Division A Contest Schedule of Events

Spring Schedule of Contests in Div.A....

Area A5 Contest will be held at Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY on Tuesday 4/1

Ulrich Conference Room in Dyson Building,

Contest starts shortly after Area A1 contest. Contact your area governor for estimated

start time or just show up at 6pm and be there for both contests!

Area A4 Contest will be held at the Stony Hill Firehouse in Bethel, CT on Tuesday 4/1
59 Stony Hill Road, Bethel, CT 06801 (click here for a map.)

Contestants, Judges & other roles at 6pm for briefings

Contest starts at 7pm

Area A3 Contest will be held at the Gardnertown (NY) United Methodist Church on Tues. 4/1,
7pm contestants, judges & other roles, 7:30 start
(also hosting the Div.A contest... see below for address)

Area A2 Contest will be held at Guideposts, 39 Seminary Hill Road, Carmel NY.
Hosted by Putnam Speaks Toastmasters on Wed. April 2nd.
7pm contestants, judges & other roles, 7:30 start

Area A1 Contest will be held at Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY on Tuesday 4/1

Ulrich Conference Room in Dyson Building,

Contestants, Judges & other roles at 6:00 p.m.

The Division A contest is in New York state this time !

DAY/DATE: Tuesday, April 22, 2008
TIME: Contestants, Judges & Roles at 7:00pm
Contest starts at 7:30pm
PLACE: Gardnertown United Methodist Church
1191 Union Ave., Newburgh, NY 12550
(click the linked text above for a map)

Next...

Battle of the Border 2 - The return of District 46 April 24th
Div.A winners & runner-ups compete against other Divisions and even contestants from another District in this repeat of last year's great event!
Date: Thursday, April 24th in the "Big ROOM" at the Ridgefield (CT)
Library with stage, lights & sound system to create a
"District-level" contest atmosphere!
Time: Contestants & role players arrive at 7pm, contest starts shortly after.

Culminating in ...
District 53 Spring Conference & Contests! May 17th
The Delaney House, Holyoke, MA
Sat. May 17th, 2008
more info. on the conference - click here !
Keep an eye on the Div.A blog for more details about a bus trip to the conference from Div.A - http://www.areaa4.blogspot.com/

Please keep in mind that this year, clubs in areas with 4 or fewer clubs can send TWO contestants to the area for each contest (4 contestants total). And, since all clubs in Div.A have 4 or fewer... more members get to experience the excitement of taking your club speech to the area level !

And don't forget about the trophies .... it would be great if there were no leftover trophies this contest season ! Please encourage all your members to consider a contest speech!

Dave Wheeler
Div.A Governor, 2006-8

Overcommunication???? At Toastmasters????

When I saw this post (click here) titled "7 ways to Overcommunicate Anything" over at Scott Ginsberg's blog, I couldn't help but ask myself, "Could that ever apply to a Toastmaster?!?"

We focus so much on improving our communication, it makes sense that we might sometimes "overshoot the mark" and continue communicating beyond the point when we are either effective ... or appreciated.

I have often told other Toastmasters that I am surprised that we don't get more people in Toastmasters who "just like to hear themselves talk"... you know the type... it is all about them and they are just waiting for an opportunity to talk (and not really listening). You would think that Toastmasters would be like honey to the bee for these types of speakers, but there are actually very few of them (in my experience) in Toastmasters.

Maybe it is like that joke... there is one in every crowd, and if you look around and don't see one... maybe it is you.

And I have to admit... I'm sure I fall into that trap... especially when I get really enthusiastic about some aspect of Toastmasters! (Editor's Note: Toastmasters are generally pretty forgiving on this fault!)

But, back to Scott's article... some of the things he points out...

You can talk too much.
Which means you’re not listening that much.

You can listen too actively.
Which comes off as annoying and fake.

You can ask too many questions.
Which turns you into an interrogator.

You can violate someone’s boundaries.
Which makes them feel uncomfortable.

Something to think about .... and something that can make you an even more effective communicator !

Toastmasters & Evaluations ....

One of the great parts of Toastmasters is the feedback you get on your speeches. Another is the encouraging atmosphere that makes it easy to try out and develop new skills.

As A.L.Williams once said, "Before you can be great, you have to be good. Before you can be good, you have to be bad. Before you can be bad, you have to try." It all begins with getting up there and trying and not being perfect and learning from the experience.

The cartoon to the right is an excerpt from the full Dilbert cartoon (click here)... and I thought it captured the spirit of helpful evaluations & suggestions that you get at Toastmasters. (The only part that is missing are the "motion marks" around Dogbert's tail to show that he is happy to give advice!)

On a more serious note... there have been some great posts at a blog called "Six Minutes"...

Speech Analysis Series: Modified Sandwich Technique for Evaluations

• The Basic Sandwich Technique for Evaluations
• Weaknesses of the Basic Sandwich Technique
• A Modified Sandwich Technique
• The Whitewash Evaluation
• The False Praise Evaluation
• The All-Criticism Evaluation
• The Narrow Evaluation
• The Layered Evaluation

Speech Analysis Series: Evaluation Forms, Tools, and Resources

• Speech Evaluation Form
• Why this speech evaluation tool may work for you…
• An alternate speech evaluation template…
• Critiquing a Speech: Advice from the Blogosphere and Beyond

Speech Analysis Series: Toastmasters Evaluation Contests

• How a Toastmasters Evaluation Contest Works
• Why You Should Attend a Toastmasters Evaluation Contest
• Why You Should be a Toastmasters Evaluation Contest Test Speaker
• Why You Should Compete in a Toastmasters Evaluation Contest
• How to Win a Toastmasters Evaluation Contest

Evaluations are an important part of the "Toastmasters experience" and the better each of us is at giving evaluation, the better evaluations we can give and more everyone will learn about public speaking !

