Blog
TWISI – February 6, 2012
Trevor Marples opened the meeting just after giving camera instructions to his assistants. Susi Vassuer was front and center as our Chairman today and introduced the theme of the day ‘Winter Delights”. Bye the way she loves winter. Bal Grewal was cool with her delivery in the Ah Counter role, followed by Don Rokosz freezing us in our tracks with his word of the day BELIEVE. Believe you can and you will! Alastair Brown, as Timer, gave the President a frosty glare and actually clapped her down! Can you BELIEVE it? Don’t worry you won’t get left out in the cold because all Timers should do that….yes really. Archie Allison had us very amused but we are all very concerned hearing that in our old age we will be doing monkey tricks for our grandchildren and sitting on the porch barking at people. Sheila Allison pulling double duty spoke of Robert Frost’s poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” and recounting her “barn” days during those frigid times.
Joanne Chiasson created wintery questions for all of the TT participants. Each answering in a most impressive fashion. We learned that Caroline Hanna loves her Mom’s fire-baked pizza, Jonathan Moxness invented the sport of bungee sledding, Brett Palmer wins snowball fights using slingshots and John Beck, winning the BTT ribbon, recounted his younger days playing hockey stickhandling around branches protruding through the ice on the frozen creek.
Jonathon delivered slick evaluations of Caroline and Brett. Trevor, not knowing until 20 seconds before he approached the lectern he was evaluating Jonathon and John Beck. Talk about being “cool as a cucumber”.
Somewhere at this time we had a guest appear Margaret, invited by Caroline. Word is it she likes us!
After the break, before turning the stage over to Lorill Drummond, our consummate professional, and our Toastmaster, Susi recounted her snowball fight in Switzerland. (You and Brett should get together no doubt you would be a force to be reckoned with)
Sheila Allison’s speech, winning the BS ribbon, delivered an important message……ENTHUSIAUM IS THE KEY. Loved Loved Loved the story about the rabbits and waking up the frozen audience with your enthusiasm. The hard cold truth “Say it with enthusiasm or you’re TOAST”.
Trevor gave us an entertaining and valuable message when delivering a Power Point presentation in conjunction with your speech. Not too much info, not too complicated, keep it simple, neat and creative and definitely no “Cheesy” animations.
Rick Dorfer, Past President, provided a valuable speech on what it takes to be a Presidents Distinguish Club year after year. He highlighted that a member’s success is the club’s success and in turn that sustains the quality meetings we have come to expect from EET. He concluded by presenting Sandy VanDeKinder, who accepted the ribbon on the club’s behalf, with the Presidents Distinguished ribbon for 2010-2011. Thanks to Rick for his hard work as President last year to ensure once again we were PDC.
Evaluators John Beck, Brett Palmer and Duncan Robinson provided speakers with tips to grow on with Duncan taking home the coveted BE ribbon.
Gerard Toney was the frosting on the icicle and wrapped things up with his GE providing food for thought at our next meeting.
The weather was chilly outside, our meeting was warm inside and our members always VERY COOL!
That’s The Way I SAW IT
Sandy
TWISI – January 23, 2012
A Refreshing Pause for Celebration was enjoyed many times by all, during Monday’s meeting, with the theme chosen by Madam Chairman Sheila Allison, hidden somewhere in this sentence. The meeting commenced with Trevor’s usual refreshing announcement and welcoming of our now newest member Chris Skerik. Jessie Shao explained how she would be collecting funds for the piggy, as she counted the ah’s. It was a “Trade-Off” (word of the day) between no Grammarian or a very kind Sandy VanDekinder who stepped up at the last minute. The timer was pretty ticked off today and had to think outside the box. With no energy left, Christine Steward improvised very well for those who saw red. The meeting continued but was quite unfunny without a humorist. Gerard Toney (yours truly) asked everyone to pause and realize their accomplishments, in the Inspirational Thought of the day. Sandy VanDerkinder enlightened us with a little info. on CL’s and CC’s for TM’s.
The Table Topic Master, Susi Vasseur mentioned something about Sophia Loren perfecting the imperfect and called on Lorrill Drummund to give us a therapeutical talk as the perfect therapist, followed by Chris Skerik (now turned professional) up for a second week in a row. Susi bursts into a song of celebration to entice TT speaker #4 Rick, who competes, with the Rocky theme. Nancy Coates last but not least wanted to see more friends in her speech and she must have lots as she won the TT ribbon. Duncan Robinson evaluated well, speakers 1 and 3 and Rick said “the cobwebs are gone” before he evaluated speakers 2 and 4.
After a well deserved break Alastair Brown was up as Toastmaster of the day! Archie Allison’s heartrending speech was very well received as he got the best speaker ribbon. Trevor Marples again showed he’d got lot’s and lot’s of energy in his speech. Michelle Manak broke the ice sharply and received her reward with her maiden speech and said it was Peanuts. Sandy VanDekinder evaluated Archie Allison, Brett Lauritzen evaluated Trevor M and Susi Vasseur evaluated Michelle with impressive style to win her the best evaluator ribbon. This concluded the prepared speaking section.
