The Circumstances, the Idea, the Execution, and the Numbers
March 12, 2020 – the day the quarantine started for ME, when my boss at the Boulder Daily Camera told the sales team to start working from home on Monday. This was the day after March Madness, the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament was canceled.
March 12, 2020 – the day the quarantine started for ME, when my boss at the Boulder Daily Camera told the sales team to start working from home on Monday. This was the day after March Madness, the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament was canceled.
The day after my home club, Solar Speak, voted to start Zoom meetings, after I gave an impassioned speech suggesting it was going to have to happen - and sure enough, the next day, our meeting place told us we could no longer meet there. Six days before the official stay-at-home orders came.
It was also the day the idea of a 2020 Toastmasters Zoom Challenge materialized. Thanks to my showings in the World Championship of Public Speaking Finals in 2006 and 2008, and the notoriety I'd gained in the documentary already spoken in person at nearly 20 District Conferences in North America over the last 15 years. I'd also spoken for the Faculty Club in District 9 (my old stomping grounds) via Zoom in February.
What if I could speak in all 120 Districts during quarantine? Toastmasters International was close to mandating all clubs go online - the potential was there to Zoom all over the world! But how?
The easiest answer for me was Facebook. 5000 friends doesn't hurt, when at least half of those are Toastmasters from around the world. In addition, The Official Toastmasters Facebook Group had 25,500 or so members I could reach out to - but I needed the right message.
After a post on my own page, I was able to visit Oklahoma City on April 6, and British Columbia April 7 - thanks to friends Michael Rodman and Sharookh Darawala, respectively. It was time to go after a bigger audience. I assumed some clubs would struggle with online attendance. I also assumed many of my friends would be more than happy to host me as a speaker in their club. So far, I was right.
It was also the day the idea of a 2020 Toastmasters Zoom Challenge materialized. Thanks to my showings in the World Championship of Public Speaking Finals in 2006 and 2008, and the notoriety I'd gained in the documentary already spoken in person at nearly 20 District Conferences in North America over the last 15 years. I'd also spoken for the Faculty Club in District 9 (my old stomping grounds) via Zoom in February.
What if I could speak in all 120 Districts during quarantine? Toastmasters International was close to mandating all clubs go online - the potential was there to Zoom all over the world! But how?
The easiest answer for me was Facebook. 5000 friends doesn't hurt, when at least half of those are Toastmasters from around the world. In addition, The Official Toastmasters Facebook Group had 25,500 or so members I could reach out to - but I needed the right message.
After a post on my own page, I was able to visit Oklahoma City on April 6, and British Columbia April 7 - thanks to friends Michael Rodman and Sharookh Darawala, respectively. It was time to go after a bigger audience. I assumed some clubs would struggle with online attendance. I also assumed many of my friends would be more than happy to host me as a speaker in their club. So far, I was right.
On April 8, 2020 I put my first post about the Challenge on the official group and was quickly greeted by enthusiasm....and unexpected push-back. I had announced that I wanted to speak in every District, and was soon asked why I had to take a speaker role, instead of, say, an ah-counter or timer? Why should clubs take away a speaking spot away from their members and hand it over to me? Fair question.
I re-evaluated. What were the best reasons for me to do this? What was the best way to go about it? Most importantly, how could I make my appearance at a club be HELPFUL, as well as significant from a speaking perspective?
Part of me really felt it wasn't a big enough challenge to just 'pop into' a meeting, or be an Ah-Counter, Timer, Grammarian, or another similar role. I wanted to add bigger value - and I decided I could bring value from the other side of the lectern, as an evaluator - for a speaker, for their meeting as the General Evaluator, or even for their table topics if that was a role the club used.
I changed my approach. Told people my goal was to Speak OR Evaluate in every District. I started updating people on my progress via Facebook live on my personal page, which I then shared on the Official TI page. I was also determined to only solicit invitations vs. asking individuals if I could speak at their club. While I did make some requests in a couple of Districts that were tougher to get into as June turned to July, I never pushed myself into a club - I just found the people willing to bring me in.
Part of me really felt it wasn't a big enough challenge to just 'pop into' a meeting, or be an Ah-Counter, Timer, Grammarian, or another similar role. I wanted to add bigger value - and I decided I could bring value from the other side of the lectern, as an evaluator - for a speaker, for their meeting as the General Evaluator, or even for their table topics if that was a role the club used.
I changed my approach. Told people my goal was to Speak OR Evaluate in every District. I started updating people on my progress via Facebook live on my personal page, which I then shared on the Official TI page. I was also determined to only solicit invitations vs. asking individuals if I could speak at their club. While I did make some requests in a couple of Districts that were tougher to get into as June turned to July, I never pushed myself into a club - I just found the people willing to bring me in.
Early on, it wasn't really an issue. Offers rolled in, and suddenly the challenge shifted from finding clubs, to finding TIME for all the clubs while I was still a full-time, albeit work-from-home, employee, as well as husband, and father to six kids.
I really didn't ever expect to get to more than half of the Districts - but I also didn't really expect the quarantines to last as long as they have. By the end of April, I'd spoken to 26 districts. I spoke to 45 more in May, 46 in June. I had 3 more to attend, but then suddenly, on July 1st, Toastmasters officially sanctioned FOUR more Districts - the last of which, 120 in South India, I finally spoke with on August 9, 2020. All told, I spoke nearly 130 times in 4 months (including D9 again during the four month window). But numbers only tell half the story. The adventure was much bigger than a simple spreadsheet.
Click here for Part II - What I Learned, Where I Goofed, What Happened That I Didn't Expect, and Who I Have to Thank
Click here for Part II - What I Learned, Where I Goofed, What Happened That I Didn't Expect, and Who I Have to Thank
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