Congratulations Town & Gown

The Stoneroad Toastmasters send a sincere "well done" to the Town & Gown Toastmasters Club this week. Their representatives won both the Table Topics and Humorous Speech Contests at the Oct. 16th, Area 62 Competition.

Danve Castroverde, the defending Table Topics champion, reclaimed his title with his eloquent response on the theme "A Sound Investment". He spoke of the important he places on his formal education and how it has been an investment into his future success.

Hakeem Shittu, last year's international speech winner, tickled the audience with is tale of learning English as a second language. With the use of a minimal prop he transformed into a cruel instructor from his childhood, and he clearly illustrated how ridiculous the rules of English are.

Best wishes to Danve and Hakeem as they represent Guelph at the Division Contest on Friday, October 23. The contest will be held in the Davis Centre at the University of Waterloo. Six competetors will be entered in each event. The evening begins at 6 pm and will cost $10. Everyone is encouraged to attend.

CONTEST WINNERS

On Monday, October 5, the Stoneroad Toastmasters held their annual contest for Humorous Speeches and Table Topics.

Five people competed in the Table Topics portion of the event. They each gave an impromptu speech for 1 to 2 minutes on the subject of "What does the Fall season mean to you?" Congratulations are extended to Marion Reidel, who was selected to represent the club at the area contest.

In the Humorous speech section of the contest, the topics included the nature of laughter, reminiscences of childhood and the frustration of getting lost. The club is proud to have Linda Neff represent us at the area contest with her speech "Where Am I?"

The area contest will be held on Friday, October 16. The location is expected to be announced this week.

INSPIRATIONAL SPEAKER

The Civic Leadership Prayer Breakfast of Guelph is honoured to present inspirational speaker Kim Phuc, "The Girl In The Picture." Kim was 9 years old, living in South Vietnam when on June 8, 1972 she was severely burned with napalm bombs. Naked and terrified, Kim's image was caught in the Pulitizer Prize winning photo shown here. With over half of her body burned, it was not expected that Kim would survive. The photographer, Nick Ut, took Phuc to an American hospital is Saigon. Two years later she returned to her village and was used as a proganda symbol for the Communist Government.

While studying in C uba in 1986 Kim met Bui Huy Toan, whom she married. They honeymooned in Moscow and during their flight back defected while in a stop-over in Gander, Newfoundland. Kim now lives in Ajax and speaks worldwide about forgiveness. She raises money for the Kim Foundation, which is a not-for-profit organization committed to funding programs that "heal".

This event will also feature music from Juno Award winner Deborah Klassen.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Delta Hotel & Conference Centre

Stone Road at Gordon St., Guelph

6:45 Hot Buffet, 7:00-8:45 Program

Cost $20 each, table seat 10, parking included

This event is sold out except fora handful of tickets that Stone Road club member, Blake, is holding in reserve. Email the club if you're interested.

PRESENT AN IDEA AND BE HEARD

Education session by Terri Millar, based on an article in "Toastmaster" magazine, Sept. 2006.

When you are asked to speak at a meeting it is a valuable opportunity to influence others. You are in a position to gain the respect of colleagues, and it is a chance to learn as well as teach. The following are five important points to consider.

1. Be Prepared

If you have advance notice of the presentation take time to plan out your comments. Do some research to gather statistics and other relevant information. Find out who the audience will be and the time allotted, so you can meet expectations. Review the notes from previous meetings on the subject, so you can build on past work.

If it is a spontaneous opportunity don't panic. Pause and gather your thoughts. Pick one big point that you want to make and make it clearly. Frame your comments logically. Speak with authority and you will appear confident and thus be more influential.

2. Listening Is Just As Important As Talking

Check the pulse of the group by listening to their comments. Assess whether they prefer interaction. Listen to the previous speakers and build on their comments to make your remarks more powerful. This linking of ideas also gives the meeting continuity. You may need to revise your planned input in light of prior comments.

3. Lead With Questions

This is a mens of checking the pulse of your audience. When you clarify their needs it connects you to your audience, and also ensures their focus.

4. Don't Marry Your Ideas

Finding solutions is a process and is usually the result of group input. It is important not to be emotionally attached to your ideas. Be prepared to adapt, don't get defensive, and don't worry if someone else gets the credit for an idea you initiated. On the other hand, don't brush off a compliment. Be humble, but accept credit when appropriately given. Share credit with others when they've contributed, acknowledge their input graciously.

