another ADMIRABLE fellow toastmaster:
http://www.lebrecht.com/

let's play Find The Toastmaster!

(isn't she cute???)
http://www.uoguelph.ca/atguelph/06-09-13/afterhours.shtml

the nerve to network

comes to me thru the CULTivations! i have just invited myself along to the club attended by a Branch Manager, Professional Staffing Services in the area. aren't you proud of me?

officer role anybody?

not sure how my volunteering for month of September for Sgt-at-Arms was misconstrued as an ongoing arrangement, but i have GOT to get someone else to take they keys since i won't be there! i have always thought they should look at your attendance AND participation in club roles as incentive, i.e. for preferential treatment when it comes to allocating speech time. but who would have time for such extra tracking?

* * *

i thought the use of the hand written messages on the construction paper pad was a really effective addition to the speech, and what a cheap way to bring your own flipchart!!!

*

i've just realized i haven't been getting my magazine. it was pretty good! i wonder how one changes their address with toastmasters international...

club visitations

i would have to say that the most organized, efficient and professionally presented club i have ever attended was the TDSupreme club, on lunchhours Wednesdays while Z was prez. The ah counter tallied every breath taken and the exact number of seconds taken for each aspect of the meeting etc.

the club that meets in the Harbourfront Community Centre building on Wednesday nights has some really creative, dramatic speakers that win Area level contests, and was recognized by the District Reps as one of the strongest. They have the quizmaster role, but give teeny, tiny evaluation note pages to each other.

the Stoneroad club is very friendly, and has guelph farm topics and friendliness and handles an oxford learning type diversity well. they have many young members! they also have yummy snacks at contests and their meeting time attracts a large number of visitors that they graciously accomodate. and some of their membership is really longstanding and development in members seems really significant.

my fave club, the one where i feel i belong best is in Johnson Hall at University of Guelph (you remember, with the boots and cowboy hat in the corner). i tire of our time management issues because of the over-competition for word of the day, but not only do we have incredible intellectual, varied and quality example speakers, the evaluations are Bang On and Very Meaningful. Only club members of more than 6 projects are aloud to have a speech evaluator's role on the agenda!

1) the word of the day was CADENCE! and the guest got to that idea because the theme was unplugged and she thought of music and that reminded her of horses and a dressage horse she used to love to watch called CADENCE. and, i forgot to tell her about this magical thing called a Kur, as well as forgetting to USE the word of the day.

2) it ain't easy to evaluate the prez, and he scowled at the suggestion i gave him for next time, so i am EXTRA proud of me. he kept repeating "you can't believe everything you read" and storytelling about his irish youth and so in my evalutation i said that i grew up hearing my father say that and how ha ha "i never knew he was so annoying because he is irish" which got a good laugh.

3) the next speaker really moved me with the arson and car bomb descriptions of north ireland in his youth. "a lifetime of treasures in the rubble"

the word of the day was presented by a wonderful role model in our club. i was sitting there kicking myself for not using it in my evaluation like i meant to, while she said the club had used it 14 times today...

she added that the language enricher trophy went to the person who used the word skillfully in her table topics 4x and it was me. lucky break eh?

the theme was fresh outlook and the word of the day was perspective.

my table topic word draw from the envelope was wildlife, and was i ever glad: i easily spoke to amber about how i have been getting all these wildlife documentaries out of the libraries and i've seen the one on dinasours and the one on the rain forest and so many others and it has been really pleasant for me. constructive for my perspective you might say because i was really down before about the state of humankind with all our war and our pollution and everything but that this all this watching had helped me to see us as part of a bigger picture. helped me to get comfortable with the fact that maybe we are gonna be extinct or maybe we're not, but right now we are all just part of nature... and how somehow thinking about things like that has cheered me up, changed my perspective.

next time i am on the agenda to do a speech evaluation i will bring my manual in case the speaker forgets theirs. for some reason i was nervous doing today's...

perhaps the fact that the make shift evaluation page i made for myself during the meeting (in leiu of an actual manual to write in) was for speech #2. then i realized this person was doing project #3 and reworked it, and the chair person introduced her project objectives by reading the goals for project #2. ACK.

