Page 33 - March 2020

BurnsMasters Toastmasters: 90 days to Charter Status (Part 2)

Marv Serhan, DTM

Now that the decisionmaker is fully informed Note and this is important: This orientation
and invested in the value of Toastmasters within presentation cannot be a canned talk. It must

his organization, and the ‘champion’ (Jeff be delivered with authenticity, sincerity,
Bourgeois) has been identified, the lead sponsor’s spontaneity, clarity, plenty of examples, and
next challenge will be to sell the concept to all crafted in such a way as to involve the audience.
potential club members, i.e. Burns & McDonnell That involvement will create energy, enthusiasm,

employees. This orientation meeting is and help to illustrate how the Toastmaster
essentially a sales pitch to share the significance program will lead to immediate learning. At
of the Toastmaster learning experience and BurnsMasters, the exercise involved impromptu
illustrate how enhanced communication skills speaking (table topics) followed immediately by

will directly benefit the members of a company. informal evaluations – demonstrating how to
At BurnsMasters there were 19 participants offer constructive feedback. The participants
at this orientation meeting. The survey that immediately realized the significance of this
followed had close to that number committed learning approach, found it challenging, and

to join the club. Obviously, the presentation was enjoyable as well. But they also recognized the
well-received. session to be a friendly environment within

VOICES! | MARCH 2020 33