Note: The Fall 2008 Contests in District 53 are Evaluations and Humorous ... so it is not too early to start developing your evaluation skills!

Possible Bus Trip from Div. A to Spring Conference !

Greetings A-Team !

Did you enjoy the Fall conference? Do you know of any members that heard about it but regretted not being able to attend?

What if there was a way that they didn't have to drive all the way to Holyoke, MA to attend the upcoming Spring conference on May 17th?

Mike LaFountain (over in Area A3) has offered to put together a bus trip to the Spring Conference (assuming we have enough interest).

The trip would include transportation from Div.A, an overnight stay at a hotel near the conference on Friday night and transportation back at the end of the conference (late Sat.night).

His initial investigation was that the hotels closest to the conference were rather expensive ($180/night?) so he is hoping to find something "close enough" ... but more reasonably priced. (If he has a whole bus load... we might be able to get a group discount!)

He estimates that the overall trip price (not including conference registration) would be around $150-200 and given the price of gas and hotels, that sounds like a pretty good deal.

Which brings me to my request ... Please send an email to your Division or Area Governor to let us know how many people from your club are definitely interested in participating in this bus trip?

Please leave your comments on this blog and we will total them up and give Mike a number to work with by March 15th.

If you have ever carpooled to a Toastmasters event, I'm sure you know that the ride can be as much fun as the event !

If there are any questions... please me know.

Thanks,

Dave Wheeler

Div.A Governor, 2006-8

On Fri, Feb 22, 2008 at 11:35 PM,

Michael LaFountain wrote:

Dave,

Regarding the bus trip to Holyoke, can you please enquire of the other Division A clubs (I don't have all of the emails) and ask for ballpark numbers?

I'd like to have an idea by say March 15th at the latest. No one will need to commit until I get exact prices. I'm estimating that transportaion and lodging will run between $150 and $200. I was thinking maybe you could
ask the Area Governors to ask their Clubs and then get back to you, then you can get back to me.

I think we should make an effort to show them how good Division A is.

Mike

Atrophy or "A Trophy" - Your choice!

Speaking skills are like muscles and speech contests are like barbells.

(I got this idea from a Toastmaster in Las Vegas, Steve Pavlina)

You are either getting stronger ... or you are getting weaker. When was the last time that you stretched your speaking muscles?

If a muscle is not used, it gets smaller and weaker. This is called "atrophy".

Based on the participation level in the Fall contests, there are some areas where all you have to do is stand on your feet and meet the time guidelines and you would get a trophy!

If you actually stretched your speaking skills (and maybe did a manual speech at the same time), you might even take home first place !

The choice is yours. Get Better or Worse. There is no "status quo"!

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

Club contests must be completed by March 21, 2008.

Area Contests must be completed by April 11, 2008.

Div.A contest will be held prior to April 24th (date TBD)

The Battle of the Border event in Ridgefield, CT will be held on April 24th.

District 53 conference and contests will be on May 17th at the Delaney House in Holyoke, MA.

Div.A Toastmasters In The News !

Nara Venditti, a member of DiversityUSA Advanced Toastmasters club, Barnum Square Toastmasters, Wooster Heights Toastmasters, was featured in an article titled, "Helping Fellow Immigrants Succeed" in the latest Toastmasters Magazine.




If you have not gotten your copy of the magazine yet, it should be in the mail and on it's way to all current Toastmasters members !





Congratulations Nara !

Div.A Toastmaster In The News!

The Danbury News Times ran an article on Monday Feb.11th, 2008 featuring Dave Wheeler along with quotes by WestConn Toastmasters club president, Croix Sather.

Click here to see the whole article.

Note: We have been told that the News-Times does not keep articles on the web forever... so if it does not show up, send an email to Dave at theshot [at] gmail.com and he will figure out a way to send you a copy.

Speech of a Lifetime - Dr. Randy Pausch of CMU

Have you ever considered what speech you would give if you only had a limited amount of time left to live?

Carnegie Mellon University had a series that they called "Last Lectures" and recently Professor Randy Pausch gave a speech where he really did have a limited time to live. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was given only a few months to live... and his lecture (all 76 minutes) is an incredible glimpse into his life, his dreams and his philosophy for living.

The YouTube.com video below is the full 76 minute speech and, while he talks about many things, the greatest part of the speech is his humor. It would be very easy to get "deep" and melodramatic with this type of speech, but Randy does a great job of "introducing the elephant in the room" and then giving an excellent speech anyways!

It is well worth the time to watch! (I have also included the 10 minute version that was on Oprah... but it has much less impact.)





Click here if you have a problem with the above linked image.

10 minute version of the speech on Oprah:





The video below is a great speech by Coach Jimmy Valvano at the ESPY's awards. It is in the same theme ... Jimmy V had cancer at the time.

Editor's note: Dave Wheeler ran in the triathlon that benefitted the Jimmy V Foundation in North Carolina a number of times and that was where he first heard of the his motto... "Never give up. Never, ever give up." (which is a great motto for life... but even more so if you are running a triathlon in the July heat).

