Toastmasters are encouraged to invite guests to club meetings. We share the benefits that membership offers.
Toastmasters gamified recruitment of new members. A club earns two points in a ten-point system when 8 guests sign up for membership. Some officers take it as their personal mission to earn those two points. They invest time and money to attract guests to clubs.
I am not into this game.
I want the right people in the club. Toastmasters is not a speaking school. We want people who can add value to our meeting while learning how to speak with confidence.
We don’t look for students to teach but for people who can make out experience more rewarding.
The quality of our club is influenced by the quality of our members. We must attract quality members.
How are we going to do that?
Sell the value of our meetings. Make the attendance to our meeting persuade people to travel an hour or two because of the value we provide.
Our members must be the very reason why guests apply for membership.
Instead of inviting people to our meeting, sell the value of our featured speeches, our impromptu speaking sessions, and our evaluators.
Let us increase our value that the community around is can no longer ignore us. That instead of being afraid to join, they will thirst for the opportunity to belong.
Sell the value of the Toastmasters experience. Make people qualify themselves to join our meetings.
Jed Menguin
P.S. I intend to put this concept in practice. I write about the results after 90 days.
PPS. When you need to train your supervisors and managers, consider Impact Speakers’ Game Plan.
