Toastmasters - The Competent Leader Manual

Don't forget to check out the new club forming in Falcon, CO

How Do You Sound?

I saw this from a facebook post by Jim Key #Toastmasters
Well worth the 3 minutes. He tells us very well in half the time the value of speaking well.

"bandwagon of my own uncertainty"
"Most aggressively inarticulate generation"
And the final quote: Grammarians & Ah-Counters, learn you value helping turn the tide!

3 Testimonial Videos from UCCS Club Members

Teresita

Charlie

Sharon

Many thanks to the 3 for giving us a quick testimonial to help us gain more interest in the new Falcon club we are working on in addition to helping their own UCCS Toastmasters club!

Falcon, CO Community Toastmasters Club, Next Info Session 1/19/2014 6:00pm

The next planned information session / Toastmasters Meeting is planned for

Sunday January 19th, 2014 6:00pm at the Firehouse off Old Meridian across from the library, 1 light South of Woodmen on Highway 24

This will be a chance for the community to find out what Toastmasters can do for them!

Interview skills, connections and relationships, professional development, leadership skills, confidence, planning and organization, and a variety of public speaking skills, starting from the very easy! Set your own pace! Visit the meeting to find out more about how much you can grow!

For what are you searching? Let us help you find it through Toastmasters!

Visit http://falcontm.coclubspeak.org for the most current information

Falcon Colorado New Community Toastmasters Club

Update: postponed until 1/19/2014 5:30pm

I am working with Michelle Mras and Niki Moore on putting together a new Falcon Colorado Community Toastmasters Club.

We are planning our next introduction session for the evening of Sun December 15th

Check out our website for Falcon Toastmasters to keep up-to-date on times, locations and progress!

New Toastmasters Education Program

I have learned the current education system well enough to be doing a breakout presentation on my view of the DTM education process.

I am hopeful that the new Education process will be a nice update and not obsolete too much of the knowledge I've accumulated and concentrated.

I will be able to not only learn the new system, but will be involved in officially helping present the new system to members and clubs.

I have no real details about the new system other than some vague hints I've picked up. However, I am very excited to be involved.

Here is some of the text of what I received in my email:

Dear Toastmaster Keith Horowitz,

Congratulations—you have been selected as an Ambassador! This is a unique and exciting opportunity to play a significant role in making the Revitalized Education Program a success.

The Revitalized Education Program will have a profound impact on countless Toastmasters in the future. Thank you in advance for your participation in this exciting project!

Wyoming Toastmasters Contest

This past weekend, on Saturday, I drove up to Cheyenne, WY to watch the D26 Northern Contest.

Classically, the Northern Division contest is held in Casper, WY. Luckily for me, the decided to move it to Cheyenne this time, as that made it doable as a [LONG] day trip.

This is the 5th of the 6 Division contests that I attended this cycle. My Southern Division Contest being the first. At each of the other 4 contests, I wound up being honored to help by being asked to fill a role. In Cheyenne, I was one of the timers. This is a great way to take part in the contests!

The test speaker spoke on a theme that was very familiar! His speech about spices had a lot of similar thoughts to the topic I picked 2 weeks ago for my home club when I was Toastmaster. He did not talk about Pumpkin Spice, but did talk about Salt & Pepper and how the spice trade was an important part of our history.

There were 3 Evaluators and 5 Tall Tales Contestants listed on the ballot. Unluckily, only 2 for each category made it to the contest. However, it was a strong showing, and an enjoyable contest. Great job by all those involved to make an energetic and honorable contest.

I am looking forward to a week-and-a-half from now, at the District Conference, to see the finals of these 2 contest. I have seen all the contestants except one division compete, so I can tell you first hand that this will be an exciting competition. Those competing will have to work hard to take the top places at the District Conference.

It is worth it to go up to see the finals! Even if you can only make it to the final contest Saturday night. See you there!

District Conference - Contest, Education, World Class

Time is running out for Early-bird registration rates!!
Register by this Saturday, October 26, to get the best rate for the conference!

• Evaluation Contest - Do you want to see the top 6 Evaluators of over 100 contestants compete for #1?
• Tall Tales Contest - Do you want to see the top 6 Tall Tales in our region, that have come through 3 previous levels of elimination compete for best in our District?
• World Champ Keynote and more! Do you want to see a World Champion of Public Speaking share some of his secrets and successes - content that would easily cost you two to ten times as much stand alone!
• Education Sessions - Do you want to attend 1 of 6 education sessions, to learn more about Toastmasters in a forum that is hard to find? It could make you a better officer or member.
• Network - Do you want to network and connect with Toastmasters from all over our District and more?
• Toastmasters-plus Do you want to show your support and find out more about opportunities to take Toastmasters to another level?

This is your chance!
All this, and more, is wrapped up into a whirlwind weekend of activity! Most of the key activities are happening on Saturday - opening with the Evaluation Contest and closing with the Tall Tales Contest - with a ton of content in the middle - a Toastmasters sandwich of fun, information and excitement!

You can easily day-trip up for the core content, or chose some al-la-cart. You can also stay on-site, and have more fun, and experience the toppings that happen the night before, and you can even find out if there is something extra on Sunday morning - a secret bonus that we can't tell you about ahead of time!


http://d26toastmasters.org/WP/news-events/district-conference/
https://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1298764

Join me there! I'm co-chair of room hosts, and will be involved in presenting an education session that you don't want to miss!

