Tag: District 83 Toastmasters

Introducing Shelby L. Holliman, D83 blogger as of December 1, 2018

Toastmaster Shelby L. Holliman, member of Talk of Monmouth, (she currently serves as their VP of Membership) and Shore Speakers Toastmasters, honors District 83 by answering the call to serve as District 83 Toastmasters blogger effective Friday, December 1, 2018.  Shelby has earned her Competent Communicator and Competent Leader awards. 

Margarita Estrada, D83 Public Relations Manager, conducted an interview with Shelby.  Also present at that interview were:  Manny Reyes, DTM, District Director, Lynda Starr, DTM, Program Quality Director, and Begonia Reyes, Division I Director.

Shelby, when did you become a Toastmaster?

I became a Toastmaster on July 1, 2016.

What is your profession?  Why did you become a Toastmaster?

I am a lecturer on Public Speaking at Rutgers University.  I felt that it was important to strengthen my craft as a public speaker so that I could be the best leader, advisor, and coach on the subject matter.  My professional development is very important to me.  By constantly working and developing my craft, I can be a living example to my students.

What is your new goal?

I am always striving to improve.  This year, my goal is to challenge myself by honing my skills on the Pathways Learning experience.

What are your future goals?

My future goals are 1) to mentor a club and 2) to become part of the prison ministry at Rahway Prison, a project spearheaded by George Phillips, member of Princeton Toastmasters.

Shelby, we are looking forward to your contributions to our blog.  One last question.  What is your favorite quote?

Life is forward and understood backwards, by Soren Kierkegaard

About Toastmasters District 83:

District 83 includes 155 clubs, with close to 4,000 members, in Metropolitan New Jersey, Staten Island, and Rockland County, New York. For more information, please visit the District 83 website, http://www.tm83.org.

About Toastmasters International:

Toastmasters International is a nonprofit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of clubs. Founded in October 1924, the organization currently has more than 300,000 members in 16,500 clubs in 141countries. Each week, Toastmasters helps more than a quarter million people of every ethnicity, education and profession build their competence in communication so they can gain the confidence to lead others. For information about local Toastmasters clubs, please visit http://www.toastmasters.org.

For more information about Talk of Monmouth Toastmasters, visit:  https://4843227.toastmastersclubs.org/

For more information about Shore Speakers Toastmasters, visit: https://shorespeakers.toastmastersclubs.org/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

Continue reading “Module “Realizing Your Purpose” (Part 2)”

Reasons to Attend the Fall Conference

Why did you join Toastmasters?

If you became part of Toastmasters to expand and enhance your career opportunities, the Fall Conference may be a first-class, high-return investment of your time.

At our Fall Conference, you will see and hear some of the very best speakers in our District, and indeed, some of the very best speakers in our world-wide Toastmasters family. You will be able to spend one-on-one time with them, to learn how they put together an award-winning talk and how they developed the skills that have brought them to the level of communication excellence.

Continue reading “Reasons to Attend the Fall Conference”