We will be adding more articles to this page. To start: here are articles on speaking and articles giving personal views on the on the power of Toastmasters and an exciting joint meeting between London and Namibia.
The 2019/20 Toastmasters Year is slowly drawing to a close, yet now more than ever it is crucial not to drop our eyes on the ball as current and future success is determined by our actions as leaders. Last week-end, the incoming District Trio held a day-long marathon planning session to discuss the key priorities for the year ahead and handover responsibilities. All of us found the exercise very useful and it is something that I am planning to introduce in my own club.
Florian Bay, District 91 Program Quality Director 2018-19
Some elements to discuss in this handover/planning meeting could include:
Updating your club success plan.
What worked well/didn’t work well in the 2018/19 Toastmasters year.
Identifying possible initiatives to introduce at the club level.
How your club can achieve our District vision of every member achieving one award each year, retaining 70% of our members every year and maintaining club membership at 20+ and ideally 30+ members throughout the year.
As the year comes to an end remember to do the following tasks as soon as you can or as soon as they arise:
Submitting your list of club officers for the 2019/20 Toastmasters Year.
Submitting educational awards on club central for any member that achieves an award or a Pathways level. Updating District guidance for Basecamp managers can be found here.
Celebrating your members achievement with a special meeting that will also be a great marketing opportunity.
Handing over login details of social media platforms, email accounts, bank details etc.
Personally, I am looking forward to see us ending the 2018/19 Toastmasters year on a higher note than last year. I’m also really looking forward to what next year will bring, more on this soon!
What an amazing weekend we had in Ashford at the beginning of May! Our first three-day conference as District 91 got off to a great start on Friday with the formal District Executive Committee (DEC) meeting, wonderful workshops, the District Table Topics Contest and the Candidates’ showcase.
Distinguished Toastmasters Reception
A new event this year was the Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) reception. This was an opportunity for members who have achieved their DTM award this year to be recognised in the company of our existing DTMs. It was a fitting celebration of their notable achievement and something that we hope will establish itself as a regular feature.
Ashford Rock Choir
The evening was rounded off with a delightful dinner and excellent entertainment from the Ashford Rock Choir and the improv group A Pair of Four with Chris Murphy of Tunbridge Wells Speakers Club. They played a huge part in creating a real buzz among delegates that continued into Saturday and the formal opening of the Conference.
Pair of Four
The highlights just kept on coming throughout the weekend. Every time I thought the conference was going really well, it just got even better! Magnificent keynote speakers, a plethora of professional workshops, and the District finals for the Humorous Speech, Evaluation, and of course the International Speech contest. Congratulations to all the contestants.
One of the greatest pleasures of my year as District Director was to recognise some of the outstanding achievements of our members at the Hall of Fame. It is always extremely difficult to choose which of our dedicated and hard-working members deserves these awards when there are so many worthy candidates.
Andy Hammond, District91 Director, 2018-19 with Mary Robson
The awards this year went to:
Area Director of the Year – Sam Warner Area J11
Division Director of the Year – Janet Alkema Division A
Toastmaster of the Year – Steve Birch of Malvern Speakers and Worcester Speakers
District Director’s Award – Mary Robson of North Oxford Speakers, Oxford Orators Club and Oxford Speakers Club
Saturday also saw the District Council meeting, where your leaders for the new Toastmasters year were elected. Your incoming trio are District Director Florian Bay, Program Quality Director Arnaud Sartre and Club Growth Director Helena Boden-Brewer. They will be working with your new Division Directors Mike Burrows, Rupa Datta, Ken Essien, Sandra Mighty, Nikita Parks, Liang T Li and Beauty Zindi. I know you will give them the same great support you have given me and this year’s team.
With just six weeks of the Toastmasters year left, we are in a busy transition period. While still aiming to achieve our personal, Club and District goals, the planning for the new year is well underway. I met with the incoming trio recently as part of our handover, and the new District Leadership Team (DLT) is meting over the first weekend in June to start work on our District Success Plan for 2019-2020. The District Officer Training (DOT) for the new Division and Area Directors takes place the following weekend. You will shortly be receiving details of your local Club Officer Training (COT) and I would encourage you all to attend – it is of value to all members, not just Club Officers.
It has been a year of many successes, and I will reflect further on those in my final update as District Director next month, and as we focus on handing over to our successors, we will continue to change lives – one speech at a time.
On Saturday 13th April, I found myself waking up earlier than usual, catching the same train I get into the city every day for work. However, instead of going into the office, I walked into the familiar grounds of St Botolph’s for the Toastmasters Division C International Speech and Evaluation Contest! I was attending as an observer (although I took on a couple of functionary roles to support my home club). I took along a special guest – someone who had never before been to a Toastmasters event – my wife. This was primarily to prove to my wife that Toastmasters was indeed a real club, and not something I’d made up to get away from household chores for a few hours every couple of weeks! I also felt that my wife would benefit and be inspired by the workshops and quality of speakers on the programme.
