How to Increase a Toastmasters Club Welcome to Visiting Guests

Politely greeting guests at the door will make the guest feel welcomed.

Toastmasters International was first created by Ralph C. Smedley in 1926 in order to help young men in Santa Ana, California become better public speakers, or "toastmasters." The club grew exponentially over the years and now boasts more than 12,500 clubs and more than 260,000 members in 113 countries. Attracting and retaining new members to any club can be a challenge. One key strategy is to make visiting guests to the club feel warmly welcomed and included. By employing a handful of techniques, you can improve your Toastmasters Club's welcome to visiting guests -- and help bring in some new members.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Nametags
• Infomational packets and pamphlets

1. Greet visiting guests at the door. Have one or more greeters stationed by the entrance. Hand out a meeting agenda and formally welcome visitors to Toastmasters. Have the greeter introduce himself, engage in some polite small talk with the guest and have him tell the guest where she may sit. Briefly explain what a Toastmasters meeting generally involves and answer any initial questions.

2. Give a nametag to the guest and formally introduce her to the rest of the club. Having the guest wear a nametag will allow current members to be more friendly with her (i.e. "What did you think of the meeting tonight, Samantha?" versus "Sorry, what's your name again?"). Formally introduce the guest to the rest of the club at the start of the meeting to make her feel welcome and acknowledged.

3. Keep the meeting exciting and moving along. If you have a packed agenda, quickly move through the boring parts, such as the meeting minutes and business sections, in order to keep the guest interested and captivated. If possible, ask members to speak to the group so you can show what the club is all about and what you can really do. Involve the guest in the meeting in order to keep her attention.

4. Give the guest information about the club. Compile a packet to give to visiting guests consisting of informational pamphlets, the phone numbers and email addresses of leading members, website address and other Toastmasters-related information. Encourage the guest to contact you or anyone else within the club to ask follow-up questions about the club or about joining.

5. Start and end the meeting on time. Respect peoples' time by starting the meeting on time and not letting the meeting drag out. If a visiting guest feels like joining Toastmasters would take up too much of her time, she may not return.

References

• Toastmasters International: History
• Toastmasters International; "Keep Guests Coming Back"; Karen Hobson; 2007