Excelsior Advanced Toastmasters Has a Virtual Visit by Toastmasters from Taiwan 

Members of my Excelsior Advanced Toastmasters were excitedly waiting for our guests from Taiwan to join our first meeting via Zoom. Soon six smiling faces joined us. 

Here is how that visit happened.

In early April, Naomi Chang, a Toastmaster from Taiwan emailed me via the Toastmasters International website, as I am the VP of Membership for my Excelsior Advanced Toastmasters Club. 

She wrote me that she and several other experienced Toastmasters in her country were eager to virtually visit an advanced club in the U.S. 

Having the Taiwanese Toastmasters at Our Club Meeting

When the meeting started, we invited the Toastmasters from Taiwan to introduce themselves and tell us how long they have been in Toastmasters. One man had started in Toastmasters in 1978. Each of our members also introduced themselves, including our club president Alan Swartz who joined Toastmasters in 1980.

The Toastmasters from Taiwan participated in the round robin evaluations we did for each speaker, and Naomi tied for 1st place in the Table Topics. Everyone had a great time together!

Keep in mind that Taiwan is 14 hours ahead of Denver. So by the end of our meeting only one of the six guests was still in our meeting, as it was 1:30 a.m. in Taiwan!

Considerations for Opening Zoom Meetings to Non-Members

These tips are geared toward the person who is the Zoom meeting host for your club meetings.

• Research anyone outside of your club who asks to join your club’s Zoom meeting. You may need to get approval from your group’s leadership team for that guest to attend. 
• Only provide guests the meeting link, ID and password (if used) if you feel comfortable having them attend. 
• Limit the number of guests. For example, I told Naomi that no more than 10 people from her club could attend. You might prefer to limit the guests to two or three. 
• Encourage guests to put their names and contact information in the chat feature of the Zoom meeting and be sure to save the chat. Then send the chat information to your members and to the guests via email, along with the meeting minutes.

Conclusion

I highly recommend that you consider allowing people from outside your community to attend a club meeting.

Learn more about our advanced club at https://3247.toastmastersclubs.org/

Joyce Feustel, DTM, PDG