Rotarian and Speaker Guidelines

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THE ROTARY CLUB OF HOUMA IS MOST GRATEFUL TO YOU FOR AGREEING TO BE A PROGRAM SPEAKER!  WE VALUE YOUR TIME AND COMMITMENT, AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR PROGRAM!

Thank you for accepting the invitation to speak to our Rotary Club of Houma. The person who recommended that you speak is known as the Rotarian of the Day (ROD). That person will be your main point of contact for all the details of your presentation including your introduction.  

Our club meets on Wednesdays from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Quality Hotel on South Hollywood Road, Houma, LA 70360. The buffet lunch meal is ready by 11:45 a.m., and speakers are always our guests for lunch.  Both the ROD and the speaker should plan to arrive between 11:30 and 11:45 a.m.   This will give both of you time to check out any equipment issues and to enjoy lunch together.   

Current club membership is 100, consisting of men and women ages 23 to 80. There are typically 50-65 present at the lunch meetings, and you will be speaking to the top business professionals in Houma. High quality programs are important to the club because they make attendance worthwhile. The following guidelines are intended to help in preparing your presentation:

       -     Our members respond positively to speakers who present a topic of informa-

             tional, educational, motivational, or entertainment value that will be of general 

             interest to all club members.

-     Please plan on 20 minutes or less for your talk, which includes 5 minutes for Q&A. Informational leaflets or flyers may be placed on tables. You are welcome to invite members to stay after the meeting to answer more questions.     

-    The dining room is large and we ask that you please use the hand-held microphone.  

-     Please inform the ROD of equipment you plan to bring. The club does not have any audio-visual technology of its own. Presenters should bring their own laptops, PowerPoint, etc.  The club does have a projector available for your use. If you wish to use the projector, be sure to advise the ROD to assure that it is available for you that day. The hotel does provide a pull-down screen. When using PowerPoint, please consider large pictures and very large print, as those sitting in the back cannot see slides smaller than 60-point. (80-point is best!)

-     Please provide your ROD a program title and a brief bio (150-200 words) at least two weeks before the presentation. This information will be used for your introduction and will be printed in the weekly newsletter.

-    The club meeting begins at 12:20 with an Invocation, Pledge of Allegiance, and the Rotary Four Way Test. Visitors are introduced and, if necessary, important announcements may be made. By 12:30, the President turns the meeting over to the ROD, who will introduce you as the guest speaker.  By 12:55, the podium returns to the President.   

-     While planning your program time, please keep in mind that you only have only a total of  20 minutes, including Q&A time.  Our meeting must end before 1:00 p.m.    

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GUIDELINES FOR ROTRIANS

 When your turn comes up to be Rotarian of the Day, please consider the following guidelines when selecting a speaker for a club meeting:

• Choose a speaker with a topic of informational, educational, motivational or entertainment value that will be of general interest to all club members.
• Avoid controversial topics or volatile issues that could arouse anger and division among members.  Refer to the Four-Way Test when considering speakers and topics.
• Avoid repetition or sameness.  Look for a speaker we haven’t heard before with a fresh topic.
• Avoid political or religious topics.  Rotary International is a non-political and non-religious organization.  As a matter of policy, Rotary Clubs do not take positions on public questions including political or international issues.
• No political candidates within 120-days of an election. It is acceptable, however,  to have a congressman, senator or other elected official speak to our club when the format is simply a report to constituents on congressional or legislative affairs.
• Avoid local representatives of non-profit organizations.  Consider such speakers only if they have a unique topic that is not a sales pitch for funding.  Never allow requests for funding unless the request has been formally approved in advance by the club board of directors.
• Avoid product or service promotion.  Advise company executives who are invited to speak to deal with issues that affect their industry and the community and how they cope with them.  They should not use the Rotary podium to promote their products or services.
• Club members as speakers are encouraged as long as the topic is of general interest and the speaker’s program does not involve the commercial promotion of the individual nor the individual’s business or employer.
• Emphasize to the speaker they only have a total of 20 minutes, which includes Q&A time

ROTARY SELF-INTRODUCTION TALK

One of Rotary’s Five Avenues of service is “Vocational Service”, whereby we honor and respect our individual contributions to our community through our vocations.  Members are asked to share their vocation by giving a short 1-2 minute self-introduction talk (not a speech), as this will give everyone an opportunity to get to know more about you. This is not meant to embarrass you and you are not expected to be a professional speaker, so if you need to read from your notes, do it. 

The following is a rough guideline for giving a classification talk and idea of what to talk about:

a.    Briefly mentioned where you grew up and/or a little about your family.

b.    Tell us about your business or position. 

c.    Why did you choose your profession…or why did it choose you?

d.    What does your business do or sell?

e.    What makes your company special?