Quick Update

Congrats to Annette and Carin for completing another Competent Leader award! Those two awards put us up to two points towards the 9* we need for the Distinguished Club Program.

We may have had one point already, but the final speech given for that award was on June 30th, so technically it was earned during the last Toastmaster year. Since the Toastmasters Dashboard isn't charting the current year yet I am going with the more conservative accounting for DCP.

For a brief head's up to anyone that doesn't already know, our Summer Pot-Luck Party and Vandye Forrester's house up in Garden Valley is this weekend. We'll start things off at 1 PM and the so-called "official" meal time is 3 PM, but we'll have food through-out and we'd rather see you come for a visit and have to leave early than not at all.


*We only need 5 points for Distinguished, but that has never been Boise Club 61's Goal.

The Beginning of the 2015-2016 Toastmasters Year at Boise Club 61

Tonight is Boise Club 61's 1st meeting of the new Toastmaster Year and we will be inducting most of our new officers tonight. Last week we had several officers unable to attend and tonight we will be short one officer, so we chose the induction for tonight to get the most attendees possible.

I have a few goals, tweaks, and changes in mind for the club this year, but since this is our club the most I'll be doing is gathering some ideas from the executive team and the club members, adding a few of my own, and see what we want to work on collectively as a group.

Some really minor things I feel I can easily accomplish without needing permission, like keeping the club informed about our progress in the Distinguished Club Program (DCP) and making some posts here on our blog. We do also have a Facebook page, which I recommend checking out, but I doubt I'll make many posts there.

Our Boise Club 61 Officers for the 2015-2016 year are:
President      Christopher Stogdill
VP Education      Phill Vansickle
VP Membership      Robert Corbin
VP Public Relations   Annette Krause
Secretary      Carolyn Stogdill
Sergeant at Arms      Rob Lucas

The main way for folks to keep informed about the Club's DCP progress has been the Toastmaster's Dashboard, which is an open site for all to view. You don't need a login (I verified this myself by using an incognito browser) and you can check out any club in the entire organization.

Odds are, for the average member, this is a bit much so I'll be keeping folks updated using a "simple" graphic I made and used as this post's lead-in graphic. There are 10 DPC points that can be earned and fully half of them have multiple parts to each point. Without listing every point I think you can guess which points have multiple parts to them....

We need 5 points to get "Distinguished Club", 7 points for "Select Distinguished" and 9 for "President's Distinguished". As you can see by the info on the right side of this page Boise Club 61 has been President's Distinguished for the last eight years running. I'm hoping we'll make it nine years before I finish up my term of office.

On a couple levels I don't really care for if Boise Club 61 makes Distinguished, much less President's Distinguished, but the fact of the matter is that these 10 points that make up the DCP program correlate strongly with healthy clubs. If you participate in the DCP program and earn these awards, you most likely will have a strong & healthy club.....so for that reason I'm all for the DCP program.

The dashboard is still trying to finalize things for last year so it doesn't yet show our progress, but I was able to look up a few things and get my new tracker updated.

I hope you are able to attend the meeting tonight and welcome our new officers!

Toastmasters Networking

September 30 2014

I am uploading this picture taken tonight during our break to show the world how great toastmaster meetings can be. Everyone is involved in a conversation, the room is lively, and people are smiling!!!! Love, love, love it. What can I say.... Another great meeting

Pirates

September 23, 2014      

Tonight we had the pirates theme.... All because on Sept 19th is national pirates day.    Not only do we get to practice out speeches but we learn about all kinds of stuff....  For example National Pirates Day.... Who knew?? Thanks to Google, we get to have many types of themes that allow time for a bit of education during our meetings. For example....we get to learn new words like "scupper". Scupper is a drain or spout that allows water to drain overboard or can be used to describe a ruin or wreck....

We all got to talk like pirates tonight.... A Matey, ahoy mates, come here my beauty, you remind me of a sea urchin, you land lobber, scurvy dog, walk the plank... and many more...

Tonight we had two great speeches and each had a bit of personal advice..

From Casey in his icebreaker speech --> Do not let people, who have given up on their dreams, tell you can not achieve yours!!!!!

From Paul in his 4th speech --> Moderation, eat your greens variety, and drink your wine!!!!!

Both speeches rocked tonight and yea! Another great meeting.

FEAR

I joined Boise Club 61 in October 2013 because like others, I wanted to improve my speaking skills in front of others.  I personally wanted to gain confidence and become comfortable speaking to and with large groups of people.    I needed this uncontrollable fear to dissipate so I could think on my feet and be able to communicate with an interactive group.   

A couple of weeks ago, our meeting theme was FEAR.   I found this interesting because I took time to reflect back on the last year and a half and my own personal improvement.  Did I still have fear?   Yes.... But I feel I am able to control IT instead of IT controlling me.    

