The Role of an Emcee ....

I saw this article about being an Emcee for a (presumably) large event and thought it contained some excellent insights that could be applied to Toastmasters, and in particular, district conferences.

http://blog.ericfeng.com/emcee-like-a-pro-after-you-read-this-of-course/

It is also interesting to see how their comments / suggestions compare with Croix Sather's Emcee efforts at the last Fall conference. I think the ideas can also help at regular Toastmasters meetings or EC meetings as well.

Dave Wheeler

D53 LGM, 2008-9

Be The Change You Want to See !

Officer Training in Neighboring Districts 31 & 46

Picture above is from one of the session at TLI #3 in Latham, NY on Saturday July 26th, 2008.

From: Marsha Kiley, D53 LGET
Subject: Officer Training in Neighboring Districts 31 & 46
We are now in the season of new club officer training (7/1 - 8/31)! YES!

I hope all of your new club officer lists have been submitted to Toastmasters International and you are ready (if you are an officer) to attend one of our Toastmaster Leadership Institutes (TLIs) in order to perform your role with fresh ideas and the best interests of your members in mind. It's a fact that trained officers make for healthier and happier clubs! YES!

In addition to our 3 TLIs in D53 (6/21 Manchester CT, 7/19 Marist College and 7/26 Latham NY) I also want to pass on training that is occurring in our neighboring districts 31 and 46.

District 31:
Thurs July 17 from 6:30 to 9:30 PM at Waters in Milford, MA

Tues July 22 from 6:30 to 9:30 PM at Raytheon in Woburn, MA

Tues August 5 from 6:30 to 9:30 PM at Tech Park in Billerica, MA

Sat August 23 from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM at Cumberland RI Public Library

Wed August 27 from 6:30 to 9:30 PM at Tang Center, MIT, Cambridge, MA

District 46:

Mon. July 28 from 6-8:30pm at Fair Deal Cafe, White Plains, NY

(check out their web page for other sites / dates in NYC and Long Island)

Randy Pausch passed away today.

Randy Pausch was given 3-6 months to live... almost a year ago.

But he passed away today.

If you have not seen Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture" check out this post. (click here) His full lecture (not the ones on Oprah or other shows) is over 1 hour long, but it is highly inspirational and should not be missed. (Don't bother with the shorter ones... even though I posted a link back in February.)

One of my favorite quotes from Randy's last lecture...

"It's tough for me to talk about having fun. It's like a fish trying to talk about the importance of water. I don't know how to not have fun. I'm dying and I'm having fun. And I'm going to keep having fun every day I have left ... because there is no other way to play it."

Below is a video of speech he gave at this year's commencement at Carnegie Mellon. It is a fitting farewell to an excellent public speaker and a inspirational human being.

Live Your Life!

TLI #2 photos ... and news on # 3 !

District 53's Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI) event # 2 was held last Saturday (July 19th) at Marist College and we had over 70 officers trained.

The event ran from 9am to 1pm and many club officers went out to lunch with their team before heading home.

It was a great event as you can see in the pictures posted here.

There is another TLI scheduled for Saturday July 26th, 2008 at ...

Where: Wildwood Programs, 1190 Troy-Schenectady Road, Latham, NY

When: July 26, 9AM-1:15PM
Registration opens @ 8:00 am with a continental breakfast.

Club officers are encouraged to attend but any Toastmaster is welcome !
And it is FREE !
Hope to see you there !

The Power of Sub-headings

Why should you read this ?

I just read a great article about the use of subheadings in written articles and thought that you might be interested (especially if you either write a newsletter or contribute to a website).

Location:
The article can be found here...
http://www.copyblogger.com/subheads/

Dave's experience:

I've found that subheadings improve greatly readability (as mentioned in the article) and when the text is posted on a website, they even improve ranking in search engines since often the subheadings are keywords for searches.

Leave a comment and let us know if you find this helpful !

Dave Wheeler
D53 LGM, 2008-9
Be The Change You Want To See !

Advanced TM meeting Thurs.7/24 at Ridgefield (CT) Library, 7:15pm

Greetings Advanced Toastmasters !

DiversityUSA Advanced Toastmasters will be meeting this week on Thursday July 24th in the "History Room" at the Ridgefield Public Library starting at 7:15pm.

