What you wouldn’t have seen was the Hannah that I knew several months ago, part of a group of local junior and senior high school students that I was privileged and blessed with leading through the Toastmasters International Youth Leadership Program (YLP)(http://www.toastmasters.org/Members/MemberExperience/SatellitePrograms/YouthLeadership.aspx).

That was a different Hannah – one that seemed unsure about her own quiet voice and not comfortable speaking in public.   Over the course of the 16-week program Hannah discovered her voice and was provided an opportunity to lead  class meetings.  Turns out, not only can Hannah boldly speak about important topics such as injustice and responsibility, but her peers naturally look to her for leadership!

Hannah’s experience is one echoed by students and adults around the world who find the courage to join a Toastmasters International program to help them conquer public speaking fears, and soon discover that the fear has turned into a passion for communicating and leading.

How does this happen?  The YLP curriculum  is  designed to help our young people of today become our leaders for tomorrow.  It is based on the traditional Toastmasters International program for public speaking, a model for discovering and developing communication and leadership skills.  Through the program, Hannah and her classmates learned how to combat nervousness, organize their thoughts into a speech format with an opening/body/ending, make their speech content purposeful and focused, and incorporate gestures and visual aids.   They learned the difference between speaking to inform and speaking to persuade.  They practiced speaking at every meeting (builds innoculation to nervousness), learned to provide effective feedback, spoke  ’impromptu’, and organized and lead class meetings.  This is the same outline of the Toastmasters International club agenda that serves myself and my fellow club members of TASC Toastmasters (#3130).  I would also like to share my appreciation to the Executive Committee of TASC Toastmasters: not only did they encourage my desire to lead a Youth Leadership Program (YLP), but they also backed up that encouragement with the club’s financial support for all class materiatls.  The club’s support led to breakthrough moments for each student in the course! 

If you are a Toastmaster and are passionate about helping prepare our leaders of tomorrow, or are interested in Toastmasters and know some students who would benefit from learning how to speak in public, please consider the Youth Leadership Program.  Like Hannah told us that evening, there is a generation coming up that has much to contribute, a generation of visionaries, leaders, builders and artists, and it is our responsibility to help this new generation ‘find their voice’!

Open House Flyer

Click here to download the flyer

You are invited to join TASC Toastmasters on 2 June 2010 as we host our next Open House.  The event will be held 11:30AM - 12:30PM at the club’s regular meeting location in the Independence Center building (Rm W1213), 15036 Conference Center Drive, Chantilly, Virginia, 20151. 

The agenda includes the presentation and evaluation of prepared speeches by Toastmaster’ members working through the Toastmasters International (TI) curriculum, a challenging round of ‘Tabletopics’ to help participants discover and develop impomptu speaking skills and an explanation of how the world’s largest non-profit communication and leadership development program works.  

Lunch will be served; come spend your lunch time with us to find out how this program can help you meet your personal and professional goals!

For details, please contact Frank DiBartolomeo at 571.522.5037 or frank.dibartolomeojr@tasc.com.

Help us spread the word by posting a flyer! Download it by clicking this link.

It seems that there is some early St. Patrick’s Irish magic afoot: our March 17 Open House has been mysteriously turned into a club speech and evaluation contest!

While we investigate this trickery, we are left with no choice but to announce that TASC Toastmasters will host the 2010 Spring International Speech & Evaluation Contest on Wednesday, 17 March 2010, 1130-1300.

Contests are fun, entertaining and provide a friendly competitive environment, and are a significant piece of the Toastmasters educational program for several reasons, including:

• presents an opportunity for speakers to build contest experience;
• provides an informative demonstration to visitors;
• affords members who aren’t participating an opportunity to learn from competitors.

As the title indicates, there are actually two separate contests on the same day:

The occasion of the 10th and final speech from the Competent Communicator (CC) manual can be likened to graduating from college.  Now what is the word used to refer to a college graduation?  It’s “Commencement,” isn’t it.  Commencement means beginning not ending.  Presenting your 10th speech is a call for celebration for sure, but what are you going to do from here.  There is a subtle expectation, but an expectation just the same, when you become a CC, that in addition to giving speeches from the advanced manuals, you will also take on some of the more challenging meeting roles.  One of those roles is TOTD.

