HAPPY HOLIDAYS

In the spirit of the holiday season, our club hosted a special meeting this week which celebrated the end of our club's 7th year. The evening was kindly chaired and organized by Wendy and we thank her for her efforts. The night included a fun-filled gift exchange (involving picking a surprise "Whammy"...a.k.a. the dreaded gift can of tuna which changed hands four times before finding its home), holiday carols with live guitar and violin, and great snacks at our break. We would like to thank Blake for his company's sponsoring of the night (Miller Thompson LLP).

It has been an exciting year for our club - we welcomed in a new executive and many new members, the easy-speak system was introduced to better organize our meetings, and our members continued to grow in their speaking and leadership skills and also, most importantly, in wonderful friendships!

The Stone Road Toastmasters executive wishes you a happy and healthy holiday season. Our next meeting is scheduled for January 10th, 2011. See you in the New Year!

ALTRUISM AT TOASTMASTERS

‘Altruism’: that was our word of the week on November 8th, 2010. It means ‘giving yourself up for the benefit of others’. On that day, I was able to use the word after a shy visitor to the club had received the ‘Table Topics’ award. In my comments as the ‘toastmaster’ or chairman of the meeting, I said that this young lady had given us an example of altruism in action. By risking herself, by reluctantly standing up and giving a one minute speech, covered in blushes and confusion, she had given herself up for the benefit of the club. Isn’t that what we do when we gather together on Monday nights? We offer ourselves, our strengths and our weaknesses, not only that we might improve our skills, but so that others might learn, grow, and find the courage to face a new challenge in their lives.

Alan Cook C.C.

AREA 62 CONTEST

On Friday, October 15th, 2010 the Area 62 Contest was held at 10 Carden Street in downtown Guelph. The venue was intimate and the evening’s energy was palpable. Five contestants representing most of the six Guelph Toastmasters clubs were vying for the opportunity to advance to the next level of competition, the Division W Contest. City of Guelph Mayor, Karen Farbridge, was the guest dignitary providing opening remarks to kick off the event. Stone Road Toastmasters very own Linda Neff represented our club in both the Humourous Speech and Table Topics contests. She gave two wonderful performances, making both her club and her children in the audience very proud! The contest winners were: Glen Oxford (Humourous Speech) and Neil Lachapelle (Table Topics).

The night was a success and the efforts from our VP Education and Area Contest Organizer, Shawn Weldon, are commended. He secured many sponsors (NV Lounge, Miller-Thomson Barristers & Solicitors, Williams Coffee Pub, Starbucks Coffee, Atmosphere Café, Borealis Grille & Bar, and Purba Vision), which made for great food and many door prizes!

The Division W Contest will be held on Friday, October 29th, 2010 at the University of Waterloo. Contest begins at 7:00pm. Doors open at 6:30pm. Cost is $5.00. Details to follow shortly.

CLUB CONTEST WINNERS

On October 4th, the Stone Road Toastmasters Club held it's annual Humourous Speech and Tabletopics Contest. The night was certainly a success and we would like to thank our organizing committee - Alan Cook, Wendy McDonnell and Michelle Munroe, as well as all of the members who volunteered for the various contest roles. Our members and guests had the pleasure of listening to four talented contestants - Marion Reidel, Blake Kurisko, Linda Neff, and Kelly Kirkland. They were competing for the opportunity to advance onto the next level of competition, the Area Contest. All contestants are congratulated for their participation - you made us proud!! We are pleased to announce the night's winners: Marion Reidel (Table Topics) and Linda Neff (Humourous Speech). Our club wishes you both the best of luck. Shown left: Linda Neff, right: Alan Cook and Marion Reidel.

The Area Contest is taking place on Friday, October 15th, 2010 in downtown Guelph at 10 Carden Street. Doors will open at 6:30pm and the event starts at 7:00pm sharp. Our club is hosting this event, and we encourage all members to come out to support our organizers and competing members.

FALL SPEECH CONTEST DETAILS

Stone Road Toastmasters will being hosting the annual Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contest on Monday, October 4th, 2010 from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at our usual meeting location. Volunteers are still needed to help with various roles and members of all experience levels are welcome to join in the fun as a contestant. Contest winners at the club level will then move on to the Area Contest taking place on Friday, October 15th (details to follow closer to the date). Here is the address to the Club Contest Rule book for both contestants and contest volunteers.

http://www.toastmasters.org/rulebook

Note for our regular members, don't forget that our membership renewals are due by September 30th. Help keep our club in good standing and our membership strong!

WORD ON THE STREET

Word On The Street is a festival celebrating literacy and the spoken word. It is a family friendly event held at Victoria Park, in Kitchener, on Sunday, Sept. 26 from 11am to 5pm. For details Google "Word On The Street, Kitchener" and the website lists the event specifics.

CONGRATULATIONS MICHELLE!

Our very own Vice President of Public Relations is getting married this weekend. The Stoneroad Toastmasters offer up best wishes to Michelle Munroe who will be anxiety free and ready to stand up and speak her mind. Our thoughts are with you Michelle!

Congratulations from your Toasty Pals.

