Our clubs often plod along blissfully unaware of how we are doing or the need for course correction. We evaluate each other, why not evaluate the club to see how it is doing? We evaluate each other to improve and grow. Why not evaluate our club as well?
Toastmasters international provides a great tool for doing this called Moments of Truth. It is part of the Successful Club Series and is downloadable from https://www.toastmasters.org/Resources/Moments-of-Truth.
The program is part of the Successful Club Series which is available for download from Toastmasters International. The program provides a guided conversation about what the club is doing well and where improvements can be made. The basic format is a facilitator presentation and discussion. The program asks you to look at your club from six basic dimensions.
- First Impressions
- Membership Orientation
- Fellowship, Variety, and Communication
- Program Planning and Meeting Organization
- Membership Strength
- Achievement Recognition
The program includes a facilitator guide that will take you through conducting the program. There are also slides and handouts. Typically, the session would be led by an experienced member, a club officer, the clubs area director, or a guest facilitator. The choice is up to the club.
When should clubs do it? Well, at least once a year. The output from the session can be a valuable input to the planning of the club executive. It could also be used mid-year as a sort of check up to see if changes have had the desired effect. It is really up to the club when Moments of Truth is deployed.
Conducting the program consists of a short presentation and group discussions. For example,
- Presentation 10-15 Minutes
- Introduce the concepts of Moments of Truth
- Brainstorming 20 Minutes
- Break up into groups.
- Assign moments of truth to groups to discuss.
- Discussion 20 Minutes
- Have groups present their findings.
- Discuss areas where club excels and where improvement is needed.
As you can see, this is not just a 15 minute session. But, anything worth doing, is worth doing well!
There are alternative formats. I, for example, have created a survey format for the session. So, if I facilitate Moments of Truth, I follow this approach:
- Send advance survey.
- Send the link and instructions out a week before the meeting.
- Presentation 10 minutes
- Overview of concepts
- Discussion 20 minutes
- Present findings from survey and discuss areas where club excels and where improvement is needed.
As you can see, this approach gives the members a chance to provide individual feedback on the club and how they perceive it. If you want information on using this approach, check out my blog post at Gathering Member Feedback – Glenn Walker – Leader and Communicator (wordpress.com)
Either approach is valid. The key thing is that the tool is used and the output is considered as input to the planning process by the club executive.
You never get a second chance to make a first impression. – Will Rogers
As a side note, you will find that the Area Director, when they visit, fills in a report that is structured to gather their observations about how your club is meeting the moments of truth. That is a 3rd party view of your club. Using the tool will give you the inside scoop on how your club is operating and perceived by members and guests.
Moments of Truth
Moments of Truth is available free from Toastmasters store for download and includes handbook, slides, and participant handbook.
A moment of truth is an episode where a person encounters any aspect of the Toastmasters experience and forms an impression of a club’s quality and service.
