Name: George Bertele, CC ALB
Position: 2017-2018 Area 41 Director
Club(s): State Street Princeton Toastmasters
Other positions: 2015-2016 VP Membership, 2016-2017 President and, 2017-2018 VP Membership – all with State Street Princeton Toastmasters
How long have you been in Toastmasters? Since June, 2014 when our club was chartered
What are your plans for the district/area/division?
For Area 41, I look forward to getting to know the clubs more (I have previously been a visitor to a couple of them). Then, I want to see how the motivation level is for each club, and find out how I can help and what advice I can share. And of course, I am hoping to have a Distinguished Area this year.
Why did you join Toastmasters?
I always knew I was “OK” at doing presentations at work, but also realized there was definitely room for improvement. Also, I thought learning about leadership would help longer term with my career, as I had previously supervised a few individuals in my team, and again did “OK”, but also realized, as with my speaking, I could always improve. Plus, the founder of our club, Laura Lee, really bugged me a lot about joining.
What advice do you have for new members?
Dive right in! The Toastmasters universe is very rich and has lots to explore once you start to uncover all the offerings within. And ask questions about what those things are that are available to you. Ask your mentor, ask your club VPE and other club officers, ask them what they’ve done, what areas of Toastmasters they have explored during their journey so far. Some of it will be advanced work, like doing a High Performance Leadership Project, or giving presentations from the Successful Club and other advanced education series. But, there are also things like attending District Conferences, or participating in Speech Contests that people at almost any level can take part in. There’s something for everyone!
Also, in my experience, if you feel enthusiastic about contributing to your club beyond just completing your speeches and taking meeting roles, ask how you can contribute or perhaps even come up with your own idea and put it out there. For example, two of our more recent members, Vishal Nagpal and Digvijay Parmar, inquired about the possibility of videotaping speeches for both the members of the club and speech givers themselves to review and learn from. That program is now in place where members have the option of being recorded, and we are receiving great feedback about it.
So jump in, figure out what Toastmasters makes available to you and what you can contribute as well, and take advantage of all Toastmasters has to offer. You won’t regret it!