Carolyn, our President, was toastmaster for this meeting and shared personal situations of fear and speaking.   She had some thought proving scenarios and offered solutions.    This was a great combination for the topic of fear.

Another great meeting!

After Elections

Our new officers from left to right.... Note the new president is holding the gavel!!

Jamie Parker .... Exiting President reading our duties and responsibilities to us.

Sergeant at Arms Phil Vansickle

Treasurer Luke Gallegos

Secretary Annette Krause

Vice President of Public Relations Lynda Clark

Vice President of Membership Tim Hastings

Vice President of Education Steven Hurst

New President Carolyn Stogdill

Everyone accepted the duties and now we are ready for a new Toastmaster year.

Congrats to Boise Club 61's New Officers!

Last night Boise Club 61 held its elections for the 2014-2015 Toastmaster year.

Serving 6 months in a club officer role is a requirement towards earning the Advanced Leader Bronze (ALB) award as part of the Leadership Track for Toastmasters International.

This group of people will lead the club to another year of earning President's Distinguished for the 2014-2015 year. Before announcing the newly-elected officers, now would be a great time to thank the previous slate of officers serving out the next two weeks as "lame ducks":

President Jamie Parker
Vice President of Education Annette Krause
Vice President of Membership Michael Pluto
Vice President of Public Relations David Coney
Secretary Carin Pluto
Treasurer Keiko Knudson
Sergeant at Arms Lynda Clark

You guys did a great job leading us to a good 2013-2014 year where we once again met all of the goals in the Distinguished Club Program for another year of President's Distinguished standing.

These folks will have some big shoes to fill, but like always the rest of the club is there to support you as much as you support us.

Boise Club 61's slate of officers for the 2014-2015 Toastmaster year are:

President Carolyn Stogdill
Vice President of Education Steven Hurst
Vice President of Membership Tim Hastings
Vice President of Public Relations Lynda Clark
Secretary Annette Krause
Treasurer Luke Gallegos
Sergeant at Arms Phil Vansickle

Hopefully we will get some posts from these folks to the Club 61 Blog.

Keeping Meetings Fun

It’s always gratifying to hear new guests and members say how much fun they had attending a Boise Club 61 Toastmasters meeting.

Toastmasters attend meetings to learn and to continually try to better our speaking and leadership abilities but having fun and getting energized are bonus benefits of attending.

Mixing a little silliness in with the serious task of learning helps to keep meetings fun.

Keep the fun alive!

Membership Building Contest

Through-out the year, Toastmasters International offers multiple membership-building contests.  

The Talk Up Toastmasters contest runs from February 1^st to March 31^st.   If Boise Club can add five new, dual or reinstated members to our roster within the contest dates, the club will receive an award.

All Toastmasters clubs need new members. Even though Boise Club currently enjoys a healthy membership base, a few months from now that could change as members move, change jobs or reach their objectives.

By introducing new members to our club, everyone in the club benefits through:

• Increased meeting participation
• Broader ideas and perspectives base increases chances to learn and hone new skills 
• Increased energy in meetings as new member excitement is contagious

Bring a guest to Toastmasters and let them see for themselves what a rewarding experience joining a Toastmasters Club can be.

Boise Club 61 Contests

Last night Boise Club 61 held its Humorous Speech and Evaluation contests.  Jamie Parker finished 1st in the Humorous Speech, while Mark Kniep placed second.  In the Evaluation Contest, George Jolley placed 1st and Bruce Schober finished in second place.

Please wish out contestants luck as the proceed to the Area A2 contest next month.

Officer Elections Results

Boise Club 61, after several elections, finally has a full slate of officers for the 2012-2013 year.

President: Brett Kennedy
Vice President of Education: Carolyn Stogdill
Vice President of Membership: Brian Vetter
Vice President of Public Relations: Carin Pluto
Secretary: Jamie Parker
Treasurer: Adam Bland
Sergeant at Arms: Dave Manning

These officers will lead us into the next year and hopefully to another President's Distinguished Club again.

Congratulations folks!

Election Day!

It is that time of year when we have to select new Boise Club 61 officers to lead us through the next Toastmaster year.

Annette Manning, who was recently elected District 15 President, headed up the nomination committee for tonight's elections.  If you've already thrown your name in the ring, thank you for volunteering.  If you haven't, but wish you did, never fear because we do accept nominations from the floor.

It is never too late to step up and help lead the Club!

Speeches Outside the Club

One of my jobs as Vice President of Education (VPE) is to help record member's speeches as they progress through the manuals.  During normal club meetings it isn't a problem, and if your club is using easy-Speak that task is automated so you don't need to even do that small amount of work.

If you happen to give a speech outside of your normal club you have to let the VPE know about it so it can get recorded properly.  If your club uses easy-Speak the process isn't nearly as straight-forward as other speeches are.

