Page 18 - August 2019

FIELD NOTES

20 Ways to Promote

Your Open House!

Kathleen Tully, DTM - Public Relations Manager

An open house is a wonderful way to • Monitor your accounts throughout the
introduce potential members to the Toastmasters weeks leading up to the event. If someone
experience. It creates the opportunity for your has a question about the event, you’ll want
club and its members to shine while highlighting to respond promptly.
the value and benefits for curious attendees. Are • Create a virtual invite and open house
you taking advantage of the two open house teaser: create a short (1-2 minutes) video
incentives available to District 7 clubs right now? showing a portion of a meeting to give
If so, here are 20 ways to promote your event. guests an idea of what to expect.
Before you publish your event, make sure
you have all of the details of the open house Meetup.com: join District 7 Toastmaster’s
confirmed, including date, start and end time, Meetup account to create an open house event.
location, and specific instructions to the meeting
room and parking (i.e. sign in at front desk, enter Craigslist and Nextdoor.com: post an
through the door on the left side of the building). invitation for your neighborhood. Include the
Then, start promoting! details for the open house and add a story about
how you’ve benefited from Toastmasters.
Social Media: post an invite and ask people
to share it. FreeToastHost club website: add the open
• Create an event page and include details house information to the landing page.
for the open house, information on what
to expect, the benefits of Toastmasters Eventbrite invite: create a fun and
or testimonials of members. Add a professional invitation on Eventbrite and email
photograph of members engaging and your friends, neighbors, colleagues, and local
enjoying themselves at a Toastmasters networking contacts.
meeting.
• Create meaningful content for the post. Add Email or phone invitation: reach out to
a few “key words” such as public speaking, contacts by phone and invite them personally.
presentation skills, communications, Encourage them to bring a friend. Or, offer to
leadership, professional development, meet them for coffee and give them a ride to
personal growth, networking, and the open house! Consider reaching out to past
self-confidence. guests and re-inviting them. Email contacts are
all potential guests so incorporate a non-intrusive

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