The Why Behind Speakers Roundtable
We are often asked about the history of Speakers Roundtable Advanced Toastmasters Club (SRT). Sometimes people ask why our meeting format differs from most Toastmasters clubs. Occasionally someone wants to know more of the values and principles that bring us together, and have kept SRT thriving for nearly thirty years.
What is our Why? And why that Why?
First and foremost, we are a community of speakers and leaders who want to grow and reach our fullest potential. We want our members and guests to keep getting better and better, and for SRT to continue to explore and practice being better and better. After all, the individual can only excel to the degree the club supports it, and the club is a reflection of those individuals. Because of our Why, SRT has evolved in a number of ways, and continues to do so.
If that’s all you need to know, here are a few links to cut to the chase:
If you’d like to contact us and attend a meeting: Attend A Meeting
If you’d like to know more about membership: New Member Information
If you want to know more, read on.
What does our Why mean for you?
More than anything else, SRT provides a developmental opportunity and space for speakers and leaders. This is true whether you are early in your development, or more advanced as are some of our members, which includes professional speakers, trainers, facilitators and leaders. Regardless, here are a few of our guiding principles:
Dedication to becoming exceptional speakers and leaders
Commitment to giving and receiving effective coaching to aid members and guests to rise to their greatest potential
Experimentation with our styles and approaches, stretching ourselves to learn and grow
A mutually supportive environment that calls each of us to assist others in their growth
Why is SRT different in meetings and practices?
The core mission of Toastmasters International is to grow leaders and speakers. This is accomplished through thousands of clubs worldwide that follow an array of standard practices. Even most advanced clubs adhere to most of these. However, SRT members are looking to maximize their learning, growth and potential. As a result, and given the members who are already well-established, we have several approaches which serve SRT well.
Discretion for the Toastmaster of the Day to experiment with meeting format, content or leadership of a meeting
Use of key roles and activities in the meeting to provide coaching that focuses on the benefit to the recipient. This includes round-robin coaching. For more information on our approach to coaching: Coaching
Encouragement of and support for members experimentation on their speeches and presentations, including trying new material or approaches, and soliciting explicit feedback they most need.
Opportunities as club officers to change our meeting approaches in ways that need to be adapted to better serve circumstances and member needs as they change.
What about visiting?
Not surprisingly, SRT loves new faces and perspectives, allowing all of us to continue to grow and broaden our experiences. We’ll always encourage a guest to participate, provide us with information about themselves, and give us feedback. Guests are welcome to visit and participate as much as they like. No matter the circumstances, we welcome anyone and anything that benefits the community and our collective learning.
What else?
We have decided we want to be exceptional, in all the ways that make sense for each of us and for our community. If you’d like to be a part of that, we’ll be delighted to have you.
If you’d like to contact us: Contact Us
If you’d like to know more about becoming a member: New Member Information
And if you’d like to know more about the Introductory Speech: Introductory Speech
Finally, you can go to the blog page to review a wide array of free content our members have contributed for use beyond SRT: All Blog Posts