eHow launches Android app: Get the best of eHow on the go.

How To

How to Come Up With Creative Themes for a Toastmasters Meeting

Member
By coachangela
User-Submitted Article
(2 Ratings)
Aleph
Aleph

Themes spice up a Toastmasters meeting in several ways. The Toastmaster of the meeting can use fun facts in his/her introductory remarks, and a theme can make it easier for the Table Topics Moderator to prepare for questions.

While speakers do not have to abide by the theme of the meeting, it can also help a speaker who is stumped on a speech topic.

Here are some tips on how to come up with a good theme.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Instructions

Things You'll Need:

  • idea cap
  1. Step 1

    Be Specific.

    When choosing a theme, it's very easy to make up a list of words like Spring, Christmas, Halloween, Philosophy, etc. These themes are too general.

    Instead of Spring, try the following:
    Flowers
    Seedlings

    Instead of Christmas, try the following:
    Re-gifting
    Christmas Memories
    Elves
    Decorations

    Instead of Death or Halloween, try one of the following:
    Tombstones
    Ghosts
    Re-incarnation
    Haunting

    Instead Philosophies, try the following:
    Old Adages
    Myths
    Proverbs
    Famous Philosophers

  2. Step 2

    Educate Members.

    Themes can be educational, as well.
    Here are some ideas:

    -Conduct a Leadership Series of two or three meetings in a row. From the Leadership Excellence modules, choose leadership sub-skills that group together logically. Examples:
    a) Values and Leadership, The Visionary Leader, and Developing Your Mission
    b) Delegate to Empower, Giving Effective Feedback, and Motivating People
    c) Leader as Coach, Service and Leadership, and Values and Leadership
    d) Building a Team, Resolving Conflict, and Motivating People

    -Conduct a Successful Club Series module to help newer members and refresh and remind more seasoned members of building blocks of a strong club: Evaluate to Motivate, Mentoring, Finding New Members, etc.

  3. Step 3

    Be Wacky.

    Juxtapose two unlikely things like "Christmas in July," or "Summer in January."

    Do a farce of a television series.

    Role-playing themes can be wacky if members come in costume, and include:

    -celebrity impersonation meeting
    -historical figures meeting
    -occupation meeting
    -rock stars, superheroes, celebrities, animals, etc.

  4. Step 4

    Use an unusual or important "official day or month" as a theme.

    Examples include Black History Month, Secretary's Day, Alzheimer's Awareness Month, etc.

  5. Step 5

    Change Meeting Location.

    Location changes can add excitement to a theme. Here are some ideas for different meeting locations:

    Pizza party at a pizza parlor
    Diner/restaurant
    Ice cream parlor
    Coffee shop
    Supermarket coffee shop
    Bookstore
    Mall
    Park--outside picnic meeting
    Member's house
    Bar--drinking culture, toasts

  6. Step 6

    Parties/Celebrations

    Club anniversaries, member birthdays, achievement recognition, and hosting an annual social are all great reasons to throw a party.

    Potlucks are relatively easy to coordinate, and cost no money for the club.

  7. Step 7

    Evaluation Variations.

    Spin the bottle evaluator
    Panel evaluation
    Stop-the-Speaker evaluations
    Video tape and evaluate during playback
    Interactive evaluations
    Self evaluations
    Evaluate the evaluators
    Table Topics evaluations
    Evaluate to Motivate module from the Successful Club Series
    Random evaluators

  8. Step 8

    Here are some more ideas for meeting themes:

    All-Icebreaker speeches meeting
    Stage a debate on a controversial issue
    Hecklers/Hostile audience meeting
    Joint Meeting with another club
    Area Super Meeting (all clubs in one Area meet together at one meeting)
    Introductions Workshop
    Mock Press Conference
    Joke-a-thon
    Charades
    Speech Contests special only to the club or Area (make up your own speech contest, like Throwing the Bull, Preacher of the Year, Controversial Table Topics Contest, etc.)
    Poetry meeting
    Youth/Teen meeting
    Campaign Speech meeting
    Book Report meeting
    Movie review
    Show and Tell
    White Elephant Sale
    Raffle Prizes
    Board games
    Host a Murder

Tips & Warnings
  • Don't forget the traditional standby, "Open House."
  • Ask other members for input on ideas.
  • Plan in advance five to eight meetings at a time.
  • Some clubs ask the Vice President of Education choose the themes, some let the Toastmaster of the meeting choose the theme, and some clubs democratically choose the themes together.
  • Make sure club members are excited and on board for the theme ideas. If members aren't excited about coming to the meeting in costume, for example, then the theme won't go over very well.
  • This is not a comprehensive list of ideas. Join the Toastmasters eHow group or e-mail me with questions.

Comments  

iknewthat said

Flag This Comment

on 7/13/2009 Great article. Very informative. 5***** and recommendation!

Post a Comment

Post a Comment
  • Have you done this? Click here to let us know.
I Did This

Related Ads

Careers & Work
Kristen Fischer,

Meet Kristen Fischer eHow's Careers & Work Expert.

Get Free Careers & Work Newsletters

Copyright © 1999-2009 eHow, Inc. Use of this web site constitutes acceptance of the eHow Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.   en-US Portions of this page are modifications based on work created and shared by Google and used according to terms described in the Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution License.

Demand Media
eHow_eHow Careers and Work