5. Know When NOT To Talk

Watch for opportunities to hear feedback, it's a powerful learning experience. Know the power of group contributions and listen to questions. This is especially important if you're new to the group. Listening can help you understand the meeting culture and group dynamics.

SPEAKER'S BOOT CAMP REPORT

At our June 1 meeting, Linda Neff reported on a two day training session she attended which was presented by International Toastmaster Champions Darren LaCroix and Craig Valentine. The program titled, "Get Coached to Speak! Champ Camp", offered four people the opportunity to be coached on a speech presentation, while the remainder of the participants were able to learn by observing the experience and participating in the feedback sessions.
On day one the four focus speakers each gave a 5 to 7 minute prepared speech. Linda indicated that the learning experience was to hear, and participate in the the one hour feedback session following each speech. LaCroix and Valentine gave specific guidance on how the speaker could improve both the writing and delivery of the speech. Then, on the second day, the speakers presented the revised version of their speech. Linda said it was impressive to see the amount of progress they had made in this short period of time. Following the revised presentation the group offered further feedback and small sections of the speech were tweaked again.
The participants included a wide range of experience. All four speakers focused on topics of great personal importance and by the end of the sessions had a highly polished product that could be developed into a keynote speech for any number of occasions
The inspirational report to the Stone Road Toastmasters ended with Linda offering a few quotes by LaCroix and Valentine, from the notes she had taken at the training session.
"Sometimes we want validation, instead of education."
"The audience does not want you to be perfect, they want you to be present."
"When yo are getting feedback, look for patterns, not isolated comments."
"Techniques need to become automatic, so they are invisible."
"No technique can beat heart."
"Great speeches are not written, they are rewritten."
"A message is a mess...with age."

EXECUTIVE ELECTIONS

The sign of a healthy organization is when a significant portion of the leadership wants to remain in service taking on new challenges, while a component of new faces join them at the helm. That's exactly what happened as the Stone Road Toastmasters conducted the election for new executive officers on May 25. The new executive will be;

President - Terri Millar, previously VP Education
VP Eucation - Bani Arora, previously VP Public Relations
VP Membership - Michelle Munroe, previously Sergeant at Arms
VP Public Relations - Marg Stewart, previously Secretary
Treasurer - Theresa Dietrich, new member
Secretary - Anca Preda, new member
Sergeant at Arms - Adnan Cheema, established member

Mina McCluskey moves to the role of Past President. She encouraged the new executive to participate in the training programs that will be forthcoming through the Toastmaster's Organization. She indicated that their roles can be as expansive, or focused as their personal schedules permit. Stone Road Toastmasters has a history of group support for all activities and Mina assured the new executive that they will not be working in isolation.

TEAMWORK = SUCCESS

The term of office for the Stone Road Toastmasters Club runs from July 1st to June 30th each year. The elections for the next group of executive members will be held on Monday, May 25th.
Anyone interested in taking on an executive role may put forth their name for nomination, or if a club members feels that a colleague would serve the organization well they may choose to nominate them. If you are nominated by someone else, you can "pass" if you wish to try for a role other that the one you're nominated for, or you can decline altogether.
No special qualifications are required, as the TM District Council will provide all necessary training. It does help if you are organized, enthusiastic and have the time to take on this responsibility. Members should be aware that holding an executive role acquires credits in the Competent Leadership manual.
The Executive Roles, in order of responsibility are as follows:

7th - Sergeant At Arm, sets up the room for meetings, maintains the supply of meeting documents, awards and general supplies

6th - Treasurer, implements a budget based on the previous year's data, submits dues to the bank, works with membership VP to track data, keeps the club ledger, is one of four signing officers, two needed for any payment

5th - Secretary, takes minutes at executive and regular meetings, manages the club copies of any manuals or videos

4th - Vice President Public Relations, promote club events, oversees the production of the newsletter, oversees the website, runs any newspaper ads

3rd - Vice President Membership, track membership data, work with treasurer, coordinate communication

2nd - Vice President Education, assigns agenda roles, assigns mentors, tracks member progress, coordinates education sessions * considering splitting this role in two

1st - President, chief executive officer, provides leadership for the club, represents the club at area meetings

Think about whether you'd like to serve in one of these roles and speak to Terri if you have questions or an interest.