Contest planning best begins AFTER the contest. Not after the contest to come, but after the last contest. Unless the contest plan is being engaged as a first time contest - what happens AFTER a concluded contest is very critical. Straight after a speech contest the lessons learned in planning are vividly learned.
Most of these learnings are those which we cannot plan for before the contest. In my case, it is discovering that in a pressure situation we find out about the value of debriefing very simple scenario's. I was caught by surprise that I had to explain how a contest draw works - because I had assumed that this is a fairly simple instruction. That assumption is wrong when someone new is involved. They are already caught up trying to learn a new system - and along I come ignoring that their mental bandwidth has been consumed because they have no idea of what they should be doing - it was not planned for before hand - and now a simple instruction is being given in a sea of confusion. Not good for me, not good for the people who are helping.
The people who are helping got determined in a hurry and confused because again there was insufficient planning to role play and understand the purpose of their role. So now there is pressure everywhere, pressure in being under prepared, pressure because the clock is moving to contest start time - and in a contest where disqualification over time is used - starting a contest late hardly sets a good example. We managed to start the contest on time - but the draw for the contest was being done minutes before doors were meant to be closed (7pm DOORS CLOSE SHARP) - again a little bit of the integrity of the contest can be lost by these minor details. These minor details begin to mushroom from a snowflake into a gigantic snowball. The purpose of planning is to keep problems to the scale of snowflakes.
Next one discovers that the Area Director has only been in the job one year - is learning on the fly and has no idea what he is doing. More importantly he is asking for help hither and tither and comes across and asks for help with his contest chair script about 20 minutes before the contest is set to begin. Luckily I had a contest script template with me - and so I gave it to him - while trying to man the ticket desk and get him to understand that he is supposed to engage in a contest briefing with his contestants and engage a draw. To make things worse - one contestant is in both contests - which means the draws need to be conducted one after the other - and having given this Area director the lifeblood of a script - he is more prepared to try to swot and study it - than he is in finding his contestants - and the other chair is new to a contest and is sweating bullets - now I have two chairs disappearing and reappearing and contestants that have gone into the room, some to a toilet, some asking others where they should be and getting misdirected by them.
For sure the pre-contest planning could take care of the confusion but no pre-contest planning can take account of what people do when the clock is ticking and simple instructions are not so simple after all. The pre-contest planning would reduce the sweating and panic, but it does not count for the peculiarities of human disposition when that disposition is dealing with something new. It is here that we discover holes in our contest planning and in our scouting of the contest location. This is the stuff that we learn AFTER the contest and that is why this learning from experience is absolutely essential for the next contest plan.
The major thing I learned is that aside from a reception desk at the contest - there needs to be a concierge at the contest - because what was happening was delegates were asking questions of event staff that got them distracted from what they were doing - and so even though the door people said they were checking for tickets - I am sure people got into the contest who did not have tickets, and that is because the door people were looking at the event staff trying to sort though questions, which were best directed to a concierge.
Worse still are the titles of the roles given to contest staff - fanciful titles that don't really explain the job being done. So the same title SAA is used without any reference to the job being done. So one of the things I am going to change is apply the actual role as the job title, though officially acknowledge the more fanciful title. These job descriptions and actual work specification need to be pre-determined and then run through. There was a moment where the ticket seller (cashier) was handling concierge questions and was no longer watching the money they were meant to collect - moreoever - now the person responsible for logging the attendance record and issuing a cash receipt - was covering for the cashier - and that is when people slipped through the door - because the door man was himself distracted by the resulting commotion.
Nothing prepare us more than a person who did not learn their role and have no idea what they are doing - and even as I ushered everybody in to start the contest, the extent of lessons kept on arising - this was not the gift that kept on giving, this was rush and fuss principally created by an Area Director who had abdicated their role and no was flying rogue in the contest. Even the simple instructions of who was going to award the certificates and implementing a new idea of a "talk show" nearly fell to pieces because the Area Director was not in the plan - how could he be - when he cancelled his invite to the preparation meeting, where all of this would have been made abundantly clear - so lesson here is to get this stuff done in way good time, and not during the contest itself - some of this comes to light as a contest is in motion - hence - planning for the next contest begins immediately AFTER the last contest. (unless it is a first time contest).
The contest organizer did a fabulous job of creating contest program and printing of forms and certificates, but her efforts were somewhat wasted because the work she did was not getting into the hands of delegates. This should have been handled by a specific coordinator - a greeter rather than a door man. So that is another lesson built in. As is the fact that two sofa sets were outside the contest lecture theater - which could have been used as a WELCOME area for the contestants by the respective chairs - even if one of the contestants is in both contests - the contest that was about to happen, is the party he should have been with.
