Spartanburg, NC: Spartan Speakers Toastmasters Club

Spartanburg, SC 
Meets 7 PM Eastern Time on 2nd and 4th Thursdays
Attendance: 4 (7 members, 2 guests)

Sometimes when you have a problem, you just need a new set of eyes. That seems to be case at the Spartan Speakers Toastmasters Club when we visited recently. The club chartered in 2008, but only three people were attending meetings by July 2019. So they called in club coaches Lynn and Vivienne and the club is now up to 11 members and has earned President's Distinguished Status for 2019-2020.

What impressed me about this club is the quality of the evaluations given by Lee and Shanne. Both focused on the mechanics of the speeches, which doesn't always happen. Lee mentioned vocal variety and gestures as strong points in Rich's speech and suggested that he not apologize for technical issues that arose during his speech. Shanne had good insights about pulling back a bit on gestures, especially on the small screen, during Sal's speech.

Because of the small number in attendance, some of the members had to serve in more than one role. And some members weren't able to make it to the meeting. That required some last-minute shuffling of roles. At my home club in Midway, Kentucky, we encourage those with roles contact the Toastmaster of the Day or the VP Education if they can't make it.

The Table Topics Master wasn't able to attend, so my wife, Cynthia, volunteered to do Table Topics. That's when Toastmaster of the Day Lynn said they usually don't ask guests to fill open meeting roles. In my opinion, that's OK for non-Toastmasters, but I believe it's OK to ask guests who are Toastmasters members to help out, if necessary.

In this club, the Toastmaster of the Day introduces the speakers, the Table Topics Master, and the General Evaluator. Then the Toastmaster of the Day is done and the General Evaluator, when the evaluation segment of the meeting ends, hands the meeting off to the club president. 

One other thing: It's important for us as Toastmasters officers to remember that the first impression formed by newcomers can start before the meeting actually starts. After contacting the club about a link to their meeting, I received an email asking what was my purpose or goal in attending the meeting. I have to admit I found the tone of that email somewhat off-putting. 

Contrast that to the response I received from the Blue Hen Toastmasters Club in Newark, Delaware, a few days earlier. Their VP Education, Missy, called me (Yes! A phone call!) and asked me what she could do to ensure that I had the best possible experience while visiting her club. That felt so inviting to me.


Location: Spartanburg, SC, USA

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