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!

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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: