Thursday, November 4, 2010

"According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy."  - Jerry Seinfeld

 Hello Toastmasters and Guests,

          As you read in the above quote, for most people the fear of public speaking is greater than the fear of death.  Shall I let you in on a secret? Even most Toastmasters fear public speaking and still get nervous before getting up to speak. What makes the difference is that those who participate in Toastmasters meetings are the ones facing and conquering that fear. If you're reading this blog and are thinking of coming to one of our meetings, don't hesitate. Come. 

          We had twenty in attendance at our last meeting, including six guests. It's always such a pleasure to host visitors. Lauren and Jon,  Jen and Jonathan, Christina, Michael - thank you all for coming. We hope you will visit us again.

Rick Boyer was Toastmaster of the Evening. Nancy Hogg was General Evaluator. Magda Brugos was Table Topics Master.

           We had two speeches. Danita Fox presented "The Moments of Truth" from Successful Club Series manual. Her speech was evaluated by Christy Gardner. Danita spoke about ways to gain and retain new members, and to improve members' experience. Even though her presentation focused on ways to improve a Toastmasters club, it could easily be applied to any other organization or corporation. 68% of people leave an organization because their needs are neglected. It's important to keep that in mind. Any club, organization or corporation has to remember that its members or employees are crucial to its overall success. "You never get a second chance to make a first impression."

          Magda Brugos presented speech # 5 from Competent Communication manual. Her speech was evaluated by Tim Tonkovic. Magda gave a brief introduction to personality types. The four main personality types are: Popular Sanguine, Perfect Melancholy, Powerful Choleric, and Peaceful Phlegmatic. They are driven by different things. Popular Sanguine's basic desire is to have fun. Powerful Choleric wants to have control. Perfect Melancholy strives to have perfection. Peaceful Phlegmatic wants to have peace. One of the secrets to improving relationships with others is knowing what makes other people tick and what drives them to behave in certain ways. When you're able to identify someone's personality, you will be able to better relate to them and adjust your message accordingly. If you learn the primary characteristics of personalities you will improve relationships and avoid  conflict with others.

Since both speakers exceeded their allotted speech time, the Best Speaker award was not presented.

          Table Topics participants were: Matt Philips, Juan Martinez, Tim Tonkovic, Lori Hobson and guest Lauren White. Remember, participation in table topics is the best "off the cuff" speaking practice. All the partcipants did exceedingly well with their topics.

Ribbon Winners:

Tim Tonkovic: BEST TABLE TOPICS

Christy Gardner:  BEST EVALUATOR

Congratulations!

Thank you, 

Magda Brugos

OPS Club Secretary