Division Contests

2 weeks ago, I not only attended, but chaired the Southern Division Contest.
While I chaired the event, it would not have gone off without some amazing help! Thank-you to all those who helped, especially those I can not name!
A big thanks to 4 key roles:
1) Jennifer Costello, for a professional and entertaining job as Toastmaster
2) Mike Pierson, for his calm and personality as Chief Judge
3) Our Test Speaker - Terry Smith
4) Mary Hooper for Agendas, labels and support
I really appreciate those who were willing and able to change roles as needed to make everything work so well!

I was really very rewarding to see how a number of contestants tuned their performance between the area contests and the division contest. It is tough to see only 1 from each contest picked to go on to the District Level.

Last weekend, I was up in the Lakewood area in the morning, in my role as Secretary of Geocaching Colorado, helping out with a Girl Scout day at Dinosaur Ridge. The fed perfectly into going to the Eastern Division Contest just a few minutes away. I had a feeling it would be good if I could be there. It was very rewarding to be able to be there to see how other contestants approached the 2 contests.

This past weekend, I was able to attend 2 more Division Contests! It was not that far to go to see 2 more division contests: Denver and Metro Division were holding their contests the same day, and the same location! What a great way to have some high energy and synergy, while saving transportation costs!

It is a shame that the more distant Divisions, like Southern, can not take part at this level. There is only one solution: our Southern Division will just have to grow so big, that we will have to split into 2 divisions, and then we can have 2 Division Contests on the same day!

TOPCLASS Toastmasters Open House - Tuesday 10/22/2013 6:00pm

Come join me and the other members and guests at TOPCLASS Haunted Open House!
http://topclass.toastmastersclubs.org/

Toastmasters Open House - 10/23/2013 12:05pm

Entspirational Speakers Open House

Wednesday, October 23^rd

12:05 – 1:00

Breckenridge Room of Ent Federal Credit Union located at 7350 Campus Dr

Guest Speaker: Darryle Brown

A light lunch will be provided.

For more information, please see their website: Entspirational Speakers

How to Practice Ah Counter & Grammarian

Tonight I filled the grammarian role. This is the first time I felt like I did a really complete job as a Toastmasters grammarian.

I've done a pretty good job with word of the day in the past. I've even caught a few grammatical errors and once or twice was able to note a good use of a phrase. Most of the clubs I've visited do not worry that much about looking deeply at grammatical content.

Tonight I really paid attention to everyone who went up to speak. I listened for any odd usage or good usage.

In the end, I had notes for just about everyone who spoke. I noticed some restarts, and some fillers that might have been counted by the Ah Counter as well. However, what I really looked for was any odd use of language. In the past, it was hard for me to catch the odd thing like a missing 'an' or plural not matching in a sentence, or a repeated idea that took away from a sentence. Being a grammarian comes much more naturally with the written word. The spoken word takes a lot more care.

Tonight I was able to take good notes, and I was able to give many very specific examples of things that others can improve upon, and things that were done well. I couldn't always find a good thing to bring up for each person, but I did make sure to look harder at main speakers. There were definitely a few places that I thought the use of grammar, with a turn of phrase, wording or format jumped at as more powerful, and I was glad I was able to share that.

Talking through the process, I realized it can be very hard to pay attention to the grammar and details of a speech while also paying attention to what is going on in the speech. You get better through practice. Though, once a week at a Toastmasters meeting, with only occasionally taking on the grammarian or Ah Counter role, it can take a long time to get better.

How can you learn to listen for details and get better at it much faster?

Watch your local news reporters.

Their job is to deliver the content with very large amounts of drama and intrigue. They often do this at the cost of sounding very professional. In fact, you may even find it hard to listen to these local newscasters after being a Toastmaster.

However, this is a very good place to learn to tune out the drama and listen for the details.

Next time you have some free time, listen to the local newscasters with the ear of a Toastmaster. Listen for crutch-words and grammatical errors. This way you can be as hard on the speaker as you want, without worrying about someone getting upset or think about impact of not getting a good report on the grammar and word usage. This is an extra-safe way to get your practice in for these roles.

Good luck, Powerful Talking, and keep your Witz About you!

Scheduling Challenges

From what I saw, the biggest topic that came up at the last-chance TLI in Colorado Springs was the issue of scheduling challenges.

This include both getting members scheduled, and dealing with last minute scheduling changes.

There were a number of suggestions, but there was no one single solution.

For scheduling, the key thoughts are:
Find out what the member goals are, and how they align with the DCP and CL manual. Two possible ways to get this done is in a group meeting, with a member recording the goals; or with the the VP/Ed or other organizer meeting or querying members 1 at a time.
One of the things that can help is to know history and occurrences that a member had filled a role. This can be done as easy as having a spreadsheet.
Also for the VP/Ed, knowing exactly where people are in their CL can be a major value related to scheduling.

For last-minute dropped role, some thoughts:
Some clubs make the scheduled Toastmaster responsible for making sure roles are filled before the meeting, especially if they are responsible for the agenda.
Some clubs put the onus on the member who dropped, making them contact members without roles, who are supposed to be at the meeting, until they find someone to replace them.
Some even clubs call out, or even have a shame method for a member who drops at the last minute - though this doesn't seem to me to be the best option for a positive-directed Toastmasters club.
Some just allow members to let the whole group know that they are dropping the role and that anyone can pick it up. This can lead to meetings that are seriously shorthanded.
It may be possible to fill in roles using backup speakers, and perhaps requiring officers to be responsible for covering gaps.

In general, I think the backup speaker is a good idea, though I have yet to see a really good implementation.
Another valuable filler is making sure somebody, most likely a club officer, can always present a Successful Club Series presentation. The advantage with these is that they usually take very little preparation - and they can help improve club IQ.

