Getting People To Turn Up To Your Conference, Restaurant Event Or Meeting

Harrovian Speakers Club. Angela in red on the right of the photo. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

I visited my home club, Harrovians, in June. One third of the people in the picture were visitors. That's great. But where were all the members?

I was able to give a last-minute speech, replacing somebody who dropped out.

Every restaurant has no-shows, people who promise to turn up but don't, people who can't come even if they paid and remembered, because they are stuck overseas, or a relative fell ill, they double-booked by mistake, they are working late, or so busy working that they forgot, their babysitter cancelled or some other minor or major mishap.

Poiticians take great pains to get voters to the polling booths. They remind everybody.

There's a lesson in that. If it's important to you that people turn up, make sure they do. Do what politicians do. Organize transport for the elderly and infirm or anybody who asks for it. Phone up to check people remember the date. Assure them that their presence matters.

So simple. For event organizers. Phone them up.Remind them of the date. Make them feel important, valued.

I hear you saying - I can't phone them all.

Yes, you can.

But it would take all day. There are too many people on the list!

Two solutions:
1 Divide the list and get all your committee members or commited members to phone. Ask everybody to phone the next person on the list.
2 Make a mailing list and send everybody a reminder.
3 Create a what's app group and send a reminder.

Some people only turn up if they have a role, such as a speech to deliver. get as many people as possible on the agenda.

Our Harrovians agenda lists a "Reserve Speaker".

To attend a toastmasters meeting anywhere in the world, go to Find a club. Singapore has about 200+ clubs.

The clubs where I am a member and which I recommend are:

Harrovians
HOD

About Toastmasters
16,600 clubs in 143 countries.
Number of Toastmaster Clubs
Worldwide: 16,600+
U.S. clubs: 8,800+
International clubs (not including U.S.):
7,800

Useful Websites
https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club

About the Author
Angela Lansbury is a member of four Toastmasters International Speakers clubs, two in London, England and two in Singapore. Need a speaker in a hurry - call Angela.
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