Volunteer Fear? Try This!
Too often I find myself organising a contest where club members are either too frightened to speak in the contest or too anxious to volunteer for an official role.
“I’m not ready” is the most common reason members give for not competing. “I don’t know how” is why they don’t volunteer. And for the ones too timid to tell me they felt uncomfortable—well, their absence on the day said it all.
So, at our recent Evaluation Contest, I prepared a simple list of “qualifications” to encourage members to step into these important roles. After all, without roles filled, there isn’t a contest.
The positions we needed were:
Timer #2
Sergeant-at-Arms #2
Counter
Contest Chair
Contest Toastmaster
Here were the official qualifications:
Qualifications for Timer #2
Knows how to read a stopwatch.
Knows how to translate the time on the stopwatch into minutes and seconds on paper.
Qualifications for Sergeant-at-Arms #2
Can navigate down the corridor to find Sergeant-at-Arms #1 and the contestants.
After locating them, can successfully escort one contestant back to the contest room.
Qualifications for a Counter
Can write down the names of judges and contestants.
Can perform simple arithmetic (adding 3s, 2s, and 1s together).
Can order numbers in descending order.
Qualifications for a Contest Chair
Knows how to welcome everyone at the start of the evening.
Can introduce the person giving the Toast.
Can thank everyone for attending at the end of the evening.
Can smile for photos.
Qualifications for a Contest Toastmaster
Can read aloud the rules from the Speech Contest Rulebook.
Knows when to instruct the timer to set the green, yellow, and red lights.
Can announce the Test Speaker’s name and speech title twice.
Can announce each contestant’s name twice.
Can ask everyone to remain silent for one minute between contestant speeches.
Can read the contestant profile form and make polite conversation while ballots are being counted.
Can smile for photos.
And the result?
While our members still needed some gentle prompting to volunteer, this list did reduce the usual waves of anxiety and looks of sheer panic.
So, the next time you find yourself struggling to fill contest official roles, give this approach a try. I hope it helps. And, if you have tips to get members to speak in the contest, please share!
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By Nancy Huang (Chatswood Leadership and Speaking Club)
Image courtesy: https://qast.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/volunteer_search.jpg