In my 19+ years in Toastmasters, I have seen TOTD duties fulfilled in a variety of ways.  However, just as in learning to play basketball you need to learn the fundamentals of how to shoot, dribble and rebound in a certain way rather than performing those parts of the game the way your favorite NBA player does it, there are some simple guidelines you should follow as TOTD.  The watchword is to not get fancy off the bat.  You will get many opportunities to improvise and “spice things up” in your Toastmasters career.  For right now, just knowing the steps to follow will provide you a tremendous “leg up” and a satisfying and fulfilling experience.  So what are the steps to being the TOTD?  Read on.

First, you must realize that time is your best friend and your worst enemy.  If you have time to plan, you will do well.  If left until the last minute, even the most seasoned Toastmaster will be “quaking in their boots” and will have a tough time “pulling off” this meeting role.  So here goes.  Below are the steps that I have used repeatedly over many years.  They work and right now when you are starting out, that is all you need.  Below are the guidelines to prepare for a meeting.

a.  One day before the meeting before you are going to be TOTD, confirm the speakers, evaluators, general evaluator, and table topics master.  So why do you do this at the meeting before your meeting?  There’s a simple answer.  Some of the roles will be vacant and you will need to fill them.   Also, if anyone drops out of a role, you can ask for volunteers at this previous meeting.  There is no faster way to fill roles for your meeting than at the previous meeting.  Inevitably. there will be members at the meeting who are not assigned a role at the meeting where you will be the TOTD.  However, even asking for volunteers at the previous meeting does not assure you all the roles will be filled.  What it does do is greatly increase the chances of the major roles being filled.

b.  So the previous meeting has been held and you still don’t have all the roles filled.  What do you do?  Number one, don’t panic.  You are still way ahead of schedule.  It is time to break out the old TASC Toastmasters contact list with phone numbers and e-mail addresses.  You don’t have one?  Just see any club officer and we will get you one ASAP.  ASAP means the same day, because as the TOTD for the next meeting, you really cannot wait.  Given you have the club contact list, you start contacting others to fill the roles.  Give some thought to this.  If you are missing a Table Topics Master, don’t call someone new in the club.  Call an experienced TASC Toastmaster.  Experienced is defined as anyone in the club who is a CC or possibly someone who has 7 – 9 speeches done.  It is very important you “flesh out” the role lineup before the weekend is out.  The reason this is important is people are hard to find on the weekend.  When Monday comes, you only have two days to finalize everything.  This is not much time.

c.  So you have the lineup set.  You ask yourself, “Is there anything else to do?”  You would be mistaken if you answered “No” to your question.  What you have done so far is the bare minimum.  You have the lineup, but you know nothing about the speakers.  You all have seen emcees introduce speakers.  Some do a fair job.  Others do a poor job.  Very few do a great job.  For speech introduction purposes, there are a few things you should find out about the speakers.  They are:

(1) Speech Information:  (a)  Manual, (b) Project # and Title, (c) Project timing, (d) Project Objectives, (e) Speech Title, and (f) any special things you need to say to set up the speech.  Advanced manual speeches usually require this.

(2) Speaker Background:  (a) speaker’s occupation and who they work for, (b) how long the speaker has been a Toastmaster,  (c) what goals the speaker is working to achieve and how this speech will help them achieve their goals, (d) speaker’s hobbies, and (e) any family information the speaker wishes to share.

d.  So what have you done so far?  You have filled in the lineup, you have a draft agenda, and you have some background information on your speakers.  You are in pretty good shape.  The final preparation steps are to print out 15 – 20 copies of the agenda on Tuesday night and show up to the meeting place at least 10 minutes before the start time.  Before the meeting starts, distribute the agenda at people’s places and be ready to start at the meeting start time exactly.

You have prepared for the meeting and all you need to do right now is to hold the meeting.  There are guidelines during the meeting you need to observe.  First of all, the purpose of the meeting is to highlight the prepared and table topics speakers.  These speakers plus the speech evaluators have exact time constraints on their time.  Everyone else does not.  Be careful that you or someone else does not give a speech or several speeches during the meeting.  It is amazing how we fall in love with the sound of our voice once we get up there and get positive feedback from the audience.  Keep your comments and everyone else’s except the speakers and evaluators to the bare minimum.  This is tough sometimes because you don’t want to cut off someone from speaking.  If a non-speaker/non-evaluator is a little long winded, stand up to the side.  They will get the message.  This is not a bad idea either for prepared speakers and evaluators who are way over time.

