Attention to detail
"Everyone, stop typing, please."
This was the sentence that set Sweet apart. It was her first time to serve as Toastmaster of the Day (TMOD). Still, she demonstrated the leadership that no one has ever shown before. Let me explain. In Toastmasters, most clubs take one minute after a prepared speech for members to write a comment for the speaker. As you can imagine, one minute is short and we are tempted to keep writing even after that one minute is over and the TMOD starts to introduce the next speaker. However, this is when audience members should stop writing and pay full attention to the TMOD and the subsequent speaker. Funnily enough, nobody has ever said anything until Sweet brought it to our attention at this meeting. I loved it! Yes, we need to pay attention to the speaker at the moment, not the speaker who is done speaking. Thank you, Sweet, for your excellent leadership.
Active Listening
Another person I'd like to introduce is Dashe, who worked on a unique project, "Active Listening." The task for this project is to serve as Topicsmaster, the facilitator of the Table Topics Session, where we practice impromptu speeches. The project requires us to pay full attention to each Table Topics Speaker and give a brief comment afterward. It may seem only natural for the facilitator to pay attention to the speeches, but the truth is it is not always easy because there are a lot of things for the Topicsmaster to think about before coming back to the stage after a speech, which topic to give next, who to call on next, taking into account how much time is left for the session. We tend to be distracted by these things. Yet, Dashe avoided these distractions and was fully focused. His brief comments summarizing the speeches were all relevant and relatable.
Great job, both of you!
(Hide-chan)
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