Speaking at Service Organizations

I enjoy speaking at service organizations such as Kiwanis, Optimist and Rotary clubs. These organizations provide needed services in their communities, and the club members are enthusiastic about helping in their cities.

I recently gave two presentations and have two more scheduled within the next few weeks. The typical meeting includes a meal, organizational business and then the guest speaker. I plan a twenty minute talk followed by about ten minutes for questions and answers. My current presentation is titled “Becoming an Author Has No Expiration Date” about my experience starting to write later in life and writing about older characters.

Many members of service organizations are older and appreciate my humorous and entertaining presentation.

Service organizations do have a challenge. Their members are aging, and some clubs have difficulty recruiting younger members. Some of this is understandable since many younger people are consumed with jobs and raising families. With retirement comes more time to dedicate to volunteer activities. But there is another symptom. I read an interesting book a number of years ago called “Bowling Alone.” The premise was that people are doing more things in isolation rather than in community. We can see this also in the obsession with smart phones rather than engaging with other people in person. Declining service clubs membership numbers may also be attributed to this factor.

I hope we see a reversal in this decline. These are excellent organizations, provide needed services and are full of outstanding people.