offer you can’t refuse’. Trust me clients don’t take kindly to such drastic negotiation techniques.
Even the late Steve Jobs said, ‘Get closer to your customers, so close that you tell them what they need before they realize it’. With all due respect isn’t that Machiavellian manipulation coupled with serious stalking?
OK, so maybe we haven’t exactly been a ‘beacon of morality’, but like any convict that’s done his time, don’t we deserve a second chance?

Anti-salescism lobbies around the world are calling for legislation to tackle the problem by suing salecists who make inappropriate comments and refuse to make friends with salespeople.
And it shouldn’t stop there. It needs to be written into employment laws sales people must be invited to social events, even if that means installing quotas to overcome centuries of oppression.
Sales people are cautiously optimistic. ‘Society has a negative perception of sales people’ says Jim (not his real name), who has kept his real job hidden from his family for decades. ‘My parents are very proud of me. They think I’m a dentist’.

New laws would make it mandatory to invite us to weddings, christenings, bar mitzvahs and anniversaries. Music to my ears as these events are ideal places to bombard unsuspecting guests with interactive business cards. I can’t wait!

In the meantime, if you’re still not a Toastmaster, ‘Let me inform you of the multiple benefits of joining’.

Sonia Aste is an engineer, writer and comedian. She’s a Toastmaster and member at Riverside Communicators Club.
More from Sonia on her website, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

1-21-100 Incentive – A Trifecta of Achievement

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The 1-21-100 Award – a Trifecta of Achievement The 1-21-100 Incentive What is the 1-21-100 incentive? I hear you ask. Well, it’s an important incentive for us at District 91. It comprises three key criteria that for the clubs that achieve them will mean that they are on the road to accomplishing excellence in both … Read more

Save the date: The District 91 Conference

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Save the date:  The District 91 Conference 12-13-14th May – Inspiring futures   If you have not guessed it, we are excited to announce that this year’s District 91 Conference will be having its Saturday’s events at the Barbican. The Barbican Centre is a renowned performing arts centre in the City of London. It has Grade … Read more