If you are wondering how Randy is doing now... click here for his medical update blog.

What if your club had a "Last Lecture" meeting where the speakers gave "the last speech of their life"? Or TableTopics questions focused on what lessons you have learned in your life?

Don't you think that it would be a great event and you would learn alot about life from your fellow Toastmasters?

Please leave a comment here or, if there is a problem leaving a comment, send your comments to theshot92 [at] gmail.com and we will post them for you.

What is it like for a First Time Toastmasters Guest?

Wayne Botha, District 53 - Area B2 Governor, wrote an interesting blog post about the experience of a First Time visitor to a Toastmasters meeting. Click here to find out how a visitor is similar to the view of a hunter in tall grass.... and how that relates to the picture to the right (courtesy of Wikipedia).

When was the last time you remembered what if felt like to be a first time guest? How overwhelming it can seem... everyone seems to know what is supposed to happen at the meeting and everyone knows everyone else, but you.

If we don't make a real effort to 1) make the guest feel welcome (by using the interpersonal communication skills we developed at Toastmasters) and 2) explain the organization of the meeting and terms we use such as TableTopicsMaster or CC or DCP. A guest might think..."What the heck is that???" and if he or she does not have someone that they feel comfortable asking about it... they might not come back or join.

Toastmasters has so much to offer... don't let your guests down by not giving them the information and support they need to take the first step !

[d53toastmasters] Div B Sponsored Winter 2008 Officer Training

From: Roger H Brown
Date: Feb 8, 2008 8:21 AM
Subject: d53toastmasters Div B Sponsored Winter 2008 Officer Training

Please extend this invitation to all Toastmaster Club Officers and leaders. Officers from any Division are welcome to attend.

What: Division B Sponsored Winter 2008
Officer Training & Leadership Exchange.

When: Saturday, February 16, 2008
9:00 AM - Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:30-11:30 AM - Training Sessions and Forums

Where: Rensselaer At Hartford, Rooms 200 and 201
275 Windsor Street, Hartford CT
http://hartford.freetoasthost.org/directions.html

Fee: $2 for Continental Breakfast

Please RSVP with Name, Club Name and Number, and current club office to DivB53@district53toastmasters.org or MichaelA53 [at] sbcglobal.net by February 13th.
The agenda for the second round training events will go beyond the basic roles and responsibilities of seven Club Officers.

Significant time will be spent on the exchange* of ideas and experiences of Club
leadership* team (officers).
See: http://www.district53toastmasters.org/training.html

Do you have Questions?
Please contact Div B Governor Michael Aron, ACS, ALB at DivB53@district53toastmasters.org

* lead·er·ship
1. The position or office of a leader: ascended to the leadership of the Toastmasters club.
2. Capacity or ability to lead: showed strong leadership during her first 6 months as President.
3. A group of leaders: met with the leadership team of the Toasty Toastmasters Club.
4. Guidance; direction: The club membership prospered and met their educational goals under the leadership of the new VP Education.

* ex·change
1. To give in return for something received; trade:
exchange two Advanced Communicator manuals for
two Competent Communicator manuals; exchanging
Youth Leadership presentation visuals/slides for
Speechcraft visuals/slides.
2. To give and receive reciprocally; interchange:
exchange of meeting resources; exchange programming
ideas.

Q&A: Speech Credits and Educational Awards

Mike Aron, Div. B Governor, provides the following insights...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Michael Aron
Date: Feb 5, 2008 12:07 AM
Subject: Speech Credits and Educational Awards

Fellow Toastmasters,

I know this was discussed on the D53Toastmasters Yahoo group before, but I have some definitive answers from Toastmasters.

At the Division B Mid Winter Leadership exchange the following questions came up.

1. When you give a speech, can you have the same speech evaluated for one of the usual speech manuals AND for either projects 4 or 5 of the Competent Leader manual or must these be done separately?

Answer from Toastmasters: If a member is working out of the Competent Leadership manual and wants to fulfill the role of Speaker, he/she may get credit for giving a manual speech. Under this circumstance only can a member receive double creditfor one speech. Remember, the speech must still be evaluated both orally and in writing.

2. I understand that you can't get multiple credits for the same "performance" of a speech, but can you give a single speech multiple times and each time use it for different manual projects, each time emphasizing different aspects of the speech? For example, when using it for CC Manual project #4 (How to Say It) one could concentrate on the wording of the speech. Then, at a different meeting, when using it for project #5 (YourBody Speaks) one would concentrate on the gestures of the speech.

Answer from Toastmasters: Giving the same speech to meet several manual projects is the choice of the member. We do not have any rule against it, however, it is recommended a new speech be written for each manual project. It helps both the speaker and audience learn from each presentation.

Michael Aron
Division B Governor
__,_._,___

Officer Training # 2 is RESCHEDULED !!!

The officer training originally scheduled for tonight, Feb.4th, has been rescheduled to Feb. 20th at the same place and time by the organizer, Area A3 Governor, Ozgur Turkmen.

John Capen, President of Orange County Toastmasters, will be at the church in case someone shows up. Sorry for the short notice.

Dave Wheeler
Div.A Governor, 2006-8

Toastmasters Contests Conference Call - Mon., 2/11, 8-9pm

Fellow Toastmasters,

Contest season is coming up - Hurray!

