Toastmasters is an organisation that lends itself extremely well to creativity and imagination. At a meeting of one of my clubs last night, I was reminded of how much fun it can be to think outside the box (or is it a 3D cube?). There were many wonderful aspects to the meeting – the Surprise section of the meeting had us all considering meditation and creativity and I suppose this was what got me thinking on this point.
It can be a bit scary to try something different – I wasn’t at all sure how it would work when I decided to do something a little different with the recitation of the club mission (we do this every meeting). It was extraordinary fun though! I asked everyone to sing the mission loudly in their favourite tune (a la Professor Dumbledore in Harry Potter for those die-hard fans who will catch the reference).
Stimulating your creative bone to help you imaginate a different way is not easy for everyone and if you’re not sure where to start, I recommend visiting other clubs and going to District events. Find out what others are doing and consider trying it in your club. A gem I heard recently was that one club calls their ‘educational’ sessions ’skillbuilders’ – I thought that was significantly more interesting than ‘educational’, which sounds rather unfortunately like a lecture…
What does your club do that’s a bit different? Post a comment below and let me know! Let’s imaginate the most creative, effective Toastmasters clubs we can.
(Note to Pedants: Yes, I know the word is imagine, not imaginate. However, if you know what I mean when I say it, doesn’t that make it a word – for isn’t a word simply an instrument of communication and wasn’t I effectively communicating my thoughts and ideas?)
