Super Strategy to make Rotary Meetings more Fun in a Pinch!
BY RICHARD DONHAUSER, SOUTH BERWICK-ELIOT ROTARY CLUB
Who hasn’t arrived at their Rotary Meeting only to find the scheduled speaker has cancelled at the last minute, called away on urgent business?
While often unavoidable, in today’s world where everyone is pressed for time, a missing speaker leaves a glaring hole in the program and can make for a less than stellar meeting.
Rather than succumb to the cancellation, our club has developed an approach or last-minute strategy that is fun and stimulating. If you have ever watched an American football game come down to the final minutes of a close contest, the teams often employ what is known as the 2-minute offense. In short, the 2-minute offense is a series of the team’s strongest plays that gives them the best chance to score in the waning minutes of the game.
While our Rotary club doesn’t compete in football, we do have a great “team” and a countdown clock.
When a speaker cancels, we implement our “3-minute drill.”
In the “3-minute drill” we ask approximately 10 Rotarians to individually address the club extemporaneously for, well, exactly three minutes. They can speak about themselves or any topic they find interesting. With the ubiquity of cell phones, setting a timer is easy. The big challenge is cutting fellow Rotarians off when they have hit on something interesting. When the alarm sounds, the speaker must stop no matter where they are in their story. With 10 speakers, you will quickly consume 30 to 35 minutes.
In our club, we have had a Rotarian sing the theme song to Hamilton; which lasted exactly three minutes. Not only was it a spectacular rendition, it sparked a lot of interest in the musical.
One Rotarian, the head of a local private school, spoke about growing up in a bi-racial family in Boston during the 1970’s and 80’s and how through sports and two school mentors he overcame adversity and gravitated to a career in education.
Another Rotarian spoke about his engagement in an extensive art restoration project that may garner national attention. And yet, another spoke about the trials and tribulations of being a pro hockey player while just out of college.
The feedback has been great and in the odd occasion we have to revert to the 3-minute drill, we have found it to benefit the club through:
An opportunity for Rotarians to practice extemporaneous speaking in a supportive and non-judgmental environment.
We learn really interesting things about our members that would not organically come up in a breakfast conversation.
It is exciting to be on the clock, to share and it only requires three minutes of effort from the selected Rotarians.
While public speaking is not everyone’s cup of tea, we have found the benefits far outweigh the drawback and people are eager to share. There is no big sale on the line or customer to be won over, just a better connection between our members and lots of fodder for further conversations, classification talks and deeper relationships.
In the end, much like a football team reverts to their best plays in a pinch, we rely on our best players: our fellow Rotarians.
Richard Donhauser, President
South Berwick – Eliot Rotary Club