Is our constant use of acronyms absolutely bananas?

One of things that we can easily forget at Toastmasters is that when we’ve been there a while we suddenly slip into speaking a whole new language without being aware of it, or that by doing so we are creating a barrier of entry for our newer members and guests.

The people who are eager to improve their own communication skills suddenly find themselves in a room full of people they have sought out as experts sounding as if they are randomly selecting noodles out of a big, steaming bowl of alphabet soup.

I am of course talking about our use of acronyms - to demonstrate that our use of acronyms is totally bananas I want you all to meet Cocoa D, Monkey:

Cocoa is eager to improve his communication and leadership skills and has arranged to visit Jungle Fever Toastmasters Club - at first it goes really well, and he’s having a great time:

Cocoa has seen some great speeches and even participated in Table Topics. Now he’s enjoying a snack with some of the Jungle Fever Toastmasters:

Then suddenly he overhears two members discussion, knowing that one of them is club President he keeps an ear out to listen, and hopefully learn something useful:

As Cocoa sat down for the second half his head was reeling with all the terms he had heard, wondering what the heck they meant and then he heard the monkey at the lectern say “As with all evaluations I will use the CRC method…” Cocoa felt completely lost...

To avoid your guests having the experience poor Cocoa D Monkey had we have created a quick and easy Cheat Sheet for you to print out and put in your guest packs - or perhaps as a reminder to avoid using them as much as possible.

Download the cheat sheet for your guest packs

Click this link: Toastmaster Terms - Cheat Sheet

Many thanks to Owen Winter Area E6 Director for this post.