Jessie, Sandy and Christine gave their individual reports with statistical prowess. A very inspired Lorill Drummund welcomed the energy from the smaller number of attendees with gratifying amount of clapping from everyone. Lorill observed well, the welcoming warmth from Madam Chairman and also a significant point of improvement needed, in the meeting start time.
Our President, Sandy VanDerkinder highlighted a few extra notices.
Although short on numbers this week, you wouldn’t have known it, as it was counteracted by the very high energy level.
We look forward to celebrating our accomplishments, however small, and reaping the benefits of hard work and EET Teamwork!…and that’s the way I saw it!!…Gerard.
The Way I Saw It – January 16, 2012
A Theme chosen by Mr. Chairman Gerard Toney delivered just that, the UNEXPECTED! Gavelling along with Trevor was a surprise visit from Margaret Page, our Lieutenant Governor of Education who volunteered for Table Topics…kind of…just wanted to test her skills! Our clever astute GRAMMARIAN Loril Drummond demonstrated just that delivering another challenging word extemporaneous! Brett Lauritzen has been stepping up to his roles lately counting the ticks on the clock as TIMER. With a few unexpected changes during the last 24 hours Jackie Maclean filled in at the last moment as our HUMORIST, a few thought provoking questions for the members. Sussi Vasseur had some words of wisdom as the INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHT of the day and AH…almost forgot the AH COUNTER, Alistair Brown collected a few nickles!
The Table Topic Master, John Beck, yours truly, created a few extemporaneous (I said it correctly!) questions with Chris our 2nd. time visitor volunteering to speak! Oh, guess what? He is signing as a member this coming Monday! If he doesn’t show, does anyone know where he lives? You can always count on Don Rokosz the professional he is to deliver an on the spot performance, that he did! Our Trevor Marples also a Table Topic Ribbon collector had no problem filling his volunteered spoken words while Margaret was called on to see what she can do…she got the ribbon! Good thing Don Rokosz was evaluating speakers 2 and 4 since he spoke as well! CarolineHanna did the honors for speakers 1 and 3 and I might as well tell you now she won the ribbon!
A short break and Jackie Maclean stood up front once again as out Toastmaster of the day! Brett Palmer kicked it off with a humorous speech created at the last minute as he filled one of the speaker roles. Along with yours truly John Beck filling in another speech with 6 of the BEST that completed our prepared speeches! What better guy than our natural humorist John Brkopac to evaluate our other natural humorist speaker Brett! Nancy Coates evaluated John Beck doing a fine job once again as this wrapped up this section of the meeting!
Alistair, Lorill and Brett L gave their reports setting the stage for Perry Fulop to follow with the GENERAL EVALUATION. Perry professional delivery with humor and organization met his end of the bargain giving observant details and points for improvement! Margaret Page promoted the upcoming Spring Conference at Harrison Hot Springs while our President Sandy VanDekinder ALWAYS on top and alert added a few important details! As fun and professional as it was experienced….We all look forward to our goal of bigger and more improved meetings in the future! That’s the way yours truly saw it!
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Sincerely, John Paul Beck ACB CL
End of Year Awards
Our Toastmasters end of year comes with time for reflection and recognition. Over the past couple of weeks, I presented highlights and achievements for our club over the past twelve months. This morning, we recognized and celebrated fantastic members in three categories:
Rookie of the Year – Trevor Marples
Most Improved Toastmaster – Caroline Hanna
Toastmaster of the Year – Sandy Vandekinder
Don Rokosz was recognized for being the Division F winner of the Table Topics Contest.
Alan Warburton was recognized for being the Division F winner of the International Speech Contest. Alan competed in the Spring District Contest in Osoyoos and was awarded Runner-Up.
Early Edition was also recognized for being the first club in Division F to reach all 10 Distinguished Club Program points. Below is the “First to 10″ Trophy.
The Electricity of Passion!
Empowering your audience by speaking with emotion
We all have passion. Passion is an intense emotion creating enthusiasm and desire for something. In order to express our passion while speaking, we learn to explore our entire dynamic range of skills and abilities. We also learn what personal perceptions, rules, and beliefs constrain our natural capabilities.
The flexibility to free ourselves from these constraints begins to develop and nurture within a supportive group of people who understand the journey. With encouragement and positive feedback, we feel good and appreciate the qualities in speaking we already possess. Positive experiences give us the strength and confidence to accept some of the weaker characteristics of our speech presentation. The commitment and effort of adhering to this process will foster and enlighten your speaking abilities. Passion will follow.
Our audience wants to hear quality information. The more our personality comes through while delivering, the more we engage people’s attention. Our body language such as eye contact, hand gestures, and smiling conveys warmth with our listeners. The more comfortable we become within ourselves, the more effective we become at displaying and conveying our message with passion! The art of speaking with passion has to do with internalizing your story while remaining flexible to learn from your experiences.