This would also entail much better signage - and asking regular users of the institution to give up seating for the purposes of the contest. People are pretty obliging. I had come in real early and had we begun to set up an hour earlier life would have been more predictable and sweat free - we would also get people interested who were passing by - and people were curious just with a few little items initially placed on the registration table.
The other lessons are ones based on accidents. A concierge in the room was leaning on an item when it moved and made a loud distracting noise in the middle of a speech. I was surprised by an automatic door opener - as I settle back against the wall to listen to a contestant speak - it triggered the doors and now I was trying to physically close doors which were automatically opening - the purpose of being at the doors was to HAVE NOT DISTRACTIONS FOR THE SPEAKERS - to stop people coming in and out while a contest speech was happening. This shows that we could do with customer experience managers on the floor - taking note of processes and whose purpose is to note and measure the experience of guests of the contest. Such things can only noted AFTER a contest and that is why contest planning begins AFTER.
M.
Saturday 17 October 2015
Tuesday 23 December 2014
Adding a CONTEST ORGANIZER
Instead of placing a huge workload on the Chair of a Contest (toastmaster), some clubs have split the role and created the role of Contest Organizer - with the remit of getting all materials ready for the respective chair or chair's if there are two contests and arrange the roles and meeting. On contest day, the chief organizer can relax and watch the contest unfold, and the chair can focus their mind solely on the job at hand.
There is plenty of material available online to engage in contest planning. The senior leaders of my former club put together a contest planning guide that is very well written and prepared called "How to Organize a Club Contest"
How to Organize a Club Contest [PDF] from Confidently Speaking http://bit.ly/1x0gd8A
The most critical role in contest preparation are not the executive nor even the contest chair, but setting up a role for a contest organizer. If that role is not setup then a lot of the load of contest preparation falls on the VP of Education, and then on the Chair of the specific contest. The arrangement of a contest organizer provides a position that that means the Chair can do what they do best and an Executive can do what they do best.
Having a contest organizer also means that there is oversight between transitions in the executive, it would not matter if a member is switching roles from VP of Ed to VP of PR, because the oversight of the contest organizer will bring the new VP of PR up-to-speed on the needs of the contest. The contest organizer themselves isn't thrown in the deep end because the VP of Education will be there to provide advice, or channel advice from prior contest organizers or members who have prior experience of event planning for contests.
As VP of Ed or as a prior VP of PR at my former club, at contest time, my role is secondary to that of the contest organizer as far contest planning is concerned. It is about ensuring the resources are available for the contest organizer as the specific contest organizer needs them. Delegation is leadership, it is not abdication.
When we engage without that role, it makes life tougher for everybody and my job at Toastmasters is not come out of this a hero, but to not be seen. If I am the invisible hand to the contest organizer, then that is a success. It may not be given that members will readily step up to take the role of contest organizer, but when they do it sure takes a lot of sweat equity out of contest preparation.
With an Inspirational Speech and Evaluation contest, there can be one contest organizer set up to serve two chairs, one chair for the Inspirational Speech Contest and one chair for the Evaluation Contest. If we spread the organization this way we stop talking about contests like John Wayne or a G.I.Jane and we make preparation the part we don't need to talk about, because if it is done well, guests and members will only notice the contest and not the preparation, which is business as usual. Toastmasters runs well when there are many unsung heroes rather than a few last action heroes. Indeed heroics can be a red flag for poor performance. The curtain call will happen after the contest is delivered and then it is all about the contest organizer - give people scope, recognize that scope.
The way to take some of the pain out of a contest away is appoint a contest organizer, and in so doing that will free up time to do engage other areas that are more club business related.
CityVP Manjit
23rd December 2014
There is plenty of material available online to engage in contest planning. The senior leaders of my former club put together a contest planning guide that is very well written and prepared called "How to Organize a Club Contest"
How to Organize a Club Contest [PDF] from Confidently Speaking http://bit.ly/1x0gd8A
The most critical role in contest preparation are not the executive nor even the contest chair, but setting up a role for a contest organizer. If that role is not setup then a lot of the load of contest preparation falls on the VP of Education, and then on the Chair of the specific contest. The arrangement of a contest organizer provides a position that that means the Chair can do what they do best and an Executive can do what they do best.
Having a contest organizer also means that there is oversight between transitions in the executive, it would not matter if a member is switching roles from VP of Ed to VP of PR, because the oversight of the contest organizer will bring the new VP of PR up-to-speed on the needs of the contest. The contest organizer themselves isn't thrown in the deep end because the VP of Education will be there to provide advice, or channel advice from prior contest organizers or members who have prior experience of event planning for contests.
As VP of Ed or as a prior VP of PR at my former club, at contest time, my role is secondary to that of the contest organizer as far contest planning is concerned. It is about ensuring the resources are available for the contest organizer as the specific contest organizer needs them. Delegation is leadership, it is not abdication.
