Announcement: Division A Contest

From: Alison Easton
Date: Sep 12, 2008 4:12 PM
Announcement: Division A Contest

Dear Fellow Toastmasters!

The Division A district officer team and West Conn Toastmasters cordially invites you to the Division A Humorous and Evaluation Contest!

When: Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Time: 7:30pm – 10:00pm
Where: Wooster School library
91 Miry Brook Road
Danbury, CT 06810
All contestants please RSVP by Monday, September 22nd to Alison Easton

Google Location Link:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=h&msa=0&msid=101768772676331454250.0004563ae1d5d03f06a02&ll=41.369168,-73.495992&spn=0.005507,0.013486&z=17

Contestants & participants (judges, timers, counters, etc) should arrive by 7:00pm for briefings.
Light refreshments will be served and there will be a silent auction of TM goodies to help defray the cost of the room.

Please contact Alison Easton, Division A Governor or Anne Swartout, President of WestConn Toastmasters if you would like to be a judge, timer, counter for the contest.

Humorous Speech Contestants:

A1 Winner -- Derek McGee, Poughkeepsie Area Chamber Toastmasters, club 4396
A1 1st runner-up -- Maureen Creagan, The Bureaucrats Toastmasters, club 790849

A2 Winner -- Jose Hernandez, IBM Poughkeepsie Speechmakers Toastmasters, club 315
A2 1st runner-up -- Patrick Meaney, IBM Poughkeepsie Speechmakers Toastmasters, club 315

A3 Winner -- Louis Ruidisch, Henry Hudson Club #4507
A3 1st runner-up -- Louise Messina, Henry Hudson Club #4507

A4 Winner -- Dan Rapley, Wooster Heights Toastmasters club 9685
A4 1st runner-up -- Pete Lane, Socially Speaking Toastmasters club 4720

Evaluation Speech Contestants:

A1 Winner -- Richard Basener, Poughkeepsie Area Chamber Toastmasters, club 4396

A2 Winner -- Bob Cohn, Putnam Speaks Toastmasters, club 4839
A2 1st runner-up -- Patrick Meaney, IBM Poughkeepsie Speechmakers Toastmasters, club 315

A3 Winner -- Patricia Hendrickson, Catskill Club #9542
A3 1st runner-up -- Carole Hurst, Orange County Club #9315

A4 Winner -- Kevin Wortman, WestConn Toastmasters club 599
A4 1st runner-up -- John Tepedino, Barnum Square Toastmasters club 1701

Thank you! Any questions, please let me know.

Alison Easton
Division A Governor - District 53

Starting to think about the next conference?

Have all the club and area contests got you thinking about the upcoming Spring Conference?



Barbara Neumann of the IBM Poughkeepsie Speechmakers club sent us some photos from the Fall '07 Conference (hosted by Division A) they are posted here to remind us of all the fun we had !

Thanks Barbara !!

Pictures (from top)...


Photo 1: Registration Chair Janice Parker at the registration table.


Photo 2: (l-r) Ozgur Turkmen (Area A3 Governor), Dave Wheeler (Div.A Governor), Janice Parker (Area A5 Governor & Registration Chair)








Photo 3: (l-r) Croix Sather (conference emcee aka "Mr.Energy"), Will Ryan (District 53 Governor), Susanna Opper




Photo 4: (below - right):
Kristin Nicholson giving her evening presentation on the main stage.




Photo 5 (below):




(l-r) Deanna Dunn, Patrick Meaney, Kristin Nicholson (Intl. Director), Barbara Neumann on stage in front of the "Dare to Believe" logo!











Higher resolution versions of these photos can be downloaded by clicking the "Photo #" (linked text) above.


Photo hosting provided by http://www.notewordy.com/

Important Story tips for contestants....

If you watched the video in the previous post you were introduced to some of the basic elements of storytelling.

The video below is even MORE IMPORTANT ... especially for Speech contestants!

The key to stories is CONNECTION.
Doug Stevenson makes a great point ...

... Connection must come before CONTENT!

And if you are going to have a winning speech, you need to make that connection!

Good editing tips!

The folks over at lifehack.org have another great article for Toastmasters...

"Improve your writing with these editing tips!"

The more speeches I write, the more important an effective editing and refining / improvement process is to the quality of my speech. This is especially critical (or at least most noticable) in Toastmasters speech contests where, assuming you win, you get a chance to give the same speech multiple times and edit/improve it between each speaking opportunity. (That also highlights a drawback of just doing a different speech every time as you move through a Toastmasters manual... you don't get to develop your editing skills as much.)

