Communicating on TV

Hello Fellow Toastmasters and Welcomed Guests,

Our first meeting in May started off with much gusto.  Every chair was filled and we were able to give Debra J., our newest member, a boisterous welcome into the club!  It was also a pleasure to see new guests: Megan and Edward participate in the meeting.

As Chair and VP of Public Relations, Cory masterfully took charge of the basic formalities of filling in the vacant meeting roles, acknowledging the presence of each attendee, and he set the stage for a mock television interview project from the Advanced Communication Manual “Communicating on TV” .

The mock interview featured Connie as the interviewer and Susan C., the interviewee on a subject well known and championed by Susan—Toastmasters!

Another fantastic learning opportunity in Toastmasters beyond the benefits of knowing how to speak in public is becoming a skilled interview subject.  You never know when your talents may be recognized and a reporter wants to interview you on your area of expertise.   Handy area to have confidence in and another plus to joining the Vancore Toastmasters Club in Vancouver.

As Timer, Borzo had the added challenge as a crew member of the production and attended to the crucial “count in” and “cut out” timing of the vicariously staged program.

Both Jonathan and Angela gave insightful evaluations for this challenging production.

Several of the minor roles were excluded to accommodate the monthly Executive Meeting that usually takes place the first week of the month at 4:15 PM.

Mary Lou worked a 2 minute acceptance speech into an Inspiration and presided over Table Topics.  Limited to four participants, the topics were about exotic colours, resulting in much humour.

Loa spoke on the colour of “Sun-drenched Yellow”, giving us a mind picture of what it might look like to have her house painted such a vibrant yellow and how it could spark conversation around the neighborhood.  Black-haired Theo was challenged with “I Dyed My Hair Jet-black” (maybe not such a challenge?) due to a real life experience on the joys of going gray. He also shared at one time it was dyed red, just for kicks.

Megan’s table topics colour to speak on for 2 minutes was “Flamingo Pink” which she was happy to add to her wardrobe because she finds she wears a lot of dark colours.

Victor always has an interesting spin on his speeches talking about “Racing Green” through symbolization: green for envy, red is political and blue stands for sadness.

Doing these impromptu topics in front of a full house didn’t seem to faze them one little bit.  A big step in communication; congratulations to all four!

The evaluations were thoughtfully conducted on each speaker by Kate.  Oliver took charge of the ums and ahs department and was pleased to notice we’re all getting better at eliminating them.

General Evaluation of the meeting was done by Mary Lou and Cory adjourned the meeting promptly at 4:15 PM.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:

As the current Term ends on June 30th/12, election for the next Board of Directors consisting of: President, Vice President of Education, Vice President of Membership, Vice President of Public Relations, Treasurer, Secretary and Sergeant-at-Arms is tentatively set for May 16th.

All members are welcomed to take part in the election process, which takes place during the regular meeting.

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Downtown Vancore Club Quoted As “Charismatic” In Toastmaster Newsletter

Summary of Wednesday’s meeting, April 25, 2012.

According to the President of Toastmasters International, Michael Notaro, DTM, VanCore’s Club is a CHARISMATIC CLUB with five of the qualifying hallmarks: Energy, Friendly, Fun, Surprise and Value.  Great article, check it out (Toastmaster newsletter, pg 2, April 2012) and proudly smile, fellow members.

Topping off this great news, Carla came first in the Division H, annual, ‘Best Evaluation Contest’, Oliver Firkins recently joined our growing club and with two months to go, we’re well on our way to Distinguished Club status.  We may even reach the Select Distinguished category in a short period of time.

Bruce chaired the final meeting in April, 2012 which commenced with a joke by Oliver, inspiration “Making Dreams a Reality” by Connie, and the word of the day “ostentatious” provided by Susan – a role not to be taken lightly as vocabulary is the catalyst of communication.  Ostentatious, an adjective, means pretentious/designed to impress or attract notice.

All three speaking spots were filled by: Victor whose CC#3 speech took us deep into the history of wars up to the current atomic warfare.  A valuable evaluation was given by Dena.  Second speaker, Mary Lou practiced a five minute profession related presentation and benefited greatly by critiques given by the champion of evaluations, Carla.  The hallmark of Carla’s success in evaluation is her razor-sharp ability to focus on listening, and articulating the subject/performance/delivery in an encouraging, supportive and helpful manner.

Susan gave an impromptu on the DC Program, the Competent Leader Manual and the monthly Toastmasters magazine.  She was expertly evaluated by Connie.

Table Topics were diligently prepared by Angela but unfortunately there was time only for three participants:  Theo took on favorite tourist spots in Vancouver—he also evaluated the T/T session.  Oliver’s topic was on life without financial worries; not only did he deliver the joke he also took care of timing.  Our newest guest, David L., bravely gave a controversial spin on social media.

Amidst thoroughly monitoring  ums, ahs and filler words, Carla was given a well earned round of applause for her outstanding performance  at the Division Evaluation Contest, held on April 21st.

General Evaluation was open to all to take part in.   Bruce adjourned the meeting precisely at 4:30 PM.