To ensure we'll have lots of fun and no problems, our District Chief Judge, David Freedman, is offering to host a phone conference on Monday, 2/11, 8pm-9pm.

Conference Dial-in Number: (712) 432-1100
Host Access Code: 365780*
Participant Access Code: 365780#

We invite all of you to attend.

Also, please ensure that all of your clubs are aware of this opportunity to learn more about organizing a contest so they can run successful club level contests before March 21.

This spring, we'll have the following contests:

- Tall Tales speech contest: any member in good standing from a club in good standing can participate and give a 3-5 minute speech.

- International Speech contest: any member in good standing from a club in good standing can participate as long as the member has completed 6 speeches in the basic CC manual; the length of the speech is 5-7 minutes.

The winners of the Club contests will compete at the Area level, the winners of the Area level will compete at the Division level, and the winners of the Division level will compete at the District level.

The Tall Tales contest ends at the District level but the International Speech contest will go to the Regional level and then to the International stage in August in Calgary, Canada.

If any one of your clubs' members is unsure as to whether they should compete, please refer them to the articles in the Summer Yankee Activator describing the advantages of competing:
http://www.district53toastmasters.org/YankeeActivator/YA07_summer.pdf

I hope to talk with all of you on Monday, February 11, at 8pm!

Have a great week!

Best regards,

Karin von Kaenel, Lt.Gov. Education & Training, 2007-8

Div.A Mid-Winter Training results (Session 1)

Below are some observations about the first Leadership Exchange we had for Div. A ....

We had the Div.A Mid-Winter Leadership Exchange Tuesday night and we also had one person from District 46 who joined us !

This session was set up as a "case study" exercise (with some time for networking thrown in). Socially Speaking Toastmasters were the featured club and, after I explained the format to everyone, we started out with a panel discussion to learn more about Socially Speaking TM's situation.

After the panel discussion (no questions from the audience), the attendees broke into two groups to discuss recommendations for Socially Speaking. The groups were good mixes of different clubs so there were a wide range of ideas and perspectives.

After the discussion, we came back together for follow-up questions from the two groups. After the questions, we took a break and went directly into a "presentation preparation" session so each group could finalize their recommendations to Socially Speaking.

The presentations were under 10 minutes each (actually they could probably have been under 7 minutes) and after that, I interviewed Socially Speaking officers to get their reaction to the presentations and to see if the recommendations matched what they expected (they didn't).

The whole evening was very positive and when I asked how many people would like to do this format again next year, nearly all hands went up !

It seems like it was a success ! (And Pat Wilson-Perkins did a great job getting the facility and providing refreshments.)

Of course the proof will be whether things change for Socially Speaking based on the recommendations. They have their regular meeting tonight so it will be interesting to see what they will do !

Next session is on Feb.4th at John Capen's church and we are still looking for a "featured club" !
Details & directions can be found on our blog, http://www.areaa4.blogspot.com/.

Hope you can come !

Dave Wheeler
Div.A Governor, 2006-8
Candidate for Lt.Gov.Marketing, 2008-9


On Jan 24, 2008 Will Ryan wrote:

Thanks, Dave. I'm sorry the weather got in the way of my being with you. It sounds like the evening was a big success and I acknowledge you for taking risks in trying something new. Do you have a list of recommendations for Socially Speaking? If so, this might be very helpful for Club Rescue.

Will

On Jan.24th, Dave Wheeler wrote...

Will,

Socially Speaking took copious notes from the presentations as well as the brainstorming sheets from each group's flipchart... but I do not have a list of recommendations. Part of the beauty of the exercise was that it was custom tailored to Socially Speaking and the recommendations might not necessarily apply to other club's situation.

In fact, some of the common answers that I expected, e.g. SpeechCraft or other events, did not even make it to the final presentations. Both presentations focused on the club having a clear mission and character / culture so that they could better identify where new (long term) members would come from !

It was very interesting and I hope you can make it to the next session on Feb.4th in Newburgh, NY to see it in person!

Talk with you soon,

Dave Wheeler

Advanced TM meeting is ON for Thurs.1/24 at Ridgefield Library

Greetings Advanced Toastmasters & guests!

We WILL be meeting tonight (Jan.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.

In the case of inclement weather, you can call the library at (203) 438-2282 to see if they will be open. My cell phone is also provided at the bottom of this email.

Dave Wheeler
Division A Governor, 2006-8
theshot92@gmail.com
860-309-0070 (cell)

UPcoming meeting dates: (4th Thurs. of each month)
Thursday Jan. 24th, 2008 (History Room, upstairs) - Guest night
Thursday Feb. 28th, 2008 (History Room, upstairs)
Thursday Mar. 27th, 2008 (History Room, upstairs) - Contests(?)
Thursday Apr. 24th, 2008 (BIG Dayton Room, main floor) - Battle of the Border II - "The Return of District 46" Thursday May 22th, 2008 (History Room, upstairs)
Thursday Jun 26th, 2008 (History Room, upstairs)

The other side of speaking.... Listening!

Scott Ginsberg (the nametag guy & approachability expert) had an interesting post about "Listening" that could be valuable for Toastmasters.

Have you ever considered how the other person in the conversation feels when you are talking? What are you thinking when they are talking?

Scott's article provides 8 practices to help you avoid "Conversational Narcissm" or being more into yourself instead of really listening to, and relating to, the other person. Below are an abridged version of his 8 practices ...

