Tag: toastmasters

The Pillars of Toastmasters Wisdom

To become a Toastmaster is to open the door to the world.

Consider these disparate facts:

Have you ever heard of the Five Pillars of Islam?

This refers to the five duties required of every Muslim. They are Shahādah, the Muslim profession of faith, Salāt, ritual prayer five times each day, Zakāt, the alms levied for the poor, Sawm, fasting during the month of Ramadan (and no, you aren’t expected to eat nothing for a month), and Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca you should to try to complete at least once in your lifetime.

Have you heard of the Bible’s “Seven Pillars of Wisdom?” In the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament’s, Book of Proverbs, Chapter 9, Verse 1, we read, “Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars.” This refers to “Wisdom’s Feast,” the benefits we reap by sowing the seeds of kindness, generosity, humility, sincerity, and wisdom.

In Wadi Rum, Jordan, there is a beautiful mountain called “The Seven Pillars.” It looks like this:

Have you ever heard of the legendary Lawrence of Arabia?

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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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Meet the Area Directors: Paul Ireifej

Name: Paul Ireifej

Position: Area 62 Director

Club(s): AT&T Middletown Toastmasters

What are your plans for the district/area/division?

I have three priorities for Area 62. First, I want to improve club climate in all of my clubs. Club climate determines if guests become members and if members are retained and developed. Club climate has to do with the learning environment provided by your club and member interactions. Second, I want to promote participation in club contests. Contests are a great way to sharpen your speaking abilities and delivered a practiced, polished speech that you don’t normally prepare when working through the standard manuals. Also it exposes you to delivering a speech in front of new audience members (if you get to area, division and district levels). Third, I want to focus on goal setting and planning to achieve Distinguished club status. If you plan ahead and set yourself up for success, your club can be distinguished. 

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Reasons to Join Talk of Monmouth

Every Toastmasters club is unique. For community clubs, anyone can join. Whereas, corporate clubs typically require a member to work for the company. Advanced clubs up their game by only allowing members, who have completed 10 speeches. (Some clubs like Northern Stars allow members to join after their 6th speech.)

At Talk of Monmouth, we have many experienced members, who can mentor you on achieving your leadership goals. Currently, Talk of Monmouth has one District officers, three Division Directors, one Area Director, and several past District, Division, and Area officers.

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Toastmasters Make Friends of All Ages

Goals bond people.

Writing in the fourth century B.C. Greek philosopher Aristotle took up the subject of friendship in what is arguably his most famous work, the

Nicomachean Ehtics. Aristotle, a thinker sometimes cited as the master of them that know, liked to identify categories for things in life. He was an empirical, analytical genius, and polymath who contributed to the development of the process we know as the scientific method and is credited with establishing our classification system for the members of the Animal Kingdom; e.g., species, genus, phylum, etc. The philosopher brought this same powerful thoughtfulness to his examination of human relationships. To paraphrase one of Aristotle’s notes (or perhaps one of his student’s), the philosopher described the highest level of friendship as the relationship between individuals who share an appreciations for beautiful, worthy things.

Club Spotlight: Germinators

Club: Germinators (00927494)

Charter Date: June 27, 2006

Recent Awards: President’s Distinguished – Perfect 10 (DCP Points), Distinguished Toastmasters, 3 Triple Crowns, and more!

Club members in their own words:

“Being a part of the Germinators has opened my eyes to how a passionate group of people can work together to lift each other up and outperform as a team. My favorite part of being in the club is when an international colleague says, ‘Hey, aren’t you one of those Toastmasters?’ It brings me so much joy to get e-mails from all over the global organization asking what we do and how they can be a part of this thriving community.” – Danielle Mazza, ACB, ALB

“Before I joined the Germinators, I thought I was a decent public speaker. I quickly realized that Toastmasters is a lot more than a public speaking club. Germinators has taught me so much about leadership through my roles as VPE and now President of the club. I even had the opportunity to compete in a speech contest at division level last fall” – Sabrina Behnke, CC, ALB

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Mentoring Matters

One of the characteristics of a successful club is that the club retains many of the members who join. A dynamic mentoring program for club members is one of the keys to success.

The Vice President Education (VPE) is responsible for ensuring that club members make progress toward their speaking and leadership goals. A club mentor coordinator can partner with the VPE by serving on the education committee and match up mentors with mentees.

When a new member joins the club, a mentor should be assigned right away. Regular communication between the parties helps get everyone off to a good start and continues the momentum. The mentor will find out the particular goals of the mentee and discuss strategies to achieve them.

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Meet the Area Directors: Kevin Lombardi

Name: Kevin Lombardi

Position: Area 44 Director

Club(s): Speakers of the House

Other positions: Immediate Past President of Speakers of the House

How long have you been in Toastmasters? Since July 2015

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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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