Megameetings

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By Nuala McHugh, Area 8 Director, Div B

As part of the initiative to strengthen the area and build stronger relationships, Area B8 has kicked off a new initiative for the Toastmasters 2018 – 2019 year; Megameetings. A Megameeting is where each club in the area host a special club meeting. This provides an opportunity where members across the area can make a special effort to both market and attend their neighbouring club.

Area B8 Area Director, Nuala McHugh, envisages many advantages to holding Megameetings in the area. For example, the audience would be bigger and the meeting atmosphere greatly enhanced. This will challenge members to conduct roles and speeches within a larger crowd environment with a set of new faces. Nuala also hope it will cement relations thereby bringing a greater community feel; engaging many new members who do not realise that there is a lot more to Toastmasters than their home club. We look forward to soaking up the vibes and the unique atmosphere that each club has!

My Reflection on the 2018 International Convention in Chicago

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By Ruth Ribeiro, President Riverside Communicators, Div B

In August 2018, to mark my year as President of Riverside Communicators, in Twickenham, I decided to attend the Toastmasters International Speech Convention in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Ruth with Arnaud Sartre, Fabian Bay, Lark Doley (2018-2019 Intl President), Pedro Casillas and Andy Hammond

I felt privileged to attend Lark Doley’s  2018-2019 International President’s Inauguration and met with her and other Senior District 91 Leaders for a photoshoot.  I also enjoyed seeing Balraj Arunasalam’s outgoing Presidential Speeches on stage. These 2 events had even more impact when I received the September issue of the Toastmasters Magazine with Lark Doley’s Picture on the front page and then in the same envelope, I received my very own, Competent Communicators Certificate, signed for, by Balraj Arunasalam, International President and Daniel Rex, for having completed 10 Speeches in the Competent Communicators Manual, as I reflected, thinking, Oh Wow! I know those people.  I have met them. For me, alongwith the networking opportunities within this great family of Leaders and Communicators, 3 other things stood out.

1) The Toastmasters Opening Ceremony at the Convention, started with a Parade of Representatives bearing flags from 111 different countries.  It was such a colourful and moving Parade, rather like a Toastmasters version of United Nations.  We got to sing the American National Anthem, being the Host country, and the Sri-Lankan national Anthem, being the country of origin of the outgoing International President.

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Meet a Leader- Pedro Casillas

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Pedro Casillas, District 91 District Director 2017/2018 inspires us with his story

1. What has been your journey with Toastmasters? 

I joined Grosvenor Square Speakers, (the first TI club to be set up in London), TI in 2002. During my time with TI, I have taken on many roles, (some more than once), from VPM, VPE, Treasurer, President, through to Area and Division Directors, through to being District Director last year. This year I am supporting the District in my role as Immediate Past District Director as well as helping my home club as Treasurer.
Over the years, as one would expect, I have learned to speak well in public; lead various teams; lead workshops and mentor many members.

2. Congratulations on the awards that District 91 were presented in Chicago. Tell us something more about it. 

Each year, TI challenges every Club, Area, Division and District to be the best they can be and to deliver exceptional benefits for ALL members. One way to measure this is the District Success programme, which measures how well the District is doing (the programme is broken down from District to Division to Area and Club level). Districts are judged on the number of new clubs created, the number of payments received and number of Distinguished clubs. Last TI year, 2017-18, D91 achieved the second highest award, ‘Select Distinguished District’ award. D91 finished 11th in the world out of 118 District, which is a fantastic achievement. In addition, D91 finished second in the world, with 80% + of our clubs having more than 20 members. What makes me most proud, is looking back on how well EVERYONE across the District contributed to our success and have helped to lay the foundations for continuing success.

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Volunteer First

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Many new initiatives aimed at fulfilling the 1 – 70 – 100 vision are about to be started in the coming weeks. You too can be a driving force in helping the District achieve this vision and become a better leader in the process. We are looking for volunteers to take on the following roles:

Corporate Liaison Officer – Would you like to expand your network in the corporate world and to be the face of Toastmasters in the corporate world? Join our team of experts supporting corporate clubs and open new doors for you in the business world! You will be responsible for visiting corporate clubs, organising networking events and corporate summits to support our corporate clubs and their leaders.

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Embrace New Challenges

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Life has been challenging recently so I hope you will indulge me as I reflect on my experiences.

We each have a different reason for joining Toastmasters, albeit with a common aim of improving some aspect of ourselves. We also have different reasons for staying as members, as long as we continue to feel we get some benefit.

My Toastmasters journey began nearly 18 years ago when I decided that I needed to improve my ability to deliver presentations and training, and to better deal with questions in public meetings. I found that delivering prepared speeches and evaluations helped with the former, and Table Topics gave me the skills and confidence to cope with the latter.

After eight years of personal growth and great leaps in my self-confidence, I reached a point where my enthusiasm began to wane. It was at that point that I started a new club, County Communicators. The experience of seeing a group of 20 new Toastmasters embarking on their own personal journeys was inspiring, and made me realise how much I could give back by supporting others.

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