Category: Special Events

Meet Fall Recognition Event Keynote Speaker, Stefano McGhee

This Saturday District 83 will be recognizing all members that earned an educational or leadership award from July- September 2019. In addition to awarding members and clubs that achieved these incredible accomplishments we will have Stefano McGhee, Regional 9 International Director as our Keynote Speaker.

Stefano McGhee has been a member of Toastmasters since 2005.  In 2005, Stefano’s wife insisted that he attend a membership night at her local club, Network Voice Toastmasters.  While he would have preferred to stay at home, he finally gave in to his wife and attended the meeting and has been a member of Toastmasters ever since.  In the Fall of 2011, he earned the Distinguished Toastmaster award along with his wife.  The Distinguished Toastmaster Award is the highest award in Toastmasters, awarded for successful completion of many leadership and speaking projects. Stefano is a two-time District Governor/Director of District 31 Toastmasters and is one of only two people in the District to hold the role twice.  Stefano was also elected to serve on the organization’s Board of Directors in 2019 and is developing strategy for the organization’s future. Stefano works in Information Technology and also recently retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Rhode Island Air National Guard.

Toastmasters has helped him achieve many of the great things he enjoys in his professional and military careers.  He enjoys, motorcycling, boating and flying every day he can.

I got the chance to speak with Stefano to learn a little more about him and his experience with Toastmasters:

JB: How did you hear about Toastmasters? 

SM: My wife had been a member for five years and her club was having guest nights every few months and she repeatedly insisted that I attend.

 

JB: Why did you end up joining the club?

SM: I enjoyed the people, the environment, helping others and refining my own skills.

 

JB: What has been the greatest takeaway being a Toastmasters member?

SM: The organization is so much more than giving speeches in your club. You gain an expanded network of acquaintances around the world. Toastmasters taught me that helping others make me feel good about what I do.

 

JB: If you could go back to your icebreaker speech and give yourself one piece of advice what would it be?

SM: Don’t change a thing 🙂

 

JB: How has your experience been as Regional 9 International Director?

SM: There is a lot to get acquainted with in how the Board and World Headquarters interoperate. It also has provided me with a new opportunity to help our membership understand the foundations of our organization. It also is a great role where I have the opportunity to inspire them to help all of our members achieve what they came for in the organization.

District 83’s Speakers Bureau Under Development

Are you looking for an opportunity to deliver longer speeches in front of a new audience? Do you want to wiggle your toes in the sea of Professional Speaking without dipping your entire foot? We have a solution for you – the District 83 Speakers Bureau!

The purpose of the District 83 Speakers Bureau is to promote, grow, and market the skills and services of club members within our district. Our mission is to connect speakers with engagements that add value to the communities we serve. Membership to a club within District 83 is required. We value integrity, excellence, accountability, customer service, customer satisfaction, community and member service. Can you fulfill these values? We need you!

Membership to the speakers bureau is by audition and there is a $25 application fee. The audition speech is 18-20 minutes long on any subject that the candidate wishes to present. We expect to have our first run of auditions after the Spring Conference. Candidates will be notified within 3 days of their status in the bureau.

Before we can go public, we need to engage speakers to advertise! Speaking engagements booked through the bureau are complimentary; however, any engagements you book through your contacts with others are not under the Bureau’s control.

The Member Handbook and application are available. We have a date and location scheduled for the auditions in July. Please send a request for all information to the Speakers Bureau mailbox.

Remember, you must be a member of a club in District 83 in order to receive an application. Hurry before it is too late!

If you have any additional questions, please send them to the Speakers Bureau mailbox.

Tinton Falls Table Topics Dinner

“You’re up.”
 
The experience of hearing those two words after your first name marks a favorite occasion at meetings for Toastmasters – the opportunity to participate in a round of Table Topics.
 
On Thursday, October 5th Talk of Monmouth Advanced Toastmasters Club is hosting a Table Topics dinner meeting at MJ’s Pizza Bar and Grill in Tinton Falls, NJ from 6 to 8 PM. Calling all Toastmasters; you are invited!
 
As any Toastmaster will report, the multicolored-butterflies of nerves and enthusiasm that one feels fluttering in his / her stomach in anticipation of an impromptu speech gives Table Topics an air of excitement. Members frequently cite Table Topics as a favorite aspect of meetings. The problem is, with typical meeting Table Topics limited to five to ten speakers, not everyone is guaranteed to participate on any given night. Talk of Monmouth’s Table Topics dinners are different. If you attend, the likelihood that you will speak is very high! The two hour meeting will feature no prepared speeches; the time will be given exclusively to Table Topics. On similar occasions in the past all attendees have participated as speakers and we plan to repeat that trend this time around. We hope you will join in the Toastmasters fun and fellowship of this unique meeting!
 
Talk of Monmouth Advanced Toastmasters Club meets at 7:30 PM on the second Thursday of each month in the courtroom of the Tinton Falls Municipal Center.