Speechcraft workshop has finally come the final session!

Was it a successful workshop?

Let’s analyze it based on the Workshop Feedback Form and Toastmasters Sign-up Rate.

Workshop Feedback Form
The feedbacks from the participants were all positive and the workshop was rated above average. Overall, participants commented that evaluation session was the most helpful session for them.
=> I totally agree with them. Evaluation session is the session where we can learn from experienced Toastmasters about our weaknesses and strengths.

Toastmasters Sign-up Rate
There were altogether 9 participants. 4 participants were new members of the club and the other 5 were totally new to Toastmasters scene. At the end of the workshop, only ONE speechcrafter signed up immediately.

The reasons I received from the other 4 participants who didn’t sign up as a Toastmaster Member.
- Participant A: He will be moving his house to Town area which is quite far away from The Frontier Community Club.
=> I shared with him my experience. The most important thing in Toastmasters is to find a club which he feels most comfortable with. He needs to find a club which is able to motivate him to progress. Distance is actually not the main concern. I told him that I am a member of two clubs which are located far away from my house.
- Participant B: She will be moving her house too. The location is also quite far away from where we hold our meeting.
=> I shared the same thing with her which I shared with Participant A.
I could see that they were hesitating. Overall, I think distance is still the major concern of many people in their criteria in choosing a club. One thing that made me happy was, both of them were still active in attending special events organized by The Frontier TMC. Also, I received a private message from Participant B saying that if not because of moving her house, she would have joined The Frontier TMC immediately after the workshop.

- Participant C: She is under-age. Toastmasters only accepts members who are 18 years old and above.
=> I was trying to make her sign-up under her mum’s name. I talked to her parents and they were very supportive! Unfortunately, after deep consideration from her, she felt that she wanted to focus on her studies first. This was quite sad news for me as I felt that she possesses great potential to become a great speaker & leader. Anyway, I will still follow-up…

- Participant D: She is going to take a full-time course soon. She is afraid that she is unable to commit herself to Toastmasters activities.
=> I felt that this participant is a very passionate and enthusiastic person. The only problem with her is her mindset. I could feel that she is someone who always think too much and set a lot of negative assumptions. I explained to her that joining as a club member doesn’t mean that she has to involve in every activity that the club is having. She can always make herself free from the club activities if she has something more important task to execute. Eventually, she didn’t buy my idea. Still, I will follow-up… As long as someone signed up for the speechcraft workshop, it means that this person is willing to improve himself. Sometimes, the reason for not joining a member is just the matter of time.

This was the first workshop that I organized and I have summarized some pointers in how to organize a successful workshop:
- To show your sincerity and conviction that you really want the participants to improve.
- To add value to the workshop and the participants will appreciate your effort. For example, I video-recorded the whole session and free DVDs were given away.
- To understand the participant’s purpose to join the workshop and from there assist them to achieve their goals.
- To follow-up with them after each session if they need any guidance.