Hartford, CT: One State Street Toastmasters

Hartford, CT
Meets 11:45 AM Wednesdays Eastern Time 
Attendance: 23 attendees, including 10 guests

I suppose Microsoft Teams is better than nothing as a platform for online Toastmasters meetings, but Teams just doesn't do it for me. One State Street Toastmasters in Hartford, CT, uses Teams for its meetings and unfortunately I didn't really enjoy the experience.

The main limitation to Teams is that only nine people can be displayed on the screen at any time. That meant that, for most of the meeting, I could hear disembodied voices emanating from my computer but I couldn't see who was speaking. One person gave a speech totally incognito to me. I never saw the face of the Toastmaster of the Day or the Table Topics Master. I felt like I had been transported in time back to the Golden Age of Radio, before television.

Maybe this Teams experience would be beneficial if I were interested in creating podcast where visuals are not part of the equation. However, to me, public speaking is a visual experience and Teams doesn't allow speakers to get the full benefit of evaluations on their performances. That being said, one of the evaluators did a credible job by pointing out the speaker's effective use of personal stories. The evaluator also added that the speaker gave us audio clues during her speech since she was aware that some people could not see her. So kudos both to the speaker and the evaluator.

It was also awesome that this club had 23 people in attendance, especially for a lunchtime meeting. Three of those people had never been to a Toastmasters a meeting and a fourth was a repeat guest. I'd like to know how One State Street is marketing their club, because my home club is struggling in attracting visitors to our cyber meetings.

Most of the time when I attend a Toastmasters meeting, I leave feeling energized. Unfortunately, because of the limitations of Microsoft Teams, I didn't feel that way today. I have to recognize that the company that hosts this club may not allow the club to use Zoom as their online platform. I use Teams at my work and it's fine for work-related meetings, but, for me, Teams doesn't give the feel of a Toastmasters meeting.




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