HOW TO RUN DYNAMIC
OPEN HOUSE SESSIONS

1. Let’s not call it a demo meeting! Call it a Dynamic Open House / Club Launch Meeting. You can say for example “We’re launching the club and you’re welcome to join the first meeting during which you can sign up and become a member.”

2. Make the session fast paced!

3. Don’t overwhelm attendees with too much information. For example, don’t mention Pathways, that there are 11 paths (soon to be 6), etc. Go for the most important messages first!

4. Engage with all guests by giving them the opportunity to speak as much as possible! If current members of Toastmasters are allowed to speak, they will dominate the meeting and that is undesirable. Ideally, every guest should talk, even if only for a short while, and more than once, for example answering the question of the day and feedback to the speech given

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Here is the session, step by step:

1. Welcome guests;

2. Introduce Toastmasters as “the biggest educational organization in the world, with clubs in almost all clubs in the world, and every week we practice communication and leadership” and "After one year, improvement is clearly visible - maybe less!"

3. Preparation of the Table Topics

   1. As guests arrive ask them to write something unique, interesting, or special about themselves in a card;

   2. Collect the cards and give them to the Table Topics Master, for later use;

4. Create a question of the day and ask it to the guests. Instead of overselling Toastmasters, ask a question to guest such as “Why do you think public speaking is important to you?” or “How valuable would it be to feel more personal confidence while speaking in public?” This will make the participants state those reasons themselves.

   • - Limit time to no more than one minute per person. Cut them off (politely) if necessary.

   • - Make them feel uncomfortable, but not too much.

   • - Don’t make guests speak from the stage. Let them talk from where they are in the audience.

5. Have two speakers: one beginner and one advanced. Immediately after the speech, ask guests to give feedback about the speeches, moderated by the First Toastmaster. This way the participants will see the evolution.

   1. Introduce with “I want to introduce a speaker…” but first, add “we will also want you to give feedback to the speaker" (in short bursts of 30 seconds) so that the guests can pay even more attention and prepare. You can also mention that “evaluation is the core of our experience, so we provide feedback”;

   2. If a guest says something like “I don’t know about this, my feedback won’t be useful”, respond that “even good speakers have something to improve”;

   3. Ask specific questions, for example:

      • “What was the purpose of the speech?”

      • “What did the speaker do well to support that purpose?”

      • “What did the speaker do that didn’t support that purpose?”

      • “What was the did you think he used the whole stage?”

      • “Was the voice correctly employed?”

   4. Practice active listening, engage with the guests! For example, they mention something, and you can ask them “What is so special about X? about Y? Why Z?”

6. Table topics:

   1. Remember to make this a fun moment!

   2. The Table Topics Master picks up a card from that group of cards that were pre-written by the guests, reads it and asks “Who do you think it is?” and then invites them all to share the story! No pressure, make it fun, make them at ease and proud of themselves. They will feel more comfortable speaking about things they already know!

7. Explain leadership opportunities when members join a club - not into too much detail.

8. ACTION POINT: Close the deal, make the sale!

   1. Explain the prices and timings

   2. Sell them the idea of being charter members / founders! It’s a big deal!

   3. Give them time to fill in the applications

   4. Get them to fill in the roles for the next meeting!

   5. Those who haven’t decided can be given another opportunity to come to another meeting, taking a role, make a speech, etc. Everybody commits to something!

9. Follow up

   1. Send thank you e-mails

   2. Phone them to ask them if they liked it

   3. Collect applications and payments

   4. Invitations to next meeting

 

Would you like to contribute to this page? Please contact the Club Growth Director at cgd[at]district107.org.