luckily, she did a great job and i had lots to enthuse about. she seems to always talk about love and i love learning about healthy relationships... what could be a better reason to get to class?did you know that on average most people have 1-3 intimate relationships going on? she made nice analogies using foot bridges, and draw bridges and suspension bridges...

she joined at the same time as me. and just did her third. will she get the same feedback that i did? i did my third with this club last week and rec'd the feedback that i might benefit from slowing down on the pace of presentations. i wonder if it is only when you are further along in the manual projects that it would be better to spread your projects over more time? or if this was a special message just for the (over)enthusiastic me...

for sure i did a good job as an officer of the club today, even if i'm the only one who is proud of me. and i am prepared to put required club supplies on my visa this week and pay the interest til the treasurer shows up...

i am not offering to go do any officer training yet though - even though i know this club could use that sort of development and "outside" recognition. i think it would be considered pushy instead of helpful, so i'll direct my energies where they are wanted.

signed,
not quite ready for nine
(but, um, unfortunately working on it)

a CULTivations colunmist idea popped into my head today. on my blog at least i am going to start jotting down notes about the speeches i hear... especially in clubs where i am guest.

did you know there's one in brampton that meets tuesday nights not far from the place i lived for 8 years. yup, the same apt for 8 years. i know you don't believe me...

in a way i'm glad i've learned to travel since. aren't reporters supposed to be ROVING?
more soon...

a disaster that still works?

for some reason the chair introduced/invented the title of my speech as "coming your way" when i'd told her it was called how to groom a horse. (at least someone showed some creativity).

feedback

next times = we ALL agree the laptop was useless unless projected (and, also my i-talk recording effort didn't work and was obvious when i tried to start it). hoof photo should have been larger than life and mounted on the back wall (this from the person who put me on the agenda at 2pm the afternoon prior to the presentation?!). even more legitimately she also adds that if chair had provided background i would not have had to. the timer did not tell me how long it was and i forgot to look for the green/amber/red while speaking and thus i have no clue how long it was. one person commented that use of props suit objectives of project 5 more so than 8 (tho the manual does suggest props for 8. perhaps i was too dramatic with mine?).

all that said, mr. Toughest feedback provider said "a wonderful, informative and interesting speech clearly and animately presented. be careful about deprecating yourself during i.e. "thank you for listening to my LITTLE presentation..." you are a great speaker and having fun at your task makes you nice to listen to."

other did wells = good intro of why grooming is important. good way of emphasizing key points i.e. relax/circulation etc. good enthusiasm, clarity, presence and eye contact

* * *
in the table topics my scrabble dictionary word was monk. i am pleased with the way i incorporated the required them of shoestring budgets and word of the day as in "eke" out a campaign with existing resources in my left brain marketing commercial. dang it, no trophy tho!

Project #8, Visual Aids

I am going to bring my grooming kit and my laptop (working offline) to the podium, but I am not bringing notes up there with me -- here’s what I hope I say:

Background:
I have volunteered to work with Equine Guelph within their Equimania! Program – which is where KIDS learn about horses. One of their sponsors is a chain of tack shops and one of the ideas I have is to present a Grooming lesson to store clients as a way of driving hits to the fanatastic Equimania website and on-line education tools. I know it is asking a lot of non-horse people to provide feedback on a topic such as I have chosen for today, but I imagine an unpredictably diverse public audience should these presentations come to fruition and so I will really welcome your feedback on content, delivery and of course the effectiveness of the chosen visual aids.

Fellow Toastmasters,
In my last presentation I taught you a handy word to catch a runaway horse. Today I will talk to you about the basics of Grooming it! And I have brought what I consider the top 5 tools for doing so for show and tell. I also want to show you the area of the website where kids can review what they have learned about grooming in a fun game!