Here is what they say over at Lifehack.org...

... if writing isn’t taught well enough or often enough these days, editing is hardly taught at all. This is too bad, since editing is where the real work of writing is at. More than just proofreading, good editing improves the clarity and forcefulness of a piece.

Here’s some tips and tricks to help you make your writing more effective:

• Read out loud
• Read in reverse
• Sleep on it
• Cut, don’t add
• Justify yourself
• Eliminate pretentious language
• Throw out and get rid of unnecessary redundancies
  [blog editor's note: See the unnecessary redundancy in this tip?]
• Kill unsightly adverbs
• Avoid Passive sentences

Lifehack.org sums it up this way...

Good editing, like good writing (or, better, as part of good
writing), is an art. It takes time and practice to develop a real talent for editing, but the end result is worth it — your writing will be more alive, more effective, and ultimately more likely to be read. And that is, after all, what’s important: that your audience reads and, just as crucially, understands your
work.

Click here for the complete article!

Good suggestions for anyone writing their next speech ... or an article for the Yankee Activator !!

... or even a blog !

Division C Results....

Niantic, CT - On October 15th the Division C Speech Contest was held at the Niantic Community Church. About 50 people attended to see who would represent our division at the District Speech Contest in Fishkill, NY on November 3rd.

The event was host by the Niantic Toastmaster Club. Club President and C3 Area Governor, Lynnea Mahlke and Treasurer and C6 Area Governor, Cate Steel, organized this event. Great job Lynnea and Cate!

We were extremely honored to have Past District Governors, Frank Kane and Joe Zafian and Lt. Governor of Marketing, Marsha Kiley, attend our contest.

The Table Topics Speech Contest was the first event of the evening. All six contestants were escorted out of the room, and then one by one each contestant was brought back in and asked to speak about their 15 minutes of fame. Answers ranged from running with goats and cows, to scooping dog poop from rescued dachshund dogs.

Next up was the Humorous Speech contest. Speakers spoke about The Lion King Movie, motivational myths about money, an infomercial describing public speaking gadgets that every speaker cannot be without, not having to wear a girdle, high school fun and childhood memories.

Let me tell you, the judges had their work count out for them this night. Everyone was FANTASTIC!

At last the results were in and the Contest Master and Chief Judge announced our winners.

Humorous Speech Winners: (left to right)
James Keeny (2nd place), Sreeni Voleti (3rd place), David Thackston (1st Place)




Table Topics winners: (left to right)
Joe Zafian (2nd place), Liz Trendowski (1st place), & Richard Dalkowski (3rd place)

The event ended with a few comments from the Division Governor, Sharon Mercado, and Lt. Governor of Marketing, Marsha Kiley.

It was an absolutely amazing evening! The speeches were phenomenal, the food was delicious and everyone in attendance had fun! What a night!!!!

Hope to see you all at the Fall District Conference in Fishkill, NY to support and cheer on our Division C winners, David Thackston (Humorous) and Liz Trendowski (Table Topics). For more information about the conference, click here.

Watch out NY, because Division C members are the Champions of the World!!!!!

Ute's Toastmasters banner

The graphic on the right shows the layout of a Toastmasters banner that was created by Ute Brinkmann. When it is printed and mounted, it stands about 6 feet tall and is a highly visible "mini-billboard".

The District 53 Executive Committee is considering purchasing some banners along with the banner stands (which can be updated with new or different banners for different occasions) to help promote Toastmasters in our District.

The idea is that banners like these are a very useful marketing tool at tradeshows, contests and other Toastmasters events to draw attention or highlight the location of a meeting.

Special Thanks to Ute for taking the initiative to design (and purchase with her own money) this banner so that we can see a real-life example. Look for Ute's banner at upcoming contests and meetings !

Tell us what you think ... leave a comment below or email Dave Wheeler, Div.A Governor, at divA@district53toastmasters.org.

2 Contestants per club for fall area contests - Change in D53 procedure

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Will Ryan
Subject: Contestants for fall contests - Please note a change in D53 procedure

The polls have now closed and your votes produced a quorum! Thank you very much. Of the 44 members of the committee, 32 voted.

The results are:
We will allow 2 contestants per club for Area contests in Areas with 4 or fewer clubs. Please check the attached alignment spread sheet for Areas (20) affected by this change.

We will allow 2 contestants per Area for Division contests in Divisions with 4 or fewer Areas (applies only to Division E).