When we engage without that role, it makes life tougher for everybody and my job at Toastmasters is not come out of this a hero, but to not be seen. If I am the invisible hand to the contest organizer, then that is a success. It may not be given that members will readily step up to take the role of contest organizer, but when they do it sure takes a lot of sweat equity out of contest preparation.
With an Inspirational Speech and Evaluation contest, there can be one contest organizer set up to serve two chairs, one chair for the Inspirational Speech Contest and one chair for the Evaluation Contest. If we spread the organization this way we stop talking about contests like John Wayne or a G.I.Jane and we make preparation the part we don't need to talk about, because if it is done well, guests and members will only notice the contest and not the preparation, which is business as usual. Toastmasters runs well when there are many unsung heroes rather than a few last action heroes. Indeed heroics can be a red flag for poor performance. The curtain call will happen after the contest is delivered and then it is all about the contest organizer - give people scope, recognize that scope.
The way to take some of the pain out of a contest away is appoint a contest organizer, and in so doing that will free up time to do engage other areas that are more club business related.
CityVP Manjit
23rd December 2014
Monday 8 September 2014
2014 World Champion Talks to Business Insider
Dananjaya Hettiarachchi, the newly crowned World Champion of Public Speaking has given an interview to business insider. Here he provides his insights into his efforts, what worked and what did not work. His was a 10 year journey, reaching the semi-finals four times before finally winning the big one. With Toastmasters, there is no defense of the title - so this win marks the end of that road in this particular competition. I found this article interesting because it hits themes that have made sense to me, but good to hear it again.
CityVP Manjit
08 September 2014
CityVP Manjit
08 September 2014
Tuesday 26 August 2014
Wonderful World of Competent Leadership
There is a controversial area when it comes to how Toastmaster Contests relate to the Competent Leader program. It is controversial because some clubs or toastmasters misread the projects available on the CL in regards to contests.
The wording however is very particular and when we focus on it, it is also surprising in its implications. The CL program is designed to create a relationship with members as to how they think about leadership and how that leadership is practiced at the club level - the CL is a set of credits created for club activity.
Area and District contests are not covered by the CL and despite Toastmaster Internationals great pride of holding the World Championship of Public Speaking, the organization pays less reverence to educational credits for contest officials. Reverence should be paid to the role of Chief Judge in terms of credits but as the CL manual is laid out, a Chief Judge can only get credit for HELPING organize a contest.
Helping Organize a contest is a CL Project 6 Credit
Chairing a contest is a CL Project 10 Credit
The problem comes with how some clubs interpret CL Project 8, which some clubs or members take to mean organizing a club contest - but a closer examination of the project makes it clear that this project pertains to MEMBERSHIP CONTEST not a speech contest. Despite this, this is a common misunderstanding and mistake that is often made - and thus why contests are controversial when it comes to understanding how the CL works.
CityVP Manjit
26 August 2014
The wording however is very particular and when we focus on it, it is also surprising in its implications. The CL program is designed to create a relationship with members as to how they think about leadership and how that leadership is practiced at the club level - the CL is a set of credits created for club activity.
Area and District contests are not covered by the CL and despite Toastmaster Internationals great pride of holding the World Championship of Public Speaking, the organization pays less reverence to educational credits for contest officials. Reverence should be paid to the role of Chief Judge in terms of credits but as the CL manual is laid out, a Chief Judge can only get credit for HELPING organize a contest.
Helping Organize a contest is a CL Project 6 Credit
Chairing a contest is a CL Project 10 Credit
The problem comes with how some clubs interpret CL Project 8, which some clubs or members take to mean organizing a club contest - but a closer examination of the project makes it clear that this project pertains to MEMBERSHIP CONTEST not a speech contest. Despite this, this is a common misunderstanding and mistake that is often made - and thus why contests are controversial when it comes to understanding how the CL works.
CityVP Manjit
26 August 2014
Monday 25 August 2014
The 2014 World Champion of Public Speaking
Congratulations to Dananjaya Hettiarachchi of Nawala
Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka, District 82 on becoming the 2014 World Champion
of Public Speaking.
The winner of the World Championship organized by Toastmasters International holds this crown for one year. Unlike Sports World Championships, the winner of the International Speech Contest does not defend their crown. This is a part of Toastmasters contest rules, that winners, people who officiate the contest and people who administer at the District level and above are ineligible for contests.
This ensures a new winner each year and the rules are there to ensure the fairest type of contest possible. Contest protocols are observed all the way from the Final, down to regional district, division, area and individual club contests - where the path to the final begins.
With the contest held in Malaysia and this years winner being from Sri Lanka, it underscores the global nature of Toastmasters International, from its prior American based roots out of California. The Public Speaking World Championship has come a long way in its long history and Toastmasters International maintain a prior winners list.