An experienced horse person will often spend from 30 to 45 min on the process. i like to teach that a cowboy sweats when he grooms his horse. Far more than a cosmetic purpose, new horsemen will finding grooming is a good way to get to know horses and increase confidence around them. It also provides comfort to your horse and can teach him to relax -- in the wild a pony is groomed by a herd companion, and riders can bond in this way with their mount.Remember that not only does this activity maintain the horse's coat in good condition but time spent grooming allows you to check for any scratches, wounds, injuries or skin conditions

1. the CURRY COMB: is to remove loose hair and loosen caked on mud, use the rubber curry comb over the horses coat beginning with the neck on the pony's favourite side. rub in small circular motions over the entire body with exception of bony parts such as head or legs. this is a good massage of your horse's muscles, and good for circulation. Clean the curry comb by banging it on the floor.
2. the DANDY BRUSH has long stiff bristles and is used in short strokes and a flicking motion to take off surface dirt. always brush the coat in the direction of his hair, while avoiding especially tender parts like the face or clipped areas. clean the dandy brush in between strokes by rubbing against the curry comb, in order to ensure you do not reapply dirt to the horse's coat.3. the BODY BRUSH is also used in conjunction with the curry comb, to bring out the horse’s shine, removing grease and deep down dust. this brush is used with more pressure and longer, sweeping strokes, repeated in the same place up to six times, including the legs and head 4. the HOOF PICK is used to clear the feet of any stones that may have been picked up during turnout. run your hand down the shoulder and leg until you reach the fetlock, and are bending down. if your horse does not lift his foot, which he will often learn to do earlier and earlier in the process if you are consistent and efficient in YOUR pattern, then lean into him with your body. if the horse is being stubborn, firmly pinch the tendons while leaning, and lifting his darn foot! once holding the hoof up firmly, supporting it in your left hand, use the hoof pick staring at the back of the hoof and clear each side of the frog right to the tip. The frog is a V shaped fleshy formation in the sole of the foot. continue scraping in this way until there is no debris anywhere else on the hoof.
a skep can be placed in position to catch foot debris, or you can simply sweep your mess.
5. Mane Comb – plastic and metal. Brush the mane downwards on the side it lays naturally.

The Website has a game of identifying the items in the grooming kit. It keeps track of how long it takes you to reload the fallen collection item by designated item – popping up in a different order each time. Do you know any kids who might like to play the game? Let me know and I will jot down the web address for you.

Thanks for allowing me to practice another unmounted riding lesson on you. I hope one day soon you get out and do some grooming!

i liked the name cards for roles idea.

is my new club part of district 6. if so i would volunteer for officer training.

networking statements to practice
= industry
= vocational
= even more specific

quorum

4:45
and three people suggested next time i slow down. also ditch the notes entirely since going back to the podium detracted from the freedom with which i had been walking out in front of them.

one person wanted my card to come for lessons.

horse personality info would be interesting.
make sure your hat is not covering your eyes

reorder them so as to develop chronologically

practice again for the metro hall club.

2 documentary film makers in the room. looking to develop more INTERACTIVE and educational materials. one of them was a speaker too and now i want to find her film "beauty and the beach"

this club has a quiz master so i could tell that not everybody really Got it. next time i will recap and repeat more and i think i should provide some kind of handout.

what is a gait he asked them
my favourite answer was "the different walks of a horse"
EVERYBODY knew that trot was what they used to think was gallop tho.

A TABLE TOPICS TROPHY?

but i've never touched a trophy or earned one in my whole life. i am pathetically pleased to have won today's.

luckily the icelandic horse lady spoke to the theme of patience by describing how hard her beast can be to catch on occasion, when it was my turn i told the whipping oats AND THEN BUCKET at stoney's head before giving up on catching him because of lack of said virtue...

and the very tiny class today voted to let me take the Table Topics trophy.

aren't you proud???
(do you think this mean Toastmasters has finally FIXED me??)

project #7

did wells =
good energy and engaging animation, natural smile, good interesting topic, nice stats to back up facts, good audience involvement and humour.

