The Energy Level

I am fortunate enough to be president of my Toastmasters organization this year. This is an organization that is designed to make people better speakers, better communicators and better leaders. Like many such organizations, there are a number of different clubs all under the parent organization—Toastmaster International.

The club I am president of has a rich history. We have distinguished members and we are truly the envy of a number of other Toastmaster clubs in the area. Every year, we earn all the possible points that a club can earn, which gives the club status and recognition. Most clubs do not earn all such points.

Still, like all organizations, there have been some problems we have encountered over the past few years, problems with members not taking things as seriously as they should and while we are still a great organization, we have faltered. It is a huge undertaking but I am trying to change this.

One thing which I have done is looked to increase the energy level in the room during our meetings. It obviously takes more than one person but each person has to feel as though he or she can make a difference. If there is one person who comes in with high energy, hopefully it is contagious. While it has only been a couple of meeting I have presided over so far, I have felt the energy level increase.

It is this same approach that I want to take into the classroom. If I can bring a certain level of energy and excitement into the classroom, hopefully it will be contagious and other members of the class will feel this energy and excitement. If they do, then the class will hopefully be that much more enjoyable to the students.