My wife made two main observations based on first impressions. Firstly, how formal and organised the event was. Despite being a voluntary organisation it was clear this was a group of people brought together by a strong purpose. From the introduction at the beginning, to a clear agenda, to clear instructions and explanations of the day’s programme, to a timekeeper ensuring everything ran smoothly and to time, there was a shared enthusiasm and drive throughout the day to run it as efficiently as possible. Secondly, my wife was impressed with how warm, friendly and encouraging everyone at the club was. From the meet and greet on entrance, to meeting numerous friendly people throughout the day and to seeing how every Toastmasters member encouraged others during the speeches, my wife felt there was a raw warmth and sense of community.
My own reason for attendance at the Contest was to learn and be inspired. Having been a member of Toastmasters for a few years now, partaking in a couple of club level speaking contests myself, I was interested to see how speech contests developed – from club to area to division – and to observe contest winning speeches. And it was indeed inspirational! The workshops gave great tips on how to structure and tell stories, and the speeches were fantastic illustrations of how to bring it all together and deliver a great speech in practice. There was one key feature that made each of these speeches stand out for me, and this was – the message. Not just the inclusion of a strong message in the speech. But the intertwining of every element of the speech, from structure, content, delivery, examples and conclusion, in a cohesive package, to reinforce that key message and make as big an impact as possible. This is certainly something I shall be thinking about when drafting my next speech.
Overall, a wonderful day. So much to learn and draw inspiration from, whether you’ve never attended a Toastmasters event before or have been a member for years. I shall definitely be going again and would encourage anyone – who is either interested to gain a better understanding of how their club operates in the wider area and division, or to simply draw inspiration from great speakers, to go along.
By Mark Hanly, Finalist D91 Table Topics Contest 3rd May 2019, District Table Topics Winner 2017, member of Early Bid Speakers Club
It was a thrill and an honour to participate in the D91
District Final in Table Topics for the second year running.
It was the culmination of a very enjoyable series of contests and events starting at Club level at my own club Early Bird Speakers. Club contests are great. In our club, there is great anticipation and buzz around contests. Participation is high, the audience supportively noisy and and everyone brings their A-game. Thus, while you may think you know a lot about your mates in the club, you learn a surprising amount more at the Contest. It should be illegal to unleash that amount of energy in a room before most people start work! Seriously though, whatever your level of experience in Toastmasters, I would encourage everyone to take part in their club contests. It’s a real fast track to improving your skills and fantastic fun.
Mark Hanly
Moving onto the area and division contests bring new challenges and fun. It’s delightful to get a chance to play with members from other clubs and to see what new perspectives and approaches they bring. Being less familiar with the participants in these contests than those in your own club keeps the adrenaline and the keenness flowing. It is competitive, good-natured, supportive, and again enormously enjoyable.
This was the first year in which, for totally reasonable and
understandable reasons, the Table Topics District Final was held in May rather
than being the culmination of a rapid series of Club through Division contests
which were still held in autumn. I think for me this presented perhaps the
greatest challenge adapting to the lull between the Division and District
finals. I’m a great fan of go-go-go! But hey, challenges only make us grow and
learn, the very ethos of Toastmasters.
Overall, the entire series of contests is a great
experience. If you have never entered a contest, dive on in. The water’s warm,
as the old saying goes. See y’all in September for the next round!
By Alex McKee, President of Tube Talk Toastmasters Club
Years before joining toastmasters a Google search on how to become a more confident person led me to an article which listed joining toastmasters as one of its recommendations. At that time I had never heard of toastmasters and thereafter read only a little about it.
When the time came several years later to make the effort to become a better public speaker Toastmasters was the natural choice. At Tube Talk Toastmasters Club there was ample opportunity to get involved and to help the club members grow and develop. Soon I was Sergeant, VPE, President and while fulfilling all these roles my public speaking skills grew as did my leadership skills and interest in toastmasters.
The public
speaking skills I have developed have made it easier for me to share my life
experiences and to inspire others with those experiences. The toastmasters
experience have made me more comfortable in front of a large crowd – especially
in that moment when all eyes go on me. I can much more easily stand in front of
a crowd – and deliver. What’s more in a professional capacity I can more
adeptly lead meetings and engage in a more poised manner in discussions with
senior stakeholders. I am a more effective leader, listening better to
colleagues and more enabled to give feedback in a more skillful way.
And so my involvement in toastmasters has indeed made me a more confident person, confident speaker, confident leader! And I am hoping it will be the same way for many others. That is why as Area Director I will be working hard to inspire clubs and influencing them to enhance their ways of working so as to build confident speakers and leaders. To enable clubs to grow in numbers and to help ensure they are committed to providing top notch education programmes for their members. This will also be an opportunity for me to apply strategic thinking and test my communication skills out. I am up for the challenge and looking forward to it all!
