Amarillo Association of Realtors Toastmasters
There is a small group of 8 Realtors from Amarillo that went through a 9-month program called Texas Realtor Leadership Program. We met once a month for leadership training. One of our training modules involved a Toastmasters meeting in which we took on the roles. This was our first taste of Toastmasters, and we were intrigued! It showed us that we were very unprepared for public speaking. In my opinion, one of the purposes of our club is to train the future and current leadership of the Amarillo Association of Realtors, Texas Association of Realtors and National Association of Realtors. This has already proven true because several of our charter members are currently serving as officers in the Amarillo Association of Realtors and one of our charter members is running for Secretary/Treasurer in the Texas Association of Realtors.
I spoke with our Amarillo Association of Realtors (AAOR) Association Executive (AE), Denise Price, told her my desire to start a Toastmasters club and asked her opinion. She thought it was a great idea and she did the research and soon put me in touch with Natalie Waters. Natalie and I exchanged many emails and soon came up with a strategy. In the meantime, Denise Price introduced the idea to our AAOR Board of Directors. The Board of Directors voted on and passed the motion to start a new AAOR Toastmasters club. They also agreed to pay our charter application fee.
Once we had approval, Natalie Waters and I set a date and time for our first Toastmasters demo meeting. Natalie became our first official club sponsor/mentor. The AAOR has a perfect room setup with a podium and lectern. I chose the day of the week and time based upon Realtor and affiliates needs as well as the availability of the AAOR room. We coordinated these dates and times with Natalie. We initially decided to hold our meetings every Monday from 12:00 to 1:00 at the AAOR and thought it best to be an “open” club because of our affiliate members in the AAOR. Our first demo date was September 21, 2015 and I agreed to give my Ice Breaker speech.
Before our first demo meeting, Natalie brought on Jerri Glover to also be a club sponsor/mentor. Recently, Janet Tarr was brought on as a mentor. We decided to promote our club ourselves with the aid of our Realtor Intranet and by handing out flyers in our individual offices. Also, we advertised it in our Realtor weekly email newsletter called Tuesday Tidbits. This newsletter and the Realtor Intranet went out to affiliate members of the AAOR also.
I feel one of the reasons we grew slowly was because of the time of the year. Also, many members became increasingly vocal about the struggles to meet every week. After several weeks, we finally decided to put it to a vote and changed our meetings to every 1st, 3rd and 5th Mondays at 12:00. Whew! Everyone was much happier with the new schedule. So I suppose that was our one failure or opportunity for change, as I look at it.
Club Officers for the Amarillo Association of Realtors Toastmasters
In addition to our amazing club sponsors/mentors, we have several heroes: Denise Price, Shawn Walsh and probably myself that helped get our club chartered. Denise coordinated all of our efforts with the newsletter, the room and the materials needed on a weekly basis. Shawn helped me with the Mardi Gras themed membership drive party and was critical in the communication role on a weekly basis. I probably drove people crazy with my weekly emails, texts and phone calls! Several people admitted they joined because of my pressure, LOL! I can honestly say that every charter member is a hero because they have all stepped up any time I asked for their help to get our club chartered. One other person I have to thank is Jef Conn, a Toastmaster and Chairman of the Lubbock Association of Realtors. After hearing him speak for the first time, I knew I wanted to help start a Toastmasters group in Amarillo.
The most unique aspect of our club is our exceptional group of members. They are all hard workers and fantastic leaders with a desire to sharpen their skills and overcome their fear of public speaking. I am very proud to work with this group and to be charter President of Amarillo Association of Realtors Toastmasters.