25% of listeners commented they now want one (50% of audience already had one).

next times =
more RESEARCH in the research speech.
10 points is too many. consider limiting points to 3.
define all terms i.e. shuffle
also the intro was not attn grabbing since stmts were long and read rather than spoken

timer noted 6:58, i-pod memo 7:18.
too many crackles from moving it.

also, when i re-printed this morning for a larger font i neglected a key paragraph. BUT AT LEAST I DIDN'T ANNOUNCE THIS GLITCH in public when i realized it. and i think i managed to build in the missing facts off the cuff.

free butterflies:
*

kim logue has guested with us a few times and recently joined a club where there is actually a saddle in the corner of the meeting room. Presented there as the vocal variety project, the speech drew heavily on the body language project she presented just before that to the Supreme TD Club in the Bank Tower.

Since she hopes roll out this presentation in horse apparel shops or other public places as a marketing intiative, she asked if she could try the once again recently reworked speech on our club for yet more Toastmasters feedback... her talk today is called

Hoof Beats -- The Paces of the Horse.

PROJECT #7, Research It = "I-pod it"


Do you believe that the marriage of technology and art has the potential to bridge cultural divides and bring people of the world together like few inventions before? “The power of music to influence societies and bring about new and positive ideas is well documented throughout history.” The president of some wireless communications firm said the use of personal wireless communications devices and digital music will only make such experience more profound.

Fellow Toastmasters,

Music is the world's universal form of communication. It touches every person of every culture on the globe to the tune of $40 billion annually, and the U.S. recording industry accounts for fully one-third of that world market.

The music industry, as it was once known is again in crisis. From the 45’s of the 50’s& 60’s to the LP to the 8 track to the cassette tape to the cd and dvd, the landscape of business continues to change. At ever increasing speed. I think the new technology is to be embraced. Although it does not come easy to the industry, it has a gun to its head. The record companies must learn to adapt to decreasing retail cd sales volumes and prices, the impact of illegal downloads and the rapid, ongoing growth in digital sales.

The new demographic power base will continue to change the paradigm expecting “my media, on my time,” content on demand and virtual environments.

The emergence of Apple’s iPod was a mass-market phenonmen. They also launched their I-Tunes store in 2003 and empowered music fans to legally download individual songs. Technology is actually changing tastes! More on that later.

For now I want to find out how many people here have an iPod or mp3 player? How many understand what they are?
I like to explain that an iPod is a digital jukebox that fits in your pocket! It’s actually a hard drive, a tiny chunk of massive computer memory. Mine is the 20 gig which holds about 5,000 songs, and has 12 hours of battery life. I LOVE it!

This iPod changed my life. So, let me share a top ten list of way an iPod can improve your life.
1. more napsac or purse space and less shoulder strain when you want music with you, since it is so much smaller/lighter than an oldfashioned walkman
2. you will not run out of batteries half way
3. you can listen to your entire library, on shuffle. I admit I have now become a modern music listener who enjoys listening to one off songs instead of albums in their entirety.
4. you can look at the display to learn song names. And personally, I’ve learned to worry less about who wrote what or who plays what since I don't have access to the info...
5. other people with white headphones will nod at you on the street
6. you can easily record conversations, since it will function as a hand-held tape recorder. I’m recording this speech right now!
7. you can also easily carry your contacts in your iPod instead of also bringing your palm pilot and it will also store your digital photographs -- the newer ones have wonderful colour displays!
8. you will also be always be carrying an alarm clock and a flashlight, since I’ve used the backlight on mine to see the lock of my apartment door in the dark
#9. you'll know what an i-pod is, just like all the kids!
10. you will never again make a list of top ten must have desert island albums. forget old fashioned shenanigins, you can bring ALL your music - you have an iPod! All the Music you’ve ever wanted in one conveniently Portable place -- your pocket!

Now, just a bit more background research on the trends:
I read that Lifehouse, a Southern California rock band has sold 887,000 digital copies of its hit single and just 770,000 copies of the album that includes the song. The trend is even more noticable in sales of an album which has sold 304,000 copies compared with its hit single “Laffy Taffy” that has been legally downloaded and paid for more than 700,000 times.

Talk about the stats to prove a decreasing album attention span in society.

