Category: Toastmasters

Joyce’s Ice Breaker Speech – Insights of a New Toastmaster

At a recent Carpe Diem Toastmasters club meeting, I had the honor of hearing Joyce Quinn’s “Ice Breaker” speech entitled “My Career”.  It was interesting to learn about her youth and the decisions she made and the experiences she had that led her to a career as a Speech Pathologist.

Joyce is an active member of our club.  She is always willing to perform various and multiple meeting roles.  She is also very agreeable to fill these roles even “on the fly” right at the start of a meeting when last minute help is needed.  I recall that, from her earliest days with the club, she would even volunteer to be a Table Topics speaker.  However, it took Joyce a few months after joining to schedule her first speech, despite encouragement from club members. 

I was curious about her hesitancy and asked for some insight about what led her to Toastmasters and about the preparation efforts for and the presentation of her first speech, in the hope that she could enlighten others who have also newly joined a club and could be feeling some hesitancy about speaking. 

When considering joining Toastmasters, Joyce believed that the noncompetitive and encouraging environment would help her to improve her overall communication and presentation skills and help her to become more outgoing.  She felt that becoming more proficient in these skills would give her more confidence professionally.   When asked about her hesitancy to schedule the “Ice Breaker” speech, Joyce mentioned that she first wanted to become acclimated to the club members and the club environment.  Basically, she wanted to build up her courage.

Joyce outlined for me the preparation process she used for her speech.  She gave lots of thought to what she wanted to say and what people would want to hear.  She read her Competent Communicator manual, looked on the web for sample speeches, and even met with her mentor; who happens to be me.  When her thoughts were sorted about her intent, she wrote out her speech and practiced it a couple of times in the days beforehand.

I asked Joyce about the appropriateness of the evaluation she received.  She felt that her evaluator’s feedback was positive, constructive and that the specific insightful points mentioned were helpful.  She believes that the overall experience, preparation through presentation and evaluation, was positive and is looking forward to her next speech.

Joyce offered these recommendations to others who are thinking of presenting their “Ice Breaker” speech:

    • Think about your club’s warm reception and friendly environment to overcome any apprehension that you might have.
    • Keep your momentum going… as soon as you start making speeches always be planning your next one.
    • Don’t let your fears stop you!!!

What great advice for all of us!

Why I am Thankful for Toastmasters?

If you love public speaking and have a commitment to become a talented speaker; I can assure you that Toastmasters can be a great investment in yourself.  Well, I would like to elucidate my predilection by three important aspects of this organization: positiveness, leadership and opportunity. 

Toastmasters is an organization where people come to learn and to share inspiring stories.  Members are encouraged to always be positive toward every member of the club.  Ever since I became a member of the Sunset Toastmasters at Pearl River, NY and every time I attend a meeting there; I always feel inspired to continue following a positive path.

Another aspect of Toastmasters is leadership.  In a world where leaders are in charge of the direction of society, it is imperative that young leaders associate with people who can help them becoming great leaders.  Toastmasters is an organization that can help create effective leaders with integrity by encouraging them to be responsible and to be positive.

Last, there are many opportunities to increase our knowledge and skills. We have the advantage to master our craft by giving speeches and listening to free speeches to become talented speakers and effective leaders.

Joel Osteen once said “You need to associate with people who inspire you, people that challenge you to raise higher, people that make you better. Don’t waste your valuable time with people that are not adding to your growth.  Your destiny is too important.”

Toastmasters offers that opportunity to be around people that will support and help you improve in all aspects of your life.  Thus, I am very thankful to be a member of Toastmasters.

Giving and Receiving Feedback

Introduction

When I joined Toastmasters I was nervous while speaking, uncomfortable receiving evaluations, and had qualms about giving evaluations. This blog might be helpful if you share these feelings. Feedback is important. Leaders receive and give quality feedback; high-performance teams have tight feedback loops. These skills are necessary for personal and team growth.

Receiving Feedback

People don’t join Toastmasters because they are good speakers; they join to become the best speakers they can be. Toastmasters need both encouragement and constructive criticism. Encouragement is important to help continue. Receiving areas for improvement is necessary for growth. Welcome criticism even though it can be threatening.

