Waikiki Club is a vibrant club with our roster of active members typically being in the 30-40 member range. As such, we have to manage speaking opportunities well, mindful that coordinating this area is a volunteer role and inherently difficult. To give everyone that wants to an opportunity to speak, we will use the following guidelines.
Basics
A person who wants to present has to make our VP of Education aware of that desire. Historically we have been informal in this process. We encourage you to speak with the club VPE, any of the officers and other club mentors about your goals and plans. In addition, to strengthen the process:
- We're requiring everyone to send an email to [email protected] to request a spot. If you've spoken to someone like the VPE informally, do this step as well. In other words, a request to speak will be triggered off your email request.
- We're going to regard that email request as securing a request to speak (more on that below) rather than securing a specific speaking slot.
- If you are only available on a particular day or if there is a specific reason you want to speak on a particular day, include that information as well.
Requests to speak and Prioritization:
About a month in advance of a meeting, the VPE will review all the requests to speak and schedule speakers for an upcoming meeting. The VPE will outreach to those people to secure a commitment for that date. Anything like this has to remain flexible. However, in general we will prioritize the following (roughly in order of importance):
- Club needs (like speech contests, celebrations, special events).
- New members who have not yet given an ice breaker, as we want to involve new members as early as their comfort level allows.
- Members who have not given a speech in a while.
- Members who have done a meeting role since their last speech and especially members who have filled in a meeting role at the last minute (especially last-minute evaluators and speakers).
At the same time, we will de-prioritize:
- People who have committed to a meeting role and then cancelled. We understand life happens, but there's a difference between someone responsibly communicating and even finding a replacement for a last-minute emergency and someone not doing those things.
- People who don't attend many meetings. That means that they are missing out on opportunities to support all members of the club. The more you support that club and all its members, the more the club can support you.
A few other things about this process:
- If there are more people wanting to speak than we have slots for, all other things being equal it will then be 'first come, first served'.
- If for some reason you are not selected for a particular meeting, there is no reason to re-request to speak. We will 'roll over' that request to the next meeting slot.
- The above being said, we're only human so if you think we may have forgotten, feel free to send another email to remind us.
- After you've given your speech, we'll regard your slate as 'clean'. That is, if you have several requests prior to the speaking slot that you just used (i.e. you have just given a speech), you'll have to put in another request for your next speaking slot.
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As noted above, if you are only available on a specific day or there is a specific reason you want to speak on a specific day, we will try to accommodate reasonable requests. That may mean that we override the prioritization guidelines above. We are asking people to be mindful that this affects other members and to not abuse that.
Conclusion
As a member, this process should work easily, with you only needing to request a speaking slot over email. To put yourself in the best position, the following may be helpful:
- Be planful and intentional about your goals. Sometimes, the difference between the person speaking frequently and someone else is that the frequent speaker has clear goals and communicates them.
- Tell the VPE as soon as you know that you cannot make a role and especially a speech.
- Always be preparing a speech. Not only will that make it easier to slide into a speaking slot if someone else drops out but if you are kind enough to the club to fill in at the last minute, the club will be kind to you. Specifically, if you fill in as a last minute prepared speaker, we'll regard that as an exception to the 'has not spoken in a while' rule.
- We're trying to embody flexibility and open communication to meet all members' needs. The best way to get the most out of the club is to be flexible and communicate openly in turn.