Will Ryan DTM
District 53 Toastmasters
District Governor
2007 - 2008 "Dare to Believe"

Speech Contest Deadlines... start planning now!

The Deadlines for the Division Contests were moved to an

earlier date to allow more time between the completion

of the Division Contests and the District Contests at the Fall and Spring D53 Conferences.

-- Fall 2007 --

August 18
Area & Division contest dates to be set and published

September 21
Deadline for Club Table Topics and Humorous Contests

October 5
Deadline for Area Table Topics and Humorous Contests

October 19
Deadline for Division Table Topics and Humorous Contests

November 3

District Fall Conference and Hall of Fame Fishkill, NY

Hosted by Division A !!!!

-- Spring 2008 --

February 8

Area & Division contest dates to be set and published

March 21

Deadline for Club Tall Tales and International Contests

April 11

Deadline for Area Tall Tales and International Contests

May 3

Deadline for Division Tall Tales and International Contests

May 17

District Spring Conference Division E - MA

Toastmasters materials for upcoming contests

With contest season fast approaching, it might be helpful to know where to order paperwork, manuals and other supplies.

On the TI website you can order a "contest kit" for each different type of contest. Here are the links ...

Fall 2007 Contests:
TableTopics Contest Kit
Humorous Contest Kit

Spring 2008 Contests:
Tall Tales Contest Kit
International Speech Contest Kit

Additional Materials:
Evaluation Contest Kit (next Eval.Contest in District 53 is Fall 2008)

There are also a number of resources online (try a Google search for "Toastmasters Tabletopics contest" or similar).

If you have any questions, please contact your Area Governor or Division Governor. The names and contact information can be found at www.district53toastmasters.org or you can email Dave Wheeler, Div.A Governor, at theshot92@gmail.com.

It is also a good idea to let your Area Governor know when you schedule your club contests. This will help them as they prepare the Area contest.

Happy Contest Season !

Division E Contest Winners !

Division E held their Spring Contests last night at Elms College in Chicopee, MA and had an excellent evening of speeches!

The winners included...

Tall Tales Winners
(l-r in picture)
Michelle DeDominicus,
1st Runner-up,

Kay Kanavino,
2nd Runner-up,

Phil Hayes, 1st Place
International Winners:
(l-r in picture)
Steve Sottman,
1st Runner-up

Michelle DeDominicus,
1st Place,

Laura Grunfeld,
2nd Runner-up







The last picture here includes all the contestants / winners...from left to right,
Steve Sottman, Michelle DeDominicus, Kay Kanavino, Laura Grunfeld and Phil Hayes.

If we mispelled anyone's name or if you can add the contestant's speech title or home club name & number, please send an email to Dave Wheeler at theshot92@gmail.com or leave a comment below.

Division D crowns their champions....

Last evening at the Plumb Memorial Library in Shelton, CT, Division D had their Spring contest, led by ContestMaster Maureen Moreau and Chief Judge Tom Fitch with the following results....

Tall Tales Contest:

1st Place:
Richard Peck, "The Snow Angel"

1st Runner-up:
Yashika Forrester, "The Magic Pot"

Tall Tales contestants pictured:
(l-r) Seizo Mazer, Richard Peck, Yashika Forrester, Richard Frantz, Jr.

International Speech Contest:

1st Place:
Brian Cavanaugh, "The Call's for You."

1st Runner-up:
Ben Lacar, "Fear as a Source of Power"

contestants pictured are:
(l-r) Angela Govila, Brian Cavanaugh, Ben Lacar and Jeff Rosow

It was a fun evening of entertainment and education....If you missed it, you will definitely want to get to the Spring Conference on May 19th!

The "Battle of the Border" .... April 19th!

The Battle of the Border is ON !

The newly initiated Div.A Advanced Toastmasters club has reserved the (very large) "Dayton Room" at Ridgefield (CT) Library for a BIG EVENT on April 19th.

Click here for a copy of the event FLYER !

The Dayton Room at the Ridgefield Library has a raised platform and audio equipment that will be good practice for the winners of the Division A contests (prior to the District Contest in May). We expect to pull in the winners from Division D ( Southern CT) and even Division G of District 46 in WestChester County, NY and parts of NJ.

The agenda will be similar to a Toastmasters contest... with a few variations since it is NOT an official contest. It is simply a [tongue-in-cheek] grudge match between neighboring divisions in different districts!

In fact, it might end up being more like "American Idol" than a "normal" Toastmasters contest!!

Our "first pass" agenda looks like this....

