Toastmasters @ Work

 Skipped morning walk again due to smoke plume.

I enjoyed a Pacific Institute webinar at 8am and took notes. I was careful to followup with thanks.

Lo Bono Section meeting at 4pm.

Most of the day I prepared for the TM Club 832 (West Seattle) meeting, for which I was Toastmaster, having picked the theme "Toastmasters @ Work". I had heard several people mention they'd joined TM because someone at work recommended it as a way to improve their communications skills, either casually or with a bit of a shove. I prepared some remarks about how TM can help in this way, and encouraged ppl to practice their work presentations at the Club, but the big feature was a special Table Topics. I announced that we were holding a Team Meeting and I was the new Team Leader; we would go around the table answering the question "Who are you? What do you do at this company? Why should we pay for your Toastmasters membership?" (with the reminder that in Table Topics, if not in real life, it is perfectly ok to make something up.

This was a great success, and I'm trying to figure out why. We started with people who gave imaginative answers ("Zombie Dog Walker"); rather than waste time passing control back to me, each speaker called upon the next member in their zoom screen; later speakers may have enjoyed having a little more time to ponder the question so they could feel comfortable giving the answer; even the guests got in on the fun. This gives me things to ponder.