Do you want more active members in your club?
Then go tell someone to FAIL!
Many people love to quote eloquent speakers. Martin Luther King, "I have a Dream …" Mahatma Gandhi, "Be the change
you want to see in the world." I love the absurd. I seem to understand it better. So I quote Darren LaCroix, "Nobody comes to
Toastmasters to be better speakers at Toastmasters." We have goals to be better speakers for our community, our business or to give a Toast
at our daughter’s wedding. They may be very lofty goals to some of us, but we need a safe environment to practice them. A place to screw-up
and then recover, rebuild and try again. Our club culture is built upon that safe environment to stretch, grow, and fail a few times. Without
taking a few risks we will stay in our own safe bubble and never grow.
OK, Tom, again with that psychobabble. How can I get more active members in my club?
Take the opportunity to visit other clubs, meet-ups, networking events (chamber of commerce events work really well). When given the chance
to share your Elevator speech, state very strongly and loudly. "I invite you to come to Toastmasters and Fail!" That alone should
increase your listening audience by 5. Repeat it once again, "I invite you to come to Toastmasters and Fail!" Someone will blurt
out, "Why would you want me to fail?" Now you can explain how Toastmasters creates a safe environment for you to take risks in
speaking and leadership skills. This is a overflowing