Nominally, speeches should be done around the 30 minute mark in the meeting.  Table Topics must be done absolutely no later than the 45 minute meeting mark.  With three speakers, it takes at least 15 min for the evaluation portion of the meeting.  In some ways, the evaluation session of the meeting is the most important.  This is where the learning comes in for us to improve.  We must strive as TOTDs to allow the maximum time for evaluations.

Well, that’s it.  As a wise person once said, “That’s all I know.”  If you follow the preceding preparation and during meeting guidelines you can’t go wrong.  There will be plenty of opportunities to modify what I have said above, but, if you are starting out, I would follow these guidelines.

Over my 19 years in Toastmasters, I have seen many a meeting where the TOTD was unprepared, or, believe or not, did not show up.  On a scale from 1 to 10, I would say TASC Toastmasters’ TOTDs are an 8+.  Preparation counts.  Don’t let anyone tell you differently.  If you have never been the TOTD before, don’t despair.

So when the VPE asks for a TOTD, raise your hand.  You’ll be glad you did!

You knew that the Toastmasters program worked for you, and you have casually mentioned something about Toastmasters to a few folks you know, but you assumed what many new TI members assume: the VP of Membership is solely responsible for recruiting new members into the club.

This is a common misconception that many club members have when they first join the club, and it is easy to understand why. The VP of Education supports members with their educational goals and the VP of Public Relations promotes awareness and marketing, so one could easily think that the VP of Membership handles membership building. However, chances are you didn’t make your initial contact to your club through the VP of Membership, right? Chances are that someone you know may have been a factor in your decision to check out and then join Toastmasters. In fact, TI statistics show that most members have been referred by other members, which is exactly why YOU play an essential role in membership.

But, how do members go about finding new members? Where do you look? How do you ask? What do you say?

First, suspend your efforts to find new members.

That’s right – put that task on a shelf for a moment.

Instead, relax and focus on your own educational plan. Talk to your VP of Education and/or your mentor and lay out a plan to achieve your own development goals. What will it take for you to complete your initial Competent Communication (CC) designation? Could you commit to one CC manual project a month? Or, if working on your Advanced Communicator series (ACB, ACS, ACG), which two advanced manuals can you complete in the next year? And don’t forget about that Competent Leader (CL) manual – schedule yourself for upcoming meeting roles and map them to a CL project.

Next, start working your plan. Go ahead and give yourself two weeks to give the Ice Breaker. Don’t hesitate in ordering those two advanced manuals. You know you’ll have to volunteer as Timer, or Ah Counter, or Toastmaster of the Day sooner or later – take your CL manual with you and get credit for it! The sooner you start working the plan, the quicker you’ll build momentum that will help to complete it.

Now, back to the subject of this post: membership.

Your educational plan is in place and you are working towards your goals. Evaluators are providing constructive feedback and experienced members may have noted your growth. You have given a few speeches, have handled a few roles and no longer dread tabletopics. You can ’see’ the program working by your own experiences. This knowledge begins to fuel self-confidence which serves to power-up your energy and enthusiasm.

Guess what? This is your story and it is all you need when communicating Toastmasters to others. Once people hear your story about what brought you to Toastmasters and how the TI program is helping you achieve your personal or professional goals, they are more interested in hearing how the program works.

What is your story? Consider the following:

1. What led you to visit a club for the very first time? Were you tired of feeling nervous when meeting people for the first time, or feeling nauseous when speaking to a group of people? Did your boss or teacher recommend Toastmasters? Did you join to learn parliamentary procedure or how to facilitate meetings? Were you looking to build leadership skills?

2. What was your experience at your first visit? What did you expect to find at the club? Were you surprised at what you saw and heard? Were the people friendly? Did you have preconceived ideas about Toastmasters but ended up saying “This is nothing like I expected!”?

3. What happened in the first three to six months of your membership? Were you assigned a mentor that walked along side you for your first several club roles and speeches? Did you notice a difference between your first (Ice-Breaker) and third (Get to the Point) project speeches? Did you find yourself stepping in to help newer members then yourself?