Ridgefield library is located at 472 Main Street, Ridgefield, CT 06877 click here for a map showing the location. Directions are available on the library's web site: http://www.biblio.org/rdgfldpages/direct.htmÂ

Agenda Topics for Thursday 7/24:
- Area Governor Andre White will be visiting. (Business casual. No ties required.)
- Plans for coming year (events, themes, projects)
- Prepared speeches (send an email to Dave Wheeler to be added to the agenda)
- Advanced Tabletopics and Role Plays (bring a topic and/or situation)

Please pass an email along to any Toastmaster in your other clubs who has achieved their CC or Advanced Communicator awards in the past year. We would love to have them attend a meeting and learn about opportunities for growth through DiversityUSA Advanced Toastmasters Club.

Talk with you soon,

Dave Wheeler
President, DiversityUSA Advanced Toastmasters, 2008-9

District 53 LGM, 2008-9 theshot92@gmail.com
860-309-0070 (cell)

UPcoming meeting dates: 4th Thurs. of each month

Fwd: M&M Research (Therapy) for Toastmaster Leaders

Since I've assume role of the new M&M (Marketing & Membership) leader for District 53, it was great to get the following email from Past District Governor, Roger Brown. He said it is based on something he found on the internet back in 2005 and I hope it makes you smile too!

It is also an interesting tie-in for the upcoming Fall contests. (Clubs should have their contests done by Aug.23rd!)

Dave W.

From: Roger H Brown
Subject: Re: M&M Research (Therapy) for Toastmaster Leaders

M&M Evolution

Whenever I get a package of plain M&Ms, I make it my duty to continue the strength and robustness of the candy as a species. To this end, I hold M&M duels.

Taking two candies between my thumb and forefinger, I apply pressure, squeezing them together until one of them cracks and splinters. That is the "loser," and I eat the inferior one immediately. The winner gets to go another round.

I have found that, in general, the brown and red M&Ms are tougher, and the newer blue ones are genetically inferior. I have hypothesized that the blue M&Ms as a race cannot survive long in the intense theatre of competition that is the modern candy and snack-food world.

Occasionally I will get a mutation, a candy that is misshapen, or pointier, or flatter than the rest. Almost invariably this proves to be a weakness, but on very rare occasions it gives the candy extra strength. In this way, the species continues to adapt to its environment.

When I reach the end of the pack, I am left with one M&M, the strongest of the herd. Since it would make no sense to eat this one as well, I pack it neatly in an envelope and send it to M&M Mars, A Division of Mars, Inc., Hackettstown, NJ 17840-1503 U.S.A., along with a 3x5 card reading, "Please use this M&M for breeding purposes."

This week they wrote back to thank me, and sent me a coupon for a free 1/2 pound bag of plain M&Ms. I consider this "grant money." I have set aside the weekend for a grand tournament.

From a field of hundreds, we will discover the True Champion.

There can be only one.

The Ultimate Corporate Presentation?

For everyone who has sat through a boring, bullet-filled Powerpoint presentation, check out this YouTube.com video of a [fake?] high energy "corporate presentation".....

Holidays and meeting themes

From: Roger H Brown
Date: Jul 11, 2008 4:33 PM
Subject: Holidays and meeting themes

Who said there are no holidays in August?

If you have a holiday, you have a topic for a theme meeting!

The Swiss National Day (German: Schweizer Bundesfeier; French: Fête nationale Suisse; Italian: Festa nazionale Svizzera; Romanish: Fiasta naziunala Svizra) is 1 August.

It is celebrated each year at a local, municipality level (though certain events draw nation-wide attention) with town-wide paper lantern parades, bonfires, hanging strings of Swiss flags and fireworks.

An interesting quotation ...

From: Walter W. Beveridge
Date: Jul 2, 2008 7:30 AM

Fellow Toastmasters,

Yesterday at noon I attended a meeting of the Toastmaster Club at Cartus in Danbury, where they installed their new officers for the coming year. The President of the company addressed the group, speaking about leadership.

In the speech he said,

"Leadership is a fundamental void in all organizations".

Wow! What an opportunity!

It appears that Toastmasters is in the right place at the right time. Whether or not you take the quote literally, there is a huge need for leaders in business today.

I believe it.

I can think of several reasons why this might be. The good news is that Toastmasters helps people develop leadership skills just as easily as communication skills.

I would recommend that every Toastmaster Club put special emphasis on the use of the Competent Leadership manual and be sure that all members are aware of the potential value to them.

Walter W. Beveridge, DTM