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betsy_in_va
Guest
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 Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 11:44 pm Post subject: Improving the TLI Program |
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Seems likes there's a lot of sentiment about wanting to change the TLI
Program, so I thought I'd start a new thread. If you could improve TLI
training, what changes would you make?
Referring back to the thread below, I think most people are in
agreement that ultimatums won't help. What about gifts? I've heard of a
Division that is now offering the presidents of clubs $25 if they can
get all their officers to the final TLIs. This is only for those clubs
that have not had any officers trained to date. What do you guys think
of this approach?
Maybe I'm an idealist, but my gut feeling is that if we have to try
this hard (especially for a program that people supposedly join to get
leadership training) then something is wrong with the training. If time
and travel are the big problems, could there be a way to hold it online
(some sort of live chatroom that people who have to log onto)?
Betsy |
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Colin William
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 12:04 am Post subject: Re: Improving the TLI Program |
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"betsy_in_va" <b7760@keogan.com> wrote
| Quote: | Seems likes there's a lot of sentiment about wanting to change the TLI
Program, so I thought I'd start a new thread. If you could improve TLI
training, what changes would you make?
Referring back to the thread below, I think most people are in
agreement that ultimatums won't help. What about gifts? I've heard of a
Division that is now offering the presidents of clubs $25 if they can
get all their officers to the final TLIs. This is only for those clubs
that have not had any officers trained to date. What do you guys think
of this approach?
|
I don't see that as helping too much; it simply shifts the pressure from DGs
and AGs onto club presidents when it comes to getting people to go when they
expect to be bored.
| Quote: | Maybe I'm an idealist, but my gut feeling is that if we have to try
this hard (especially for a program that people supposedly join to get
leadership training) then something is wrong with the training.
|
Yup. Many people find it boring or useless, especially those who have been
through it before. That's where the change needs to be made, to making it
relevant and useful. You need to make it such that people _want_ to attend.
| Quote: | If time
and travel are the big problems, could there be a way to hold it online
(some sort of live chatroom that people who have to log onto)?
|
That's certainly worth a thought; I teach web courses at the college level,
and there's important pedagogical value to them if done right. However, I
bet this kind of thing will meet with resistance; it's been hard to get
buy-in among many old-school educators for web classes, and I imagine
there'd be similar resistance among old-school TMs.
This is, after all, an organization that took a _long_ time before it made
available CD-based PowerPoints of educational presentations. I think they'll
be ready for web-based make-up training around 2018 ;-)
Colin |
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Joy
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 12:16 am Post subject: Re: Improving the TLI Program |
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"Colin William" <colintwilliam@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:4k3rm7FahesfU1@individual.net...
| Quote: |
"betsy_in_va" <b7760@keogan.com> wrote
Seems likes there's a lot of sentiment about wanting to change the TLI
Program, so I thought I'd start a new thread. If you could improve TLI
training, what changes would you make?
Referring back to the thread below, I think most people are in
agreement that ultimatums won't help. What about gifts? I've heard of a
Division that is now offering the presidents of clubs $25 if they can
get all their officers to the final TLIs. This is only for those clubs
that have not had any officers trained to date. What do you guys think
of this approach?
I don't see that as helping too much; it simply shifts the pressure from
DGs and AGs onto club presidents when it comes to getting people to go
when they expect to be bored.
Maybe I'm an idealist, but my gut feeling is that if we have to try
this hard (especially for a program that people supposedly join to get
leadership training) then something is wrong with the training.
Yup. Many people find it boring or useless, especially those who have been
through it before. That's where the change needs to be made, to making it
relevant and useful. You need to make it such that people _want_ to
attend.
If time
and travel are the big problems, could there be a way to hold it online
(some sort of live chatroom that people who have to log onto)?
That's certainly worth a thought; I teach web courses at the college
level, and there's important pedagogical value to them if done right.
However, I bet this kind of thing will meet with resistance; it's been
hard to get buy-in among many old-school educators for web classes, and I
imagine there'd be similar resistance among old-school TMs.
