WordPress for Toastmasters*
Here is an upgrade I have been planning for some time: an easier way of booking meeting roles multiple weeks in advance, instead of one meeting at a time. This also makes it easier for you to plan your progress through the program so that you’re speaking on a regular basis (depending on how quickly you are trying to advance) while also doing your part to keep the club healthy and meetings well-organized.
Here’s an overview:
If you are a club leader, and your club relies on self-service meeting role signups as an important part of how you organize your agenda, getting members to do a better job of planning ahead can take some of the pressure off. You may still need to coach members not to be too greedy about grabbing speaking slots week after week (or being too timid about volunteering to speak). Occasionally, you may need to reassign members, or let them know you have changed the agenda for a special meeting that does not include the role they originally signed up for.
Overall, though, I expect this to be helpful to my clubs. As a VP of Education or a Mentor, you might consider sitting down with a club member you are coaching and advising them on what roles you would like to see them sign up for.
Formula for Making Recommendations
Over time, I hope to make the software smarter about the recommendations it makes. Here is how it works so far:
- Looks up any current assignments for the member for each meeting.
- Looks up unassigned roles for each meeting.
- Shuffles the unassigned roles into a random order.
- Before making a suggestion, considers whether the member is eligible to fill the role (for example, whether they have given three or more speeches before signing up to evaluate). Tries to avoid repeatedly assigning members to the same role.
- Displays the currently assigned role or the suggestion as the default choice, along with all the other open roles for that meeting.
Try it and let me know what you think.
