Gamify

Looking for a fun way to engage members in Club meetings? Make a game of goals achievement!

Christian Austin, District 31’s Public Relations Manager, and his fellow Home Club officers, employ this effective tactic at Lincoln Laboratory Toastmasters where Christian is Treasurer. They apply typical elements of game playing (e.g. point scoring, competition with others, rules of play) to the activities that support the annual goals of individual members and the Club itself.

The Backstory (or why this idea came about)

His is a corporate Club. Before the company would consider reimbursement for members’ dues, Human Resources (HR) wanted to know for sure that the participants were … well … participating at a level that would enhance their skills development, and that Club membership could honestly be classified as public speaking training, which would qualify for employee education.

Christian and his team developed the gamification idea as a means to show HR that membership dues is a worthwhile company investment. They created “the rules” and spreadsheets to track member participation, which are shared with HR as support for reimbursement.

The Rules (or here’s how it works)

For each 6-month term, members aim to earn points in the following designated categories. To earn dues reimbursement, members must satisfy the requirements in ALL three categories.

• Attendance – You gotta show up to at least half of the 12 regularly-scheduled meetings (earning 1 point for each meeting) for a minimum of 6 points.
• Speeches – You must deliver 2 prepared speeches OR 1 prepared speech and 2 speech evaluations to earn 1 point.
• Role Signup – You earn points for every role you fill. The point value for each role is pre-determined by its rank (agreed upon by the Club and HR) according to its speaking opportunity, and you must earn a minimum of 6 points. (e.g. the role of Toastmaster earns more points than Wordmaster.)

Doing the math, dues reimbursement will be granted to members who earn 6 points for Attendance + 1 for Speeches + 6 for Role Signup. (NOTE: 8+0+7 does not qualify for reimbursement!)

The Club Benefits (or why it works)

• Member Challenge – The game is a topic of conversation at every meeting, motivating members toward friendly competition. In the end, who will get reimbursed?
• Public Announcements – Create excitement! Consider announcing the statistics throughout the term, as members qualify for reimbursement. Is your name mentioned?
• Club Achievement – Every member achievement puts the Club a step closer to achieving Distinguished Club (DCP) status. How about earning the President’s Distinguished award? (You might turn the DCP dashboard into a game, too!)
• Fun – There’s no such thing as Too Much Fun!

In the last round ending 3/31/2024, eleven of Lincoln Laboratory Toastmasters’ fifteen members qualified for dues reimbursement! It was the highest level of participation to date.

Not a corporate Club? Not a problem! Create your own point system that culminates in recognition of those who achieve the goals, and offer a different kind of prize to inspire participation.

Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play. — Mike Singletary