Weird and Wonderful

I wonder sometimes what guests think when they come to a meeting.

Do they look at us as strange and weird creatures who use clapping as form of communication?

Or perhaps they see people who love the sound of their own voice but love even more other people standing up and telling them how wonderful they were?

We know we connect to a guest when they decide that our toastmasters club is the place for them but what about the ones that run terrified from a meeting, vowing never to return? What is it that doesn’t work for them?

This is a very important question and probably one that isn’t asked enough – why didn’t they like us?

And there can be a myriad of answers, among them:

• The personality of the club didn’t click with the guest – quite common and not something that can be changed easily or even should be changed, after all, we as a club like our personality and we like the type of people it attracts, we just have to accept that not everybody will love us the way that we love us.
• The formality of the hand-shaking and clapping. This is something that is mentioned time and time again by guests, maybe it seems more natural in the US but here in the Netherlands, it seems to be at least a little bit off-putting to guests but it’s a nice way of encouragement and appreciation so it’s probably not something that we should change too hastily.
• We did something weird. This can and does happen and while we as members love the creativity used in spicing up a meeting, to those who are not in the know it might be very scary or off-putting.

Imagine someone coming to a toastmasters meeting for the first time, they don’t know what to expect, some of them have problems with talking and interacting in public so going to a meeting is a big deal for them. A normal regular meeting can be overwhelming for a lot of guests but when we do something that messes with the format or the style, and while everyone else is having a great time, the guest might be freaked out by the strangeness, they might even leave, half-way through a meeting.

About six months ago, in the middle of a “secret agent” meeting, a guest stood up, said “I don’t think this is for me” and walked out. We were shocked and appalled that she did it in the middle of the meeting but that said, it definitely was a “less than normal ” meeting.

Well aware of the potential scariness of our Masquerade meeting we tried to warn all potential guests of the possible weirdness. And it was weird, a wide range of masks and headgear was produced and made for a very interesting evening for all members but god only knows what it was like for those looking from the outside in…

Does this mean we should stop having alternative and potentially weird meetings?

Absolutely not, having the same format week after week is going to be a bit monotonous for long-term members, being that little bit creative reduces the sameness and also allows the TMEs use their imaginations to entertain and inspire, it allows a club to grow and change and what’s more – it’s fun!

What we need to do is always be aware that it might be strange for those on the outside looking in and make our best efforts to ensure that all guests feel included.