Having a good number of members can be another way to make sure there are always plenty of speakers, without members feeling like they are being scheduled too much, or for a club to have a member who is always the one to step up to be a replacement speaker (even if they are very happy to do so, it may make members feel like they are not able to keep up).

Another choice is to fall back to a table topics only meeting.
While I think it is possible to have a table topics only meeting - I think it should be planned out, be something special, and add extra value such as winners getting certificates and public recognition.
I feel falling back to a table-topics only meeting is doing a disservice to the club and Toastmasters in general if there are any other options.
It is an okay method if you have only a few members due to a holiday week, but not every week.

In fact, I've observed that clubs that fall back to table topics only are often in a downward spiral of reducing member involvement. Don't let this happen to your club - no matter what, try to get at least one speech or something different and special if can't have at least one speaker. Make sure your officers can present a speech or a SCS (club series) speech.

What are your thoughts on scheduling?

Happy Speaking! Keep your Witz About you!

Reminder - Area S1 & S2 Contest Wednesday 9/11

Remember, the D26 Toastmasters Area S1 & S2 combined contest is this Wednesday evening!

5:30pm

S1 & S2 Evaluation and Tall Tales Contests
Wed, September 11, 5:30pm – 8:30pm
Fire Station #19, 2490 Research Parkway, Located off Chapel Hills Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80921

Contestants/Judges Briefings: 5:30 PM
Contests begin:                      6:00 PM
Contact:  S1 Area Governor Jennifer Costello, S1AG1314 (a-t) D26Leaders.org

If you are from S3-4-5 and can be a judge at this contest, we need you!

Does Being a Bingo Caller Count Towards a Manual Speech?

The company I work for had its yearly employee & families picnic tonight at Sky Sox stadium. It was a grand time, with an amazing fireworks show at the end.

There was a list going around a few of the subgroups at work, looking for volunteers to help out at a few of the activities. I saw one that jumped out as a good match for me: being an announcer at Bingo. Who would expect a Toastmaster who is willing to speak in front of a group. I signed up and sent a cute note to the organizer that I was signing up to help for a half-hour shift.

We got there at the beginning time, and it seemed that lots of stuff was still being set up, that I thought would already be set up. After a few minutes of looking around, my fiancee and I headed up to the bingo room. Ah, the air conditioning was very nice! The bingo items were all there, and there were a few people sitting and checking it out, but not really playing yet.

I wasn't scheduled to take part for a while, though my fiancee was ready to try when it started. There seemed to be some question on the rules and method for the prizes. I went to find the organizer to get a better idea of the guidelines running the games. It was pretty easy, we had prizes to give out while running bingo, and we could give out prizes 2 at a time.

When I got back, the people who were looking like they were going to run it at first had left, and nobody else was looking like they were ready to run the bingo. Also, it was about time for food. I went to grab food for myself and my fiancee while things were up in the air. When I got back upstairs, there were other people getting bingo started. They started with giving only one prize away at a time.

I started my shift a little late, as I was still eating at the time it was shift change, and they had stared a little late, thus it worked out well.

I went up to take my turn, reluctantly using the microphone, but realizing that as the room filled, it might be important to be able to be heard well, instead of just filling the room with my Toastmasters-practiced voice.

I had fun using some descriptive words and a bit of vocal variety. I even changed things up by doing some character voices. I even threw in my Elmo voice once or twice.  Throw in a few puns to shake things up got me a comment that I shouldn't give up my day job. No worries, I took it all in fun!

About halfway through, one person asked my if I was getting Toastmasters credit for the role. I responded that I didn't bring my manual.

I wound up going lots extra - for over an hour - I must have covered at least 2 other people's shifts, but nobody seemed to mind. In the end, we ramped up the number of winners we allowed each round, then gave out multiple prizes.

We only had a few minutes left, and still a number of prizes left to give away. I decide we would do a quick round or two. I announced I would call 2 numbers, and anyone who had both numbers on their card was a winner. It took longer to verify the cards than it took to call the numbers.

After doing this two times, we had covered most of the prizes, and only had a couple of minutes left for the defined time for bingo. I then asked for anyone who had not one. By quick guess, the number left pretty much left the few prizes left - perfect! I said those people were now winners!

Yes, I wondered if I could claim Toastmaster credit for the time. Perhaps so, especially if I was working on the special occasion manual. Yet to me, it did not feel like a full Toastmasters-type activity. It was similar, and the skills from Toastmasters sure made it much easier to take on. However, I would not feel right taking credit for the activity as a Toastmasters manual 'speech'.

In addition, for this, I would definitely have needed to have [one of] my VP/Ed's permission to do this, as there is no question it would be considered outside a Toastmasters meeting.

To me, I would expect that to count for Toastmasters, there would have to be some topical message related to the process.

What do you think?

Why Do We Time Speaking Roles in Toastmasters?

 I've heard many reasons why we time speaking roles:

1) We are working on being reliable for our speaking, especially when it comes to business occasions.
2) We have to keep our meetings on track
3) It is good practice for contests
4) It makes us plan our approach to how we speak

There are a number of timing activities and details in the Competent Leader (CL) manual, with lots of details - though we only have to complete timer and one of 4 other roles that can be related to time.

I've even heard that some of the timing we learn in Toastmasters may limit our point of view for other types of speaking in the future. However, I think the large variety of timing in the advanced manuals and the other series keeps us from being too complacent with the set times.

