Managing Speaking Requests¶

Let members ask to speak on a specific upcoming meeting date. You approve or decline each request, and schedule generation places approved members in a Speaker slot.

Before You Begin¶

Your club must use Algorithm Mode for scheduling. Speaking Requests don't exist in Volunteer Signup Mode, and the settings section is hidden there.
Your club's role list must include an active Speaker role. Without one, no dates are offered to members.
To turn the feature on or off, you need access to Schedule Options.
To approve or decline requests, you must be the VP Education or an officer the VP Education has added as a Published Schedule Editor (see Who Can Approve Requests).

How It Works¶

A member picks an upcoming meeting date that isn't on a schedule yet and sends a request.
You approve or decline it on the Speaking Requests page.
When a schedule covering that date is created, approved requesters are placed in a Speaker slot first, before the rest of the schedule is filled.
When that schedule is published, each placed request is marked Scheduled.

Two things readers often miss:

Approval doesn't put anyone on a schedule. Nothing changes on any schedule until the schedule for that date is created.
Approval isn't a guarantee. If the member isn't eligible to speak that day when the schedule is created (absent, opted out, too close to another major role, and so on), the request is cancelled and the member is emailed the reason.

Step 1: Turn On Speaking Requests¶

From your officer dashboard, click Schedule Options.
Find the Speaking Requests section.
Check Allow members to request a speaking date.
Set Maximum requested speakers per meeting, the number of approved requests allowed on one date. The default is 1. It can't be higher than the number of Speaker slots per meeting.
Set How far ahead members can request (weeks). Choose between 2 and 26 weeks; the default is 12.
Click Save Schedule Options.

Members now see Request a Speaking Spot in their menu and a link on the schedule page.

Changing these settings doesn't delete or regenerate any draft schedules.

Step 2: Review and Decide on Requests¶

In the Schedules section of the menu, click Speaking Requests. A badge shows how many requests are waiting for a decision.
Requests are grouped by meeting date. Each date shows how many are approved against the limit, for example "Approved: 0 of 1".
For each request you see the member's name, its status, how long ago it was sent, and the member's note if they left one.
Optionally, type a Reason. It's included in the email to the member and shown in their request history.
Click Approve or Decline.

The member is emailed either way. The badge in the menu goes down as you decide.

Warnings on a request¶

Pending requests can show warnings, such as Marked absent that day, Membership ends before that date, Not permitted to take the Speaker role, Speaker prerequisites not met, Too close to another major role, or Speaker role restricted.

Warnings are informational and never block approval. They tell you the member is likely to be cancelled when the schedule is created unless something changes first (for example, they remove the absence).

When Approve is refused¶

"That date has passed." You can't approve a request for today or an earlier date.
"That date has no open request spots." The date already has as many approved requests as your Maximum requested speakers per meeting allows. Raise the limit or decline the request.

Lowering the limit later keeps the approvals you've already given. It only blocks new ones.

Step 3: Create the Schedule¶

Create schedules as you normally do (see Creating and Publishing Schedules). Whether an officer creates the schedule or it's generated automatically, approved requests in its date range are handled the same way:

Placed first. Before any other role is filled, each approved requester takes a free Speaker slot at their requested meeting, as long as they pass the normal eligibility checks. Requests are placed in the order they were approved.
Protected for the rest of the schedule. A placed requester isn't given a Speaker slot at another meeting in the same schedule. If your Speaker role is a major role, they're also kept off major roles at earlier meetings that fall inside your Major Role Gap.
Assigned as pending. The placement is an ordinary Speaker assignment. The member confirms or declines it after you publish, like any other role.

A placed requester who is also in the Fast Track Pool counts toward that meeting's Fast Track limit.

Pending requests are cancelled when you create the schedule¶

Any request still pending for a date in the new schedule is cancelled, and the member is emailed "The schedule was created before this request was approved." Decide on requests before you create the schedule.

The Create Schedule page warns you first. It shows how many pending requests fall in the range, with a Review them first link to the Speaking Requests page if you can approve requests.

