Fargo, ND: Bold & Blue Toastmasters

Fargo, ND
Meets 6:15 PM Thursdays Eastern Time
Attendance: 16 members and 3 guests

If you want to see Toastmasters done right, RUN -- don't walk -- to Bold & Blue Toastmasters in Fargo, ND. This club was hitting on all cylinders when my wife, Cynthia, and I visited on June 18. 

When we arrived at the Zoom session about 15 minutes before the meeting, six members were already there. They greeted us warmly and took time to get to know us a little bit before the meeting. As a visitor, that felt really good to me. After the meeting started, they asked us and other guests to introduce ourselves. They made us feel very welcome. That doesn't always happen when we visit clubs online.

I felt really at home at this club because they do things similarly to how we do them in my home club. One example is the communication or leadership Tip of the Day. They're also having an end-of-the-year celebration next week. We're having ours in July. Their meetings have themes, as do ours. The theme at this meeting was P.O.P. -- Plan, Organize, and Prepare. And as Toastmaster of the Day Margie said (and I'm paraphrasing), "If you don't POP, you are going to fizzle."

Another thing this club does that struck me is that they keep the Zoom session open after the meeting so members and guests can socialize even more if they so choose. Being Toastmasters aficionados, Cynthia and I decided to stick around and we had a delightful time. We chit-chatted with Margie, who's the incoming president; Kimmie, the incoming secretary; and Linzey, who is Margie's right-hand woman for all things tech. We found out that Bold & Blue is having online social events outside of regular meetings during this time of social distancing. In past socials, they've done such fun things as scavenger hunts, Trivia Night, and storytelling. I'm hoping to get an invitation to the next one.

I enjoyed everything about this meeting. I really liked the evaluations because they were supportive and they also suggested ways to each speaker on how to take their speeches to the next level. I also liked that the General Evaluator Char gently pointed out during her general evaluation of the meeting that it's better to call on people without roles during Table Topics (the impromptu speaking portion of the meeting). She also reminded us that Table Topics responses must be at least one minute. Good job!

I was so energized after attending the Bold & Blue Toastmasters meeting. That, my friends, is the best indicator of how wonderful this meeting really is.


Comments

  1. joeknowsbizAugust 2, 2020 at 11:53 PM

    I am very happy to read you had a good experience with this club. I have been working with Margie and Char to speak at their club.

    ReplyDelete

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