I think there is an additional way to look at why we time in Toastmasters Clubs:

To measure the level of extroversion and introversion.

For most Toastmasters I know, they started as introverts and had to really make a giant stretch to join Toastmasters. I include myself in that camp.


For introverts, the green light can be the enemy! They have to push and struggle to meet the goal of filling up the time before they can breathe a sigh of relief and hand the meeting back over to someone else.

It can take a lot of practice to get past seeing the green and wanting to quickly wrap up - especially in Table Topics! An introvert can know that they are really learning from Toastmasters when they start seeing that they are getting to the yellow light more often and even being comfortable with the red light.

Even when getting comfortable with getting in the yellow-to-red zone with speeches, looking at the next step may be very scary - CC10 is the next step up, having to face filling 8 to 10 minutes! Then looking at the number of presentations and advanced speeches that can be 10 to 15 minutes may seem like an eternity to fill up, especially without using notes!

However, you can really tell you are succeeding with Toastmasters when you look at a 10 minute speech as a nice time to speak, and you look forward to having a little more time to share your thoughts.


For extroverts, the red light can be the enemy at the beginning. They may feel that they were just getting started and feel disappointed that they have to stop talking. Sometimes they may just go way over their time, not realizing the value of trying to be better at meeting the timing of their project. In fact, I've been guilty of this a few times, so perhaps I've gone a bit far into the other camp - being an extrovert in an introvert's body.

For true extroverts, being about to focus their thoughts and presentations down into the green-to-yellow range is a very valuable challenge for them to accomplish. They will find that they will reach their audience much better, be more connected and get their message across in a way they will be much more accepted. This may also help them be in a better mode to be active listeners - being able to stop in a timely manner, and accept the feedback that will come with the evaluation.


Thus the timing light can help us gauge where we are on our journey learning about ourselves with Toastmasters. It can be the thermometer to take the temperature of our balanced approach to speaking.

The yellow light is your friend. For normal speaking, this is where you should become most comfortable.

Happy speaking! And keep your Witz About you!

First D26 Area Contest Completed

District 26 contest season is officially underway, with 6 winners already selected (more later on names). Area S3, S4 and S5 worked together to put on a combined contest, officially being the first set of contests for the season, leading to the District contests in November.

Congratulations and thanks to all the participants, functionaries and audience members!

A great time was had at the combined S3-4-5 contest at the East Library Thursday Evening 9/5. There were lots of evaluators and even more Tall Tales Speeches.

There was a large range of talent and ideas presented at the meeting. Bonnie Ann got a whole lot of useful and interesting feedback on her test speech, talking about being a child in dry, dusty Texas, and how her startled reaction barely saved her friend from a rattle snake, and how the same way of facing things brought her to Toastmasters, and the great value we all get from Toastmasters!

The evaluators offered her advice from making sure her message is making it to the back of the room, to ways to look at her speech as the potential for 2 great speeches.

A remarkable amount of creativity was shown during Tall Tales! I heard about supermom; military maneuvers for fudge; being overrun by rats; how the ruling power shifted in Abu Dabi; Sasquatch bull-riding bears; how fishing lead to a sighting of Noah's Ark; a deal with the devil delivered in perfect Dr. Suess-ian form; and a number more!

No battle plan manages to survive the battle, however all the people working the contest handled the situations as they came up and make the contest a full-on success.

Trying to fit 3 areas with 2 contests each into the window of time we had was pretty challenging. I would have been glad to speak more, but just as happy to keep to the core contest for most of it. We did have a little time to hear from our Lt Gov Marketing, Deborah Frauenfelder, who spoke about the upcoming district conference in November - not too far away in DTC - and how the conference is looking for volunteers and education presenters!

In the end, we rushed through awarding the winners, and took a few quick pictures. We heard the announcements on the PA about the library closing, and quickly wrapped up and cleaned up. We were ushered out of the building. Luckily, we were only a few minutes over getting out, and the staff was graceful in allowing us to get out.

The winners will continue on to the Division Contest, Saturday October 5th, at 1pm, downtown Colorado Springs Library.

Quick Reminder - Area S3-S4-S5 Contest 5:30pm Tonight

Area S3, S4 and S5 Toastmasters Evaluation and Tall Tales Contest

Contest Begins 6pm promptly - be there ahead of time to be admitted!

East Library Community Meeting Room, 5550 Union Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO 80918
Google Maps

The Meeting Room is sharply to the Left when entering, down the hallway, on the left.

Toastmasters Dues are in Season

It is that time again!

Twice a year, Toastmasters members pay dues to their clubs. Most or all of the dues go first to Toastmasters International. Some of it comes back to the District to help with the activities that the District provides to the members, such as TLIs.

Some clubs have an additional amount that goes towards the club fund to help finance things like ribbons and banners and more.

If you are the Treasurer of your club, you should be in the process of contacting your members to let the know the amount due and the process or processes available for paying dues.
Other officers of the club should be assisting with the notification and collection!

Some clubs provide an invoice, printed or emailed, as part of the dues process. This helps members know exactly what is expected, and helps them take ownership of getting paid.

Toastmasters International expects payments on or before October. It is much better to get the dues in sooner! This is even more important if the club needs to use fax or postal mail to submit their dues.

There are 2 key things to remember:

1. A club needs to have at least 6 members (3+ renewals) paid on time to be counted as a club in good standing - this is important for the DCP (Distinguished Club Planning) goals - however, it is much better to try to get all or most members to pay ahead of time.
2. A member needs to be in good standing, in a club in good standing if they are going to continue to progress in the District Contests! Make sure you are being proactive to support your club's contest representation!