Because these "outside" speeches don't happen very often, it is easy for them to get missed.  I gave an "outside" speech today and wouldn't you know it was difficult for me to remember how to record it in easy-Speak.

The first step is requesting a speech in easy-Speak.  If you don't know how to do that you can read this entry.

 Once the speech is in as a request, all you need to do is go over to your speeches page, which is My Participation > View My Speech Progress.

That will take you to your speeches page, which looks like it is entitled My Communicator Progress, even though it should list all the manuals you have started.

At the top will be a box showing Requested Speeches.  All the speeches you have requested but not recorded as given will be in that box.  The slightly confusing part is that off to the right of your requested speeches is a little rather unremarkable arrow.  If you mouse-over this arrow you'll get a tool-tip that reads, "Speech was presented at an external event".  Clicking on this will bring up the needed pop-up window that lets you mark this speech as given.

That's it!

Club Officer Elections Coming Sooner than you Might Think!

It may seem early, but now is the time to start thinking about club leadership positions for the upcoming Toastmasters year which starts July 1st.

Why now?

Elections are just over a month away and now is the time that a nomination committee is being formed to find those that would like to run for office in this upcoming year.  If you really don't want to hold an office then maybe you'd like to help Annette finding those who do.

"They" say the best offense is a good defense, but I say the opposite hold true as well.  If you don't want to hold an office the best way to not get questioned frequently is to help Annette find those who do!

Inspiration

Sometimes it seems difficult to find inspiration for a Toastmasters speech.

I don't believe for one second that inspiration for a speech topic is difficult to find.  Most of us have tons of stories to tell, even if it something as mundane as "what I did today".  Now "what I did today" may very well make a terrible speech, but that isn't my point.  Speech topics are all around us and  the lack of "inspiration" is likely just a myth.

When people mention a lack of inspiration I think they really mean a lack of motivation.  Who could blame them if their current idea for a speech is "what I did today".  Believe me, you don't want to hear about my average day.  I don't want to hear about my average day!  If you simply pick a topic out of the ether it is hard to get motivated to do the work to prepare, practice, and present a speech on that topic.  The key is to find a topic that does get you motivated to do the work that helps you down the path towards better speaking.

Now you could brainstorm a list of topics when you want to present a speech to your Toastmasters club.  I'm willing to go out on a limb and speculate that this is how the average Toastmaster plans out a speech.  In my speculative state I'll postulate that it is during these brainstorming sessions that people feel they have no inspiration.  My response would be "you're not doing it right", but that is a topic for another time.

Instead of deciding to speak and then find a topic, I'd suggest finding a topic and then speaking.  Actually, scratch that.  Don't find a topic, but work towards having a bunch of topics.  Carry around a small notebook and pen, or create a list on your smartphone.  As ideas come across your path, jot them down.  Pick some time, maybe once a day or once a week, to go through your list and make a few notes.  Maybe some subjects lend themselves better to specific types of speeches.

The act of jotting down ideas and then later consolidating them helps take care of motivational problems when preparing for a speech.  Subjects that have no interest to you, and subsequently no motivation, get weeded out because they won't even make it on the list.  With what is essentially a "pre-approved" list of speech topics you can spend more of your time actually preparing for your presentation and less time wondering what you are going to speak about.

You never know....this might even help your complete your manuals just a bit quicker.....

Time

I wrote a post at my personal blog last night about my frustration with time and not having enough. Some weeks are nothing but work, eat, sleep, and repeat. I like doing other things, too. :) Trouble is, I have to use time to my advantage and I'm not good at this. I can spend an entire workday promising myself that I will write for an hour when I finally get home and what do I do? Watch a season of "Futurama" on Netflix while dozing off on the sofa with a cat on my lap.

There are a lot of other things I want to do besides work, eat, sleep, and drive. I like reading and comics. I like to write--fiction, blog entries, speeches, and adventures for my HackMaster game. ;) I'm also distracted easil--SQUIRREL!

If left to my own devices, personal projects will go unfinished.

When I started the Competent Communicator (CC) manual, it was easy enough to get that Icebreaker speech on the schedule. "When will you give your Icebreaker?" is a common question for new Toastmasters. After that, I looked at the number of speeches left and wondered if I would ever do them...or if I would only promise myself all day that I would do them...and then watch a season of "How I Met Your Mother..." while dozing off on the sofa with a cat on my lap.

I decided to take a stab at time management by scheduling one CC speech a month. If I wait until inspiration strikes, I'm never going to finish this manual. Knowing there is a speech on Easy-Speak calender for me gives me a little goal to work for. I'm forced to be aware of the time that I have. I'm reminded I have work to do--work that will benefit me. I will learn something about speaking, writing, and scheduling. I will learn a lot more than I will watching a whole season of "Doctor Who" and ...wait, I don't fall asleep during "Doctor Who." I should set aside some time to watch that... :)

Club Officers

While Boise Club 61 Officer Elections are months away, now is the time to be thinking about what role you'd like to take within the club in the upcoming year.