This is, after all, an organization that took a _long_ time before it made
available CD-based PowerPoints of educational presentations. I think
they'll be ready for web-based make-up training around 2018 ;-)
Colin
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I agree with everything you say here, Colin.
Joy |
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betsy_in_va
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 12:39 am Post subject: Re: Improving the TLI Program |
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Betsy said:
| Quote: | I've heard of a
Division that is now offering the presidents of clubs $25 if they can
get all their officers to the final TLIs. This is only for those clubs
that have not had any officers trained to date. What do you guys think
of this approach?
Colin said:
I don't see that as helping too much; it simply shifts the pressure from DGs
and AGs onto club presidents when it comes to getting people to go when they
expect to be bored.
I agree, and interestingly I understand that (so far) none of the clubs |
have taken them up on it. So I guess we can't even pay people to go to
TLI...
Plus, the other problem I see is that next year, all the clubs are
going to wait until the last minute to see if they can qualify for the
$25. |
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betsy_in_va
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 12:52 am Post subject: Re: Improving the TLI Program |
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OK, here's a really wild and crazy thought...
What if WHQ tried an experimental "Year Without TLI." Officers would be
told all the info they need is in their manuals. By the end of the year
members would be clamoring to have it reinstated. Maybe absence makes
the heart grow fonder? |
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Nigel Reed
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 1:30 am Post subject: Re: Improving the TLI Program |
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betsy_in_va <b7760@keogan.com> wrote:
| Quote: |
Seems likes there's a lot of sentiment about wanting to change the TLI
Program, so I thought I'd start a new thread. If you could improve TLI
training, what changes would you make?
|
1) I would like to stop having "get new members" shoved down my throat.
2) If you serve a second term in a position, you shouldn't have to be
trained for it.
3) A 20 year Toastmaster probably has training coming out the wazoo. I
will probably not have a 2nd go around at any club office because I'm
not wasting a Saturday doing the training. (Yes, I am very hypocritical
because I'm trying to get my clubs to get their officers trained).
Regards
Nigel
--
Nigel Reed CTM, CL
IPP - Plano Talkers Toastmasters
Area 42 Govenor (Plains Division, District 50, Region III) |
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Colin William
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 2:00 am Post subject: Re: Improving the TLI Program |
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"Nigel Reed" <see@www.nelgin.nu-slash-qconfirm.html.invalid> wrote
| Quote: | Seems likes there's a lot of sentiment about wanting to change the TLI
Program, so I thought I'd start a new thread. If you could improve TLI
training, what changes would you make?
1) I would like to stop having "get new members" shoved down my throat.
|
Good grief, ain't that the truth. And you're only at the start of your AG
term, you have a whole year of that to go.
| Quote: | 2) If you serve a second term in a position, you shouldn't have to be
trained for it.
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Unless there's something major that's new, e.g. new leadership manual for
VP-Ed.
Colin |
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betsy_in_va
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 2:31 am Post subject: Re: Improving the TLI Program |
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| Quote: | 1) I would like to stop having "get new members" shoved down my throat.
Amen! I guess it must work for some of the AGs, but shoving the same |
message down my throat a thousand times backfires with me. I feel the
same way about the current campaign to get those last few club officers
to TLI training. I get 1-4 e-mails about it every single day. Every
day! The first time I got one, I dutifully put on my AG hat and sent a
reminder to my club presidents. But now that I feel badgered about it I
couldn't give a damn if they go or they don't. |
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Nigel Reed
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 3:00 am Post subject: Re: Improving the TLI Program |
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Colin William <colintwilliam@hotmail.com> wrote:
| Quote: | 1) I would like to stop having "get new members" shoved down my throat.
Good grief, ain't that the truth. And you're only at the start of your AG
term, you have a whole year of that to go.
|
I have my demo meeting on 21st August, They'll get their damn members :)
| Quote: | 2) If you serve a second term in a position, you shouldn't have to be
trained for it.
Unless there's something major that's new, e.g. new leadership manual for
VP-Ed.
|
Yes, I can understand the need for it then.