Remember to be proud to pay your dues. You are making a major investment in yourself! And the cost-basis for what you get is a tiny fraction compared to programs that provide some of the same outcomes.
Remember to invest some of your time into yourself as well!

Your club needs you to stick around and help keep things going.

Get your dues in! It helps everyone! Thanks!

D26 Area Contests This Week

Remember, the D26 Southern Division contests start this week!

Area S3, S4 & S5 combined area contest is this THURSDAY September 5th!

Tall Tales & Evaluation Contest!

East Library Community Meeting Room, 5550 Union Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO 80918

Here are the clubs that eligible to compete at the contest on Thursday:

S3	3044		Pikes Peak Toastmasters Club
S3	1292321		CO Motor Mouths
S3	5481		Currently Speaking Toastmasters Club
S3	5618		Colorado Orators League
S4	644254		Toastmasters at Memorial Hospital Club
S4	1155833		TOP CLASS Toastmasters
S4	5158		Downtown Toastmasters Club
S4	4829		UCCS Toastmasters Club
S5	555		Colorado Springs Toastmasters Club
S5	5316		Peterson Toastmasters
S5	813975		Quail Lake Toastmasters Club

Make sure your club sends the contestant information to your area governor - if they were selected by club contest or by nomination. If the Area Governor does not have the information, you will not be able to compete.

If you have not select any contestants and do not have a meeting before the contest, it is still possible to nominate contestants in time!

Contestants - please fill out your Speaker-Certification-and-Originality (Evaluators may skip the bottom Originality portion) and your Speaker Profile! Email or bring them with you -- it save a lot of time when you get there!

Contact your Area Governor with any questions:
Michele Mras, S3 Area Governor S31314-at-d26leaders.org
Bonnie Ann Smith, S4 Area Governor S41314-at-d26leaders.orgMike Pierson, S5 Area Governor S51314-at-d26leaders.org

 Audience members welcome!

---

Keep in mind - S1 & S2 combined contest is next week on Wednesday September 11!

Southern Division Contest is on Saturday October 25th

Toastmaster D26 Peak Articulators Charter - Banner Presentation

Black Belt of TM, The Persuit of DTM - A Diagram

The base diagram of the Toastmasters Educational program, shows the key blocks of the educational program as 2 tracks leading to the DTM - featuring all the key educational awards: CC, ACB, ACS, ACG, CL, CLB, CLS and the DTM.

However, most versions do not show the HPL, which has it's own educational award that is part of the track. Other versions do not show that the ALB has a requirement of the CC. And there are lots of sub-tasks that may be hard to grasp without looking through many documents.

I see the DTM - Distinguished Toastmaster Award - as the black belt of Toastmasters.

It wasn't that long ago that I learned that it is possible to be working on a second CC and a second CL, and more, before finishing the first DTM.

It is also important to remember that you can get another CC and CL and more to help your club(s) with their distinguished progress.

Recently I realized that the education program is more like a building. And that there are lots of supports needed to fill out to get to the DTM, however you can be building more than one building at a time!

It is also possible to be working on pieces of a higher level, without completing a lower level. You just may not claim the higher award until you have completed the structure below.
For example, I am currently working on 3 different AC manuals - 2 for ACB, and already started on my ACS while finishing my ACB.

To the end of the building metaphor, I came up with a diagram - a blueprint - that shows all the details related to achieving a DTM.
I have sent a copy to International Headquarters for their review, and to see if they find it valuable to share with members. In the meantime, I am sharing it with you - Toastmasters on the internet:

Contest Participation - An Experiment That Worked

"Contests are not for me"

"I'm not ready"

Have you heard these excuses and more?

This contest season, I had some failures and some successes in getting participation.

As leaders, many of us know there are lots of value to contest. The biggest value is that the challenge makes us much better individual speakers and adds lots of value to clubs.

I am guilty of using the excuses myself. Then I wound up going 3 levels in an evaluator contest, just because I took part in my club contest. I took part so that the other person would have a challenge. I was certain the other person was going to win.

I didn't think I was ready to be in a Toastmasters contest.

Most people will never think they are ready.

They need someone to push them into taking on the contest.

If we wait for everyone to decide they are ready on their own, the contests will have very few participants.

As a Division Governor, I am not allowed to be a contestant in the district contests this year. But I know how much members will learn and how much it helps energize the club.

How do we get members to take part in contests?

I've been talking up the contests in meetings for many weeks now.
I have promoted the example Tall Tales videos.
We had an example Tall Tales with details for the keynote speech at the Colorado Springs TLI.
I came up with my own example Tall Tales speech, which I put out on YouTube and have demonstrated in a few meetings.
I've asked and encouraged the other officers in my 2 clubs to help organize and promote the contest.

In both my clubs, the same tactic was taken to try to get members to step-up to be contestants:

An email to the group: "Who wants to be in the contest?"

Can you guess the response? None.

That doesn't have to be a failure. At least it is getting the idea out there more that the club is looking for contest participation.

But you can't stop there!

Having members take part in contests shows that clubs are vital and involved beyond their 4 walls.
Clubs need to make sure they have representatives going to contest.

In my one club, I have talked and emailed directly with a few people who said they were considering it. I offered to help. So far, one person decided they can not do it. Another is still thinking. And another is on the fence, and does not seem to want to have help to get to the next step.

I will continue to encourage, and make sure they club knows the importance of taking part.

In another club, I tried something a little different, with some real success!

