Moments of Truth

Your attitude is showing.

First impression, lasting impression. A moment of truth is not only the first impression you make on guests and prospective new members or anyone for that matter, it is the lasting impression you make.

You could have an MBA and be dressed in the finest of clothes; the only thing that will always show, first and foremost, is your attitude.

Whether good or bad, moments of truth are critical.

All businesses, large or small, thrive on one principal factor – one principal moment of truth – that is, customer satisfaction. You must let your customers know you welcome their patronage. They must feel they have gained something by doing business with you. They must want to stay with you.

The manner in which you present yourself to others is a moment of truth.

The manner in which you treat others is a moment of truth.

All this applies especially to Toastmasters. Toastmasters is an organization that provides a service to its customers, the members. Its purpose is to help people grow and enhance their communication and leadership skills. This is its raison d’etre, its reason for being.

People join for different reasons. People leave for different reasons. People stay for one reason. Satisfaction knowing they have gained something from Toastmasters.

Toastmasters has six crucial elements of its Moments of Truth. Those elements are:
1) First Impression: Let’s consider these questions.

(a) Are guests greeted warmly?

(b) What is the decorum? Is the club formal or relaxed?

(c) Is this organization organized? Is the room properly prepared before the start of the meeting? Do we start on time? Do we end on time? Do we know our assignments before the gavel hits the lectern?


(d) Do we encourage guests to participate? To speak? To comment? When they do, do we listen?

(e) Are our guests invited to join our club and make our club their club?

2) Membership Orientation: When people join Toastmasters, they are taking a big step. A leap of faith.

What do they want? Do they simply want a badge and a manual telling them here is your speech, now get up and speak to the masses? Something more is needed.

What is that something? Guidance? They need guidance in the form of a mentor. A mentor is someone who is ready, willing and able to answer all questions and iron out all concerns the rookie speaker may encounter. A mentor remembers what it was like when he or she first entered the circle.

In addition, it is our duty and responsibility as Rising Stars to access our members’ needs and current skill levels. It is vital for the new member to be assigned a speaking role and present an Ice Breaker as soon as possible and be encouraged to attend each meeting.

At Rising Star Toastmasters, everybody has an opportunity to speak. During the opening of the meeting, the president asks every member to introduce themselves and respond to a simple question/topic. Another example is Table Topics. This is where we hone our improvisational speaking skills.

3) Fellowship, Variety and Communication:

Members greet guests and make them feel welcome. We are one big happy family. We are a circle of friends. And may the circle be unbroken.

The Vice President of Education regularly schedules the agenda and assignments for the meetings following a task matrix that shows members’ progress through the steps toward becoming a Competent Communicator, Competent Leader, Advanced Communicator and Distinguished Toastmaster. There is even an opportunity to become a World Champion.


Members are encouraged to participate in club, area, district and international events such as contests and leadership training workshops.

Members are kept up-to-date via minutes provided by the Club Secretary, a regular newsletter and an Internet presence.

4) Program Planning and Meeting Organization: The Vice President of Education is in charge of planning, organizing and assigning the tasks for each meeting.

An assignment sheet is circulated during the business portion of the meeting so members can acknowledge and confirm their roles for the following meeting. Within a week prior to the meeting, an agenda is electronically distributed. Updated hard copies are handed out before the meeting opens and any last-minute substitutions are made. By the time the Sergeant-at-Arms starts the meeting, all jobs are filled and all members are set. Both hands know what the other hand is doing.

Another element of this element is Table Topics. Reminiscent of evenings spent with family and friends after a dinner party, the coffee and tea are served and the moment is ripe for thought-provoking conversation. Creativity shines when it is proven that the best course of action to take when one doesn’t know the answer to a question is to make one up. You’re a magic matador. Make the bull fly.

Each manual speech is accompanied by a constructive evaluation based on the criteria set forth in the speaker’s manual. This serves two purposes: (a) to pinpoint a speaker’s strengths and weaknesses and what improvements, if any, need to be made; and (b) to pinpoint a listener’s strengths and weaknesses and what improvements, if any, need to be made.

5) Membership Strength: As I stated earlier, members come, members go and members stay. A club needs to maintain a minimum of 20 members. We currently have 15 active members.

What is the benefit of having at least 20 members? We need to be able to fill all offices to keep the wheels in motion. Some times we have to wear many hats. In my opinion, too many hats can weigh down the head.

Why do people go? Sometimes they face uncontrollable factors such as family emergencies, death, job relocation or they are simply not satisfied with their Toastmaster experience. So what can we do? We can strive to make them satisfied. Members are like flowers in a garden. We need to nurture them to help them grow. We need to actively promote our members and our club in our community. Newsletters, press releases, visits to other clubs, awareness through a presence at Chamber of Commerce events.

6) Achievement Recognition: When a member reaches a goal, we recognize it. When a manual is completed and an application is filed, we immediately send that application to World Headquarters. When I completed my Competent Communicator manual, not only did I receive a certificate suitable for framing, my employer received a formal letter trumpeting my accomplishments.

Our attitude shows.