Calling all Club Presidents and Vice Presidents of Education!

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From the Spring 2015 Tower Conference team

Play your part – make key decisions affecting your clubs

District council meetingAt the District Council Meeting on 9 May 2015 the decision makers are you – the Club Presidents and Club Vice Presidents Education – 250 of you – plus Area Governors, Division Governors and the District Leadership Team.

Your role at the meeting includes:
• electing the new District Leadership Team
• reviewing how your district budget has been spent
• voting on the alignment proposal for clubs/areas/divisions for 2015/16
• voting on other motions that have been proposed by Toastmasters members across District 91 UK South

Your role as a member of the District Council is a vital one. You represent your club and your club members’ interests.

District Council meetings happen twice a year. It’s an opportunity to be involved. In addition it’s a great way to understand the bigger picture. How does your club fit into the District? What’s the District’s Mission and how does it support your club mission? Are District goals being achieved? What are the future developments that are important for all of us?

Helping members to learn to run meetings well, including the use of Parliamentary procedure, is one of the club goals outlined in the club constitution. The District Council Meeting is part of this learning process for all of us.

All members of Toastmasters clubs are welcome to attend the meeting

Most Toastmasters members who attend for the first time are amazed at everything that goes on behind the scenes – it’s truly an eye opener!

As the District Council meetings take place only twice a year why not come along? You’ll be there anyway for the conference (we hope)! As a club member you’ll get the opportunity to:

• Familiarise yourself with District 91’s mission and goals
• Witness nominations and elections of District Officers
• Find out about progress made toward District goals from District Governor, Hilary Briggs and the District team
• See the ‘bigger picture’ beyond your club
• Meet and network with other Toastmasters who will be attending the council meeting

When and where is the District Council Meeting?

The council meeting will commence at 11:05 on Saturday 9 May 2015 and end at 13:00. Venue: Grange City Hotel, London.

Will you be attending? Have you attended a District Conference before? We’d love to hear about your experience in the comments below!

Storytelling at Experience French

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From Odile Facih, Experience French

Storytelling at Experience French

On Monday 23 March 2015 we have a STORYTELLING workshop with Julie Kertesz DTM.

Julie will use her professional story telling skills to demonstrate how stories can greatly enhance our speeches and presentations.

There will be also be some opportunity for you to practice with story table topics.

We hope to hear even more storytelling at Experience French after the workshop!

The meeting will be in English. You are very welcome to join as a guest.

When and where is the Storytelling Workshop?

EXPERIENCE FRENCH – Monday 23 March 2015

Start time: 18:45
Venue: Fitzrovia Community Centre – 2 Foley Street W1W – 6DL – Owen Room. (Close to Goodge Street and Warren Street underground stations).

New Clubs Workshop report

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New clubs workshop It was a sunny Sunday afternoon in Maidenhead and where would a bunch of dedicated Toastmasters be, other than at a New Clubs Workshop?!

Who was at the New Clubs Workshop?

Our workshop was facilitated by Lt. Governor Marketing Vanessa King and we had a wide range of experiences to share. We had long-standing members, people who’d set up more than one club, people who’d been members for only 18 months, club officers and interested members. The one thing we all had in common was the desire to set up a new club and spread the Toastmasters love around!

What was discussed?

We identified the questions and challenges that the attendees had and then we discussed the type of club we could set up – anything goes! (within certain guidelines). We talked about finance, always an important consideration, and the availability of demo meeting teams. Did you know there are a bunch of people willing to come in and run a demonstration meeting for you? All you need to do is ask.

We spent a good deal of time going through how to fill in the necessary forms, which was really valuable because although there’s a lot to do it is a reasonably simple process.

After a short break we went into more detail about club governance. When you sign those charter forms you are, in effect, setting up a company with shareholders and there are certain obligations and responsibilities that must be upheld. Good governance leads to quality clubs, and that’s what the aim is after all.

We also discussed the delicate issue of splitting clubs. Attendees had quite a bit of experience in this and it was incredibly valuable to share our ideas. There are Toastmasters guidelines about how many members a club should have and guidelines for splitting a club in a way that is beneficial to all members. The most important thing, of course, is that all members agree to it. Splitting an existing club is the easiest way to form a new club – no new member fees!

