Category: Advice

Who Do You Let Influence Your Life?

Would you continue to ride your car despite having a flat in your car?
 
Would you drive your brand new car with 3 great tires and one flat tire? You’re probably thinking, “Of course not.” But guess what, we all do that figuratively. Not once, not twice, but many times in our life.
 
Let me ask you this: Do you drive with your emergency break on? It’s another way to ask “are you striving to win while you have someone or something pulling you down”?
 
Napoleon Hill constantly reiterates this point and is the source of the aforementioned powerful examples.  He believes we are the average of the 5 people we associate with or are influenced by on a daily basis.
 
Who are your 5 best buddies? How do they influence you? Do you choose your friends or does it happen at random? Do you let others come into your life and make an impact or do you choose who impacts your thoughts?

Module “Realizing Your Purpose” (Part 2)

On July 29, our District 83 started a four part series with aim to connect Toastmasters in District 83 and work on a personal success plan conducive to reaching One Level Up in the current 2017 – 2018 Toastmasters Year. These educational training modules are more than a check the box form. They are a blueprint, a road map, to help as many members as possible understand the current Toastmasters Communication and Leadership Track. In these modules, members brainstorm with other members on the best ways to set the course that will build the basics for arriving at whatever educational award or project achievement the individual member intends. During these sessions, attendees will learn firsthand from the experience and best practices of other members, who have found solutions to problems many of us encounter in our own journey.

Part 1 was about creating a Success Plan. During that training, we covered selecting and planning on SMART Goals, Distinguished Club Strategies, and tracking these goals. We had a session that covered beyond the Competent Communicator manual and an in-depth review, explaining the scope and objectives, of each one of the 15 advanced manuals. We also reviewed the leadership track and all the projects needed to achieve DTM.

Part 2, “Realizing Your Purpose” is going to be about how experience and Distinguished Toastmasters have navigated through the Communication and Leadership Tracks to achieve the ultimate Toastmaster Award. Before we get to that, let me start with Google’s definition of the word purpose: “the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists”.

As Toastmasters, we all have a purpose for attending meetings and staying active. What brought you to join this organization may be completely different from what motivated me, but what is common to all of us is that we have an expectation of getting somewhere and that destination point is expected to be better and closer to where we want or wish to be in either our careers, skills, or personal growth.

In D83-P2 Module, we are going to learn from the personal experience of our Division A Director Narendra Pondugula, DTM. He will explain the way he laid out an action plan to reach the coveted Distinguished Toastmaster award in can be record time.

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How Many Distinguished Club Points Do You Have?

DCP? Those letters may sound familiar. If you have been a Toastmaster for a while, you probably have been monitoring Your Distinguished Club Program or DCP. In any case, let me remind you how it works and what goals all clubs strive to achieve within a Toastmaster year.

How Does It Work?

The Distinguished Club Program is an annual program, running from July 1 through June 30. The program consists of 10 goals for your club to obtain, using the Club Success Plan. To help keep track of your progress toward these goals throughout the year, updated reports are posted daily on the Toastmasters International website.

At year-end, the number of goals the club achieved is calculated. Based on the goals met and whether or not the qualifying requirements have been met, the club may be recognized as a Distinguished, Select Distinguished, or President’s Distinguished Club.

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What I Learned from Apex Toastmasters, NC

Its not easy to have consistently practice a discipline, but some clubs are great at this mantra. While I was on vacation in Apex, North Carolina, I dropped into Apex Toastmasters. From the moment I stepped in to the room, I felt the energy of positivity and achievement. I can’t explain the energy in words, but I can surely share the observations that stuck in my mind after the meeting.

* Greet everyone like its the first time – No, not just the new members. Everyone greeted each other like they saw each other for the first time. Its safe to say that all members were emulating the role of a VPPR.

 

* Be on time – I am the first culprit as I didn’t practice this fully and completely to this very day in my club as a past club president. We were at least 5 seconds late. Apex Toastmasters started on time. When I say on time, I meant 7.15 pm sharp. The sergeant-at-arms did a marvelous job by saying… 3 minutes more, 2 minutes more, 1 minute more…lets take our seats.”

 

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The Results of Officer Training Round 1: Is Your Team Fully Trained?

Between June 24 and August 31, District 83 conducted seventeen Officer Trainings. In total, approximately 640 officers out of 1,148, or around 56% of officers, have been trained in Round 1 for the current Toastmaster year.

Now, that total may be off. The total is based on all clubs having seven officers, but that is not necessarily true. Some clubs do not have seven officers. This could be good news because our results may be even greater than what I have presented at this time. On the other hand, when I say approximately 640 officers were trained, it is possible that some of our officers have been trained out of our District and the data has not been passed to our District yet or that some forms were not completed in a way that allows our district to identify club and officer’s position.

