Page 34 - October 2017 Voices

When the Magic Happens

by Stephanie Magoulas, ACB, CL

What is the key tips for me on how to bring this message to my
ingredient of hosting a corporation?” Not only did he offer valuable
successful open house? advice that day, he also became my mentor.
PEOPLE! What will Armed with ambition, I went to work the next
your club gain from a week and scheduled a meeting with our Vice
successful open house? President. She listened eagerly to the information
PEOPLE! What success looks like varies per club. I presented to her about Toastmasters. I also
Your open house expectations may be different asked her, “How many times have you received
than what you read here today. The successes feedback after giving a presentation?” Her answer,
I share with you are based on our club goals, “Not very often!” She was on board, receptive,
and for some of us, the desire to enhance our and ready to help sponsor our Toastmaster open
workplace with stronger leaders. house!
Do you ever ponder why good employees Several weeks later, she attended her first
leave companies? Maybe it’s a myriad of Toastmaster meeting; our Spring Open House.
things, but my inner arrow points to the word She heard firsthand, how inspired our members
“leadership”. What kind of leadership training are, and what benefits they have gained as
do most companies offer their employees? Most
often, we find that promotions happen because
of our generic results, not because of our team’s
individual results. This is where I started to
connect the dots. How could a Toastmasters Open
House inspire a corporation of many leaders to
take part in the practice of leadership? What if
we showed our leaders that they have this great
opportunity to practice leadership right in their
back yard? If everyone was given the chance
to practice great leadership AND get feedback

Toastmasters; both personally and professionally.
We had 35 attendees that day, and we were
THRILLED! We knew based on our campus
headcount, that there was a huge opportunity
for a larger audience to target, so we set out to
schedule an even more exciting event; our Fall
Open House. We went for a lofty goal of 150
attendees. Our key note speaker? Thomas Cox.
Out of 150, 106 people attended!
If your club is looking to grow members, here
on a regular basis, how amazing would their are some strategies to host a successful open
company’s results be? house! If everyone is all in, the excitement will
I attended a Toastmasters Leadership be palpable! There are leadership opportunities
Institute, and stayed after to speak with the at every step, so get as many members involved
keynote speaker, Thomas Cox. His presentation, as you can! Don’t forget to share your event
“How to Be the Best Boss” was just what I had with your Area, Division and District Partners!
been looking for. I asked, “Do you have any When you are supported, this is when the magic

34 VOLUME 4 ISSUE 4 OCTOBER, 2017