5 Tips for Progressing your Passion in your speaking
- Choose a story or experience that relates to the topic and/or message you are sharing with your audience. This will define your purpose. Knowing your purpose gives you the confidence needed to express it with more passion.
- Focus on and relive the feelings and emotions you were experiencing with the story you are telling. These pure emotions of the moment will empower your delivery, more importantly empower the audience!
- Avoid getting lost in the experience of your story to the point where you are not flexible to exit out or enter back in to present the message you are delivering. This comes from choosing your thoughts carefully and remaining calm and in control.
- Listen and learn from your mentor, coach, and/or inspirational experienced leaders. There is a very high chance they see something in you that you still may not see in yourself. The more you know about yourself, the easier it is to express your passion. This valuable gift of sharing could be a “flick of the switch”, a huge difference in your success as a speaker!
- Learn to love yourself! Life is a journey of the good, the bad, and at times the ugly. Remember that all “glorious failures” are the stepping stones to our bigger successes! Laugh at your mistakes because everyone is rooting for you!
How to Find Leaders
Want to find leaders for your organization?
John Maxwell, Ph.D., is an expert on leadership and author of more than 30 books on that topic. In his monthly e-newsletter, Leadership Wired, he answers the question, “How can I be sure to hire the right person?”
To accomplish anything of significance, you must have the right people by your side. Finding a great hire often goes hand in hand with identifying potential leaders. Maxwell credits his friend Fred Smith with helping him arrive at these 11 questions to ask when looking for a leader:
- Does the person question existing systems and push for improvements?
- Do they offer practical ideas?
- When they speak, who listens?
- Do others respect them?
- Can they create or catch a vision?
- Do they show a willingness to take responsibility?
- Do they finish the job?
- Are they emotionally strong?
- Do they possess strong people skills?
- Will they lead others with a servant’s heart?
- Can they make things happen?
Top 10 Tips for Public Speaking
Feeling some nervousness before giving a speech is natural and even beneficial, but too much nervousness can be detrimental. Here are some proven tips on how to control your butterflies and give better presentations:
- Know your material. Pick a topic you are interested in. Know more about it than you include in your speech. Use humor, personal stories and conversational language – that way you won’t easily forget what to say.
- Practice. Practice. Practice! Rehearse out loud with all equipment you plan on using. Revise as necessary. Work to control filler words; Practice, pause and breathe. Practice with a timer and allow time for the unexpected.
- Know the audience. Greet some of the audience members as they arrive. It’s easier to speak to a group of friends than to strangers.
- Know the room. Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids.
- Relax. Begin by addressing the audience. It buys you time and calms your nerves. Pause, smile and count to three before saying anything. (“One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand. Pause. Begin.) Transform nervous energy into enthusiasm.
- Visualize yourself giving your speech. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear and confident. Visualize the audience clapping – it will boost your confidence.
- Realize that people want you to succeed. Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining. They’re rooting for you.
- Don’t apologize for any nervousness or problem – the audience probably never noticed it.
- Concentrate on the message – not the medium. Focus your attention away from your own anxieties and concentrate on your message and your audience.
- Gain experience. Mainly, your speech should represent you — as an authority and as a person. Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking. A Toastmasters club can provide the experience you need in a safe and friendly environment.
Visit a Toastmasters meeting!
Toastmasters groups meet in the morning, at noon, or in the evening in communities and corporations all over the world. No matter where you live, work or travel, you’ll likely find a group nearby.
Mastering the Laugh
You won’t croak if you tell a joke!
Let’s face it. Humor is hard! Even experienced speakers struggle with knowing how to (appropriately!) tickle their audience’s funny bones. We all enjoy listening to a funny speech –the problem is, we typically don’t think of ourselves as being funny speakers. Members of Toastmasters are no different; that’s why we have assembled a wide range of resource material on this topic. Toastmasters exist to help your audience laugh with you, not at you!
Humor has many benefits. It can:
* Help establish a bond with the audience
* Win over a hostile audience
* Keep the audience interested
* Emphasize or illustrate a point
* Help people remember you
Here are some tips:
* Be yourself. Think about what types of humor you appreciate, then create a library of such items. Don’t like jokes? Try a humorous anecdote or a witty observation from your own life.
* It’s OK to be mildly amusing, rather than eye-dabbingly funny.
* Use humor sparingly, like a spice. At first, try using a humorous opener to your speech. A quote or offhand observation can be a good icebreaker.
* Keep it relevant to your speech topic.
* Avoid retelling jokes found on the Internet. Chances are good others have already heard or seen them.
* Keep it clean! Humor is supposed to make people feel good – not embarrassed, insulted or offended.
* Make it readily identifiable as humor. But in case no one laughs, prepare a comment in advance or just move on.
* Keep it appropriate to the audience and the situation.
* Self-effacing humor is safe –a little of it goes a long way. The audience would rather hear about the time you fell on your face than when you won the race.
* Work on your delivery. Practice using vocal variety and gestures.
* Timing is everything! Pause before the punch line.
