Another Induction Ceremony
When a guest decides to join a Toastmasters club, we welcome them with an induction ceremony. Each club has its own style in conducting one. Some are very formal while others are casual. Ours is simple yet heart-warming.
Unlike most clubs which have voting to decide whether they accept the membership application, we do away with that voting because we will accept them anyway. When someone visited us with an apparently "different objective" like selling their products to our members, inviting members to their religious beliefs, or trying to find a romantic partner, we would ask if they are really serious about learning and growing before that person fills in a membership application. So, we do not see the need for voting.
Instead, we have a simple exchange of pledges, with new members reading out their member's promise, and existing members read out the club's pledge. What set our induction ceremony apart comes after this. We welcome them with a round of handshakes, where members go to the stage shaking hands with the new members, with online members welcoming the new members with a virtual handshake. This is one of our happiest moments. It's always great to welcome new like-minded people.
The meeting itself was exciting with four members delivering their prepared speeches, followed by challenging Table Topics questions and quality evaluation speeches.
Awards Ceremony
At the end of the educational portion of the meeting, we have an Awards Ceremony, we we recognize members who won the Best Table Topics, Best Evaluator, and Best Speaker awards. This time, all the winners happen to be venue attendees, so we were able to present them with their respective ribbons. It's great to see their happy faces.
入会式
Toastmastersでは新メンバーが入会する際に入会式（Induction Ceremony)を行います。クラブによってテイストが違いますが、Shin-Osaka Leadersの入会式は簡潔で温かいと表現できると思います。他のクラブのように入会の可否を問う投票はせず（変な目的で入会を希望していそうな人がいるとすれば、入会申込の前に目的をお聞きするでしょうし、入会式に及んでお断りすることは考えられませんからね）、新会員と既存会員がそれぞれ宣誓して、既存会員全員が新会員の元にいって個別に握手をかわします。オンライン参加者はその後でバーチャル握手で歓迎します。入会式は、似た目的で一緒に活動できる仲間を迎え入れる、最も嬉しい瞬間の一つですね。
ミーティング自体は４本のprepared speech、ちょっと難しいTable Topics、質の高いevaluation speechが詰まった効率的なものでした。
授賞式
ミーティングの中の教育セッションの最後は授賞式（Awards Ceremony）です。Best Table Topics、Best Evaluator、Best Speakerの受賞者にそれぞれのリボンを渡して表彰します。今回はたまたま全員が会場参加者だったので、実物を渡せました。嬉しそうな顔を見れるのが素敵な瞬間です。
