Moments of Truth (MoT)

What is MoT?

Moment of truth (MOT) is a special meeting set aside to evaluate the overall performance of the club and to find out how each member is experiencing the club.

Why is it important?

Due to the nature of club agendas, there is usually limited time for members to share their thoughts and experiences during club meetings. MOT is set aside to provide members the chance to share freely and identify any growth opportunities within the club.

When should clubs hold a MoT session?

MOT should be held a minimum of twice in a toastmasters’ year and can be held more times if there are special needs to improve club quality.

Start with a members’ survey form sent out to members prior to the MOT meeting. This member survey is captured in the Moments of Truth Handout (This can also be used to develop a google survey form that can be sent out to members virtually)

Followed by a power point presentation at the beginning of the meeting to give a brief explanation of MOT. The slides can be downloaded from this resource section of the Toastmasters International website.

After the presentation members break into separate groups to discuss feedback received and brainstorm on solutions to areas that need improvement.

Lastly, members come back together for the final segment to share solutions suggested on how to improve the club and plan for implementation. This is usually a great time to form club committees.

Club Quality Agenda

The club agenda is used to organize the flow of a meeting minute by minute. A quality club agenda should be able to capture all aspects of the club meeting in a comprehensive and clear manner for both members AND guests.

Speech Timings

Speeches in the agenda should have 1 minute extra assigned for each speech (e.g. for a 5-7 minute speech, the agenda should cater for 8 minutes).
1 minute: For introduction of the speaker.

Agenda Format

The agenda format should allow for a toastmaster and a guest to be able to follow the meeting easily. This is achieved by:
1) Indicating what is happening at each point of the meeting. Transitions from one person to another should be made clear.
For example:
“Chair opens meeting and hands over to the toastmaster of the day”.
“Toastmaster introduces the evaluator to introduce the speaker”…….
2) Speech projects should clearly indicate their levels and timing in the agenda e.g Level 1 Project 2
An example of a club agenda can be found at on this resource page of the Toastmasters website.