1. Watch your intent. First, beware of listening for selfish reasons.

2. Switch the spotlight. Give THEM the glory. REMEMBER: Listening isn’t about you. And your words need to reinforce that principle.

3. Silently check yourself. In the back of your mind (while still
listening, of course), find a way to keep yourself accountable.

4. Don’t add too much value. Trust in your ability to add value AFTER (not during) the listening process. Resist the temptation to hijack the conversation by matching or one-upping people’s points, or by trying to solve the problem too quickly.

5. Open the space. Part of your role as the listener is to make room (both physically and emotionally) in the conversation. Your best practice for this principle is the strategic use of silence. This lets the other person fill in the empty spaces AND enables him to set the pace of the conversation. ... And
“silence is golden” because it helps the other person articulate their most precious emotions. So, your goal is to become more comfortable with silence.

6. Be mindful of ownership. Don’t take over people’s problems. That’s not your job.

7. Listening is NOT a performance. Listening is about temporarily suspending your need for self-expression. So, don’t use what people say as triggers for your own jokes. Listening takes, among many things, self-control. One of my favorite rules is: Acknowledge, then shut up! SO REMEMBER: Take in;
don’t take over.

8. Recognize and return. Notwithstanding the first seven suggestions on this list, it’s still nearly impossible to avoid ALL traces of conversational narcissism. So, the secret is to recognize when you feel yourself being pulled
into narcissistic territory. That way you can correct it, then pass the conversation back to the other person.

.... Start growing bigger ears today!

Scott's full article has a number of great examples for each of the 8 steps and it can give Toastmasters another perspective... the perspective of the "audience" when you are having a conversation !

Re: Officer Training date for NY !

Special thanks to Area A3 Governor Ozgur Turkmen and (former Area A3 Governor), current Club President of Orange County Toastmasters, John Capen for scheduling and hosting, respectively, the 2nd training session.

Add it to your schedule!

Officers from other areas are welcome too !

The NY edition of the Div. A Mid-winter Leadership Exchange (officer training) will be held ...

Monday, Feb.4th

6:30-8:30pm at

Gardnertown United Methodist Church
1191 Union Ave.
Newburgh, NY 12550

Here's the link to the map of Methodist Church's location.

Now we just need to find a club whose officers are willing to be the "center of attention" for the case study approach. It should be a great experience for them and they will come back from this leadership exchange session with an incredible number of ideas to boost their club.

Let me know which club you think might be interested. If you want, feel free to have them contact me for more information about the process. I will be traveling all next week, so hopefully we can get it figured out this week.

Dave Wheeler

Div.A Governor, 2006-8
Candidate for Lt.Gov.Marketing, 2008-9

Google Search - death by public speaking

Roger Brown reminds us that public speaking is still dangerous....

From: Roger H Brown
Date: Jan 21, 2008 12:30 PM
Subject: Google Search - death by public speaking

Death By Public Speaking

This article contains information on public speaking, advice on how to achieve success with it, and why not to be scared of it. www.gapmanagement.co.uk/articles/article.asp?ref=43 - 18k - Cached - Similar pages

And THEN Try "died giving a speech"

9 Hits or 61 hits

Web	Results 1 - 9 of 9 for " died giving a speech". (0.26 seconds)

Velvetpark - Dyke Culture in Bloom » Blog Archive » Benazir Bhutto ...

She died giving a speech at the site where Pakistan's first prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, was assassinated in 1951. [ed note. we recieved this message ... www.velvetparkmedia.com/?p=507 - 44k - Cached - Similar pages

Delirium's Library: Reading London in its wounds

Tavistock Square, where my grandfather died, giving a speech to the Board of Deputies of British Jews. Russell Square, core of Modernist London, ... deliriumslibrary.blogspot.com/ 2005/07/reading-london-in-its-wounds.html - 23k - Cached - Similar pages

Daytona Beach News-Journal Online: Outdoors

The Tants expressed a firm belief in a connection between Will coming home when Tommydied, giving a speech to the local Fellowship of Christian Athletes ... blogs.news-journalonline.com/outdoors/ 2006/10/2005_tommy_tant_feature_tommy.html - 50k - Cached - Similar pages

Con Ideas « PFDebate Forums

mlk died giving a speech and riots aren't civil disobedience. Posted 6 days ago #. tpeters Member. Db8n4n6, I'm not sure what comment is directed at me. ... forums.pfdebate.com/topic/con-ideas/page/2 - 28k - Cached - Similar pages

Edequity On Line: [Fwd: Montreal/Killeen/Jonesboro vigils needed]

how Malcom X died giving a speech with warnings he was to be killed, but I was lucky because all of my adult life I have been nurtured by a veteran ... www2.edc.org/WomensEquity/edequity98/0460.html - 9k - Cached - Similar pages

[DOC]

© 2005 by Leo Poppoff

File Format: Microsoft Word - View as HTML It was not surprising that he died giving a speech in Montana on the impact of global warming on the Sierra. "In my last meeting with Dennis, he was beaming ... tahoe.usgs.gov/notes/basinwatch/basinwatch_031705.doc - Similar pages

sweatin it out on get over my fear of public speaking on 43 Things

... you hype yourself up to this huge misconception of how horrible you think it may be…when really i doubt anyone has died giving a speech. ... www.43things.com/entries/view/1108646 - 16k - Cached - Similar pages

The Lakewood Observer :: Read :: News :: Library :: Paul Stringer ...

