Monday, August 1, 2016

First Meeting Jitters

Without a doubt, there will be some kind of nerves or fear when it comes to your first meeting; especially if you're like me and get really bad anxiety just thinking about it. Speaking in front of a group? Nope. Not my thing. I'm pretty sure I barely passed my Speech class back in high school. That is, before I became a troop leader.

I held my first meeting ever on January 19, 2016. The girls colored while I spoke to the moms about the girls' uniforms and the upcoming cookie season. That was it.

Horrible, right?

Give me a break! It was my first meeting and I didn't know how to make the whole thing my own. I did what I was told to do. That's usually how the entire rest of the school year went. There were tours and special speakers but all in all, it was probably more boring than anything. To me, anyway.

The girls loved coming to meetings though. I would hear stories from their moms on how excited they were to come back and that alone put me in a better mood! The moms even told me how happy there were to learn I was taking over. I realized that it doesn't take much effort to make these little girls happy and, immediately, I started to change the way I held a meeting.

So here are my top 3 personal tips for getting over that social anxiety.

Here's a quick tip: If you're a parent following your daughter to meetings, a quick compliment will always keep your troop leader going. The long nights planning and stress of getting everything together makes her WANT to do it instead of feeling like she HAS to do it. So if you ever have a chance, let them know how great of a job they're doing.

Back to topic...


One: You can not make everyone happy.
When you plan something, have it in the back of your mind that everyone will participate. Don't assume one girl (or all) won't be interested and change your plans. After all, YOU are the teacher. Remind your Daisy that if she doesn't want to do the work, she won't be able to earn the patch they're working so hard to get (that will boost her up real quick). Scouts love their patches!


Two: Don't panic.
My first three meetings were disastrous. I wasn't prepared. Sometimes I was missing something or it didn't work out the way it was suppose to. But do you think the girls noticed? Of course they did! BUT make a joke out of it. These little girls are looking up to you and if they see you panic or get frustrated, they will get in the habit, too. Instead, we want them to learn that things don't always go as planned and it's okay. Another option is to meet the parents before you meet their daughters. This way, you can get an idea on what to expect and also have a chance to get to know your parents and let them know what your expectations are as well.


Three: Remember, you're new and still learning.
I went a little crazy thinking about how my first meeting was going to be. My anxiety was so far out the roof, I'm pretty sure others thought it was a shooting star. After a couple of months, I got the hang of things and realized what my girls were into, what they hated and what they really wanted to do as scouts. Don't compare yourself to others who have been in the game a lot longer than you have. Learn from YOUR troop and be the best you can be to them.


If I can give you any other type of advice? HAVE FUN! This is the most important part about Girl Scouts. This is the one reason why girls join in the first place. They want to go camping, take trips, sell cookies and even wear that uniform! Fun is the first thought that comes to mind if you ask any of my girls how their year went. "It was so much fun!"

And because of that, I can't wait to start planning the next year.



Next week's post: Registering as a Troop Leader!



1 comment:

  1. Oh, I LOVE this advice! It can be really daunting staring at a group of people who expect you to do big things. Im definitely filing this away for my first meeting of the year!

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