Approved requests that can't be placed¶

An approved request is cancelled if the member can't be placed, for example because they're marked absent, the meeting became a holiday or a Special Event, no meeting was scheduled that day, or every Speaker slot was already taken. The member gets an email with the reason and a link to request again.

Step 4: Review the Draft and Publish¶

While the schedule is a draft, the request stays Approved. When you publish:

If the member still holds the Speaker role at their requested meeting, the request is marked Scheduled. The member then gets the normal schedule-published email; there's no separate speaking-request email. They can request another date afterwards.
If the member is no longer in a Speaker slot at that meeting, the request is cancelled with "Removed from the schedule before it was published," and the member is emailed.

Taking a requester off a draft: revoke, don't just remove¶

If you remove a placed requester from a draft, or mark their slot N/A, the next time schedule generation runs for that range it places them again. To stop that, revoke the approval:

Open Speaking Requests.
Find the approved request and optionally enter a Reason.
Click Revoke.

The request becomes Declined and the member is emailed. Revoking does not remove a Speaker assignment already placed in a draft; edit the draft to remove it as well.

Who Can Approve Requests¶

The VP Education always can.
The VP Education can give the same access to other officers. On the Schedule Options page, the VP Education sees a Published Schedule Editors section. Officers checked there can make broad changes to published schedules and can also approve, decline, and revoke speaking requests.

Officers without this access don't see Speaking Requests in their menu.

Email Notifications for Officers¶

Two officer emails cover Speaking Requests. Both are required for the VP Education and optional for other officers:

Notification	When it's sent
Speaking request submitted	A member sends a request.
Speaking requests cancelled	Requests are cancelled because they couldn't be honoured. One summary per schedule run.

Other officers can turn these on from their profile page: click My Notifications, check the boxes, and save.

Turning Speaking Requests Off¶

If you uncheck Allow members to request a speaking date, or switch the club to Volunteer Signup Mode, every pending and approved request is cancelled when you save, and each member is emailed. Before you save, the settings page shows how many open requests would be cancelled.

After saving you'll see a message such as "3 open speaking request(s) were cancelled and the members notified." Speaker assignments already placed in draft schedules are not removed.

How This Differs from Other Speaker Features¶

The Club Schedule has three features that affect who speaks. They work independently and a club can use all three:

	Speaking Requests	Fast Track Pool	Speaker Signup Pool
Who starts it	The member, for a date they choose	An officer adds the member	The member joins the pool
When it acts	When the schedule for the requested date is created	While any new schedule is generated	After a scheduled speaker declines
What it does	Places the member on one specific date	Moves the member up the queue for their next Speaker slot	Fills the open slot left by the decline

See Managing the Fast Track Pool and Managing the Speaker Pool.

Tips¶

Check the Speaking Requests page before every Create Schedule. Pending requests in the range are cancelled, not carried over.
Read the warnings before approving. A warning now usually means a cancellation email later.
Use the Reason field when declining or revoking. Members see it, and it saves a follow-up conversation.
Keep How far ahead members can request long enough that members can request before the schedule for their date is created.

Troubleshooting¶

I don't see Speaking Requests in my menu The feature is off, the club uses Volunteer Signup Mode, or you aren't the VP Education or a Published Schedule Editor.

I can't find the Speaking Requests section in Schedule Options It's hidden while Volunteer Signup Mode is selected. Speaking Requests only work in Algorithm Mode.

Members say no dates are offered Check that your club has an active Speaker role, that the next meeting dates aren't already in a draft or published schedule, and that How far ahead members can request reaches past your current schedules.

"Cannot exceed the number of Speaker slots per meeting" Maximum requested speakers per meeting can't be higher than the Speaker role's slots per meeting. Lower the value, or add Speaker slots first.

I removed a requester from the draft and they came back Schedule generation placed them again because their request is still approved. Revoke the approval, then edit the draft.

An approved member wasn't placed The request was cancelled with a reason. The member received it by email, and you received a Speaking requests cancelled summary if you're the VP Education or opted in.