Your personal story about why you joined Toastmasters and how you have grown in the program is unique. No one has a story like you do, and your story is a powerful marketing platform. Your story starts with a problem that most can identify with and contains a solution that most can understand. You may not feel comfortable explaining how the communication and leadership tracks are connected nor may not be able to define the requirements for each designation (CC, ACB…), but you can tell your story like no one else can.

Your story, not a process description of the TI framework, is what captures the attention of those around you at work, at school, at church, in the neighborhood and in other organizations. You can tell your story, talk about how your skills have changed and describe a typical meeting. Once you tell them your story, simply invite them to an upcoming meeting, one that you know you’ll attend. (A personal invitation is much more effective than a generic flyer on a bulletin board.)

Once people hear your story they may start asking questions. Don’t sweat the details – let the great promotional literature provided by your club’s executive committee or offered on the TI website cover the specifics of the program. I usually carry a trifold brochure or two around, just in case someone wants to know more. Also, you can always offer to put others in touch with more experienced members for detailed answers. If they accompany you to a meeting, coordinate in advance with someone in your club’s Executive Committee to be available after the meeting to answer questions and introduce the membership application.

One final note: your story is not an ending – it is a beginning. Your story describes what will become a completely new adventure as you continue to overcome personal obstacles and achieve new goals. Your story will evolve along with your skills and confidence, and soon, you will be helping others to write their story.

So, what is your story?

This message is in support of a speech project that I am presenting at our 17 June 2009 TASC Toastmasters meeting. The project is titled ‘Enhancing a Technical Talk with the Internet’ and is from the Technical Presentation advanced manual. My speech topic will highlight Internet tools that assist the traveler with planning a trip, specifically tools that are available for free(*).

I plan to introduce some of the online tools I use for my family trip planning and would like to also highlight tools used by other members. Following my presentation, I will distribute a list of the tools for your use when planning your summer trips.

If you use the Internet for any of the following activities, would you mind telling me what the tool is, the website address for the tool, and one-sentence description of how you use the tool?

Please either reply to this message or leave a comment at the related post at our website: http://www.tasctoastmasters.com.

For example, if you use MapQuest to plan a route, your response might look like:

Mapquest: I use MapQuest to get directions and to print maps. The site is located at www.mapquest.com.

Please let me know if you use online tools for any of the following activities:
• Information regarding destination
• Mapping and routes
• Reservations for travel or lodging
• Travel status
• Finding resturants, gas stations, hotels…
All references by members will be anonymous during the presentation.

I am looking forward to presenting our shared information!

(*) The tool is available to the general public without a paid subscription or one-time usage fee. This assumes you already have an internet connection that you use for other purposes!).

Presentation:
Trip Planning

I hadn’t given much thought to the use of these patterns within my speeches, though I do make an effort to eliminate them in my written communication.  Somehow, during a speech I concentrate more on the message I intend to give and wether it was received than if I split an infinitive in my choice of words.  I read an article this morning on Copyblogger, one of my favorite websites for giving solid advice to and providing inspiration for those of us who strive to communicate better.

The article pointed out several reasons why the grammatical errors listed above might actually be rules that SHOULD be broken on occassion.  How often have you paused in your speech in order to add drama, then started off with a “But” or an “And” to add emphasis?  Do you find yourself crafting expressions during your speech such as “to completely immerse yourself” to grab the interest of your audience?  And how awkward would you find it, as an audience member, if you listened to a Storytelling speech and heard ”into which we all walked” rather than “that we all walked into”?  (And yes, I purposefully did just break a rule in this paragraph, just to try it out – did you notice?).

While all of us ought to be aware of the rules of grammar in order to appear polished when we speak, it is the mark of an expert to be able to discern when to follow a rule and when to break it on purpose.  A good photographer knows the rule of thirds and also knows when breaking that rule will add more dramatic interest to a photo (see this article on http://sixminutes.dlugan.com for fantastic tips on breaking this rule).  A good project manager knows when to follow the initiation to closure methodology during a project and when to break the rules by fast-tracking an effort in order to make quick progress.  And a good speaker ought to know the rules of grammer and when it is adventageous to defy them in order to make an impact.

As far as the question of ignoring your grammarian, my opinion is this: If a speaker already knows they have broken the rule, they should have no problem with having attention called to it.  However, if they are surprised that they unintentionally made a grammer mistake or, worse, are surprised that the rule exists at all … well, that is why we appreciate the role of grammarian in our Toastmasters meetings!