--
Nigel Reed CTM, CL
IPP - Plano Talkers Toastmasters
Area 42 Govenor (Plains Division, District 50, Region III) |
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TracyT
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 4:17 am Post subject: Re: Improving the TLI Program |
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I would like to see the training change from meeting to meeting. Not
the same thing every 6 months.
Instead of just a "how to get members" talk, maybe a "fun ideas to make
your meetings more dynamic". I think meetings that are fun and involve
the members are the meetings that make visitors want to come back and
join. One of the members in my club is very creative. When he's the
Toastmaster or Topics Master, he always have fun & dynamic meetings.
Usually full of laughter. I've spoken to a couple of people that
joined the club that said they decided to join after attending one of
those meetings because they were so fun.
Maybe a session on "Making Educationals Fun". They seem sort of dry.
I tried to make my last one a little more interesting but I'm not sure
I succeeded.
I know the main topics are important. Maybe those could be covered
once a year (instead of twice) and swap in and out a variety of other
topics.
Tracy Thomason - CTM |
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betsy_in_va
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 6:27 am Post subject: Re: Improving the TLI Program |
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| Quote: |
Maybe a session on "Making Educationals Fun". They seem sort of dry.
I tried to make my last one a little more interesting but I'm not sure
I succeeded.
I know the main topics are important. Maybe those could be covered
once a year (instead of twice) and swap in and out a variety of other
topics.
|
Yes, variety is the spice of life, changing the topic a little would be
good (even if some of the officers are new, I think that's the point of
doing it twice a year).
Your comment on fun gave me a quick idea--having a game show at TLI.
You could do a version of Jeopardy, in which all the basic facts of the
educational modules are used as the questions. This would still involve
training, but would be more fun for the members who have heard it all
before at countless TLIs. In fact, the more experienced memebrs would
actually have MORE fun than the newbies, because they could guess the
questions easily.
For example, one of the Jeoprady categories could be "Evaluate To
Motivate." The questions could be things like: "This rhyming phrase
describes how the speaker does not respond to the evaluation, only the
evaluator speaks during an evaluation." Answer: "What is the Tell and
Sell approach? or under the category VP-Membership: Question: "October
1 and April 1" Answer: "What are the dates that dues are due?"
What do you think? You know this just occurred to me but I might just
suggest it to our TLI captain if you guys don;t see any major flaws.
Betsy |
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Joy
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 6:59 am Post subject: Re: Improving the TLI Program |
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"betsy_in_va" <b7760@keogan.com> wrote in message
news:1155338875.996026.162830@75g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
| Quote: |
Maybe a session on "Making Educationals Fun". They seem sort of dry.
I tried to make my last one a little more interesting but I'm not sure
I succeeded.
I know the main topics are important. Maybe those could be covered
once a year (instead of twice) and swap in and out a variety of other
topics.
Yes, variety is the spice of life, changing the topic a little would be
good (even if some of the officers are new, I think that's the point of
doing it twice a year).
Your comment on fun gave me a quick idea--having a game show at TLI.
You could do a version of Jeopardy, in which all the basic facts of the
educational modules are used as the questions. This would still involve
training, but would be more fun for the members who have heard it all
before at countless TLIs. In fact, the more experienced memebrs would
actually have MORE fun than the newbies, because they could guess the
questions easily.
For example, one of the Jeoprady categories could be "Evaluate To
Motivate." The questions could be things like: "This rhyming phrase
describes how the speaker does not respond to the evaluation, only the
evaluator speaks during an evaluation." Answer: "What is the Tell and
Sell approach? or under the category VP-Membership: Question: "October
1 and April 1" Answer: "What are the dates that dues are due?"
What do you think? You know this just occurred to me but I might just
suggest it to our TLI captain if you guys don;t see any major flaws.
Betsy
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It sounds good to me. It would liven things up for the repeaters, and
people tend to learn more when they're having fun. Of course, to work for
newbies, there would have to be some explanations after the answers were
given, at least in some cases.
Joy |
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TracyT
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 12:27 pm Post subject: Re: Improving the TLI Program |
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The game show idea sounds like a lot of fun! I like that.
Tracy
betsy_in_va wrote:
| Quote: | Yes, variety is the spice of life, changing the topic a little would be
good (even if some of the officers are new, I think that's the point of
doing it twice a year).
