Tag: public speaking

Secrets to a Successful Toastmaster Year

How was your last Toastmasters year? Were you able to achieve the goals you set for yourself?

Let me give you some tips and tricks I used to achieve and exceed my goals which made a difference in my past year as a Toastmaster and gave me the opportunity to be one of the 6 speakers in the New York Spring Conference 2017 (Page 20).

    • Write down your goals and set dates to achieve them. Would we ever submit assignments if our teachers didn’t give us deadlines? Turn your inner critic to an inner coach and use the inner critic to guide you to keep to your promises to yourself.
    • Have a mentor/coach. It always helps to have a coach/mentor to guide you. All successful people constantly learn.
    • Visit other clubs and have maximum face time outside your club – get to know people and network with them in Toastmasters settings. The more doors you knock give you a better chance of having more doors being opened for you. Your potential is too big to be confined to your club alone.

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Why You Should Participate in Contests

Print out this flyer and hand it out at your next meeting!

When your Vice President of Education asks whether you want to participate in the club contest this August, resist the impulse to turn away. Instead, say “yes.”  You’ll thank yourself for doing it! I’ll tell you why you should participate in your club’s Table Topics and Tall Tales contests.  


Table Topics is tailor made for busy people. No speech preparation necessary. You are asked a question and you answer it in 1 to 2 minutes.  Simple, right?  The question is designed to be open ended, so every answer is the correct answer because it is just your opinion. The response needs to be at least one minute in length and no more than 2 minutes 30 seconds.  You can speak for a minute or use all your time. Every member in good standing is eligible to participate, whether they have 2 months experience as a Toastmaster or 2 years. By the way, “good standing” means the member has paid his or her dues. So what’s the catch?  
 

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Teamwork Makes Great Toastmasters

DTM Mike Rutkowski

It’s been said that timing in life is everything. When I first joined Hunterdon Speak Easy Toastmasters club in 2009, I was more interested in networking than public speaking. I soon discovered that I was surrounded by some incredibly talented and high performing people. Our club officers at the time included such well-known names as Pam Winter, Cyndi Wilson and Andrew Smith, all of whom were soon to become Distinguished Toastmasters and hold D83 executive leadership positions. This Toastmasters Dream Team eventually served as my collective mentors and soon invited me to become a club officer as well.

I found that I really enjoyed public speaking and competing in speech contests. After a few years, I had completed my CC and all Advanced Communication awards. Janice Buffalow lived nearby and was a frequent visitor to our club. She encouraged me to work the Toastmasters Leadership track, serve as an Area Director and pursue my DTM.

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Club Spotlight: What Exit?

Club: What Exit? (5124091)

Charter Date: September 20, 2016

Recent Awards: For 2016-2017, What Exit? achieved a rare thing for a brand new club, we became a Select Distinguished Club in less than a year of being chartered!

Club members in their own words:

“Swathi (Karamcheti) and I founded the club because we realized that as involved as we both were, we didn’t share a club and we thought that was a shame. Very soon, our club, meeting on Saturday afternoons, was drawing people from Bergen County to Monmouth County and we knew were were onto something.”-Susan Chrusciel

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Mike Carlo Speaks at Networking Group

Last Thursday, a group of Toastmasters gathered to support Mike Carlo at the 4th Thursday Networking group. The following videos feature Mike’s speech on public speaking.

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D83 Out and About

Mike Carlo of Talk of Monmouth and Red Bank Toastmasters will be speaking to the 4th Thursday Networking Group on July 27 at The Fireside Grill and Bar in Marlboro.

Join them from 11:45pm to 1:30pm!

Mike’s speech is entitled “Stand Out with Outstanding Speaking Skills!: Habits, techniques, and mindsets of highly effective communicators in any field.

For more information, please contact Bill Atkins at billatkins@icloud.com.