Blogging Today at Canadian Writers Who Are Christian

 

You can find my blog post over at Canadian Writers Who are Christian where I wrote about using stories in writing and speaking as well as the oral tradition of storytelling.
While you’re there, you might like to read more posts from fellow authors.

 

 

 

Toastmasters conference– Part 3

Sunday, November 27th was the last day of the fall conference. My fellow Toastmaster and I enjoyed our breakfast at the Woodfield B & B and chatted with our hostess. We learned more about that 130-year-old house and its history. One such story touched me. The owner had built the house next door for his brother and family. His nephew has since stayed at the B & B, having never been in the house as a child.

We gathered our belongings from our rooms, paid our bill and headed back to the convention centre for the last day, unfortunately missing Gregory C. N. Smith’s keynote speech, and arriving to the Table Topics contest, just after the rules had been read for the contest.

“You’re late,” said the Contest chair as we slipped into seats near the front.

It wasn’t the time or place to say, “Hey, I already know the rules, but I’m here for the most important part—the speeches.” Besides, we had enjoyed our time at the B & B and didn’t feel like rushing away.

We were not disappointed by the speeches. Contestants took their time walking up to the stage, thinking, I’m sure, of what they could possibly say to the topic. “Santa, I can explain…” brought out some of the wildest and best stories I’ve ever heard about excuses or explanations of things that happened, from having no cookies left to serve to Santa to the board from the pig pen to keep the children out of the room where the gifts were kept. I was glad to see more women participating in this contest and one represented among the winners.

  Contestants for Table Topics contest, greeted by Contest Chair at far left

First place: Gabriel Lerman

Second place: Neil Dunsmore

Third place: Gail Gustin

Sunday Brunch was held in one of the large rooms, Salon CDE. I chose to sit at a different table again and met more Toastmasters I had not known,  a college writing teacher, Rick, and his assistant, Jacob, a fellow writer, plus a member of the Cambridge Toastmasters and Laura and Georgina from our area in Kitchener-Waterloo.

Kai Rambow gave the keynote speech, Go for Launch: Accelerate your Toastmasters Experience, following the Sunday Brunch. He compared the Toastmasters journey to a rocket launch, since there are often times we try and falter, try and give up, and try again.  His main points included accepting the challenge of a speech, doing our absolute best (echoing Tony Nelson’s presentation point, being prepared), and having fun, while we enjoy the journey.

He’s an easy speaker to hear, with his storytelling style and a story for every point. He quoted the words of the first woman Toastmaster, Helen Blanchard, “If you’re not having fun, you’re not doing it right.”

Thanks for your presentations, Kai. We so enjoyed them this weekend.

After brunch, people went in all directions, heading for home. I had one stop to make yet: The Bookstore. After collecting the copies of my book, with a few more goodbyes on the way out, Doris, my fellow Toastmaster, and I headed for home, out into the rainy day and wet highway. We arrived home safely, with good memories, many thoughts on the conference,  ideas to try and new manuals for our club.

Next conference will be in Richmond Hill in May 2012.  Maybe you’ll be there .

Toastmasters is a place to learn- Conference Part 2

Saturday at the conference is for opening ceremonies, workshops, the Communication and Leadership Luncheon, and the Humorous Speech contest, all before the District Governor’s Ball.

Keith Stoltz, in his workshop, Improving your club with Improv, took us through group and individual exercises in learning to work together and think beyond ourselves. Wearing a striped sports shirt and carrying a whistle, he reminded me of a coach leading his team through the paces getting ready for the big game. I want to take those exercises back to our club. Keith is a new DTM as of this conference. Yeah!

Second in the line-up for me was Tony Nelson with his workshop, Maximize your Toastmasters Experience. With 40 years in the organization, he says, ” You get out of it what you put into it.” Instead of just standing up for a role as it comes, he encourages us to prepare for it and do our best. Nelson is founder of the Energetics Toastmasters club—my club. He holds 8 CTM/CCs and a DTM, and after his DTM, an Advanced Silver and Gold. Like the commercial with the rabbit that keeps on coming back.