Our next meeting didn't have anything scheduled. It was the last chance to have a club contest before the area contest. Our new VP/Ed was not sure which way go with the meeting and the contest.
We sent out an email, and nobody replied wanting to be in the contest.

I was faced with the question: what can we do with a meeting, when nobody has stepped up to be in a club contest?
I had an idea. Clubs do not have to use a contest to send on members to a contest. They are allowed use some other process, and nominate members to go to the contest.

I defined my meeting idea to a couple of the officers, and got their buy-in:

I would run a special meeting with a slightly different flavor.

The order of the meeting:

• Get the meeting started
• Announce the Area contest date. Go around to each member, and ask if they have time to be in the audience at the Area Contest. I noted each name.
• Present that I am giving a speech, and want a panel evaluation
• Have each person give a verbal evaluation from their seat
• Then a special reverse table topics:
• I asked each person to think of a few things, example a favorite place, a toy, a book, etc.
• I had people come up one at a time, and tell me a little about 2-3 of these items, with a few details
• I took turns with another advanced member:

We created a Tall Tale story from each person's details on the spot

• I called up the couple of extra people who were listed as being able to make the contest, who hadn't volunteered
• At the end of Table Topics, I told each person that they had just been an evaluator, just like at a contest, and that each Table Topic was an example of a Tall Tales speech in a contest.
• I wrote down the names of the people who could make it on a board, and said the club would like to nominate them to go to the contest. I said we could do a ballot to pick order if there were too many for either contest. I asked the interest from the people listed.

From this, we had 3 members going to the contest!

I was very happily surprised when one of the members who had said that maybe they would do the evaluation contest decided they would take on Tall Tales instead.


Another technique that may work for you as a club officer, is to decide which members you think are comfortable enough speaking in front of the club, and go to them individually. Tell them that you think this would be a good step for them. Tell them that the club needs them to represent the club at the area. Tell them that even though they don't think they are ready, you know they are ready. Make sure they know how much they will learn by doing the contest. Make sure they know, it is still Toastmasters, and it is still a safe place to try things out, and it is still a safe place to make stumbles. A better place than at an interview.


If you are a member, consider these factors:
You are in Toastmasters to learn how to speak outside of Toastmasters.
A contest is one of the best, safest places to find out how you are doing in the process of learning what Toastmaster gives you beyond the club.
You will see how much you have learned, and learn how much more you can still get from Toastmasters and back at your club.

Yes, it will be intense, exciting, nerve-racking, and maybe a bit disappointing if you don't win. Yet, it is an amazing, exciting time that will cause you to grow in ways and at rate that you can never imagine!


One more thing to think about: if you and your club do not show up with contestants at the contest, that allows another club to come in, and maybe not work very hard if there are no other competitors, and walk out with the trophy, just for showing up and making time.

Let the other clubs know that if they want those trophies, they are going to have to work harder than you!


Thank-you to all that have stepped up to be contestants, functionaries and audience at the Toastmasters contests!


See you at the contests!


Keep your Witz About You!

Secret in the Subway - Tall Tales

An example speech for Tall Tales Contest



I had this idea rumbling in my head for a few days. This afternoon after the TLI, I decided to try to perform the speech from my head. Not as clean as I would have liked, but a good example for the Contest.

I can not take part as a leader - I hope the speech inspires others to try their hand at the Toastmasters D26 Tall Tales contest!

Colorado Springs TLI 8/3/2013 - Location Change - Embassy Suites

We have decided to move the TLI to Embassy Suites in Colorado Springs:

Toastmasters District 26
Southern Divsion
Toastmasters Leadership Institute

Colorado Springs TLI
Embassy Suites Colorado Springs
7290 Commerce Center Drive
Colorado Springs, CO 80919

Google Maps

No Pre-Registration required
Please show up closer to 7:30 for registration!

Agenda 


I have learned a lot more about some of the specific challenges with putting on a Toastmasters Leadership Institute.
1) It is really hard to find a location when some many key contacts are out on vacation for the summer - even when you start extra early.
2) Sincerely wanting to get the Agenda and location out early may not happen, and obviously didn't in this case, when you are dealing with many issues with location and other TLIs happening at the same time competing for attention.
3) Even when the location selected looks good, there may be questions about the site that will require making a last minute choice to scramble to find a new location.


I want to send a big thanks to Linda Rhea D26 LGET for really stepping up and helping nail down an alternate location and tightening up the details on the resources while working together on re-tuning the agenda for the different location.

Be early - see you there!!

Toastmasters Club Officer Training

I knew going into my new role as Division Governor had at least one task that is a bigger challenge, and one that comes up very quickly for a person new in the role. I had an idea going into the role, and my predecessor also related his own experience. The challenge was finding a good location for the Club Officer Training - which is also called TLI, short for Toastmasters Leadership Institute.

I had some good ideas, and started researching locations even before I officially took on the title. However, as time went on, the options dwindled, until I was down to a first-level backup choice. I got the requirements together and sent it for approval. Unluckily, by the time I did get approval, my backup choice had some of the key space reserved by other groups.

So I went to my second-level backup - my work location. I thought it might be a bit of a long shot, but I hoped the fact that it was really an important make-or-break for my first significant act in my new role, and would thus reflect on the company as well, would help sway the decision. I do not know if it did sway the decision, but luckily the decision went my way. I had a site!

The Colorado Springs TLI - Toastmasters Leadership Institute, Club Officers Training will be held:
August 3rd, 2013 at 7:30am-1:00pm
T. Rowe Price
2220 Briargate Parkway, at Chapel Hills Drive
Building 1 (short garage)
Colorado Springs, CO 80920
1 mile east from Exit 151 off I-25

Please note - due to the location, anyone who wishes to attend will NEED to pre-register. I am working out the details to handle the registration.