Officer Training is a determining factor in achieving your club success plan and meeting all your goals in the Distinguished Club Program. With that said, this is the time to review your club’s current Officer Training status. Please go to Toastmasters International Club Performance Reports for District 83 and check on the records for your club. If you find that you have not received all your officer’s trained numbers, please email me to identify who is missing in your club and then research to give your club the credit.

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Get Your Own Grit

“Nope, I’m not available Mr. President. I’m traveling this week to North Carolina on the 1st of September and I won’t be able to attend toastmasters meeting this week on the 5th. Will see you in 2 weeks.”

That was me telling my club president that I wont be able to attend our  club meeting as I’m travelling to North Carolina on holiday this week for 10 days. The good thing about Toastmasters is that it is everywhere you go. For me, Toastmasters stand for continuous education and self development. In most, cases we do not excuse ourselves from what others enforce on us to comply such as our job responsibilities, but we regularly excuse ourselves from our own self development.

Jim Rohn, one of the most respected success gurus, says, “Formal education will make you a living; self education will make you a fortune.”

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How to Keep Existing Members Motivated

“I’m getting new members, but how do I retain my core team to support the growth?”
 
This is a firsthand plight of a club President. If you were a club president or part of the core team, you know what this means.
 
What makes people stick to a club? There is no single answer for this. Each person has their own unique needs and wants when they join a club or a social circle. Following are some key ‘needs’ my core team and I thought of while I was a president of Parsippany Toastmasters club. As the current VP PR I think about it more.
 
* Need for affiliation – why do some of us prefer a ROLEX over an unknown brand or why do we prefer BENZ/BMW over another? Simple answer is some of us get satisfaction and self worth thru association with a brand. Most of us have this in ourselves to be associated with a brand. Therefore, make the brand stand out so tall and valuable so that the members want to be part of it.
 
* Need for achievement – some of us need to achieve and that’s our top priority. The inner drive pushes us until we active are satisfied. The club which gives more opportunity to its members will stand out and appear more attractive to these kinds of members. Remember, its not about you. Its about them.

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Reaching Out to Millennials

“Seasoned” members of Speechmeisters Toastmasters.

I recently dropped my eldest daughter off at college. She is a dedicated student academically, but I tried to convey to her the importance “soft skills” play in the game of life, namely communication. Uwanna Ikaiiddi from Study Breaks wrote, “I would argue that it is the single most-important skill in our modern world…A huge part of communication is not only doing it in the first place, it’s also knowing what situations call for which type of communication methods.”

 
Born in 1998, my daughter could be considered a Millennial. She pursued music and theater in school, so she is no stranger to speaking before an audience, and therefore more comfortable communicating than many of her generation. Studies cite the lack of leadership and communication skills in current college graduates. Useful skills that can be learned, practiced and nurtured in Toastmasters.
 
For one recent graduate, Shahil, a frustrating freeze at the podium during grade 9 prompted him to join Toastmasters as a college freshman. Even more daunting for Shahil was the fact that English is not his first language. Shahil grew up in Nepal and came to the US to attend University.

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Swimming in Toastmasters Alphabet Soup

As an active Toastmaster, it’s very easy to forget that not everyone knows what it means to have a CC (Competent Communicator) or be a DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster). We often do this as we’re explaining the Toastmasters program to potential members. When we use the intialisms, we often lose new members in jargon. New and potential members, this list of commonly used Toastmasters phrases is for you. Old pros, print this list out, attach it to a chain around your neck, and hand it to everyone who gets lost when you talk about Toastmasters. (Ok, maybe don’t do that.)

Speaking Awards

Competent Communicator (CC)- Earned after first 10 speeches.
Advanced Communicator Bronze (ACB)- Second speaking award.
Advanced Communicator Silver (ACS) – Third speaking award
Advanced Communicator Gold (ACG)- Fourth speaking award

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Toastmasters Fun in the Carpool Lane

Carpooling is smart when people are going to the same place at the same time from the same location, or in some cases coming from different locations. For attending Toastmasters activities, carpooling is not only convenient, but it can also be fun, economical and lead to great ideas.

Years ago, a few of my club members and I decided to attend Club Officer Training together. We live near the southern end of District 83. I volunteered to drive since one member didn’t like to drive at night and another did not like to drive to unfamiliar locations alone. She said, “It is all the way up in Old Bridge.” Personally, I thought that was a bit funny since I do not think of Old Bridge as a distant location from my house, but we carpooled and used the time to brainstorm ideas for our club and enjoyed the time together.

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