Muriel, Carolyn (me) and Tony

The third workshop I attended, The World is Yours with a Story, was given by Josh Muirhead, with much experience for his youth, in the meaning of story in corporate and the business world. A different take on storytelling than my experience but a message I will also remember as a business owner.

The Communication and Leadership award was presented to Jane Roy and Glen Pearson, who have been involved with Food Bank work, among other leadership activities intheir community and beyond. Glen, speaking on behalf of both of them, shared a few of their experiences and challenged us to use our leadership and communication abilities to help others who need someone to speak for them. What an inspiring speech.

In the afternoon, we were treated to not one, but eight humorous speeches in the district contest. After the contest, the business meeting took place, then a break in the schedule to get ready for the District Governor’s Ball and more dancing. It’s a rather full but enjoyable day. After awhile it seems as though one needs a break to absorb all the information, to slow down a bit, and and maybe even take a nap!

Come back tomorrow for Part 3

Winner Neil Dunsmore with fellow members of his Kitchener, Ontario, club

A Toastmasters conference

How many Toastmasters does it take to make a good conference? The more the better.

While I don`t know exact numbers, I do know that the whole lot of us filled Salon C, D and E  for the Friday Fun night at the London Convention Centre this weekend. Whenever we gathered as a large group, we could hear a great hum in the room, for Toastmasters gather to speak and communicate. This is the District 86 Toastmasters Fall Conference with the theme, Putting the Pieces Together.

While many Toastmasters stayed at the Hilton London, attached to the convention centre, a fellow Toastmaster friend and I opted for a Bed and Breakfast, a five-minute walk or so at the Dufferin Street Woodfield B & B. That`s five minutes with good walking shoes and unencumbered. A lovely place where Damian and Anne took good care of us in their spacious 130-year-old home and where. admittedly, we took our time over breakfast both mornings.

Friday evening is Fun Night at this conference, with quite a few folks dressing up for Academy Awards or as their favourite movie characters. I had one in mind but not the time to look for a costume, and so I enjoyed the costumes of others and posed on the red carpet with other Toastmasters, danced with Minnie Mouse and Cleopatra and others. Before the dj began spinning his discs, we had a presentation by Kai Rambow, a Distinguished Toastmaster twice over and an accredited speaker, ably introduced by Gregory C. N. Smith, a presenter later in the conference.

Kai`s presentation on humour was aptly titled But I`m not funny! In his learning, he both studied and met famous comedians to learn the kinds of humour they were best at. I must admit to being a sponge, soaking in the presentation and making few notes. I enjoyed Kai`s speaking style and friendly communication. Through a series of stories and anecdotes, he told us about people like Jay Leno and others whose comedy styles had appealed to him. He recommended people like Carol Burnett, Jay leno, Rita Rudner, Bill Maher ( a bit controversial), Craig Ferguson and Jimmy Fallon.  And before  his presentation was complete, he had us trying out the humour with one such line: The good news is my speech is finished; the bad news is…  We played with this at our table groups and some shared with the group at large.

Fun Night presentations were not over yet. Smith introduced Titus, hip-hop artist and actor, who taught us the importance of warming up our voices and had us making faces and wierd sounds. He asked  us to help him with an exercise. We`d hold up something at our table and he`d include it in his rap story, a perfect Table Topics session for Titus who didn`t know what objects were coming. He also recited a poem he  wrote earlier this year for a word aloud event. I hope he puts that poem in print sometime so that others can read it.

That`s Friday night. Saturday events come in a separate edition tomorrow.

 

Once Upon a Sandbox– Update

Here’s an update on what’s happening with my book, Once Upon a Sandbox.

    Book launch, Kitchener

  Tavistock Public Library, answering questions after the reading

Tavistock Fall Fair, promoting book and editing business

Toastmasters and storytelling experiences have been a great help to me as I give readings and promote my book at events, including our hometown fall fair and Word on the Street in Kitchener, two very different venues. I was delighted to see so many friends and acquaintances, as well as people I didn’t know.

