Toastmasters District 62
About six years ago, Owen Monday’s supervisor met with him to discuss his professional development. She was a Toastmaster, and recommended that Owen join Toastmasters as well. Owen joined Secondary to None, and at his first meeting sat well in the rear of the room. He was approached by none other than Jack Pyle, who said, “You can’t just sit in the back!”
Fast forward to last year. Owen was President of Secondary to None when they reached President’s Distinguished. He was also awarded the Spirit of Success Award by Toastmasters District 62. That’s quite a journey!
Toastmasters Adds Value
Owen credits Toastmasters for helping him with his consulting work. “With my work I have the opportunity to speak with many people. Thanks to Toastmasters I speak more accurately and eliminate vocalized pauses like “um” and “er”.
Owen considers the agenda to be the most important part of the meeting. “The Agenda sets the tone of the meeting. Having an agenda and sticking to it makes the meeting more professional. This is particularly important when converting guests into members.” As for specific topics, Owen sees great value in Table Topics. “When giving an elevator speech, or when speaking off-the-cuff, people get nervous. Table Topics helps you grow in that area.”
According to Owen, a role that is often overlooked is the Ah-Er Counter. “Instead of ahs and ers, you’ll find that if you pause, people will pay more attention. Thus, learning to pause at the right time can lead to enhancing your speaking skills.
Building Quality Clubs
Looking to the future, Owen recommends that Toastmasters pay more attention to having high-quality meetings. “I’ve discussed this a lot. You want people to stay. Instead of having the same people doing the same roles every meeting, we need to get back to the beginning: Why did we join Toastmasters?” To set the stage for club growth, Owen says, “Have an Open House meeting every month. Invite people! Show off your Quality Club. Only then will people stay.”
Owen Monday is a legal affairs consultant at Monday and Associates, LLC, and is Immediate Past President of the Secondary to None Toastmasters Club. He is also one of the Trio, the top three elected office holders for Toastmasters District 62.