A delightful and inspiring meeting, as always.

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Vancore Attendance Up Again And Carla Wins Division H Evaluation Contest!

Attendance reached an all year high during our club meeting at Vancore in downtown Vancouver last week.  And even more good news….wait for it….Carla Maftechuk won the Division H Evaluation Contest!  We are very proud of her and this puts us closer to receiving our Distinguished Club Status.

Though it was another wet, umbrella-toting afternoon, members and guests alike showed up to practice their speaking skills and meet new people.

The meeting was called to order by Immediate Past President and Secretary, Jonathan who midway through, received a “mayday” (word of the day) having to leave and address urgent business while our esteemed Treasurer, Borzo seamlessly took over with much aplomb.

New members, and guests; Oliver, Dena and Chris, all contributed enthusiastically to the proceedings.  Angela gave a fantastic Ice Breaker that had the room captivated by her accomplishments and adventures in coming to Canada from China.  Her speech was evaluated by Theo, who is making strides in his own speaking abilities.

Victor stepped right up and did his CC #2 speech, a passionate and insightful talk on what it’s like to practice Buddhism.   Kate followed with an encouraging evaluation using the sandwich technique providing Victor with examples of what he did really well, an area to work on and summarized using the strengths of his speech.

With nearly a full house, speakers and those with major roles in the meeting were excluded from Table Topics to give the honored guests a chance to speak for 2 minutes if they so wanted.  Brave as they were, Dena, Oliver and Chris all went up to the front on their turn and gave excellent accounts of their views on the particular topic chosen for them.  Well done newbies!  (Note: It’s perfectly OK to simply observe for your first couple times as a guest.  Or you can participate if you want to.)

Table Topics were lead by Susan who also provided the fore-mentioned Word of the Day, “mayday” an international distress signal which comes from the French word m’aidez  which means “help me”.

A few days after the meeting, Susan and Theo witness Carla taking on the other five evaluation giants in the Division H Speech Contest held on April 19th in Vancouver.

Out of all the candidates she was the last to evaluate the “Target Speech” given by award-winning speaker, Mustapha Lansana.  Unfazed, Carla’s expertise in evaluation placed her in the Winners Circle.  Again, her name was called last but not certainly not least as she took home the FIRST PLACE Title and Trophy.

Carla now will be completing for the District 21 Title, at the Spring Conference in Harrison Hot Springs, May 11/12/13.  Go Carla, Go!!

As always, we are excited to see who will delight us with their next speech at this week’s meeting held at Vancore Toastmasters Downtown Club at the AME of BC offices located on the 8th floor of 889 West Pender Street (at the corner of Pender and Hornby)

Time is 3:15 PM sharp.

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Victor Gives His Ice-Breaker and Vancore Club Continues To Grow!

Hello Fellow Toastmasters and Prospective Guests,

Seats at Club Meetings are filling up nicely with members, and guests responding to our attractive new “Vancoretoasters.com” site. It’s quite amazing that so many are finding our 3:15 to 4:30 PM meeting time slot really convenient for them.   At this rate, soon we won’t need to wear several hats during meetings, which was not such a bad thing as the experience provides lots of practice in the different roles.

Our newest members contributed admirably to the last meeting. The Ice-Breaker by Victor on three Rs: Rebellion, Religion and Relationship was pretty advanced for a first time speech!   Angela prepared an excellent Inspiration about Freedom—can’t wait to hear her Ice-Breaker.   Theo stepped right up and evaluated Victor’s speech.

Mary Lou who had a two minute professional speech to practice was pleased with the helpful and relevant evaluation given by guest, Debra.   Table Topics Master–VP of Education, Connie had participants, including the guests Corrine, Debra and Oliver, taking on topics from the logging industry to Lou Costello to Fish and Chips.

Oliver volunteered to count the “ums and aahs” and Corrine was a great timer. Mary Lou covered both the TT Evaluation and General Evaluation. The Chair, Susan reminded all to try and attend the Division H International Speech and Evaluation Contest on Saturday, April 21, from 1-4 PM, at #300-775 Burrard Street, to proudly cheer on our very own member Carla who won the Area 75 Best Evaluator Contest on April 4th.

Our club continues to grow with vibrant and engaging speakers.   We welcome new comers who want to learn to speak in public and/or strengthen their existing speaking skills.   Our downtown Vancore Toastmasters Club is easily accessible to the business community located at the corner of Hornby and West Pender St.

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Two new members and Carla won the Area 75 Evaluation Contest!

Dear Fellow and Prospective Toastmasters,

April has started to be a great month for VanCore Toastmasters Club. VP of Public Relations, Cory Forrest was in charge of the first meeting of the month and had the distinct pleasure of welcoming two new members: Angela Peng and Victor He, who were guests the week before.  Our exciting new web presence brought in two new guests to our downtown Vancouver Toastmasters Club, Nikki and Oliver who bravely participated in the challenging Table Topics presided over by Bruce who also offered a fascinating phrase in lieu of Word of the Day, “platinum rule” that brilliantly means–Golden Rule plus a deep level of empathy.

