Learning Lessons from Toastmasters

Learning Lessons from Toastmasters
by Luke Setzer

Public speaking continues to rank as a top fear of most people, with many of those surveyed claiming they fear death less than speaking before an audience. To combat this widespread irrationality, Ralph Smedley formed an affordable, club-based, global organization called Toastmasters® in 1924 to help any willing participants to gain the confidence and ability needed to speak in public. In his words:

Ours is the only organization I know that is dedicated to the individual. We work together to bring out the best in each of us and then we apply our skills to help others.

According to the Toastmasters International® (TI) "All About Us" page:

At Toastmasters, members learn by speaking to groups and working with others in a supportive environment. A typical Toastmasters club is made up of 20 to 30 people who meet once a week for about an hour. Each meeting gives everyone an opportunity to practice:

Conducting meetings. Meetings usually begin with a short business session which helps members learn basic meeting procedures. Giving impromptu speeches. Members present one-to two-minute impromptu speeches on assigned topics. Presenting prepared speeches. Three or more members present speeches based on projects from the Toastmasters International Communication and Leadership Program manuals. Projects cover such topics as speech organization, voice, language, gestures, and persuasion.
Offering constructive evaluation. Every prepared speaker is assigned an evaluator who points out speech strengths and offers suggestions for improvement.

With thousands of clubs and tens of thousands of members globally, TI can honestly boast of itself as a highly successful training organization. What traits does TI embody that would benefit a global Objectivist club network to emulate?

Clearly Stated and Achievable Vision, Mission, Values and Strategic Plan

As I stated in an earlier article, although I am not religious, I certainly accept as a timeless truth the verse from the Book of Proverbs that informs us, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." To succeed and grow, an organization needs a clearly worded vision statement of what the organization intends to become, a mission statement about what it intends to do to achieve its vision, and a values statement to pilot the organization on a daily basis. In short, it needs a unified philosophy to guide it. Moreover, the philosophy must ultimately tie back to reality and human needs.

Although not explicitly Objectivist in the way of the BB&T statement of corporate philosophy, the Toastmasters philosophy does fit the bill of serving human needs in a realistic and flourishing fashion. Consider its vision statement:

Toastmasters International empowers people to achieve their full potential and realize their dreams. Through our member clubs, people throughout the world can improve their communication and leadership skills, and find the courage to change.

The vision statement outlines what TI intends to be. By contrast, the mission statement outlines what TI intends to do at the global, local and district levels to achieve its vision:

The Mission of Toastmasters International

Toastmasters International is the leading movement devoted to making effective oral communication a worldwide reality.

Through its member clubs, Toastmasters International helps men and women learn the arts of speaking, listening and thinking – vital skills that promote self-actualization, enhance leadership, foster human understanding and contribute to the betterment of mankind.

It is basic to this mission that Toastmasters International continually expand its worldwide network of clubs, thereby offering ever-greater numbers of people the opportunity to benefit from its programs.

The Mission of the Club

The mission of a Toastmasters club is to provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment in which every member has the opportunity to develop communication and leadership skills, which in turn foster self-confidence and personal growth.

The Mission of the District

The mission of the district is to enhance the performance and extend the network of clubs, thereby offering greater numbers of people the opportunity to benefit from the Toastmasters educational program by:

Focusing on the critical success factors as specified by the district educational and membership goals.
Insuring that each club effectively fulfills its responsibilities to its members.
Providing effective training and leadership opportunities for club and district officers.

Finally, the values statement provides a code of conduct for TI as it pursues its mission to achieve its vision:

The Values of Toastmasters International

Toastmasters International’s core values are integrity, dedication to excellence, service to the member and respect for the individual. These are values worthy of a great organization, and we believe we should incorporate them as anchor points in every decision we make. Our core values provide us with a means of not only guiding but also evaluating our operations, our planning and our vision for the future.

The aforementioned necessary statements of vision, mission and values alone do not suffice to drive an organization forward. An organization, like a living organism, must strive for goals that affirm its existence. As a successful global network of clubs, TI articulates on its Web site a strategic plan to concretize its vision, mission and values into tangible goals. In their words:

Strategic planning is important for any organization in order to choose a direction for the future, to guide program development and provide a blueprint for the appropriate allocation of resources. Frequently, organizations devote a great deal of energy to developing a strategic plan and then feel the job is done for at least five years. The new trend is to be in a state of thinking (planning) strategically on an ongoing basis and updating strategies as new information that influences the organization and its overall direction becomes available. It is important to incorporate the concept of nimbleness into the organization’s thinking. The world moves so rapidly now that any organization must position itself to be able to move quickly with any new opportunities and initiatives.

Based on this planning philosophy, TI has set a Big Audacious Goal (BAG):

Toastmasters International is recognized throughout the world as the undisputed expert in communication and leadership skills development.

In support of the BAG, each club has a uniform set of ten goals it sets each year. These involve the recruitment of new members, the graduation of members to higher levels of achievement, the participation of club officers in training programs, and so forth. Individuals and clubs that achieve such worthwhile goals receive recognition from TI for those achievements. This form of spiritual remuneration often means more to people than financial compensation.

Translating the TI Model into a Global Objectivist Club Network

Toastmasters explicitly originated as an organization dedicated to the individual living on Earth. Objectivism explicitly originated as a philosophy dedicated to the individual living on Earth. Toastmasters International has enjoyed a wide embracement and success that dwarfs Objectivism. What can Objectivists learn from TI that would translate readily to a global Objectivist club network?

Because TI aims to educate rather than indoctrinate, it does not face the ideological challenges that an Objectivist club network would face. Ideally, an Objectivist club network would take a similar approach, giving members time to chew, digest and assimilate the ideas until they finally become a part of daily life. Nevertheless, TI still has its own methods of focus and quality control to deal with troublemakers.

