Earlier this month, Toastmasters International published Including All Voices: Set the Stage for More Inclusive Meetings — in Toastmasters and Beyond by Jesse Scinto, Deputy Program Director for the Master of Science in Strategic Communication program. The article provides the following seven valuable tips on how to promote inclusion for meeting leaders:
- Send agenda or discussion topics in advance
- Verbalize expectations at the beginning of the meeting
- Do a round robin
- Build in five-second pauses
- Ask: "Does anyone have a different point of view?"
- Pair and share
- Invite appreciation
“These seven tips work by reducing uncertainty and providing structure, similar to the regular agendas and defined speaking roles we use in Toastmasters. These tools help us to live up to our mission of providing a ‘mutually supportive environment,’" writes Scinto.
The full article is available on Toastmasters.
About the author
Jesse Scinto is a Fulbright Scholar and Deputy Director of Columbia University's Strategic Communication program. He is the founder and CEO of Public Sphere, a leadership communication firm.