What’s happening as a result of the New Clubs Workshop?

The results of this workshop are already starting to show. Out of ten attendees, four are ready to start setting up a new club where they live or in their workplace. One of these is an advanced club near the borders of Areas 14, 21 and 53 but open to everyone. Another attendee is encouraged to help reinvigorate an existing pre-charter club that has had some trouble getting off the ground.

There are plans to hold another workshop in the London area, watch this space!

If you would like more information on new club please contact me (Vanessa) Click here to email or Andy O’Sullivan Click here to email

You can find out more information on starting new clubs on the Toastmasters International website

Top up your speaking skills with 3 extraordinary trainers

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From Si Tate, Berkeley Square Speakers

TMI logo smallARE YOU…

  • New to Toastmasters and looking to take titanic leaps in your Toastmasters knowledge?
  • An experienced Toastmaster wanting to tweak your talents?
  • Not doing anything on Saturday the 14 March 2015?

If you answered ‘YES’ to any of the above then Berkeley Square Speakers has just the thing for you…

On 14 March, we are bringing together 3 Toastmaster’s legends to help you with 3 fundamental speaking skills required to be a top Toastmaster.

We have scoured the globe and secured Freddie Daniels, Lynne Cantor and David Jones to take you through a packed morning of fun and (mostly) education to help you:

  • ELEVATE your Elevator Pitch
  • Becoming a CHAMPION Evaluator
  • WIN at Table Topics
Want to come and join us?

Please click on the link below and reserve your place:

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/toastmasters-masterclass-with-berkeley-square-speakers-tickets-15668204020

The workshop will take place in central London. Your speaking skills will be enhanced… you’ll have fun…come along!

Champion tips for winning a speech contest

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Have you ever imagined that you could the person winning a speech contest?

Bob Ferguson

 

Bob Ferguson has won the district Evaluation Contest, the Humorous Speech Contest and the International Speech Contest. He is well qualified to give us some top tips!

He has said on many occasions that entering contests is one of the best ways to help you improve your public speaking skills. The added focus means that you learn an improve quickly. To put it another way winning a speech contest is a great learning experience.

 

    • 1. Record your speech ideas in a book as they come along. This way you’ll have plenty of good ideas when it comes to writing a speech.
    • 2. Use a personal story in your speech to hook the audience in emotional. You want them to feel involved in what they’re hearing.
    • 3. Remember to think about “What’s in it for me” (WIIFM) from the audience’s viewpoint. Speeches are always more compelling when they address our needs.
    • 4. Listen to other speakers. See what they do that builds rapport with the audience. Can you customise that technique to your style?
    • 5. The key to a good humorous speech is to think how many people will recognise the humorous situations you describe. Good observational humour, where everyone recognises the humour, will make it easy for them to laugh. Personal jokes that only you appreciate can be hard to deliver. They can also get a blank response! This is true for the humorous speech contest. It also applies if you are bringing humour into your speech for the International contest.
    • 6. Practice doing your manual speeches outside your club to build your confidence in front of different audiences.
    • 7. Prepare for your club speech like it’s the District final. Every District champion starts by winning a club contest and it could be your club – imagine if you beat them!
    • 8. Record yourself practicing and put it on a CD or MP3. Play it in your car while you drive around. That way you learn the speech by a natural learning method and you can think while you learn.
    • 9. Don’t rehearse in front of a mirror it can be distracting. Instead, video yourself and watch it back. This may take a little getting used to but it will be very worthwhile.
    • 10. Get as much stage time as possible. Look for every opportunity – family groups, business meetings. Grab the opportunity to practice your competition speech in front of anyone you can.
Bob’s top tip for the International Speech Contest

 

Look ahead to the finals of the World Championship of Public Speaking

**For International Speech competitors start writing three speeches as soon as possible. Most winners of the International speech are not focussed on competing in the World Semi-Finals held at the International Convention. They forget their winning District speech took a lot of effort to polish. Enter the contest with three speeches so that you’re ready if you win.**