Does your club have a Posture Pig?
I recently visited and joined the Park Central Toastmasters club in Dallas, TX.
They are an advanced club that provided my first exposure to the "Posture pig" role. Huh? What's that?
It is a meeting role I had not seen before. Officially, they call it their "Posture Bell", but to signal offenses they use a small rubber pig that squeaks.
Whenever a member exhibits posture or body language that could be improved, their "Posture Bell" person squeaks the pig. Offenses could include
- Fig-leaf gesture (hands clasped in front where Adam or Eve would wear fig leaves -- as the Brits might say: hiding the naughty bits).
- Reverse fig leaf (same as fig-leaf except hands behind the back)
- Wringing hands
- Playing with a wedding ring
- Jingling keys or change in pocket.
Posture Pig provides immediate feedback that the speaker's body language or gestures need to be improved. It's rather like the AH Counter role except the focus is on body posture and gestures instead of filler words.
What a novel way to improve yet another often overlooked aspect of Public Speaking!
Does your club use a Posture Pig? What else do you do that you consider unusual?
