Do you use MindMaps to Evaluate Speeches? (Video version)

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Written by Rick Sharon | 04 June 2011

A few years ago I experimented with a new speech evaluation technique. I used a MindMap to plan, record, and orchestrate my speech evaluation. (Just a simple pencil-and-paper MindMap). It worked tremendously!!  I was hooked and have been using it ever since!

In this video, I'm going to show you why using MindMaps is going to revolutionize the way you evaluate speeches and why it may be the only speech evaluation technique you'll ever need -- making your evaluations well structured, on target, and laser focused!

I Had a Vision

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Written by Rick Sharon | 23 November 2009

Does your Toastmasters club have a vision?

Once upon a time, the Keller Communicators club was struggling. For more than a year, average attendance was 4-6 people per meeting. We had guests visit but most would not return, most would not join the club. David Watkins and I decided the club needed to adhere better to the Toastmasters program, that our informal loosely run meetings just were not sufficient. David was elected Club President, and I was elected Vice President of Education, on the platform of raising our club standards – adding more structure and best practices to the operation of our club.

The result? In the first seven months we recruited 20 new members.

Three and a half years ago, when I was elected Club President, I had a vision.

I shared “my” vision with our membership to get their refinements, their buy in, to transform it from “my” to “our” vision. Ever since, we’ve had 30+ members and have been a President’s Distinguished Club.

Specifically, the seeds I planted, that our members nurtured and grew into a mighty tree of achievements were: