toastmasters – Page 7 – Toastmasters District 83

Meet the District Officers: Lynda Starr

Name: Lynda Starr, DTM

Position: Club Growth Director

Club(s): Dining to Speak

Other positions: I have held all club roles, except for treasurer. Currently Vice President for Membership for Dining to Speak. I am a former District 83 Public Relations Officer, newsletter co-editor, Division Governor, and Area Governor.

How long have you been in Toastmasters? 10 years

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

As club growth director, my goal is for District 83 to be President’s Distinguished. I believe in aiming for the stars and you may hit the moon. I plan to work closely with the other district officers and all members to grow District 83 and to retain existing members and clubs in order to share the benefits Toastmasters membership offers.

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Toastmasters Leadership Institute Training: District Officer Training (Part 2)

The afternoon session featured District officer training. Janice invited officers to “consider taking on High Performance Leadership (HPL) projects for your role for this year.” She reviewed the structure of the District, how it is comprised of nine Divisions and 36 Areas and that clubs belong to Areas. There are four Areas in each Division and that District 83 is part of Region 9 in Toastmasters International.

She discussed expectations and that we hope to become a Distinguished District with Distinguished Clubs, Areas, and Divisions. Focus on members.

She added that the group will be working on their Division Success Plans this afternoon and that incentives at end of year are awarded at the Hail and Farewell event.

Our Region (9) will be one of the last to begin the Pathways program. We will be notified six months before it will roll out for Ambassadors and Guides. Ambassadors will work with Guides who will work with Clubs. The District still needs Ambassadors and Guides.

Manny began discussing Club officer training, held twice a year. In the summer, officers should ask, “What can I learn from this experience this year?”

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Hail and Fairwell: Saying Goodbye and Hello

The District 83 Hail and Farewell takes place on Saturday, July 22, 2017 from 11am-2pm at Thatcher McGhee’s Irish Pub and Eatery in Fairfield, NJ, and is organized by Margarita Estrada. The event is sold out. Thank you to all who are making this event a success.

Attendees will have an opportunity to “roast” Immediate Past District Director Paula Markert, DTM, enjoy a delicious brunch, listen to great speeches, welcome our new District officers and say thank you to last year’s officers. Division directors will receive the awards and recognition items earned by individuals, clubs, areas and divisions last year so they can pass them along to the recipients.

I attended one of these events when I first served as a District Officer. I found that it was good opportunity to meet other people from around the District. Some of the attendees decided to “roast” the Past District Governor, reminiscing about hilarious events that not everyone may have known about. I learned that some of the participants decided to deliver a speech from their Advanced Communication manual Special Occasion Speeches. Others delivered heartfelt words toward a speech in the Competent Communication manual.

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Club Spotlight: Midtown Toastmasters

It’s easy to think of Toastmasters as one giant homogeneous organization. As any Toastmaster will tell you, that is far from the truth. Each club has a unique personality. Club Spotlight seeks to help current and future members find the right club(s) for their Toastmasters goals.

Club: Midtown Toastmasters (4722)

Charter Date: September 1, 1981

Location: Basking Ridge, NJ

Recent Awards: President’s Distinguished Club for 10 consecutive years.

History:

The club was created over 35 years ago at Verizon’s headquarters in NYC. The headquarters has since moved, but it kept its Midtown name.

Club members in their own words:

The Midtown Toastmasters is a fun-loving, motivated, and supportive group of individuals, who meet twice a month in Basking Ridge to work on communication and leadership skills. Members get to know one another on a deeper level by sharing personal stories, struggles, and victories.

“We welcome anyone to visit our club, and check out what the Toastmasters have to offer. It’s always exciting to have a new member join and see them grow right before our eyes.- Tezeta Roro

For more information, email Jennifer Burns at jennifer.burns@verizonwireless.com or just stop by and check out the next meeting.

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Got Goals?

As we start the new Toastmasters year, it’s a great time to “reset” your goals, especially if you’ve stalled in your advancement.

Before you think of what goals you want, first think of last year. What were your goals? How did you do in accomplishing them?

One of the best ways to attain your goals is to have clear, specific goals. Write them down. And look at your goals daily. When you think about something often, you are likely to work toward that.

I’d like to tell you how this worked for me last year.

After 30 years of owning a business, I sold it last year. As a dedicated Toastmasters member since 2012, I used my newfound spare time to make a plan and set some Toastmasters goals. In the past, serving as a club president meant putting newer members first and sometimes forgoing giving speeches.

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Meet the District Officers: Allison Lips

Name: Allison Lips

Position: Public Relations Manager

Club(s): Freehold Phrasers and Talk of Monmouth

Other positions: President of Freehold Phrasers and former Vice President of Public Relations for Freehold Phrasers

How long have you been in Toastmasters? 1½ years

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

I plan to continue the excellent job Su Brooks did managing the District 83 Facebook and Twitter pages. I also would like to expand District 83’s online presence. Currently, we have the blog and are looking for Toastmasters who would like to help with a podcast and a vlog.

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From Club Member to District Officer (Part 1)

Let me start by borrowing Steve Jobs 2005 Stanford University Commencement line where he says, “you cannot connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward”. With that said, if you had asked me three and a half ago, at the beginning of my Toastmasters journey, if I thought I was going to be serving as a District Officer, my answer surely would have been NO.

When I first join the Toastmasters, I had no idea of the organization’s scope and dimension. As a matter of fact, I was more focus on getting a promotion at my job than I was interested in becoming a good communicator and a leader. I couldn’t imagine what the road ahead had in store for me.

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Club Spotlight: Freehold Phrasers

Club: Freehold Phrasers (6522)

Charter Date: November 1, 1996

Recent Awards: For 2016-2017, Freehold Phrasers is a President’s Distinguished Club and received the Talk Up Toastmasters Award. In 2015-2016, Freehold Phrasers was a Select Distinguished Club.

Club members in their own words:

“I joined Freehold Phrasers to raise my confidence when speaking in public. The experience has been amazing and now I speak with ease. The Freehold club in particular has been a nurturing and supportive environment for me.”-Linda Fennessy

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Meet the District Officers: Janice Buffalow

Name: Janice L. Buffalow, DTM

Position: District 83 Director

Club(s): Somerville Toastmasters and Tower & Bridge Toastmasters

Other positions: I have held all Club Officer roles. I have been an Area Governor twice; Awards & Recognition Chair twice, District 83 Chief Judge, Club Growth Director, and Program Quality Director. I was named Toastmasters of the Year, 2013-2014.

How long have you been in Toastmasters? April, 2006; 11 years now.

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

The theme I have chosen for this year is “New Beginnings.” My plans for the district is to see our members stretch and continue to grow their leadership and communication skills by achieving at least one educational award this year. I plan to help our clubs maintain their membership with minimal loss, which at times is unavoidable, and bring in new members who will stay and grow to become better leaders and speakers.

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