All meetings at School Board Offices, 4351 Ontario Avenue, lower board room

Please print out the schedule, highlight your name on it, and post it by your calendar.
CLICK HERE for the screen AND printer-friendly version.

Let Barb as VP Ed and the Toastmaster know ASAP if you aren’t available.

I’ve added a Competent Leader tracking sheet to the Cheat Sheets page. You can print it out, tuck it in your CL manual and use it to keep track of exactly where you are in your progress.

I originally found it via the Toastmasters International group on LinkedIn. There are loads of very useful discussions there on all aspects of Toastmasters – I highly recommend joining LinkedIn (like Facebook, but for work!) and reading the TI group.

Kevin

With sadness we said good-bye to Yumi and Senri, our Japanese students. While they have taken away improved English skills, they have left an example of courage and inspiration. They forced us out of our comfort zones because we had to learn new communication tools too. And they proved that Toastmasters is for everyone, no matter their walk of life. Both said they’d join Toastmasters in Japan and keep us up to date.

With pleasure we welcome Howard, Bud and Kerri who bring new ideas and reminders that we are all in this together. We are all responsible for helping them even if they have personal mentors.

At the officer training Isabelle, Neil, Jim, Susan and I attended in Nanaimo Jan.30 we heard that 60% of people who leave clubs just weren’t satisfied but most never tell us. It is everyone’s responsibility to make all members and guests feel welcome, and well informed. We were asked, ”Do you only talk to your friends at the break or before the meeting? Do we reach out to a guest and find out what their needs are?  Will you make the new members feel they are an important part of Sunshine Speakers?” Remember what it was like the first time you came to a meeting. I do, and I was scared.

At that training each one of us sat in on group discussions pertaining to our executive role. We were so proud to have Jim teaching Sergeant at Arms…but then we think he’s the best! Thanks Jim!

March 11 is our club speech contest with Linda chairing it. It is two competitions: International Speech Contest open to anyone who has given six manual speeches. Evaluation contest open to all. Evaluators will evaluate one test speaker. Chief Judge Jim will be looking for judges, timers, and ballot counters.

The winner from these contests goes to the next level, the Area Contest Mar.27 at the Lawn Bowling Club. Once again we  are priviliged  to host  the clubs from the Island. Folks…we have a reputation to uphold because of the exceptional hospitalitiy we’ve shown in years past. Let’s show them the same or better. I am chairing that one and will be looking for the following: Food committee. Drivers to pick up and deliver from the ferry. Set up and take down crew. Greeters. Chief Judge George from the Island will be looking for one PR judge, ballot counters.

Did you receive the latest TI magazine? It’s full of tips that will come in handy not only in Toastmasters but in the “real world.”

Keep having fun. Keep growing. Keep being one of the strongest clubs on the coast. I am so proud to be one of you!

 Barb your VP of Education/the lady who makes up the schedules and helps you achieve your goals!

Moments of Truth

Action Items

Sunshine Speakers Isabelle Southcott and Barb Rees conducted Moments of Truth in December 2009. Although the club is doing well, there are some areas where we could do better. We have 40 members, which is more than we have ever had. It is wonderful that so many people are discovering the benefits of Toastmasters but it also creates challenges for our VP of Education Barb Rees. Although we operate as one club, we are in many ways two clubs as some members attend noon meetings only, others attend evening meetings only and a handful attend both.

Feedback provided by the six breakout groups at Moments of Truth is valuable as it allows your executive to improve. Here’s what we found and what we intend to do.

First Impressions:

•It was noted that we need a base for our lectern. Neil McKenzie is in the process of building a base for the lectern.  It will be a folding base that is easy to carry and store.

•We need to provide guests with the opportunity to remark on the meeting. Toastmasters should provide guests with the opportunity to comment on the meeting they run. It can be challenging during a noon hour meeting as time is short however there is ample opportunity at evening meetings.

New Member Orientation:

•When inviting guests please make sure you give them clear directions that we meet in the lower board room of the School Board offices on Ontario Avenue. Guests sometimes go upstairs to the front door which is always locked in the evening.

•Make it clear that mentoring is a free service provided by Toastmasters and that people do not have to pay their mentors. When people from other countries join Toastmasters they don’t understand our customs and one of our members thought she had to pay extra for mentoring.

•Mentors need to explain exactly what the icebreaker is to their mentees. They also need to go over roles that their mentees have for the first time. All new members are expected to attend Newbie 101 but it is a lot of information to take in at one time.

Fellowship, Variety and Communication:

•If you respond to an email that was sent out to all club members please do not hit respond all as it can be overwhelming to receive 40 emails. Hit respond to sender only.

•More practice using microphones was requested. We hope to hold a second microphone workshop.