We shouldn’t be surprised that The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) recently launched a Ringtone Sales Award, updating its 47-year old Gold and Platinum recognition program to reflect the growing popularity of enjoying music through cellular phones. Ringtones are an original recording, not a synthesized instrumental version of a song. Tracks are now certified Gold (500,000 downloads), Platinum (1 million downloads) and Multi-Platinum (starting at 2 million).

In conclusion of this mp3 commercial/music industry research speech I would like to say that my only problem with my iPod, and the evolving industry trends, is that it makes the rest of my life obsolete. And I'm NOT just talking about the PC System Requirements!!!

because i wasn't leaving early enough for the torture chamber -- i will now have a key and associated duties...

1) Open doors of building by 7 am on wednesday morning and setup the hall for the meeting.

2) Please make sure that water is served, the evaluation sheets and agendas are distributed, name boards are kept on the table near the entrance for the people to pickup as they enter. Post the toastmasters signs on the doors to guide the guests to the meeting room and welcome them when they enter the room.

3) Call the meeting to order at 7.15am and introduce the chairman of the day in few sentences.

(spend 1 minute only; so you have to be very brief).

An example introduction would look something like the following. " I call this educational meeting to order. Welcome fellow toastmasters and guests. I am ______ your sergeant at arms". The theme of the day is ".......(A penny saved).." and to lead the today's meeting (select your wording about the chairman such as) we have a very enthusiastic toastmaster from our club, Please welcome .......X...... Chairman of the day."

4) Please ensure that the guests sign the guest book.

5) At the end of the meeting, please collect the trophies, and other stuff including marker pens etc. and lock it up in the box. Hope that this information is sufficient for you to get it started.
The combination to the lock is written on the back of the key chain.

Thanks again. Talk to you soon, B

feedback

did wells =
met objectives of speech, engaging intro, good body language, good smile, good humour, great that audience participated.
"i liked it when you sang the instructions. nice hat too!"

next times =
don't mention your own mistake forgetting the explanation part of intro.
explanation introducing topic I.e. what IS a gait would have been helpful for non horse ppl. and also more clarification of relevance of hand motions
a few more pauses, a little more volume
kms vs mph

* * *
i did this speech with short notice to fill in for the person who ended up filling in for chair.n luckily someone else had checked the e-mail. another person found cups because the trunk combo wouldn't work and another person got volunentold by the ge about the dishes.
he said "whoa." (correctly!)

"this could come in handy around guelph. you never know when you're gonna come across a loose horse!"

i realized halfway thru my trot thing that i didn't set it up again. i cannot wing it too much because i launch in without any context.

Gryphon's Club General Evaluator's Checklist:

The Chair introduces you after the Evaluation portion of the meeting. You go to the lectern, smile, shake hands, then wait for the Chair to be seated.

Make sure speech evaluators have been thanked.

Make sure that we learn the results of our ballots:

-- smile and introduce the trophy presenter. Smile and introduce the Language Enricher (........................................) by name. Shake hands and move back and to one side while he/she presents the Trophy to the winner. Shake hands with the Language Enricher, smile and applaud while the role-player returns to be seated.

-- smile and introduce the Table Topics person (............................................) by name. Shake hands and move back and to one side while he/she presents the Trophy to the winner. Shake hands with the Table Topics person, smile and applaud while the role-player returns to be seated.

Watch the clock and try to finish by 8:10am. General Evaluator has 2, 2:30 and 3 minutes to complete the general evaluation -- use this time for overall club feedback:

one of the lessons to be practiced in speech training is that of expressing a thought within a specific time.in most clubs, each segment of the meeting is timed, and reported to the club precisely and clearly.

use time for meeting feedback, consider commenting on the following:

Did the meeting flow smoothly?

Did each section, each speaker begin and end on time?

Was everyone well prepared?

Were there any distractions?

Enthusiasm

General performance of duties: Chairperson/Table Topics Presenter or speaker/Toast-Timer /Grammarian / Speaker 1 /Speaker 2


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Return The Floor to Chair
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