Thursday, January 20, 2011

        Hello Toastmasters and dear Guests!

         Thank you for visiting the club and joining our Toastmasters meeting. At  this meeting 19 members were present. Tim Tonkovic was Toastmaster of the Evening. Danita Fox was Table Topics Master. Juan Martinez was General Evaluator.

          We had the opportunity to hear 4 prepared speeches. 

Stacey Wallace was the first speaker and was evaluated by Wade Miner. Stacey's topic was multi-tasking. She gave examples of multi-tasking and her research showed that multi-tasking was not an efficient was to do things. Second speaker was Matt Phillips, evaluated by Cristina Stoia. Matt's speech was about an incident that led him to be in the safety/fire response career field. Rick Boyer's speech was evaluated by Janet Krenn. Wade Miner was evaluated by Sandy Peterson. Wade's topic was about the struggle a caterpillar goes through to become a butterfly. Wade related that to people having to struggle to achieve their goals.

          We would like to officially introduce new club members: Robyn Roberts and Curtis Lassiter. Congratulations and thank you for joining us on this journey towards developing excellent communication and leadership skills.

VP Education Stacey Wallace performed the new member induction.

Ribbon Winners

Best Table Topics speaker : Wade Miner 
  Best Evaluator : Janet Krenn

Best Speaker : Juan Martinez 

Congratulations!

Thank you, Christy Gardner, for taking your time to prepare these notes.


P.S. Word of the day was  "pulchritudinous" (adj.), which means "physically beautiful".


Thank you,
Magda Brugos
OPS Club Secretary

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Club President, Stan Dalziel, and Guests

Happy New Year Toastmasters and Guests!

         We are back in the working mode! After a month-long break from club meetings, we are ready to start fresh. We had a great turnout! Welcome back, everyone. We had 16 Toastmasters present and 5 guests: Heather Brown, Lauren White, Robyn Roberts, Curtis Lassiter, and Sumit Arora. Thank you for coming! We hope you had a positive experience and will visit us again. Victor Lopez was Toastmaster of the Evening. He did a superb job, considering it was his first time in that role. Adam Gold was General Evaluator. Magda Brugos was Table Topics Master.

          Cristina Stoia presented  Professional Tip of the Day. She gave us very valuable advice on how to  feel reenergized in one's (stale) career and how to land a great job, even in a depressed marketplace. Here are some of her ideas: dream big and focus on long-term results; acquire new skills; attend social networking events; mentor someone; take time off work to regain focus.
          Juan Martinez was the first speaker. His 5th speech from Advanced Communication Series was evaluated by Christy Gardner. Juan's assignment was to deliver a speech after receiving an award. He spoke about his experience in Toastmasters International where he learnt how to properly speak in public. He also mentioned how attending training sessions helped him network and learn from top-notch speakers.Great work, Juan, and congratulations on your perseverance in the Toastmasters program.

          Second speaker, Danita Fox, was evaluated by Janet Krenn. Danita's project came from The Entertaining Speaker Advanced Communication manual. The title of her speech was "Danita's Meanderings" and just like the title suggests, we got a glimpse into Danita's mind and her "meanderings" on leadership, personal fitness and pet-peeves. It was very captivating. This speech was Danita's final step towards achieving Advanced Communicator Bronze level. Congratulations, Danita!

         Table Topics participants included Frank Connelly, Rick Boyer, Nancy Hogg, and guest, Curtis Lassiter. The meeting was followed by our Annual Gift Exchange party, led by Wade Miner. It was lots of fun! Final words of the meeting came from Area Governor, Danita Fox.

RIBBON WINNERS:

Nancy Hogg: BEST TABLE TOPICS  

Janet Krenn: BEST EVALUATOR

 Danita Fox: BEST SPEAKER

Congratulations!

Danita Fox has reached Advanced Communicator Bronze level . CONGRATULATIONS, Danita!

Thank you, 

Magda Brugos

OPS Club Secretary

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Lori Hobson receives her Icebreaker Ribbon

"The human brain starts working the moment you are born and never stops until you stand up to speak in public."

- George Jessel (1898-1981, American actor, known in his lifetime as "Toastmaster General of the United States")

Hello Toastmasters!

          We had a great meeting as always. One more meeting left before this year 2010 is over and it's time for a fresh start again. We had 16 members in attendance and a second-time visit from Christina. It was nice to see her again! Nancy Hogg was Toastmaster of the Evening, Danita Fox was General Evaluator, Cristina Stoia was Table Topics Master.

          We had two speakers. Lori Hobson presented her Icebreaker speech. Lori's speech was evaluated by Frank Connelly. She started her presentation with a song "Special Woman" she played for us. Lori suggested we all have a song that energizes and motivates us. Her speech was titled "Why you should be a President of your own Fan Club". We should first and foremost believe in ourselves; be confident and humble at the same time. We can't compare ourselves to others because we have all been given special gifts and talents which makes us unique.

          Matt Phillips was the second speaker of the evening. He gave his 6th speech from the Competent Communication manual. Matt was evaluated by John Harman. Matt volunteered last minute to present this "hip pocket" speech since one of the scheduled speakers could not come to the meeting. Matt spoke about his love of football and shared his experience of attending a college football game at his alma mater, West Virginia University. 