•Name tags should be provided for all guests. All Toastmasters need to greet guests and help out. This is a club responsibility and should not  only fall to the Sergeant of Arms as he is often busy attending to last minute details.

Program Planning and Meeting Organization:

•Add mini workshops that are not part of educational series on topics such as Evaluating, TableTopics, Storytelling etc.

•Mention that cheat sheets are available in the lectern for timing, tabletopics and other roles.

•If you do tip of the week please post it on the blog.

Membership Strength:

•Themes: Let each Toastmaster come up with a theme. Have the Toastmaster for each meeting let his Tabletopics master and the person who is doing the word of the day and the quote of the day know what the theme is and have their material reflect this. See blog for theme ideas.

•We need someone to oversee the mentoring program.

•Tip of the week has been added to each meeting to remind people how to do certain jobs properly.

Recognizing Accomplishments:

•Announce new appointments from the District and International levels in order to keep members up-to-date on what is happening.

•Show the CDP chart more often.

Congratulations Linda on finishing your CC manual!

What a fun Christmas party with partners coming along to share the evening! Lots of good food, fun auction that raised over $100 for our fund-raiser, and an opportunity to enjoy each other outside the structure of a meeting.

Whatever your beliefs may be this time of year, hope you take time to reflect on all you’ve accomplished this past year, what didn’t work and what you’d like to improve on, celebrate who you are. But above all be grateful for having family and friends and never take them for granted.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! See you Jan.7 when Sean will be our Toastmaster.

Put  A Sock In It annual campaign was a huge success, thanks to you ,our local radio station airing it, and Quality Foods for putting the donation box there. Isabelle and I sorted all 123 items: 3 scarves, 15 hats, 27 pr. gloves, 73 pr. socks, 3 sweaters, 2 pr. pants and 1 pr slippers. Salvation Army clients benefit. Toastmasters is more than a speaking opportunity; it’s an opportunity to give back to the community.

Since I posted this I went back to Quality Foods to collect the box and it was full again. The end results are:176 items including: 118 pr. sox,19 hats,4 scarves, 29 pr. of gloves and also a handful of shoelaces.

Our local radio station 95.7 Sun FM was thrilled to hear that in part to their great on air campaign the public got involved in the it.

Put a Sock in it

On another note. When we completed our Moments of Truth last week I sent the results to our Area Governor Brian Chow, Division Governor Jaimie Lawlor and Tom Jones(not the singer) VP of Ed for the District(all of BC). Tom’s response blew Isabelle and I away. He is so impressed by your response to it that he is going to passs it on farther up the chain and elsewhere as testimonial of the importance of the program. Aren’t we thrilled when we are held up as role models? Keep up the good work.

Glowing with pride for such an awesome bunch of people!

Barb

With Mr. and Mrs. Toastmater/Ken and Ernalee leading the way with their charm and graciousness the meeting was fun, educational and inspirational.

This was Ice Breaker central as Yumi and Jeff broke the ice and survived. We learned that Jeff was a curious kid  on a trike pretending to be a heilicopter who  turned into a man hungry for knowledge. Great job Jeff, and look forward to you spending more time here!

Yumi: You inspire and encourage us to step outside what we are comfortable with. For us who speak fluent English, getting up there and giving a speech can be hard yet you did it with English as a second language. We learned there are 3 types of bowing in Japan so now we know more than Pres. Obama did when he bowed the wrong way. Yumi won the Knock Yourself Out Award for bravery. We will miss your brightness when you leave in January Yumi.

Once a year each club teaches Moments of Truth which is an evaluation of how the club is doing …taking the pulse. Last night as I helped Isabelle present it, I saw the best response from the club and  guests too.  One guest said this was the perfect first meeting  because now she understood what Toastmasters was all about. Another commented on the cohesiveness and lack of arguing in the club. But in spite of earning our DCP ribbons seven years in a row, there is always room for improvement.

We, the executive will go over all your suggetions and bring the results to you in the New Year, but one idea stood out which I’ve already incorporated.  Deb noticed that sometimes the Table Topics Master hasn’t looked at the agenda to know who is speaking and not to ask them to participate, minor issue, but one that would tighten up the agenda. She suggested we have a Tip of the Week with seasoned Toastmasters passing on brief, important tips to the club. Check out the January schedule and see the newest role. It will be fun and keep all of us on track. Thanks Deb!

I won’t be at the last meeting of the year, Dec. 17(Bonnie is TM)  because Dave and I are taking Claude back to Campbell River for follow up on her arm operation. Please don’t forget she is alone with the use of only one arm and no way to go shopping or do laundry etc., besides  feeling lonely stuck at home. Give her a call or drop in. It’s what we do as Toastmasters …we  look out for each other.