Upcoming Events:

Friday, October 14th,  Stoney Creek at a Senior’s Luncheon, reading, storytelling and books available for purchase

November 19th, book signing in Woodstock, Ontario, at Merrifield’s Book Shop

You can also purchase my book at the following stores:

Words Worth Books, Waterloo

Chapters Waterloo, Waterloo

UpperCase Books, New Hamburg

Merrifield’s Book Shop, Woodstock

FanFare Books, Stratford

Contest Season at Toastmasters

I learned about Toastmasters seven years ago while looking ahead to the need to speak professionally. The program has been most helpful to me, and I have enjoyed mentoring new members and seeing people grow in their speaking and leadership skills. Our club, like many others, strives to include social opportunities as well, to help our members get to know each other better.

In Toastmasters clubs, we have four main contests: Evaluation, International, Humorous and Table Topics. Some clubs also host a Tall Tales contest. This time of year we run the Evaluation and the International speech contests in our club and beyond.

In the Evaluation contest,  contestants evaluate a target or “test” speaker and are judged on their evaluations of the speaker. In Toastmasters, we look at the content of the speech and how it is delivered, considering such things as vocal variety and use of gestures.  The International speech must be 5-7 minutes and can focus on any topic. Contestant’s speeches at our area contest on Friday evening included informative, inspiring and humorous subject material.

Heather B., a member of our club, the Energetics, represented our club in the Evaluation contest at the area contest and had some excellent points for the speaker.  I represented our club in the International speech contest with my speech “No Such Word” and finished in third place, after my admirable opponents, Jeremy Tracey and Wayne Kuhn.

Going on to the area level contest was a new and positive experience.  Best wishes to Area 61 first place winner, Jeremy  Tracey, as he competes at the division contest later this month.

Just like the athletes

Two fellow Toastmasters  and I talked at a local networking event this fall. We were describing Toastmasters to other people at the  breakfast meeting. People who didn’t know about the organization.

Wayne Kuhn, a real estate agent and long time member of the Black Walnut Toastmasters club in Kitchener-Waterloo, compared attending Toastmasters to attending a gym. A short-term effort, such as attending the Carnegie training,  can be helpful to speaking and leadership skills, whereas attending a Toastmasters club each week is like regular training.

In a follow up email, he wrote, “When I watch the players at the World Cup and see how skillfully they manage the ball on the field, I know they didn’t learn it from going to a one- day workshop or a 5- day seminar.”  They learn and practise over many months and often years, and they “overcome personal obstacles, challenges and discomforts.”  They apply courage to their training as well. To become good, they must work towards their goal. To be the best they can be, they must keep on practicing. That work is essential to their success.

“At Toastmasters we learn the same way. We attend a weekly program working our way through a series of presentations, each designed to build a different area of our communication skills. After weeks and months of practice, we see slow steady improvements till we master what we at working at.”
Another point he made was that we start at different levels, come from different backgrounds and with different goals, so success will be a different thing to each one of us.

Byron Embry, all star baseball player become motivational speaker, was interviewed for an article in the October  2010 Toastmasters magazine, written by DiAnna Steele. Embry said, “Toastmasters took my greatest handicap and made it my greatest asset.”  He says,”… don’t let anyone say you can’t do something. … You have an entire story to tell and no one can tell it quite like you.” He affirms that Toastmasters has helped him to get where he is today.

Thanks DiAnna and Byron for the story, and thank you to Wayne for the continuing conversation.

Who has tried it and succeeded?

If  you’ve never experienced Toastmasters, see what it can do for you. Find a club and train, just like the atheletes. Go here.

Toastmasters– what is your goal?

February 3, 2010.

What is your goal this year in Toastmasters? Think about where you were when you joined Toastmasters and what else you want to achieve. Please don’t compare yourself with someone else. Instead, allow more advanced speakers to share the benefit of their experience to help you get where you want to go. Ask them questions, use their advice on successive speaking projects. Pay attention to their evaluations and use what you can.

Stuck in the first manual?  Make a commitment to give one speech every three to four weeks. Work at it one project at a time. One bite at a time is easier than thinking about 6 speeches or 7 and freezing.