Warm-up Section:
Toastmaster: Dave Wheeler, Division A Governor
Introduction of Timer, Ah Counter / Grammarian and Judges

Speakers:
Croix Sather, Tall Tales winner, Div.A (D53)
Tall Tales winner Div.D (D53)
Nana Danso, Intl. Winner, Div. A (D53)
Rob Ferrucci, Intl. 1st Runner-up, Div. A (D53)
Intl. Winner, Div.G (D46)
Intl. 1st Runner-up, Div. G (D46)
Intl. Winner, Div.D (D53)
Intl. 1st Runner-up, Div. D (D53)

alternate speakers (to fill any empty slots above if needed)
Jinghua Xu, Tall Tales 1st Runner-up, Div. A (D53)
[name?], Tall Tales club winner, BI Toastmasters (D53)
[send an email to Dave Wheeler at theshot92@gmail.com if you would like to be considered as an alternate speaker).

Panel of Judges:
Anne Swartout, Area A4 Governor (D53)
Mary Neff, Div.G Governor (D46)
Evaluation Contest Winner & Runner-up(D46)
Div.A Advanced Club members
Ah Counter/Grammarian
Timer

Voting for Best Overall Speech (and runner-up) will be made by audience choice and announced after the speakers have each had a brief evaluation / comments from the Judges.

TROPHIES will be awarded !!!!!!

Bring a guest and enjoy a great evening of entertainment !

Div.B Contest Winners !

Div. B had their Tall Tales and International contest on April 12th with some excellent speeches! (Division A contestants better keep practicing!)

People in the picture include:

Front row (l-r): John Lynch, District Gov.; Rama Ramesh,Tall Tales 2nd Runner-up; Will Ryan, Lt.Gov.Education & Training

Second row (l-r): Marsha Kiley, Div.B Gov.; Michael O'Brien, 1st runner up for Int'l; Mike Aron, ContestMaster & Area B3 Gov.; Joe Zaphian, Tall Tales winner; Rich Couture, Tall Tales 1st Runner-up; Steve Gondak, Intl. Contest winner.

Division A Spring Contest Results !!!

Last evening the Spring Contest for Division A was held at the Wooster School in Danbury, CT. The contest was hosted by WestConn Toastmasters who were able to adjust to a change in plans when we arrived and found that Wooster School had scheduled a meeting in the Wooster School Library at the same time as our contest. Bruce Cornwell worked with one of the top people at the school to find another location on campus and we ended up in the dining hall next door to the library. Everyone chipped in and re-configured a portion of the dining hall into a "contest area" and we were able to have a GREAT contest!

The winners of the contests were...

Tall Tales Speech Contest:
1st Place: Croix Sather, Socially Speaking Toastmasters, club 4720, Area A4

1st Runner-up: Jinghua Xu, BI Toastmasters, club 7386, Area A2

2nd Runner-up: Thomas Franklin, IBM Poughkeepsie Speechmakers, club 315, Area A1

International Speech Contest:
1st Place: Kwabena (Nana) Danso, BI Toastmasters, club 7386, Area A2

1st Runner-up: Rob Ferrucci, WestConn Toastmasters, Area A4

2nd Runner-up: Deanna Dunn, IBM Poughkeepsie Speechmakers, club 315, Area A1

Picture Captions:
Top picture:

(L-R) District Governor, John Lynch, Deanna Dunn, Nana Danso, Rob Ferrucci

Middle Picture (Tall Tales Winners):

(L-R) Thomas Franklin, Jinghua Xu, Croix Sather

Bottom Picture (Intl. winners):

(L-R) Deanna Dunn, Nana Danso, Rob Ferrucci

Area A1, A3 and A5 Contest Results

We had a fun-filled evening last night hosted by Marist College Toastmasters in Poughkeepsie, NY. Here are the results...

Area A1 Results:

Tall Tales

1st place: Adam Izzo

(pictured to the right with Area A1 Governor/ContestMaster, Colleen Yarter and Area A5 Governor, David Gavin)

1st Runner-up: Thomas Franklin
3rd Place: Ziyad Choudhury

International Speech Contest:

1st place: John Affronti

1st Runner-up: Deana Dunn

(John & Deana picture to right)

3rd Place:Richard Basener

Area A3 Results:

Tall Tales

1st place: Susan Lacey

(pictured to the right)

1st Runner-up: Joan Kern

International Speech Contest:

1st place: Chris Albanese, Orange County Toastmasters

Trophy for 1st Runner-up was not awarded (no other contestants)

Area A5 did not have any contestants in the International or Tall Tales contests. Two trophies and one winner's medal for Area A5 went home lonely!

