The CC season is here !

It is January and you know what that means....

Time to set goals for the year and plan for all the great Toastmasters events that are coming up in the next few months !

What types of goals?

How about finishing your CC? Now is the time to get signed up on your club's meeting schedule and let your VP-Education know that you want to finish your CC by the end of April (which could help your club win TM materials if they are distinguished by April 30th) or perhaps by the Spring Conference on May 22nd where we are hoping to celebrate meeting our District goal. If you miss either of these targets, there is still the goal of the end of the Toastmasters year, June 30th, 2010. If you get your CC done by then it could help your club become distinguished and earn a ribbon for your club's banner.

What if I've already finished my CC?

How about doing a second CC? You will be amazed by how much a second (or third) CC helps you improve your basic speaking skills. When was the last time you really focused on Vocal Variety? Or speaking to Inspire? Skills get rusty if they are not used regularly. Polish up your speaking skills and you will be glad you did. Send an email to your VPE right now to get on the speaking schedule ! Don't wait !

Did you know...
... that you can order just the evaluation guides from the CC
manual for only $1.95 ! Click here to order them from TI !

What about Contest and Conference (the "other CCs")?

Your work on your CC (manual) will also help you in your club contest (cc) which could even lead you to the finals at the District 53 Spring Conference in Bloomfield, CT on May 22nd, 2010 !

• Club Contests should be held by March 19
• Area Contests by April 9th and,
• Division Contests by April 30th.

Did you know...
... that you can get credit towards a manual speech for any speech you do as part of the Tall Tales or International speech contests? It just needs to be evaluated in the manual by another Toastmaster !

Contests are a great way to "jumpstart" your progress toward your next award ... plus you get the added benefit of refining your speech as you progress to each level of the competiton.

Remember...

The competition is really with yourself. If you do the best that you can (and learn from the experience)... YOU ARE A WINNER !

Move forward and Enjoy the CC season !

Dave Wheeler

D53 LGET, 2009-10

Ode to our club officers...

We have approximately 3000 members in District 53 and over 140+ clubs.
With 7 officers per club, that is over 980 club officers!


These club officers are key to the success of our organization since clubs would not last very long without the people who step up to be officers.


We should not lose sight of why Toastmasters exists (in addition to having Fun)... to develop our members ... and enthusiastic, trained club officers are critical to this mission.



Ode to those who volunteer to be Toastmasters club officers ...
by Dave Wheeler


They arrange the meeting room ....
... so everything runs smoothly.



They greet us at the door with a smile ...
... and set the mood for the club.



They lead by example ...
... by focusing on their communication and leadership goals.



They find time to attend officer training ...
... so they can better support their club.



They serve their members ...
... and help each person grow and develop.



They communicate to their community ...
... so that the value of Toastmasters is not kept a secret.



They collect dues and handle the paperwork ...
... that keeps the club going.



They update the club website ...
... as a resource to existing and potential members.



They measure the progress of each member ...
... because they know that commitment + measurement = results.



They come up with new ideas for the club to try...
... and reach out to members for their ideas.



They are Toastmasters club officers and ...
... they make Toastmasters FUN !

*****************************************************

Have you thanked your club officers recently?

The Future of the Library .... is Toastmasters!

Seth Godin had a very short blog post (so short I pasted the whole thing below) about the future of Libraries....

The future of the library
What should libraries do to become relevant in the digital age?

They can't survive as community-funded repositories for books that individuals don't want to own (or for reference books we can't afford to own.) More librarians are telling me (unhappily) that the number one thing they deliver to their patrons is free DVD rentals. That's not a long-term strategy, nor is it particularly an uplifting use of our tax dollars.

Here's my proposal: train people to take intellectual
initiative.

Once again, the net turns things upside down. The information is free now. No need to pool tax money to buy reference books. What we need to spend the money on are leaders, sherpas and teachers who will push everyone from kids to seniors to get very aggressive in finding and using information and in
connecting with and leading others.

Sounds like "Toastmasters at Libraries" would be a great combination!

People who have better communication and leadership skills are better equiped to stretch their comfort zones in other ways... and "take intellectual initiative".

When you have the self-confidence to speak in public, you are able to try things in other areas of your life and your world expands.

What do you think?

Leave a comment below!