Some tips for benefiting from feedback:
  • Don’t be defensive. Control your emotions.
  • Give thanks and express gratitude for the effort they put in to construct the feedback. It would have been easy for them to say that everything was fine. Thanking them helps control your emotions.
  • Understand what they said and why they said it.
  • Ask questions with the goal to understand, not to reach agreement.
  • Remember they are giving opinions with the goal to help, so there is no need to explain yourself.
  • Take time to consider what to do with the feedback.
  • Share the feedback with one or two people you trust. Discuss your implementation ideas with them.
  • Try at least one idea. Log the others for future consideration.

Better to Give Than Receive

Toastmasters who have completed six speeches have the opportunity to pay forward the help they received. Feedback is precious, so don’t squander the opportunity. Toastmasters seldom give more than one speech per month.

Make the most of this opportunity:
  • Remember the goal of giving feedback is to help others.
  • Remember how you feel when receiving feedback.
  • Read Toastmaster’s Effective Evaluation Manual.
  • Have your mentor gave tips before the evaluation and suggestions for improvement after.
  • Consider the speaker –
    • A new speaker needs encouragement.
    • Experienced speakers need areas for improvement. They can benefit by getting another perspective.

Outside of Toastmasters

Practice receiving feedback. Make sure you are ready to hear it before you ask. I find that I am more sensitive receiving criticism from family members and close friends than from fellow Toastmasters. Don’t give feedback unless invited or unless you are in a position to do so (parent, teacher or manager).

We are interested in your feedback experiences. Please share them in the comments section.

 

DCP: A Roadmap to Success

In the repertoire of Toastmasters abbreviations, DCP short for Distinguished Club Program is a critical piece of the club success plan. Toastmasters defines the DCP as “an annual program, running from July 1 through June 30. The program consists of 10 goals your club should strive to achieve during this time.” The DCP provides a standard of excellence for the club. Just as joining fitness center is not enough to achieve physical goals, joining Toastmasters is not enough to achieve success as a speaker or leader—one has to work the program and the DCP provides the framework to track how well the club is doing in helping its members to succeed. The DCP focuses primarily on education and membership — two fundamentals of a successful club.

At the beginning of the Toastmasters year, the new club officers should meet and determine how they will work to achieve the DCP goals. While certain goals are generally delegated to certain officers, club officers are a team and need to work together to achieve success. The remaining club members also have an obligation to work through manuals and projects, pay dues on time, and help to recruit new members. The goals are identified below along with the Club Officer responsible for that goal.

Goals 1 and 2: Two Competent Communicator (CC) awards and two more CCs. (VP-Education)

Goals 3 and 4: One Advanced Communicator (AC) and one more AC. (Having members who are working on advanced manuals demonstrates that a club is retaining dedicated members.) (VP-Education)

Goals 5 and 6: One Competent Leader (CL), Advanced Leader Bronze (ALB), Advanced Leader Silver (ALS) or Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) award, and one more CL, ALB, ALS or DTM. (VP-Education)

Goals 7 and 8: Add four new members to the club and four more new members. (With the ongoing churn of members due to new jobs, new commitments, it is important to grow with new members.) (VP-Membership)

Goal 9: Four club officers participate in both the summer and winter annual club officer training. (Trained club officers is essential to member success. According the Toastmaster policy, credit is not given for non-officers attending in place of elected officers, and credit is given only for one person per office.) (All officers)

Goal 10: Timely submission of an officer list and membership dues. (Secretary/Treasurer)

When a club participates in the Distinguished Club Program and achieves Distinguished recognition, everyone benefits from both new skills and new ideas, not to mention new friends.

On July 1, Toastmasters International calculates the number of goals clubs achieved in the previous year and recognizes them as a Distinguished Club, Select Distinguished Club, or President’s Distinguished Club as follows:

  • Achieve five of 10 goals to be a Distinguished Club
  • Achieve seven of 10 goals to be a Select Distinguished Club
  • Achieve nine of 10 goals to be a President’s Distinguished Club

District 83 is on its way to success in 2017-2018. Congrats to Bayer, Hunterdon Speak Easy, State Street, Opportunity Seeking, Freehold Phrasers, Impact 21, AT&T Middletown, Westfield, Fairleigh Early Birds for completing 5 DCP goals thus far.