It's about man who died giving a speech. He leaves four diamonds to his grandson that will make him a millionaire. It is a mystery. ... lakewoodobserver.com/read/news/ library/paul-stringer-the-wildcats-epiphany - 23k - Cached - Similar pages

In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the 9 already displayed.
If you like, you can repeat the search with the omitted results included.

"Give me speech... or give me death!"

We have all heard that people fear public speaking more than death... but a recent study reported at SixMinutes blog proves that the fear of public speaking is overrated !

The web comic xkcd has charted the number of deaths from numerous activities, but no public speaking deaths have been reported.

As I write this, Google searches demonstrate that public speaking is a non-life threatening activity. All of these return zero results:
“died in a public speaking accident”
“died in a speaking accident”
“died in a presentation accident”
“died in a PowerPoint accident”

Based on this "internet study" you can now breath easier at your next Toastmasters meeting !

Now, all you have to fear is fear itself !

World Champion 2007 helps District 53 kick off 2008!

Did you miss the 2008 Kickoff event featuring Vikas Jhingran, the 2007 World Champion of Public Speaking?

Vikas had some excellent advice for all Toastmasters and especially anyone who has the opportunity to enter a contest!
- Be Yourself
- Make Your Weaknesses into your Strengths
- and much more.

Did you know that his district-winning speech did not win at the club level the first time? He competed at a second club (obviously improved his speech) and ended up winning the World Championship ! What could you accomplish if you focused on improving your speech and did not give up?

Overall, the kickoff event was a great afternoon / evening and everyone in attendence had a great time !

To Thank Vikas for sharing an afternoon / evening with District 53 Toastmasters, we have created the following "video" (including Nana Danso, D53 Intl. Speech Winner and 2nd Runner-up to Vikas at the 2007 Regional contest, Deb Grehn, former District Governor and the D53 Leadership team).

To see it, click here or copy and paste this url into your browser:
http://www.jibjab.com/sendables/view/izZ1IoFwOCsCysP0S5cd0iUf

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Div.A Toastmasters in-the-News !

Hats off to Carmine Coco De Young!

Carmine, the VP-PR for WestConn Toastmasters, recently got the article pictured to the right placed in a local paper.


The article was primarily about Dave Wheeler's recent DTM award but it also included a number of quotes as well as a view into many aspects of Toastmasters that should be of interest to prospective new members.



Carmine included a photograph (which improved the chances that the story would be run) and made personal contact with the people at the paper so that she had a good idea what they were looking for in an article!

For a copy of the article from the Wed. Jan16th, New Fairfield Citizen newspaper (in PDF format), click here.

For more information about WestConn Toastmasters, check out their website at http://www.westconntoastmasters.org/.

The Dare Guy... and Dare Kids too !

Many of you will recognize the person in silouette on the District 53 "Dare To Believe" logo ... affectionately known as "The Dare Guy".

He appeared on the backdrop for the stage at the Fall Conference back in November and is has been around all year ... helping inspire us to reach new levels in Toastmasters!

Now there is a new addition
to the "Dare" family...

"Dare to Believe" Youth !


(photo courtesy of another blog, lifehack.org)





Why do we say that????


District 53 has a new Youth Leadership Coordinator ...

Doug Cloutier.

Doug was the education chair for the 2007 Spring conference and he is now tasked with reaching out to youths throughout our communities and spreading the lessons of Toastmasters!

You can contact Doug via email at youth53@district53toastmasters.org.

Please welcome Doug to his new role and let him know if you see any opportunities where Toastmasters could help young people "Dare To Believe"!

Steve Jobs... Toastmaster demonstrator!

Steve Jobs is famous for his incredible presentations at the MacWorld tradeshows. In past years he has used the stage to introduce such legendary products as the iPod and the iPhone and this year he introduced the "macbook air" notebook computer.

That is all very nice to know... but from a Toastmasters perspective, what can we learn from his recent presentation?


First off...
He was very well organized. He even numbered the key points he was going to make and told everyone up front that there were only four of them. (I know... 3 is the magic number for speeches, but we will try to cut Steve some slack.)




Next, he had good gestures. On a big stage it is important that your gestures are big enough for the audience to see. Steve did OK here... not exactly a Tall Tales contest speech, but, again, we will cut him some slack.





How about Props? This is where Steve really shined! What could be better than a standard inter-office mailing envelope to give everyone an idea of the size of the new macbook air? Everyone, even people in the back row could recognize this type of envelope... and I'm sure they were all hoping that there would be such an envelope (with a macbook air notebook enclosed) with their name on it!

Area of Improvement?
Every speech has something that can be improved and I'm sure many of you noticed that Steve Jobs thanked the audience in one of the pictures (shown in the following post).

The general Toastmasters wisdom is that you do not end your speech with a Thank You since your speech should have value to the audience and, in essence, they should be thankful that you gave it. On the other hand, Steve Jobs used the Thanks. section to build rapport with the audience... which means that maybe it was OK. We can cut him some slack.

Media Reaction....
Of course there were others who did NOT cut Steve any slack. Here is a excerpt from Presentation Zen blog....

