Two opportunities for Officer Training... Jan.11 & 12.

There will be another (secondary?) opportunity for Officer Training,
in addition to the training session
hosted by Socially Speaking
onWednesday, January 11, 7:30pm-9pm, at their meeting place:
Socially Speaking Toastmasters Club
Congregational Church of Brookfield
160 Whisconier Road, Intersection of Routes 25 & 133
Brookfield, CT 06804


(see email below from Karin von Kanel, Div.A Governor)

Dear Club Presidents,
The second Division A officers training session will take place on
Thursday, January 12,
5:30pm-7:30pm,
in the classroom of theERSOB State Office Building,
4 Burnett Boulevard,Poughkeepsie, NY 12603

Attention: Everybody needs to be there by 5:30 or the guard is making rounds.

Also, Jean Shanahan needs a list ofattendees prior to the meeting for the guard.

Please forward this information to your club officer teams and let me know who will attend which training session.

Thanks to Jean Shanahan for organizing the room!

Happy New Year!
Best regards,
Karin von Känel

Now is the Time for PR !!!!!

I got the following email from Roger Brown with some good points for building membership in the new year !

In an email dated Tue, 27 12 2005, Roger Brown <rogerbrown@mac.com> writes:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TO ALL TOASTMASTERS AND
TOASTMASTER CLUB LEADERS (VPM, VPPR)

January is an excellent time to launch a membership building program. Some people make New Year's Resolutions and others simply say - "After the hectic holidays - I'll get organized."

I'm betting that many curious potential members would be most willing to join Toastmasters in January. But we must ACT NOW!

If you or your Club is going to catch the wave of New Year's Resolutions, you need to get the posters placed before the public eye! You need to let people know that your Club is meeting in January and guests are welcomed!

Plan ahead - get the name of Toastmasters before the public eye and ear. Newspapers, radio, TV, etc. need a certain lead time. It is time for the VPM and VPPR and their standing committees to get the plans into action.

Be resolved! And if your Club has a public web site, make sure that it is up to date ... clearly indicating that your Club is alive, meeting in January, and welcoming guests.

Consider the definition of resolution...
\Res`o*lu"tion\ (-l?"sh?n), n.
1. The act, operation, or process of resolving. Specifically: (a) The act of separating a compound into its elements or component parts. (b) The act of analyzing a complex notion, or solving a vexed question>or difficult problem.
2. The state of being resolved, settled, or determined; firmness; steadiness; constancy; determination. Be it with resolution then to fight. --Shak.
3. That which is resolved or determined; a settled purpose; determination. Specifically: A formal expression of the opinion or will of an official body or a public assembly, adopted by vote; as, a legislative resolution; the resolutions of a public meeting.

Distinguished Club Program (DCP) Reports available

It is amazing (amazingly good) that all of the clubs in Area A4 have a shot at a Distinguished Club Award !

I have printed out the current standings for each club so they can see where they stand and I will be emailing the reports (in PDF format) to each club presidents in the next week or so.

Some quick observations .... all clubs could benefit from at least a couple CL awards! I'm working on mine and I am amazed at how easy it will be to attain. If you are a club officer participating in the DCP with your club, all you need to do is a couple of modules (i.e. speeches) from either the Successful Club or Leadership Excellence Series.

Send me an email or leave a comment if there are any questions !

Happy Holidays !

Dave Wheeler

Seth Godin Workshop ... January 26, 2006 !

Seth Godin, one of the world's greatest marketing minds and the author of The Idea Virus, Purple Cow, The Big Moo and a fabulous blog is offering a one day seminar / workshop where you can learn and interact both with him as well as fellow attendees!

(He is also offering a $100 referral fee, so if you sign up please tell him that you heard it from Dave Wheeler's blog, AreaA4 Toastmasters at www.areaA4.blogspot.com . Thanks.)

Click here to learn more !

Dave

Link: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2005/12/the_new_whitebo.html

High Performance Leadership (HPL) Project

One of the requirements for the Toastmasters Advanced Leader award is a "High Performance Leadership" project.

There is a Toastmaster manual for a HPL project and, briefly, it consists of the following 5 steps:
1) Learn about Leadership & choose your Guidance Committee*
2) Choose an objective, define your vision/mission/values and give a speech on them*
3) Recruit your team and make a plan for the project*
4) Work the plan and overcome obstacles*
5) Give a speech to present your results*
* You meet with your guidance committee at each stage to assess how the project is going and what you are learning.

My Area A4 HPL project has been taking shape over the past few months, I will use this blog to tell everyone about each of the components of the project as well as any ideas that might come up from the team. (Volunteers still needed!)

Speak UP!

Dave Wheeler
Area A4 Governor, 2005-6

Fast Start Package for post-CTM Toastmasters !

I found that it was not as easy as it could be to get started on the road to awards and achievements after the CTM, so I created the ATM Fast Start Package.

The link below will give you a PDF file that lays out all the requirements and resources that you need to start earning advanced Toastmaster awards!

Dave Wheeler's ATM / CL Fast Start Package !

Please let me know what you think of it and if you have any suggestions to improve it !

Speak UP !

Dave Wheeler
Area A4 Governor, 2005-6

Area A4 Speaking Opportunities !!!

There are a couple clubs in Area A4 that are low on members and I have set up a speaking schedule to bring experienced Toastmasters into these clubs. This will give other Toastmasters in the area an opportunity to "stretch their wings" beyond their own club while also giving the host club a boost from seeing advanced speakers "in action" !

The schedule will be posted here as soon as I get it finished, but for planning purposes the 4th Wed or Thursday nights are when I have openings. Socially Speaking will be running a SpeechCraft workshop series starting March 8th and we are looking for speakers to help us with that program as well.

I will also post suggested modules and topics that will be of interest to the clubs as well as giving guest speakers an opportunity to complete modules or speeches towards their ATM or CL designations.

Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions !

Speak up!
Dave Wheeler
Area A4 Governor, 2005-6