Want to be a better leader? Take on more meeting roles that require organization and speaking. Volunteer for an executive role for the next season.

Want to achieve an advanced designation?  After the first manual, there are 15 advanced manuals that give you practice at giving a toast, a sales speech, television communication to humorous speaking.
Remember, the more advanced speakers in your club were once beginners. If they can do it, so can you!

Toastmasters again–contest season

January 30, 2010

For anyone who wants to learn to speak well, Toastmasters is an organization you’ll want to check out. On its home page, you can read:

The nonprofit organization now has nearly 250,000 members in more than 12,500 clubs in 106 countries.

Toastmasters is not only for those who want to speak professionally, but also for those who want to improve their communication skills, both for impromptu and prepared speeches. By being involved, one also learns leadership skills.

You can read more here and find a local club.

We approach  the second contest season of the Toastmasters year— the Evaluation Contest and the International Speech Contest. Contests are an opportunity to have fun with our speaking and to recognize the skill developed through Toastmasters programs. If there are other reasons, someone else can supply them.

In the Evaluation contest, the Vice President of Education puts out a call ahead of time for a target speaker, which some call a test speaker, usually from another club in the area. The speaker’s name is not made known ahead of time. This Toastmaster arrives at the host club on the contest day and gives a speech. Those who are competing in the club contest evaluate the speaker’s performance. The competitors are judged on their evaluations on how relevant and helpful they are to the speaker. The winner goes on to the area contest, and if that person wins at the  area contest,  he or she goes on to Division contest.

The International Speech contest is the only contest for which speakers must have achieved a certain level— the sixth speech of the basic manual. Winners from the club go onto Area contests, then Division and so on, like the other contests, but this contest goes right to the International level. We see the quality of these speakers who give keynote speeches at our district conference, and we hear the run-off of the contests with members from our own district. What a feast it is to hear them all present.

Our club is getting ready for the contests, on the 4th and 11th of February respectively. This time I’m competing in both. Should be interesting and entertaining. We love to have guests, so let us know if you’re coming.

Giving the toast to Canada at the District 86 Fall conference in Collingwood.  Next to me is Merri Macartney, DTM, Lieutenant Governor Education and Training.

Favourites

Today at Toastmasters, our Table Topics session [impromptu speaking] theme was Favourites. The Table Topics Master, Patrick, passed around an envelope with different topics. Each person, in turn, would pick out one piece of paper with a topic and talk about it for one minute, and each of us had a different topic.  We couldn’t plan since we didn’t know which topic we’d get. There were favourite vacations, department stores,  hobbies, vacations, book,  pet,  songs, and favourite singers.

Sometimes it’s hard to choose favourites when we like a lot of things; some had a difficult time picking one, like Oaiz and a favourite song. Doug had no difficulty when it came to favourite singer. He chose Michael Buble, since he listens to Buble’s music as he bikes each morning. I like Buble too, but I also like Josh Groban and Peter McCutcheon’s voices.

The favourite I picked was a department store. We once had a certain store in our city. It was a little like  a general store, but bigger. One could start down a grocery aisle and end up in clothing, move from the pharmacy to the tank with live lobsters, and shoes and boots at the far end of the store. The  floor was wooden and once probably quite polished, but at the time I was thinking of, it was getting worn and the floor squeaked in certain places. Up the escalator to the second floor to the toy section, a place our parents might take us near Christmas to see Santa, though we didn’t live in the city, but on a farm. Upstairs there was also a fabric counter and knitting supplies for those who like to knit or crochet, also a housewares section where we once bought a big mixing bowl for our mother for Christmas. That store is long gone now, levelled to make a new shopping centre with a grocery store and others in a strip mall. The memory was a good one though.

Tomorrow evening is our area Toastmasters contest and one of those contests in the Table Topics contest. Winners from our own club go on to compete against winners from the five or six other clubs in our area . What topic will the contestants get tomorrow is anyone’s guess. They’ll know as they enter the room to speak. It should be exciting to see that the speakers come up with in less than a minute.