Macobserver reported that Jobs's keynote Tuesday in San Francisco was not one of his "expectation-shattering presentations." They quoted Your Mac Life host Shawn King saying that "Jobs's performance seemed a little off." But as a commenter on the website said "...if Jobs had announced contact with an alien civilization, it wouldn't have 'shattered expectations.'"

In conclusion, it is clear that Steve Jobs intended to demonstrate his Toastmasters skills through his presentation... and, by the way, he introduced a couple new Apple products.

I'm sure we all look forward to his next speech in the Toastmasters manual!

EXTRA BONUS:
If you would like to see his 90 minute keynote speech condensed into 60 seconds... check it out below.

D53 Second-Half Kickoff and Celebration!

Sunday, January 20, 2008
3 - 6 p.m.
The Hartford, Tower Suite, 22nd Floor
55 Farmington Avenue, Hartford, CT

This FREE event is sponsored by District 53 Toastmasters as a celebration of our achievements to date and a starting point for future success.

* Wonderful food and drink!
* Networking opportunities galore!
* Updates from our Senior Team!

PLUS

* Special guest Vikas Jhingram, 2007 Toastmasters International World Champion of Public Speaking and member of neighboring District 31!Hear him tell of the path from Ice Breaker to World Championship.

Vikas is shown in the picture on the right with D53 Intl. Speech winner, Nana Danso at the regional contest.

Spread the word! Tell all your Club members:

Everyone is invited to this very special event.
RSVP by Thursday, January 17 to Deb Grehn (see note below)

From: Deb Grehn
Date: Jan 15, 2008 11:04 PM
Subject: D53 Second-Half Kickoff Meeting & Celebration - Spread the Word!

The time is fast approaching for our upcoming Kickoff Meeting & Celebration.

The event is this Sunday, January 20 but the RSVP date is in two days, on Thursday, January 17.

If you have already replied that you are coming or unfortunately will not make it, thank you. If you haven't made up your mind, I hope you do decide to join us. In any case, please tell every Toastmaster you know about this marvelous event. Here's what we're planning:

* Fantastic food and drink! How does this sound?

HORS D'OEUVRES
VEGGIE TRAY
CHEESE,CRACKERS & PEPPERONI
MARINATED MEATBALLS
MINI QUICHES

MAIN DISHES
ZITI WITH MEAT SAUCE
BAKED HAM
ROASTED OR HOME FRIED POTATOES

ACCOMPANIMENTS
GARDEN SALAD
BREAD OR ROLLES WITH BUTTER

DESSERTS

CHOCOLATE & VANILLA "DARE TO BELIEVE" SHEET CAKES

BEVERAGES

COFFEE, TEA, SODA, SPARKLING CIDER FOR TOASTING

Plus

* Networking opportunites - meet and greet your fellow District 53 Toastmasters!

* Hear brief updates from our Senior Team! And best of all . . .

* Meet the 2007 World Champion of Public Speaking! (Who knows, you could be next!)

RSVP by emailing me, Deb Grehn, at dgrehn [at] sbcglobal.net . I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Deb

Public Speaking techniques... in politics

Putting aside your political preferences, it is clear that the 2008 candidates for president are flexing their public speaking muscles....

Here Barack Obama uses repetition to inspire...




Here Hillary Clinton uses emotion to relate to her audience...



Any comments or other good public speaking examples of politicians that Toastmasters can learn from?

Click on the comments link below to tell us what you think or what you have learned from watching political speeches!

Sample of Dave's Stand Up Comedy...

(not really... or at least he hopes not)

StandUp Comedy Workshop in NYC

Have you ever considered taking a course in standup comedy?

Even if you don't want to be the next Jerry Seinfeld, it could certainly bring an added dimension to your speaking career.

What if someone you knew was already signed up ... would you sign up then?

Well, Dave Wheeler, Div.A Governor, has signed up for the Feb. course in Stand Up Comedy at the American Comedy Institute in New York City...

Want to join him? See details below.

Even if you don't want to take the course... tune in to this blog to hear when Dave's standup set is scheduled at the Gotham Comedy Club in Manhattan. (He has to do it as part of the course.)

The ACI website also includes some good articles about editing / trimming your speech ("set" in comedy terms) and the full details for the course are ....

Stand-Up Workshop Schedule
at American Comedy Institute

The schedule is:

*Orientation
Note: Bring a voice recorder to classes (or, at least, a cassette tape) ....
Monday February 11th 6-8:30pm *HELD AT OFFICE LOCATION*

*Class One (you choose the night that works best for you)

Tuesday February 12th OR Thursday February 14th @ 6-8:30pm

*Class Two (you choose the night that works best for you)

Tuesday February 19th OR Thursday February 21st 6-8:30pm

*Class Three (you choose the night that works best for you)

Tuesday February 26th OR Thursday February 28th 6-9pm

These classes are held at 481 8th Avenue between 34th & 35th Street.
Note: Our office is located in the New Yorker Hotel (unless otherwise noted)

In the upcoming workshops some of classes will be taught by Brad Trackman. Brad is a regular at several NYC comedy clubs including Caroline's, Comedy Cellar, and Gotham. His TV credits include CBS's "Star Search," and NBC's "Later" and "Friday Night." He has taught stand-up comedy at Princeton University. For more info on Brad, please visit our ACI Faculty page.

*Your two 40 minute one on one writing sessions with Stephen Rosenfield are scheduled through the office on an individual basis between the hours of 11:15-5:10 Monday through Thursday.