Your comment on fun gave me a quick idea--having a game show at TLI.
You could do a version of Jeopardy, in which all the basic facts of the
educational modules are used as the questions. This would still involve
training, but would be more fun for the members who have heard it all
before at countless TLIs. In fact, the more experienced memebrs would
actually have MORE fun than the newbies, because they could guess the
questions easily.
For example, one of the Jeoprady categories could be "Evaluate To
Motivate." The questions could be things like: "This rhyming phrase
describes how the speaker does not respond to the evaluation, only the
evaluator speaks during an evaluation." Answer: "What is the Tell and
Sell approach? or under the category VP-Membership: Question: "October
1 and April 1" Answer: "What are the dates that dues are due?"
What do you think? You know this just occurred to me but I might just
suggest it to our TLI captain if you guys don;t see any major flaws.
Betsy |
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betsy_in_va
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2006 12:34 am Post subject: Re: Improving the TLI Program |
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This is a quote from Susan in a thread below:
| Quote: | I also empathize with all the re-treads in TM, who don't want to go to
training any more. Been there, done that. I was one of you. The problem,
though, is that some of us (re-treads) become the problems in our Clubs ...
because we think we know everything, and are basing our "knowing" on
outdated information. Or half-forgotten information. Or a local practise
that is not a "rule". (Other than for speech contests, there are very few
"rules" in Toastmasters ... and almost none that apply to what a club does
or how it does it.)
|
I've been pondering this for the last few hours...
My home club has many of these "local practices," some of which I am
just learning now are completely unorthodox. For example, we have a
rule that you can give one of the modules from "Successful Club Series
and count the same speech both as your tenth basic manual speech and as
one-half of earning a CL.
I joined in January 2003 and have been an officer since June 2003--that
means I've been to 7 TLIs. Our club is very good about going to TLIs,
we always get all officers trained. Yet, until I found this board (and
also became an AG) I did not know our practices were wrong. I've
learned much more from this board than from training sessions, although
I don't know if that means online training would work for everyone.
I don't know what the solution is, but somehow we need to make sure
clubs know what practices are and are not kosher. |
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Rod Taylor
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2006 3:14 am Post subject: Re: Improving the TLI Program |
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"betsy_in_va" <b7760@keogan.com> wrote in message
news:1155404085.253560.37870@p79g2000cwp.googlegroups.com...
| Quote: | This is a quote from Susan in a thread below:
I also empathize with all the re-treads in TM, who don't want to go
to
training any more. Been there, done that. I was one of you. The
problem,
though, is that some of us (re-treads) become the problems in our
Clubs ...
because we think we know everything, and are basing our "knowing" on
outdated information. Or half-forgotten information. Or a local
practise
that is not a "rule". (Other than for speech contests, there are very
few
"rules" in Toastmasters ... and almost none that apply to what a club
does
or how it does it.)
I've been pondering this for the last few hours...
My home club has many of these "local practices," some of which I am
just learning now are completely unorthodox. For example, we have a
rule that you can give one of the modules from "Successful Club Series
and count the same speech both as your tenth basic manual speech and
as
one-half of earning a CL.
I joined in January 2003 and have been an officer since June
2003--that
means I've been to 7 TLIs. Our club is very good about going to TLIs,
we always get all officers trained. Yet, until I found this board (and
also became an AG) I did not know our practices were wrong. I've
learned much more from this board than from training sessions,
although
I don't know if that means online training would work for everyone.
I don't know what the solution is, but somehow we need to make sure
clubs know what practices are and are not kosher.
|
Sadly, it is sometimes the TLI 'trainers' that spread disinformation
such as non-existent 'rules' or telling things the way they believe
things should be, rather than presenting accurate and up-to-date
information.
Among the greatest battles I've had as District Chief Judge is
continually having to counter such disinformation spread by those who
should know better and believe themselves to be too important or
knowledgeable to attend the workshops.
Rod Taylor (rodt iafrica - don't forget the @ and the dotcom)
Transformers Toastmasters Club
District 74, Southern Africa |
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