Recruiting Good Apples and Ousting Bad Ones

Toastmasters Clubs have positive incentives to recruit new members. Even under the best circumstances, perfectly happy members may still have to leave a club due to other commitments, job relocations, etc. Experience has shown that 20 members offer a good, solid base for a club to conduct productive meetings. Such a base allows for expected absences while still providing, on average, enough people per meeting to conduct scheduled speech projects, impromptu speaking, speech evaluations, etc. As a result, a club must maintain a minimum membership base of 20 members to keep its charter active and out of probation. This minimum requirement discourages infighting and encourages membership retention and recruitment.

How does a person actually become a member? Often, a club will announce its meetings in free local newspaper calendars and draw newcomers. More often, however, club members will actively recruit friends and colleagues to join the club. This not only assures the club remains alive, but it also garners awards and recognition to members who recruit the most new members. After a guest attends a meeting or two and becomes convinced of the club's value, he can pay the reasonable dues and complete and sign a membership form to become a member. The form includes a statement called the Toastmaster's Promise to which the new member agrees when he signs the form:

As a member of Toastmasters International and my Club, I promise...

To attend Club meetings regularly;
To prepare all of my speeches to the best of my ability, basing them on projects in the Communications and Leadership Program manual or the Advanced Communication and Leadership manuals;
To willingly prepare for and fulfill meeting assignments;
To provide fellow members with helpful, constructive evaluations;
To help the Club maintain the positive, friendly environment necessary for all members to learn and grow;
To willingly serve my Club as an office when called upon to do so;
To treat my fellow Club members and our guests with respect and courtesy;
To bring guests to Club meeting so they can see the benefits Toastmasters membership offers;
To adhere to the guidelines and rules for all Toastmasters educational and recognition programs;
To maintain honest and highly ethical standards during the conduct of all Toastmasters activities.

A final but crucial step in the recruitment of the new member involves voting for approval of the new member by the existing club members. Why would TI require that a club's existing members vote to approve any new members? To prevent any malefactors from infiltrating and destroying a club through such means as viciously racist speeches, TI needed a mechanism for ousting such bad apples. They concluded that simply voting them out of the club would suffice. To assure fairness both ways, TI thus selected voting the membership approval of a newcomer as the final authorization for joining a club. Allowing a simple majority rule for approval or revocation of a membership in a club makes management that much simpler.

A similar approach could eventually work with a local Objectivist club as the network grows. Requiring that new members sign a carefully worded Objectivist's Promise would present from the beginning the expected code of conduct for those new members. Although some Objectivists may cringe at this approach as "mob rule" and "tribalism," it nevertheless aligns closely with the American ideal of constitutional, representative government. That TI has done so well with this approach and seldom has to revoke memberships speaks well of its methods.

Recognition and Rewards

A new Toastmaster begins with a basic manual consisting of ten speech projects. After completing those projects, the Toastmaster earns a level of Competent Toastmaster (CTM) and can proudly wear a name badge with that title. He can also become a club officer and conduct two prepared leadership presentations to earn the title Competent Leader (CL) and add that title to his badge. Further levels such as Advanced Toastmaster (ATM) Bronze, Silver or Gold avail themselves to ambitious Toastmasters willing to do the required work. The same goes for those who want to earn the title of Advanced Leader (AL). The highest level, Distinguished Toastmaster, comes to the most talented and ambitious of the lot and can offer a great spring of pride for those who achieve it.

In addition to these achievement levels, other opportunities for measurable success come in the form of speech contests. Each year, TI offers such contests that rise from the club level through the area, division, district, region and international level. Each year, one contestant becomes the new Toastmasters International World Champion Speaker. Such winners frequently become highly paid speakers and consultants.

A global Objectivist club network would do well to emulate such recognitions and friendly competitions. Training manuals for demonstrating a growing mastery of Objectivism could earn the members increasing levels of recognition within the club. As for contests, a variety of possibilities ranging from "Most Changed Life" to "Most New People Exposed to Objectivism" offer promises. But even the most highly rated member would not remain immune to ouster should he begin to babble nonsense totally at odds with Objectivism. So no loudmouth would rise to spoil the organization for long without penalty.

Elected Officers with Term Limits

Clubs require management and leadership to succeed. The TI clubs offer excellent officer manuals so that anyone elected to an office can simply read the manual for that office, follow the instructions and become a competent leader. Semi-annual officer training sessions assure that officers get live training from experienced predecessors. Term limits prevent entrenchment and the usual petty political power plays that come with that.

For too long, Objectivist clubs have remained isolated, autocratic, idiosyncratic and easily fractured. The success of a given club has relied largely on the motivations and moods of whomever founded it. When the founder leaves, the club usually dissolves. One can make the same observation of many special interest and freethought clubs as well. By contrast, a fully participatory club network with formal procedures grounded in reality and a highly motivating and ambitious vision has much more opportunity for success. The TI club network exemplifies the best possible. Given the Objectivist support of representative, constitutional government, Objectivism deserves such a club network.

Conclusion

Nothing in reality prevents the conception, incubation, birth and growth of a global Objectivist club network into a towering giant. The Toastmasters International club network offers an ideal colossus to emulate. Its enormous success shows that one man can indeed start a global phenomenon. Its sweeping yet grounded vision, mission, values and strategic plan illustrate the role of reason in creating global culture change. Its rigorous procedures for selecting members, officers and contest winners exemplify objectivity in action. Its training systems arise from decades of experience. In short, it offers many lessons for how a good Objectivist club system should do business.

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