CityVP Manjit
25 Aug 2014
The winner of the World Championship organized by Toastmasters International holds this crown for one year. Unlike Sports World Championships, the winner of the International Speech Contest does not defend their crown. This is a part of Toastmasters contest rules, that winners, people who officiate the contest and people who administer at the District level and above are ineligible for contests.
This ensures a new winner each year and the rules are there to ensure the fairest type of contest possible. Contest protocols are observed all the way from the Final, down to regional district, division, area and individual club contests - where the path to the final begins.
With the contest held in Malaysia and this years winner being from Sri Lanka, it underscores the global nature of Toastmasters International, from its prior American based roots out of California. The Public Speaking World Championship has come a long way in its long history and Toastmasters International maintain a prior winners list.
CityVP Manjit
25 Aug 2014
Friday 22 August 2014
The Reluctant Competitor by Edna Talboy
Interesting perspective from a 2011 article in Toastmasters Magazine. I am still working out what contests actually mean to members who signed up at a Toastmasters Club not expecting that there is a competitive stream to club participation. These articles are helpful because they that the reason one enters a Club Contest are not primarily because one wants to compete but first for the experience, secondly for the camaraderie and thirdly involvement in excellence.
The image for "The Reluctant Competitor" is linked to an article by Edna Talboy. It speaks far more to engaging in a new experience and the discovery of what than can lead to or inform the Toastmaster who participates in this process. There are also behind the scene roles that club members can get involved in but I find that those who have never been involved in contest preparation are often overly concerned with "not knowing what to do" - when a club contest administration is well scripted and has easy to understand roles that are directed by the Chair and arranged by the Contest Organizer.
CityVP Manjit
22 Aug 2014
The image for "The Reluctant Competitor" is linked to an article by Edna Talboy. It speaks far more to engaging in a new experience and the discovery of what than can lead to or inform the Toastmaster who participates in this process. There are also behind the scene roles that club members can get involved in but I find that those who have never been involved in contest preparation are often overly concerned with "not knowing what to do" - when a club contest administration is well scripted and has easy to understand roles that are directed by the Chair and arranged by the Contest Organizer.
CityVP Manjit
22 Aug 2014
Saturday 16 August 2014
Contest Planning
With our clubs forthcoming Table Topic and Humorous Contests at City Centre Toastmasters, my first reference is going to be the resource on our District's website. There are times when one can innovate or engage in unique practice which is the personal value benefit for me to explore contests at this blog, but there is also wisdom in not re-inventing the wheel when someone has done the groundwork previously.
The Table Topic and Humorous contests begin at club level, winners go to the Area Contest and the winners of that go to the Division and so the world of these two contests are within the District. They also provide the fun side to competition because the bar isn't as stringent as the one for the official World Champion of Public Speaking.
My prior club created the definitive guide on how to organize a contest - and this has been revised this year. While that guide is now universally utilized throughout the district, there are tips that the former club President at City Centre Toastmasters showed me that are really efficient and lean. So while the "how to" guide is excellent, the search for options isn't restricted to one guidebook download.
While contest Rule Books and Digital Kits maybe available online, I find it best to place a free order with Toastmasters International directly - that way there can be no errors in using out-of-date information. Technically a Chief Judge can disqualify contestants for not following due process or nullify a club's contest for not having the latest contest rule book present at any given contest.
While it seems laborious to go through a checkout to download free digital contest materials, the order is logged so it is simply a good cross-check that these things have been done on the to-do-list and consequently saving to a file on one's computer where these materials can be found, when they need to be found. Most contest planning should begin about 6 weeks before a contest - so this is a part of those process steps.
CityVP Manjit
16 Aug 2014
The Table Topic and Humorous contests begin at club level, winners go to the Area Contest and the winners of that go to the Division and so the world of these two contests are within the District. They also provide the fun side to competition because the bar isn't as stringent as the one for the official World Champion of Public Speaking.
My prior club created the definitive guide on how to organize a contest - and this has been revised this year. While that guide is now universally utilized throughout the district, there are tips that the former club President at City Centre Toastmasters showed me that are really efficient and lean. So while the "how to" guide is excellent, the search for options isn't restricted to one guidebook download.
While contest Rule Books and Digital Kits maybe available online, I find it best to place a free order with Toastmasters International directly - that way there can be no errors in using out-of-date information. Technically a Chief Judge can disqualify contestants for not following due process or nullify a club's contest for not having the latest contest rule book present at any given contest.
While it seems laborious to go through a checkout to download free digital contest materials, the order is logged so it is simply a good cross-check that these things have been done on the to-do-list and consequently saving to a file on one's computer where these materials can be found, when they need to be found. Most contest planning should begin about 6 weeks before a contest - so this is a part of those process steps.
CityVP Manjit
16 Aug 2014
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