A new dimension was added to the meeting by the introduction of a speech from the Advance Manual on “Communicating on TV” by Susan, complete with descriptions and demonstration of the absolutely necessary performance “cues.” With the rest of the roles enthusiastically taken care of by Theo, Loa, Connie, etc., the meeting was soon over and it was time to turn our attention to the Area Evaluation Contest.

The Contest that evening was held at the Royal-T Toastmasters Club’s location at 1055 W Georgia St.   Like a pro, our very own Carla calmly and confidently won the Area 75 Evaluation Contest.

In support of Carla, several members from our club were in attendance as judges, counter and observer: Connie, Loa, Susan and Theo.  Carla now moves up to compete in the Division 75 Competition to be held on Saturday, April 21st at #300-755 Burrard St.  Let as many of us as possible attend, help to officiate the running of the Contest and best of all, to support and cheer Carla on to another win.

Club status in the Distinguished Club Program is coming alive. For the longest time it sat at 1 out of 10.  Thanks to Connie for getting her CC, we just moved to 2/10—if all goes well we should be at 5/10 by the end of April which will make us a Distinguished Club!

With two additional months to the end of the 2011/2012 Term–June 30th, we could conceivably reach 7/10 and rise to Select Distinguished Club. On the verge of helping to achieve that Status are: CC: Bruce, Mary Lou, Susan, and Loa; ACS, Jonathan; and ACB, Susan.  New members will help to clinch the 7/10 status.

Way to go everyone!  Let’s keep up the good work.

Sincerely,

Susan Chew,
Club President

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Evaluation Contest at VanCore March 28th!

The excitement is building! Who will represent VanCore for our area as the best club evaluator?

We now have three contestants, Loa, Carla and Borzo. You must be a member in good standing and be prepared to evaluate a test speech at our next meeting.

We still need volunteers to be judges and a volunteer to do a test speech. There is also still room for more competitors. Come try out your evaluation skills in a friendly competition.

As we say, ‘Everything in Toastmasters is Evaluated’.

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The Right Tool for the Job

A good speech is like the right tool for the job. Which is to say, it’s transparent. You don’t think about the speaker up there, any more than you think about the wrench that’s turning a bolt. You just think about the result. You think about the work the words are doing — how they’re moving you, informing you, inspiring you, making you laugh.

That’s what happened at this week’s VanCore meeting. We had some pros in action. Club veteran Jonathan Buchanan, who’s working his way through an advanced manual, gave a long speech that managed in the bargain to take care of some club business. Brilliant. Connie Hubbs matched that lofty level with her evaluation of his speech.

But equally great was the enthusiasm of new-ish member Theo, and drop-in Angela, who wowed everyone with her courage and poise up there.

This is what it’s all about, folks. Let’s keep the energy rolling.

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Familiar Faces & Happy Places

Hello Fellow and Future Toastmasters,

For weeks we had sunny Wednesdays that brought out good attendance but last week, on March 14th, the rain just wouldn’t stop!

Thankfully the members kept coming in, including long-time-missing, world traveler John W. with his dripping hat in hand. It’s always good to see him again—he consistently contributes a fantastic impromptu speech or 2 minute inspiration and has the ability to speak on the fly.

Connie H. who just received her CC Award, is already into her AC Bronze #2 speech, about an acquaintance’s marvelous work with children in India. Susan completed her (second time around) CC #10, on “Speaking With Or Without Notes”.

Excellent evaluations for the speeches were given by Borzo S. and the Chair–Jonathan B., who was honoured with a Toast for being the longest member of our Club…he joined in 2006.

Theo N. took on Table Topics and Word of the Day; he merged the two into a lively St. Patrick’s Day session, complete with a Leprechaun granting three wishes and using ‘luck’ (decorated with a shamrock) for the Word of the Day…proving that a one syllable word can be just as effective as a multi-syllabic, such as previously used ‘paraphernalia’ (miscellaneous belongings, accessories, etc).

Another great meeting of motivated speakers supporting each others’ progress.  Let’s keep it up!

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What is your top reason for joining Toastmasters?

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Spring and Toastmasters…

Hello Fellow Members and Guests,

Our latest March 7th meeting was inspired by a bright, sunny afternoon where Chair, Loa Fridfinnson provided a fitting theme, “Spring is in the Air!”

Participants expressed what the season means to them with flowers and trees blossoming, longer days and excitement around outdoor activities and warmer weather.

The meeting was well attended complete with guest Debra Jang who willingly took on timing with the help of Theodore Nguyen, and the return of Kate H. who presided over Table Topics with subjects to reflect the theme and a very amusing joke.

Jonathan Buchanan’s AC Silver Speech #8, evaluated by yours truly (Susan Chew), re-affirmed our Roles at Toastmaster.  The rest of the roles were shared by Connie Hubbs and Mary Lou Miles.  The meeting adjourned early,  at 4:15 to accommodate the Executive Monthly Meeting.

Our club welcomes guests so do come by and see what Toastmasters is all about!  It is an excellent way to increase your business profile while building confidence and enhancing your communication skills.

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