Gems

Division G Newsletter December 2012, Volume 1, Issue 3

Highlights In this edition:

Power of Community Message from Area Governors How to Win a Contest How to Lose a Contest Moment of Reflection

Power of Community
Heather Sterling-Marriott, ACB, CL Being a Toastmaster truly allows us to stretch our leadership capacity on so many levels. To be an influential leader in our families, groups, communities and society as a whole, identifying situations where our leadership skills can be put to use is a responsibility and a privilege to be cherished. Leadership to foster club health Developing the skills to expand our leadership capabilities so that we impact others in a positive way can be done in our club, in our career and in our community. From a Toastmasters perspective, the first place to look is the climate in our club. Is the climate one that assists members at fostering their self-development in a healthy way? This support typically comes from executive officers, mentors and senior members sharing their knowledge and experience. Once your own club is running strong, it may be a great time to consider becoming a club coach by nurturing a club that needs rebuilding to charter strength. These are some of the rite of passages that we must complete in order to move forward in the advanced leadership component of the education track. The true reward lies in the feeling of knowing that you have helped your Toastmaster community stay strong and healthy, and able to continue serving members the way it should be. Leadership as an extension in career With a mastery of the basics of leadership, there are even more opportunities for true generosity and goodwill by seeking

opportunities to share our leadership skills outside of our clubs. Thanks to Toastmasters, for instance, I have been able to make the transition from Speaker to Trainer. Coming from a career background in massage therapy, I had someone told me that my future career path would be designed around speaking from a stage. As I have always been passionate about the empowerment of women, this year, as a contribution at my workplace, I conducted a campaign to promote our financial education opportunities to women in our local community. By organizing and coordinating this event, we were able to deliver a message of how to embark on a journey to financial freedom to more than forty women. I look forward to continuing and expanding these types of events in the future. In fact, the event provided increased energy and purpose in our office, and many learned to become presenters and trainers for the first time under that project. The challenge is to contemplate where in your workplace you might be able to step up as a leader, create a shift in how people perceive you, or recognize the contributions possible through you and your leadership skills. Fellow Toastmasters, for your Toastmasters journey 2013, I would encourage all of you to look for the opportunities to be influential in your surrounding with what you have gained at Toastmasters. You will be witness to the flourishing of others. To those amazing opportunities, cheers!

Message from Area Governors

From Area 60 Governor Catherine Tremblay, CC My best wishes to all of you! You are great professional looking for new competencies and this is awesome. You make a difference in each one of your club. We have really good leaders and communicators. Have a nice holiday season! You deserve a nice break. It might even be an opportunity to get new stories, information and lesson for your next speeches Lets toast for this years accomplishment! Cheers!

From Area 63 Governor Makram de Freige, ACS, ALB I so far enjoy my area governor role, because not only do I learn by doing, I also gain the opportunity to apply the leadership and communication skills that I have acquired throughout the previous TI milestones. Of course, like in any other experience, there will be some roadblocks; mainly clubs who face problems in retaining members. Another challenge can be leading an area contest; even when armed with strong communication skills, I still have to keep in mind that many people may take me as an example. The reward is that I discover leadership skills that I did not know I possessed, and that I can now apply in any situation, especially work when leading a project.

How to Win a Contest

Vitaly Terekhov, CC, Speak With Style Club Winner of the District 61 Fall 2012 Humorous Speech Contest

Tip of the Month

Here is what you can say at the beginning of your Table Topics: At the very start, let me say that we both have something in common. You dont know what Im going to say and neither do I. ~ Robert Orben

What an experience the contest has been! An adventure, a roller coaster, a nail-bite, but most of all, learning experience! Let me share with you a few lessons that the contest taught me. Lesson 1: Make your speech relevant to your audience. To make a humorous speech, we often tell personal stories and we often forget to make sure that those stories are interesting not only to ourselves but to other people. Surely, your last camping trip was so great that you feel compelled to tell the whole world about it. But what about people who dont do camping? What if such people were members of your club and listened to your speech? Theyd feel excluded and your well-crafted and delivered speech would be lost on them! My speech was about (or, rather, against) marriage the topic that everyone can relate to. Each of us is (was/ will be/ doesn't want to get) married and that is why, I didnt have to convince anyone to listen to my message. Lesson 2: Its not your speech, its your clubs speech. When you win a contest at the club level and advance to the area level, your speech is no longer yours. Its a speech of the whole club. Treat it as such. Ask other members for feedback, invite them for coffee and work together on your speech. Ultimately, I suggest that you... Lesson 3: Get a mentor! Ask an accomplished toastmaster to help you. Not only would you improve your public speaking, but you also spend quality time with an amazing person. This way, your speech becomes a club project and your success becomes a success of the whole club!

How to Lose a Contest

Helen Peng, CC, Speak With Style Club As a first-timer who advanced to the District level to participate in the evaluation contest, I was quite honoured to be among many highly experienced speakers whom I looked up to when I first started my Toastmasters journey. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and appreciated the highly encouraging comments from people in different cities. I have learned tremendously from other speakers and learned a great deal about myself through this experience. Of course the secret to lose a contest is to exceed the timing!

Vitaly Terekhov receives his First Place trophy from two Area Governors: Heather Sterling and Emiio Morales

Moment of Reflection
A presentation should be like a mini skirt, long enough to cover the essentials, but short enough to keep it interesting. ~ unknown Make sure you have finished speaking before your audience has finished listening. ~ Dorothy Sarnoff

Speak with Style troop at the District Conference.

Editor: Angela He (McGill Toastmasters) Please send your feedback, comments and creative ideas for future issues to: membership@mcgilltoastmasters.ca Thanks for reading and sharing!