How to open first ever Russian speaking club?

Effective communication skills are important both in our professional and personal lives, and may have a huge impact on us in many important ways. For example, we have all listened presentations or speeches at our workplaces that we only wished were more to the point, well-structured and effective in delivering the key message.

In early 2013, I came across with the name “Toastmasters International” in one article I was reading related to personal development. I discovered that apparently this organization has clubs in over 100 countries. I checked and found out that there is one Toastmasters club - Stadi Masters, that meets in a bar right next to where I was living, so I attended the club the same week. I was impressed by several facts:

•the meeting was really well organized, structured;

•people were given time slots and adherence to these time limits were being monitored very strictly;

•the speakers also were getting personalized feedback by more experienced fellow club members.

I fell in love with the philosophy of Toastmasters and soon became a member of this club and delivered my first prepared speech there.

A few months later I moved to Moscow with a job, and as soon as I arrived, I checked if there were Toastmasters clubs in the city. I wanted to improve my Russian language skills, so preferably I wanted to join a Russian language club. Yet, I was surprised when I was told that there is no Russian speaking Toastmasters club in Moscow - in the center of the Russian speaking world!

I was also told that apparently someone would open one soon, so in the meantime I transfered my membership to English-speaking Moscow Toastbusters club. I also started serving as a club vice-president of membership and a treasurer. After two years during a coneversation with an American fellow Toastmaster Thomas Hulbert an idea was born that may be the person who should start such a club was me. Until that moment I never even thought about starting a Toastmasters club and I actually thought it had to be done by someone whose native language was Russian.

It did not take many weeks before many in the Toastmasters community in Moscow started asking: “So when is the first meeting?”

During the New Year’s party in December 2015, I also took the microphone and announced that the new club was being opened soon. Following such a public commitment - there definitely was no way back.

I had some doubts about my skills to mobilize a team and really manage creation of a successful, self-sustaining club, but what was encouraging these were supportive comments from within the members of Toastmasters community in Moscow. Most of the support also came from them. I had the impression that the momentum was right, there was an excitement in the air and there was a visible need for such a club in Moscow. On my part, I aimed to ensure that all the clubs in Moscow Area would feel included and engaged in making the new club successful and feel that they were part of a success story. In other words, I was convinced that only through friendly relations and partnerships with all the clubs could the new club succeed, and contribute towards the vision of developing a stronger Toastmasters movement in Moscow and Russia.

Some of the challenges before the club had its first meeting and for the first several months after the first meeting included:

1. Finding a venue for our meetings which would have to be free or at low cost
2. Identifying and mobilizing at least four members for the club committee to lead on different aspects of the club’s development
3. Produce or translate from English all the forms and materials into Russian language - given the fact that officially these materials did not exist in Russian.
4. Register new, paying members
5. To get 20 members to be able to register the club (split via Moscow Toastbusters)

I asked for possible venue options from presidents of other clubs and fellow Toastmaster from WorldSurfers club connected me with the director of the American Cultural Center. I went with Thomas to discuss with the director who agreed to host our meetings on every next Tuesday at 19:00. WorldSurfers club was meeting in the same room on alternating Tuesdays - meaning the room was booked for Toastmasters each Tuesday at 19:00. Such arrangement continues until today.

Our club had its first meeting on Tuesday, 19 April 2016. When I opened the meeting, I was thrilled to see that the room was overcrowded with over 50 participants. The first meeting was an encouraging success and I could sense that the participants found the meeting interesting. Some said that they thought speaking in native language would be easier, but apparently it was not, and that while they were speaking they started to become more conscience of the foreign words and slangs they use in daily lives and conversations.

I found out, through English-Russian Bilingual Club in London that the Odessa Best Speakers club in Ukraine already had some of the materials translated into Russian. I contact them and they shared some of the materials they had with me, most importantly the CC manual (even though it was the older version) and some forms to be used during the meetings. The forms needed tailor-making and adjustments, and this also required some work.

For the first meeting, preparation fell mostly on me. I asked some experienced Toastmasters to take on minor and major roles, including delivering speeches and evaluating them, take photos, and help with all other arrangements. I also created an online registration form and posted on the club’s Facebook page, so that all interested could express their interest to take on roles or help in ways they can.