Writing sessions are held at our office location 481 8th Avenue Suite 736 (or over the telephone?)

*Performances

Saturday March 1st 5:30pm Gotham

Sunday March 2nd 6pm Gotham

(Performance is scheduled on an individual basis with the office)

*Screening Tuesday March 4th 6-8:30pm (held at office location)

Call Office To Register, 212-279-6980

Call to reserve your space, class size is limited.

Regret Joining Toastmasters...????

A recent article at BusinessPundit.com titled, "My biggest regret of 2007: I wish I spent more time on Facebook", got me thinking....

Why do I spend my free time doing Toastmasters? Wouldn't I be happier if I just went home and watched TV every night instead of torturing myself with TableTopic questions or prepared speeches? Don't I regret missing a little sleep when I attend an evening Toastmasters meeting and get home after 11pm?

The BusinessPundit.com article answers his regret questions [about Facebook] this way...

I'm willing to bet that as you look back on 2007, there are some things you didn't achieve that you wanted to. I'm willing to bet that you aren't sitting around wishing you spent more time on Facebook. But I bet there are days that you sat down intending to spend 20 minutes and ended up wasting 2 hours on it, or on some other Web 2.0 site.

Human beings are suffering from a values gap between the short-term and long-term. We have long-term goals, but short-term attention spans. Sometimes we forget that getting a PhD, making a million dollars, competing in the Olympics,
running a marathon, mastering a hobby, or whatever it is that we want to achieve in life is basically accomplished by sacrificing lots of the short-term to reach our goals in the long-term.

If you want to increase your self confidence, improve your public speaking skills or challenge yourself in a position of leadership... it requires a long term commitment. It requires that you give up some "TV time" and perhaps some other short term sacrifices for the payoff over the rest of your life.

But, in the end, will you remember the reruns of "This Old House" you watched or will you remember the speech you gave in front of 150 people at the Spring Conference... or when you stepped into leadership and were elected Area or Division Governor.

My bet is that you already know the answer.

Make 2008 a GREAT year for personal growth ... Join Toastmasters!

And, if you are already a Toastmaster, ... Re-join Toastmasters!

Find a new level in your speaking or leadership skills and commit to a big goal. Challenge yourself this year and grow !

Public Speaking Blog-o-mania !!!!!

Don't you just love it when someone does ALL the work for you and gives you something incredibly valuable on a silver platter?!?

Well, that's what Six Minutes blog has done with their review of the public speaking blog-o-sphere!

On his blog, Andrew Dlugan has ...

... compiled this snapshot of the public speaking blogosphere with three primary aims:
* To aid readers in the discovery of excellent public speaking blogs
* To build ties within the community of bloggers;
* To provide encouragement to current and future public speaking bloggers.

Of course he listed our blog (thanks Andrew!) and his article has a list of 70 public speaking blogs in the following groups...

• General Public Speaking Blogs: 2-5 posts/week
• General Public Speaking Blogs: 1-2 posts/week
• General Public Speaking Blogs: under 1 post/week
• Speech Humor blogs
• Speech writing blogs
• Visual Presentation blogs
• Professional Speaker blogs
• Toastmasters blogs (this is where we are listed)
• Part-time speaking blogs (where speaking is one of many topics covered)

Click here to check out the whole article!

Thanks Andrew for compiling this list! It gives us a bunch of great resources !

Hopefully we can return the favor sometime!

Dave Wheeler
Div.A Governor, 2006-8

Area A4 / A2 contest scheduled!

The Spring contest for Area A2 and Area A4 has been scheduled!


Date:
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008


Time:
Contestants & role players (judges, etc.) arrive by 6pm
Contest starts at 7pm


Location:
Stony Hill Fire House
59 Stony Hill Road,
Bethel, CT 06801

click here for a map of the location.


We look forward to a fun evening of International and Tall Tale speeches! Be sure to invite your friends and family and come out to support the contestants from your club!

Division A Mid-Winter Officer Training & Networking event

The first (of two) Division A
Mid-Winter Officer Training & Networking event has been scheduled!


Date:
Tuesday January 22, 2008

Time:
Setup at 6:30pm (Area & Div. Governors)
Meeting at 7pm (and done before 9pm)


Location:
Stony Hill Fire Department
59 Stony Hill Road,
Bethel, CT 06801

See map below...


View Larger Map

Mark Your Calendar....Spring D53 Conference!

Don't miss the District 53 Spring 2008 Conference!
Featuring the International and Tall Tales Speech Contests
and District Officer elections!

When: Saturday, May 17, 2008

Where: The Delaney House

3 Country Club Rd.
Holyoke, MA 01040

Phone: (413) 532-1800

Adjacent hotel accommodations at the Country Inn & Suites in Holyoke, MA for out-of-town or over-night guests.

Economical hotel accommodations are available at the Clarion Hotel in West Springfield, MA.

Reservations must be made before April 16, 2008.

Website:

http://www.district53toastmasters.org/conferences.html

Directions:

http://www.delaneyhouse.com/directions.htm

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Delaney+House+,&near=Holyoke,+MA

Host: Toastmasters of Division E

Michelle DeDominicis, DTM
Spring Conference Co-Chair
email: spr53conference@district53toastmasters.org

Frank Fassano, CC

Spring Conference Co-Chair
email: spr53conference@district53toastmasters.org

Mike Finn, ACG, CL

Division E Governor
email: divE53@district53toastmasters.org