There will also be educational sessions available for all members, and a great keynote speech. The agenda is being filled out currently and should be shared within the next week.

I personally will also be attending the Denver TLI, on 7/20/2013 in Lakewood
I know of at least one other person going who is looking to car-pool. If anyone else is going up from the Colorado Springs area - please let me know, and I will help coordinate.

Toastmasters Triple Crown

I just read about the Triple Crown a couple of days ago.
At first I didn't know what it meant. When I read a little more, I found that it is a designation for a Toastmaster who has completed 3 (or more) awards in a Toastmasters year.

I suddenly realized that I probably just managed to do that, having completed all 3 of my Toastmasters awards (CL, CL, ALB) all during the last 8 months.
It took me some time, but I did find a link (by accident) on Toastmasters International which had the list of Triple Crown members. I was very please to see I was listed in my district!
There are a lot of interesting reports on the site at District Analysis Reports

I hear that some districts have awards or recognition for those who achieve a triple crown. I don't think I've heard about it in my district.

District 26 Triple Crown Member List

A great big congratulations to those others in District 26, and around the the world, who have achieved this level through your hard work!

My big question for myself, and the rest of TRP TM members: do you think you can manage to earn a Triple Crown this Toastmasters year 2013-2014?
The year has just started, so it is a perfect time to make plans to work on it!

I expect I will achieve another Triple Crown this year - I'm working on 2 AC paths at the same time, and expect another CL and working towards an HPL as well. I am tempted to see if I can do some extra to make it to the top of the list - but only if I can do it with the true hard work, and not with shortcuts, and not at the cost of the other work I am doing, in and outside of Toastmasters.

What are your plans?

Toastmasters Officer Installation - Script & Thoughts

I visited another club today, and watched them do an officer installation. They did it from a manual.

It took some searching, but I did find it. And that was a moment of: 'oh, yeah, I should have remembered that!'

It was right there in the Club Leadership Handbook! Rev 4/2013, starting on page 60
http://www.toastmasters.org/CLH

However, this is an abbreviate script -- as it does not spell out the summary duties of the roles in the script.
I also like to add a note to the VP/Ed to be aware they also have a vote at the district business meeting.

One thing for club officers to remember: you can do your officer lists before your induction ceremonies!

If you do your election early enough, you can ask your Area Governor or other District official to come in to officiate the induction - to make it seem even more official!

Club Officer Induction

Wednesday 6/26/2013,

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked as a representative of the District to do an officer installation at the newest club in the division. I thought it was the changing of the officers, as it was that time of year for all the clubs, however I realized afterwards that this was actually the first official time they were assigned their roles, as everyone stayed in the positions they were holding.

I was very honored to be asked to be a part at this level, even before I completely, officially take on my new role. I was especially glad to take part with this club, as it was the first time I took part in a demo meeting, which started me down the road to my expanded role with the district.

My fiance came along to observe the meeting. She recognized a couple of the officers who had come along to that last TLI, getting skills before the club was completely finished being chartered.

It started as a pretty normal meeting. It was in a nice big room, just big enough that there was value using the wireless microphone. There was only one speech. It was an icebreaker. In fact, just about every speech in the club is an icebreaker. This makes sense with a brand new club with over 30 members, you would pretty much have everyone working through their icebreakers to get started.

Never having done an installation before, I was planning to google it to find out the process. Just before I did, another Division Governor helped me out by sending along some sample scripts she had used (thanks again!!). It turned out I didn't need the script, as the club thought ahead and had provided one to me!

I learned a little more about the process of induction and asking the officers to accept their roles, and members to accept their roles as well. Surprisingly, I had never seen it in my first club, in spite of being voted into officer roles twice. Thus it gives me something else I can take back to my first club to add to the experience.

Note to self: when involved with new clubs, find out about initial officer installations, and make sure that is something they have covered or if they still need it done.

Icebreaker and Officer

I am very proud of my fiance. Tonight she stood up and did her icebreaker speech!

I had given her some ideas of how she could connect a bunch of thoughts about her life for her first speech, taking bits of stories she has told me and others. Her first few drafts basically followed my suggestions.

However, in the last week, she turned it around, and really made the speech her own. I am really glad and impressed that she was able to come up with a version that was really her own speech. Yes, I did offer an idea or two and some minor tuning, but it was her speech.

For an icebreaker, I thought she did really well. Yes, she was mostly on notes, but I know many people are for their first speech - I certainly was. She has lots of the right things going on in her speech. She can learn to enhance them as time goes on. Good starting body language and gestures. Decent eye-contact when not looking at notes. She moved around, not being rooted to one spot. Her facial expressions and vocal variety shows she has a good amount of the foundation of Toastmasters. I can not see any obvious gaps in her abilities, so I really look forward to seeing how she continues to grow.

However, not only did she do her first speech tonight, she also was up for an officers role in the club: secretary! I too was up for a role: president. I went up and told them I wanted them to pick one of the 2 other people, as I was already taking on a lot. Deb stood up and told the club that she was comfortable with the role of secretary, having filled it before with our Geocaching hobby.

I overheard the voting as they were counting for the secretary position. It sounded pretty promising. We waited for the counting of the votes. There was a delay in that the Sgt. at Arms position ended in a tie, and the other roles did not solve the tie. The club had to re-vote for the 2 people that had tied before we heard all the results.