PANIC AND ANXIETY

Stoneroad Toastmaster Michelle Munroe offered a three part educational session on Panic and Anxiety. The fear of Public Speaking is at the top of the list of things that cause anxiety. Michelle explained that the three components of anxiety are:
1. Anxious Thoughts; beliefs or assumptions, predictions and interpretations that we make about a situation. "If I stand up and speak I will be laughed at."
2. Physical Body Sensations: A racing heart rate, shortness of breath, sweat, blurred visions are all symptoms of being anxious.
3. Anxious Behaviours: Strategies that people use to avoid stressful situations. Avoidance, distraction, rationalization and so forth.
Anxiety is simply a fear of what will happen. The brain triggers physical symptoms, therefore the brain can be used to overcome the problem.

2010 Executive

President - Rebecca Anstett
Vice President Education - Shawn Wheldon
Vice President Public Relations - Michelle Munroe
Vice President Membership - Marg Stewart
Treasurer and Past President - Terri Millar
Secretary - Alan Cook
Sargent at Arms - Julia Niimi

The members of Stoneroad Toastmasters are grateful to these leaders for stepping forward in service of our organization. We are proud of the growth and positive atmosphere of our club and know that we can entrust the health of this chapter in the hands of these capable Toastmasters.

Cheers!

JOURNAL YOUR WAY TO BETTER SPEAKING

Over the next two weeks, Stoneroad Toastmaster, Linda Neff, will be sharing with our club a presentation that she gave at the spring conference. Research indicates that we only share 10% of our thought and feeling with the world. The other 90% consist of our private feelings, desires, dreams and personal motivation. Keeping a written journal of these inner thoughts is not only therapeutic, put it also can be a rich resource of public speaking ideas. Socrates taught that, "An unexamined life is not worth living," and so a reflective journal helps us to analyze the events of our lives and how we feel about them.

Everyone has busy lives and taking on another task seems like a hardship. Linda explained that there is not perfect time for writing. The secret to success if to keep your journal handy and write whenever you have a moment. Try to find a routine that works best for your lifestyle. Can you journal during the commute to work, on coffee breaks, over the lunch hour or is bedtime best. Linda encouraged the club members to "make a date with themselves." Tell your family that you have an appointment; they don't need to know it's just you sitting in your favourite coffee shop with your journal.

STAY TUNED AS THE SESSIONS OF THE POWER OF JOURNALING CONTINUE.

AWARD WINNING MEMBER

CONGRATUALTIONS to Stoneroad Toastmaster Isabelle Hershaw. She received an award for long time contributions to the Toastmaster's Program at this Spring's conference in Mississauga.

Congrtulations, Conference and Comments

Congratulations to our own Mina McCluskey for winning the International Speech Area Contest. Mina will proceed to the District competition in Kitchener. The winner there must write a completely new speech and will go on to compete at the Spring Conference.

The Spring Conference for District 86 will be held at the Delta Meadowvale Convention Centre, in Mississauga. It will take place on April 16-18. You can register for this event online at http://www.district86.cloverpad.org/. This is right off the 401, about a 45-60 minute drive from Guelph. You are encouraged to take advanatage of this convenient location.

Share you comments on what is happening. This site is a "blog". You'll notice at he bottom of each article there is the word "comment". If you click on that you can write a comment on the article. Give it a try. Tell folks what you thought of Mina's performance, and cheer her on. Indicate that you're plannng to attend the conference, and get a car pool organized. Interact with this site and it becomes more interesting.

The Guelph Area Speech contest will take place at the Evergreen Senors' Centre on Friday, February 26, starting at 7:00 pm. Past Club President Mina McClusky will represent the Stone Road Toastmasters in the International Speech Contest. Marion Reidel will be our club's respresentative for the Evaluation contest.

This is a wonderful opportunity to see a series of high level speeches. Admission is only $5.00. Come on out for an evening of entertainment.

How To Get Everything You Want

Stoneroad Toastmaster Anca Preda demonstrated her Educational Presentation skills on Jan. 4th when she informed the group about an excellent motivational resource. Brian Tracy's book "How To Get Everything You Want- Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible" had a number of great ideas to benefit the club members. Anca gave a quick verbal summary of the book and also provided the group with a written synopsis from "Soundview Executive Book Summaries" an online resource.

As the theme of the evening was New year's Resolutions, one of the key points from the book that was highlighted was the concept of "S.M.A.R.T." goals. Not only was evidence presented to prove that the written establishment of goals is extremely powerful in leading to success, it was also clarified that S.M.A.R.T. goals are the most productive. This acronym stands for goals that are:

Specific

Measureable

Attainable

Realistic

Time bound

When goals meet these criteria, they are focused on daily to keep them ever present in your consciousness, then the potential for achievement of the goals is greatly increased.

Members reflected on the value that the Toastmaster's program has brought into their lives, and one individual told the group his success story. Previously he had been seeking work for over a year and he is now in a new and challenging employment situation, partly because of the confidence he gained and was able to demonstrate in interviews. Recently he gave a presentation to his colleagues, which went extremely well, causing his supervisor to comment of the strength of the club member's speaking skills. Toastmasters has made a difference in his life.