We look forward to having the winners (or their runner-ups, if they can't make it) at the Division A Contest on Wed. April 11th at the Wooster School (hosted by WestConn Toastmasters). Times and directions are available on the District 53 website (click here).

Area A2 and A4 Contest Winners !!!!!

We had a PACKED room at the Wooster School Library last night and we saw an incredible display of contest speeches! The caliber of speeches is definitely high this year !

Area A2 Results:
Tall Tales
1st place: Jinghua Xu

International Speech Contest:
1st place: NaNa Danso
1st Runner-up: David Alexander


Area A4 Results:
Tall Tales
1st place: Croix Sather, "Fish Tale", Socially Speaking Toastmasters
1st Runner-up: Tracy Buskirk (WestConn)
3rd Place: Richard Smith (Barnum)

International Speech Contest:
1st place: Rob Ferrucci, "What do you want to be", WestConn Toastmasters
1st Runner-up: Liz Smith (Barnum)
3rd Place: Raiza Arnone (Cartus Magnus)

We forgot our digital camera but there were about a million video cameras set up at the contest (actually maybe 3-4) so hopefully someone can send us some pix from the videos !

Register now for 2007 Spring Summit

You are cordially invited to the District 53 Spring 2007
Leadership Summit: Leveraging Your Speaking Advantage
May 19, 2007
Sheraton Hartford Hotel
East Hartford, Connecticut

Join us for a jam-packed day of inspiration, networking, and knowledge infusion that will invigorate your passion, your direction and give you renewed vision you can begin using the following Monday morning.

We've designed the conference to provide real value in your personal lives by showing you how to leverage the advantage you have gained as a Toastmaster and applying it to your home, job and community.

Read the list of educational sessions to see what an uplifting and entertaining day it will be.
http://www.district53toastmasters.org/spr07EduSessions.pdf
http://www.district53toastmasters.org/spr07EduSpkrs.pdf

Then use the registration form to reserve your space in this limited event. Register before April 1st and get your 10% discount. Submit your registration today - this event is expected to sell out.

http://www.district53toastmasters.org/spr07registration.pdf

Due to the Sheraton's size, session rooms have limited seating and the hotel has a maximum attendance limit. Seating in each educational session is limited. Please rank your first and second choice. If we receive your registration after your first choice class is full, we will enroll you in your second choice.

Sincerely,

Rick Kominowski
Joyce Petteway Co Chairs - "District 53, Spring 2007, Leadership Summit"

More Club Contest Winners ... BI Toastmasters

On 3/16/07, Steve Rock wrote:

As the Vice President – Education for BI Toastmasters (#7386) it is my pleasure to inform you of the result of our Tall Tales Speech Contest, conducted 3/15, and International Speech Contest, conducted 3/8.

Tall Tale winners....

^{1st Place – Jaime Navarro}

2nd Place – Jinghua Xu

3rd Place – Nana Danso

International Speech Contest winners ...

^{1st Place – Nana Danso}

2nd Place – Andre White

3rd Place – Zhanna Yuabova

We look forward to seeing the winners at the Area A2 / A4 Contest on Wed. March 21st at the Wooster School Library. Contestants should arrive at 7pm for briefings so the contest can start at 7:30pm.

Note: if the first place winner cannot compete, the next place winner can take his / her place. Please encourage all contestants to come prepared to speak ... you never know when someone's schedule will change and you will have an unexpected opportunity to compete !

Winners of Local Putnam speaks Contest

Susan Schefflein sends along the results for Putnam Speaks Toastmasters recent club contests...

Subject: Winners of local Putnam Speaks Contest
We had our local ontest last night.
The winner of the International Speech Contest was David Alexander ATMS. Runner up was Walter Beveridge DTM.

The winner of the Tall Tales was Nicholas Valhos, a new member to Toastmasters.

fyi: The area contest will be March 21: http://www.district53toastmasters.org/diva/calendarA.html

Tips for Tall Tales Contestants (or anyone writing a speech)...

The YouTube videos by Ira Glass (see links below) were featured on Presentation Zen (another blog) today and they have some great ideas for anyone building a speech ... especially those of you who are entering the Tall Tales contest.

Check them out...

Video # 1 (Click here)

Video # 2 (Click here)

Video # 3 (Click here)

Video #4 (Click here)

Let us know what you think ... leave a comment below !