Dec.18: Our Christmas party..YAHOO!! Join us at 6:00 at the Blue Mt. Estates Club house on Duncan. Bring a guest, wrapped gift, and if you want, a fun item(wrapped) to auction off. Bring money. We will be giving out semi-annual awards for your accomplishments so far.Contact Ryan to confirm what food you are bringing. With Bonnie at the helm for games, this will be so much fun!!

And if you don’t make it there, have a wonderful fun Merry Christmas. See you Jan.7 when Sean is our first Toastmaster of the year.

Barb

What a fabulous meeting we had on November 12! Thank you to Max Cameron Theatre Manager Jacquie Dawson for the opportunity to hold our meeting on the big stage at the theatre and for teaching us how to use the various microphones. It certainly stretched us as speakers and everyone learned a lot from this fabulous experience. Susan Biagi was a gracious Toastmaster and she did a wonderful  job of running this special meeting. Our speakers, Irene Robinson gave her second speech about shoes while  Tony Papa had us mesmerized with his melodic voice while he spoke about his father and his childhood. The story about driving to the States to pick up bread and milk and saving a few pennies on these items and then buying fireworks and having to figure out how to get them home had us in stitches!  Shannon Behan regaled us with her adventures in cooking before revealing that she now teaches cooking for the School District! Watch out kids…we’ve heard about the mango brownies!

Kevin Wilson looked very professional and gave a flawless report as a news commentator on transportation.  Tabletopics was lots of fun and everyone got a chance to speak on the big stage including our five guests. Tabletopic master Ken Shannon handled his role well and explained to everyone just how the game was played. Congratulations to our 10-year-old guest Alexander Southcott for winning Tabletopics. What a little ham!

We can count on our club to have fun but especially when we have an excuse to dress up. Recognize anyone?

Oct.22, 1924 Ralph Smedley gathered a small group of business men to improve their speaking skills.Here we are 85 years later, over 252,000 strong and growing! In our happy club we have attracted many more people pushing our numbers to 39. WOW!

Isabelle brought the cake and we celebrated TI’s anniversary as well as Neil and Jim’s 10th with the club. They are the longest standing members in Powell River, and I’m right behind them with 9 years. Small we were last night but the energy and laughs was huge. Just look at theses photos.Do you know that if you hold the cursor over a picture the caption shows up? Isn’t technology wonderful?

Oct.29: Newbie 101 at 6:00 before the meeting. If you’ve not attended this orientation, please do so. Barb

What’s that you say? My oh my our resident “guerilla grammarian”  Susan Biagi would surely take issue with such bad grammar. But having been away from keeping sharpened up I beg your patience while I rave about what an outstanding club I have the privilege to come home to.

For the seventh year in a row Sunshine Speakers has earned the Distinguished Club Presidents award and ribbon. There are 10 points or goals the club strives for in order to maintain a healthy atmosphere. We work hard as a team so all will benefit. And topping that off, once again we have won the Smedley Ribbon for bringing 5 new members on board Aug./Sept: Sean, Jasmine, Diana, Jeff and Irene. Welcome!

While I’m tossing kudos out, how about the best club contest we’ve ever had? Did you know that I purposely came home a week early because Isabelle said I wouldn’t want to miss such an amazing contest? She did an outstanding job of being contest chair for the first time. Everything went smoothly. I’m so happy I was there, but the toughest part was  judging when everyone gave outstanding speeches or table topics.

How about newbie Ryan entering both contests when he hasn’t even given his Ice Breaker yet? Brave!  Sean who comes from a Toastmaster background in Edmonton gave us a very funny rendition of what it means to be TM president. We heard Neil’s hilarious hair story and I loved it even more this time. Deb told us about her ill-fated road trip as a kid, and Ernalee gave all us mothers ah-ha moments and laughter.

Congratulations winner of the humorous speech contest Susan Biagi. She was the  “Gorilla Grammarian” complete with uniform and machete. She will be a tough competitor at the Area Contest in Courtenay Oct.10. We’re walking on the ferry to be picked up, so how about joining us for a day of fun and inspiration? Deb Calderon won Table Topics in her usual funny style. Unfortunately she can’t make it to the Area contest so stay tuned as we figure out who will represent our club.

This week I attended my first noon meeting in over four months to give my first speech in five months. I was nervous all over again but excited to be in the saddle again. I was even more excited to see four guests n attendance.

 As your VP of Education my role is not just to keep the schedule current, but also to help you with your goals, and if you want a mentor to make sure it is handled properly. I am here to serve you as I follow in the very big shoes Kevin left me last year(and over the summer while I was gallivanting around the north).

 

 

 

 

In conclusion, let’s work together to achieve our individual goals. Above all keep having fun!

Barb