Make Meetings More FUN

Hold your meeting in a new location. Head to a public place, like a park or a restaurant, and practice speaking (and listening) while surrounded by distractions and noise. Host a meeting in a local theater or auditorium to practice speaking on a stage with real lighting and microphones. Try something adventurous: Clubs have hosted meetings in places as diverse as a moving train, the top of a mountain, in a swimming pool, and in a cave.

Host a meeting with another club or with a Rotary club. Gain a larger audience and fresh perspectives. Rotary members will benefit from better understanding the Toastmasters program and discovering how Toastmasters can benefit them, particularly as they do outreach.

Have a friends-and-family meeting. Encourage members to invite people they know, and plan the theme accordingly. Speeches and Table Topics^® could revolve around relationships and storytelling. Afterward, invite everyone to stay for socializing.

Change up the room layout. For an easy but remarkably effective shake-up, move the placement of the lectern, chairs, and tables. Put the lectern at the opposite end of the room, group the tables differently, or just have a row of chairs.

Hold a backward meeting. Start the meeting with closing remarks, have evaluators deliver their remarks before the speeches (speakers need to incorporate the evaluators’ comments into their speeches), and answer Table Topics before questions are given, challenging the Table Topicsmaster to determine the question.

Host a theme meeting. Revolve your meeting—from the Toastmaster’s remarks to the speeches to Table Topics—around a cohesive theme. Consider anything from seasons, a topical event (e.g., Academy Awards or the Olympics), a popular movie, or a recent decade. You can gain inspiration from some of the many national and international days: Women’s Day, Star Wars Day, Poetry Day, Book Day, Friendship Day. For additional pizzaz, encourage costumes or play music.

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