There is still plenty of time before June 30, 2018 for members to complete “one level up” of an education-leadership designation, to have open houses, membership campaigns and for officers to attend training.

Let’s do all we can to make our clubs distinguished.

Club Spotlight: Washington Park Toastmasters

 

“Our club is unique because our people are unique. Let me explain this in more detail. Most often you find clubs where the agenda is planned, people are in place, but at times things happen where there has to be some adjustments. Our members take the lead and aren’t afraid to adjust at the very last minute. We are strong, vibrant and welcoming to all who visit. We are a people that believe in morals, values and bringing out the very best of others. Creating that light airy, fun, inviting culture is what we strive to enhance even the club more. This wouldn’t happen unless we have those unique people who are crucial to the weaving of this club. We are better together!” – My’chal Wilkins

“My experience my about the club is interesting and fascinating because of the following:

  1. I am always welcomed regardless of how much time I take off from club activities.  Sometimes, I receive emails from club members inquiring if I am doing fine.
  2. My personal coach is always available to guide me with Toastmaster topics and materials. 
  3. I am inspired by some individuals who have perfected their communication skills but still keep coming to the club.
  4. I am also amazed by the generosity of Audible to allow us to share the food intended for their staff.” – Seku Sannor

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Are You Suffering from Butterfly Effect?

You have been preparing for your speech for days. You rehearsed it many times over your head and you have been waiting for this moment, yet when the Toastmaster announces your name, all of sudden you feel gazillion butterflies swarming in your stomach making you very uncomfortable. You look around nervously. Out of nowhere, you have sweaty palms, your hands are shaking, your heart beats faster than normal, your mouth feels dry, and no word comes out of your mouth when you try to speak. All you want is to run away.

Does this sound familiar to you? I hope not.

However, if you are one of those people who gets nervous before presenting a speech and are suffering from the “butterfly effect,” there are things you can do to calm yourself before you begin to speak. Over time, I have gathered steps from many sources to help calm me when presenting a speech. I am going to share them with you.

Keep in mind sometimes nervous energy can be a good thing because it can be converted into an enthusiastic speech. Therefore, having a little bit of the butterfly effect helps you be more prepared and focused. On the other hand, if the butterfly effect stands in a way of your performance, you can try the steps to calm yourself before speaking.

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Mentoring and It’s Benefits

Many new member feel the need for assistance in navigating how the process works and would like help with preparing for their first speech. By partnering an existing member with a newer member to provide support, the mentoring program addresses this need.

At Midtown Toastmasters, a specially curated position of VP Mentorship was created. The VP developed a club Mentoring Program to provide insight and support to all members.  The program partners new and existing members with a veteran member, who helps with preparation of the new member’s first speech or meeting role, navigation of Toastmasters education and leadership opportunities, input on assignments, and anything else the new member may need help with.

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How To Choose A Toastmasters Club

Set Your Goal

Toastmasters can benefit you in many ways. It helps if you know what you want to achieve, and why.

Try to refine your goal down to one sentence, including why you want to achieve it. For example:

“I want to improve my presentation skills so I can communicate efficiently and effectively with my clients and co-workers during meetings.”

Once you know your goal you’ll need to find people and opportunities that will help you.

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Get Ready for the Holly Jolly Holiday Speech!

Don’t give a speech that makes Santa fall asleep!

Holidays are right around the corner. Holiday parties, corporate gatherings, and family events provide an opportunity for you to meet new people and reconnect with old acquaintances. These events are opportunities to put your best foot forward by presenting your ideas and making an impact on your audience.

We are all not born with the gift of confident public speaking but it is an art which we can master. Here are a few tricks to nudge you in the right direction toward public speaking.

1. Join a Toastmasters Club today. Toastmasters provides an informal platform to practice your speech and improve speech delivery, intonation, and presentation styles. This will be helpful in adopting a positive and confident approach to the speech and overcome public speaking anxieties.

2. Overcome stage fright and anxiety by visualizing your speech and the audience. Focus on a friendly face in the audience and draw confidence from positive acknowledgement in the audience. Before delivering your speech, try relaxing breathing exercises, which can be done anywhere, anytime you feel stressed.

Continue reading “Get Ready for the Holly Jolly Holiday Speech!”