In the end, Deb did get secretary. I am very proud and happy that she is already taking on a bigger role in Toastmasters! Way to go Deb!

I also got some nice thoughts from my 20yo son who managed to join us for the first time at a Toastmasters meeting. He complimented me, and indicated he was willing to visit again. I am not sure if he is hooked yet, but it was nice to have him come along to see a little of what it is about.

Family time at Toastmasters - what could be better?! :)

My first Toast as a Toastmaster

I've done a bunch of speeches so far, at least 15 in manuals, and a few that I've done without getting manual credit.

However, today Sunday 6/23, was my first time giving a Toast at a wedding!

My step-daughter got married up in Denver, 10 years to the day from their first date. The ceremony itself was classy, touching and relatively brief.

During the reception, they made more time for speeches that you might normally expect during a wedding. I was included in the list of people that could speak if they wanted.

I've said it not that long ago: I am not at the point in Toastmasters where I stand up and say I want to speak. I still had to push myself to take on opportunities. I guess that has now changed: I really am a dedicated Toastmaster now: I wanted the chance to add my voice praising their union.

I think I'm getting a little too confident though, as I wrote the speech on the ride up there. I knew I was comfortable with being able to offer some thoughts off the top of my head, but I did want to do something more. I didn't want to put on a comedy act, or embarrass them or give long stories of how I knew them. I wanted to give some sort of story or inspirational thoughts.

I wanted my thoughts to give them some positive advice for their marriage. And yet I wondered to myself: who am I to give marriage advice? I could talk about some things to avoid. I could share with them warning signs of problems. Yet who would want that as a wedding toast? That is not positive. Thus, I needed an idea that would give them strength and positive thoughts.

As I sat there in the back of the car, with conversation ebbing and flowing around me, staring at the blank paper, with the pen in my hand, it didn't take long for a thought to come to me. It was a vision of waves on an ocean shore. Yet, how did it tie in? What did this have to do with a wedding in the hot, dry, fire-burdened Colorado?

Instead of rejecting it outright, I let the idea flow. The scene moved to the sand. How is a marriage like sand I wondered? Grains of sand can be like relationship - with connections forming and passing, like friendships coming and going with wind and waves moving some apart. Yet sand can stick together, perhaps in elegant sand castles. Yet even sand castles are not permanent.

However, there is a way sand can be permanent: when it is heated and becomes glass. This happens in nature, around volcanoes, called obsidian. This was used for weapons and tools in the past.

Glass can be thought of as delicate, distorting and cloudy. And yet it can be strong, like the pair - the couple - of panes of glass in an automobile windshield, or even bullet-proof-glass. It can be beautiful, like an etched crystal wine glass, able to ring out with a strong tone.

Then I realized that there was a strong, ornate use for glass: an hourglass! Reusing the sand from above, filling the timekeeper. I spoke about how it is important not to get caught worrying too much about the sand above, for the future, and not to dwell too much on the sand of the past. Instead, while keeping an eye on the future, make sure to pay attention to the sand passing through the center - the important moments in your life.

I though of how the marriage can be like a forge, bonding the sand together.
I wished the couple the strength, beauty and transparency that glass can represent.

I managed to do the speech without notes. I still need to work on making my conclusions more powerful and connected to the topics I presented. But overall, I was very pleased by my toast. The newly married couple also noted their appreciation afterward. That was the best reward!

I was happy and honored to be able to share that day with them, and be able to share in the nice way with the skills Toastmasters has allowed me to significantly improve.

Evaluations are Free Advice

Recently I saw a General Evaluator giving a detailed report with some very good advice and some other advice that seemed a bit harsh.

He mentioned to the other evaluators that there is lots of value in making sure that they people they were evaluating were knew that the views they were sharing were their own opinion.
He emphasized the point by saying every person would give different version of critique, that an evaluation should not sound like the person represents the whole group, and that you can't say it is your own opinion often enough.

First let me say that the last part is not completely true. I've heard evaluations where they over-did they amount they emphasized that it was just their own opinion to the point where it seemed like they didn't even believe their own thoughts had any value.

Yet as a rule, it is important to make sure that those you evaluate realize that an evaluations are just suggestions, and just one person's view of things.

What struck me later is that this General Evaluator could really have used their own advice! He went on to comment on the performance of another functionary at the meeting. He had a number of critical things to point out. The points were all delivered in a helpful teacher-type tone, yet the message basically said this functionary did things wrong. And it was presented in a form that came across to me a little like he was representing the whole club against them.
At the end of the meeting, I made sure to give some additional feedback and perspective to the functionary to make sure they knew the did a decent job, and just to take the information as suggestions to do better in the future. It turns out it was only their second time in the role, and they had not been given a lot of details on how to do the role.

It reminded me of the first time in Toastmasters that I got an evaluation that rubbed me the wrong way. It took me some time, outside feedback, and a number of reinterpretations to get good value from the evaluation. That was the moment that I realized that you don't have to take every evaluation to heart. Just remember that the person is giving you their perspective of what they felt, and that there is almost always some value you can take.

Evaluations are free advice.
The value you get starts with what you pay: no cash value.
No matter how strong or harsh the evaluation sounds when you hear it, the views are simply one person's advice!


However, there is value in almost every piece of advice you get in Toastmasters.

Here is the important piece:

1) If it makes you feel bad, or feel like you did something wrong, you need to reject that internalization immediately, and look at it again!

2) When you can look at the information that comes with the critique as one or more things you can use to improve and do better the next time, then you have the value of the advice!

That is worth more than cash!