Toastmasters International has outlined the seven basic roles for a club:

President
As president, you are responsible for providing the supportive club environment members need to fulfill their self-development goals, making sure that members benefit from the Toastmasters educational program, and helping the club recruit new members and retain current ones.


Vice President Education
As vice president education, you are responsible for providing and maintaining the positive environment and the programs through which members can learn and grow. If you do your job well, your club will have satisfied members and will continue to grow.


Vice President Membership
As vice president membership, you are responsible for building membership and ensuring a strong membership base by satisfying the needs of all members. Your efforts contribute to the success of the club.


Vice President Public Relations
As vice president public relations, you are responsible for coordinating an active public relations and publicity program. Your job is vital to the growth and success of the club; your efforts help to attract new members.


Secretary
As secretary, you are responsible for keeping clear and accurate records of club business, including membership records and correspondence with Toastmasters International’s World Headquarters and others.


Treasurer
As treasurer, you are responsible for keeping clear and accurate financial records of club business and for seeing that the club remains financially stable.


Sergeant at Arms
As the sergeant at arms, you are responsible for maintaining club properties, arranging the meeting room and welcoming members and guests at each meeting.


Now is the time to talk to the current slate of officers and ask them about their position and what it really entails.  Sometimes there is a bit of a disconnect in what "the book" says about a role and how things really work out in the clubs.  It isn't a large disconnect, but it helps to know the reality of your future workload should you seek out a Club office.

Just as now is a good time to be thinking of looking at your future role within the club, it is also the time of the year that the officers are starting to look for their replacements.

Just Get Out & Do It

When I was in High School I spent my summer working at a Boy Scout camp.  One year I taught the Archery merit badge, and it was challenging.  The Scouts I had were given five hours to try and learn all of the information regarding Archery and get a good enough score at target practice.

Of course learning to use the bows safely is paramount, but having enough time to learn good form and score well enough can be challenging.

I was fortunate because a Scouter (and Adult Scout) had a "few" compound bows to lend me for the summer.  With the smaller draw pull of the compound bows the Scouts would get more out of their target practice.  I drove over a couple counties to this Scouter's home to borrow the "few" bows he had offered and came back with 39 bows.  The temporary loss of these bows hardly put a dent in his collection.

This fact I found quite peculiar, so I inquired about his massive collection, only part of which I had seen.

This Scouter's goal in life was that one of his many grandchildren would someday win a Gold Medal in Olympic Archery.

This goal, like the Toastmaster's goal to become a better speaker and leader on the way towards earning their Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM), isn't something that just happens.  You have to get out there and do the work....get in the practice.  The weekly Toastmasters meeting is just a start.  You need to seek out speaking and leadership activities in your work and volunteer life.  When opportunities come your way grab them!

It's hard to hit the target if you don't even pick up the bow.....

Boise Club 61 Speech Contest

Congrats to Marshal Sucher and Alejandro Anastasio for winning the Boise Club 61 speech contests on Tuesday, February 7th.

Marshall placed first in the Table Topics contest and Alejandro won the International Speech contest.

Both speakers will represent Boise Club 61 at the Area competition on March 9th.  That competition will be held at the local University of Phoenix campus.

We will post more details as that competition draws near.

Toastmasters is a "Speaking Mirror"

There are many great qualities about being a member and attending a Toastmasters meeting on a regular basis. Regardless of your speaking skill or experience, Toastmaster has something to learn for everyone and at any level. For me Toastmasters is  a “speaking mirror.”


Often people mention how well I speak. It is a quality I noticed I had since I was in high school. As much as I did not “like” the idea of Speech and Debate classes, I did rather well. Nonetheless, despite how well people think I speak, I still have areas of refinement. And there is no better place to deeply see who and how we are as speakers than Toastmasters.
       
In most cases people enjoy to hear me speak. However, I do not get any usable feedback other than how much they enjoyed the experience. At Toastmasters, the role of listening is also a high end area of refinement. This feedback helps the speaker sharpen skills and “dull” areas alike.


Three areas of speaking where I need a bit of work are my time, my content, and my rehearsal time. I tend to go over time, have too much to say, and do not rehearse enough. These three aspects are interrelated. Working on one helps the others. But where does one really get that chance. And if they find it, how often does that opportunity arise?


Every week if you are a Toastmaster.


I want to speak better. To have the opportunity to speak with active listeners who are present to help and support is priceless. Each week I have the chance to grow as a speaker, a person, and a leader. There are people there who also want to help. They let me see the parts of my speaking I do not see. Maybe I do not want to see and am in denial.


No matter, when at Toastmasters I am “hearing” in my speaking mirror.


And I like what that mirror has to say.
-Alejandro Anastasio