         Cristina Stoia was Table Topics Master. Cristina brought some fresh ideas to our table topics. She shared a bagful of fortune cookies with the audience and later asked volunteers to comment on the fortune they received. Participants included Christy Gardner, Wade Miner, Rick Boyer, Victor Lopez, and Frank Connelly.

         Victor Lopez presented the Professional Tip of the Day. He gave us some advice on how to understand other people based on their different behavior styles. The four groups of people are "talkers", "doers","controllers", and "supporters". By knowing which category someone else falls into, we are able to match our style to theirs, thus greatly improving communication between us. 

   RIBBON AWARDS  

Victor Lopez was Best in Table Topics

Frank Connelly was Best Evaluator

Matt Phillips was Best Speaker

Congratulations, Winners!

We are having a Yankee Gift Exchange Christmas Party on December 16. Come to celebrate with us. It will be lots of fun!

Thank you, 

Magda Brugos

OPS Club Secretary

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Jessica Ledbetter is Toastmaster of the Year!

Hello Toastmasters Family and Friends, 

          Time certainly flies by! It was our last meeting before Thanksgiving and we have two more meetings before the year 2010 is over. It will be time again to start fresh and set new goals. At this meeting we had 15 members in attendance and 2 guests - Kristene Skalicky and Lanette Kelly. Christy Gardner was Toastmaster of the Evening. Stacey Wallace was General Evaluator. Stan Dalziel performed Call to Order and Pledge. The word of the day was "effusive", which means "unrestrained or excessive in emotional expression; overflowing, profuse", e.g. "effusive praise".

          First speaker was John Harman, evaluated by Nancy Hogg. Over the years, John  has delivered over 100 speeches. This was his final speech towards achieving his (yet another) Advanced Communicator Bronze level. The title of his speech was "Toastmaster's Job is Easy!". In his presentation, John reminisced on the 15 years with Toastmasters and spoke about both fun and challenges he faced in his various roles in the organization.

          Second Speaker was Danita Fox, evaluated by Adam Gold. Danita delivered a sales training speech from the Professional Speaker manual. Danita has been a Toastmaster since September 2007. In her speech, she trained her sales force (the audience played this role very well!) on two sales techniques. These two techniques vary, dependent on the category. The categories were "colorology" and "generations". Danita informed us that the science of colorology can tell us about the person's character and preferences based on the colors they wear and favor. The category of "generations", i.e. how old a person is and which generation they grew up in, will reveal even more clues to how most effectively sell to them. For example: "Veterans" are practical and frugal because they grew up during the Great Depression. "Boomers" are focused on goals and dreams. "Generation X" emphasize personal image and want instant gratification. "Generation Y" are civic- and environment-oriented. Knowing these broad characteristics can help salespeople determine how to best fill the need of their customers and communicate with them most effectively.

          Third speaker was Jean Smith with her very first Icebreaker speech. Jean's speech was evaluated by Stan Dalziel. Jean faced many challenges that day (she almost didn't make it to the meeting) but decided to give her speech despite them. In her Icebreaker she spoke about her background and where she came from. She shared the memory of her mother who taught her to represent the family well and be proud of her heritage. Jean reminded the audience how important it is to believe in oneself. Jean has a book coming out in two weeks! We will let you know the details soon.

          Speeches were followed by Thanksgiving-theme Table Topics. Juan Martinez was Table Topics Master. Participants included Adam Gold, Rick Boyer, Frank Connelly, Christy Gardner, and Stacey Wallace. Even our two guests, Kristene and Lanette, volunteered to participate in this activity. Kudos for courage! Rick Boyer presented the Professional Tip of the Day segment. Rick spoke about what motivates people to do great work. Club President, Stan Dalziel, conducted New Member Induction. We are happy to announce that Jean Smith is now an official member of Oyster Point Speakers Club. Welcome!

The meeting was wrapped up with awards. 

RIBBON WINNERS:

Nancy Hogg: BEST EVALUATOR

Rick Boyer: BEST TABLE TOPICS

Danita Fox: BEST SPEAKER

CONGRATULATIONS!

Danita Fox received an award for Distinguished Club Leadership for 2009-2010!

Jessica Ledbetter was recognized as TOASTMASTER OF THE YEAR!

Photos: http://www.radiantharvest.com/TM/photos/

Thank you and see you soon!

Magda Brugos

OPS Club Secretary

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

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Our Guests

Hello Toastmasters Family!

          First of all, thank you to all guests who came to visit our Club. It was great to have you and we all look forward to seeing you again and helping you achieve your public speaking goals.

We had 13 members in attendance and 7 guests, including some who came for their second visit. Nancy Hogg was Toastmaster of the evening. John Harman was General Evaluator.

          Magda Brugos presented a brief report from Dr.John Maxwell's book, "25 Ways to Win with People".  Way # 2: Practice the 30 second rule. Within the first 30 seconds of conversation, say something encouraging to a person. "Be kind, everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle'". People need a good word, a compliment, or encouragement. It takes little effort but lifts people up and energizes them.

          Christy Gardner was the first speaker of the evening. Her speech, "In the Spirit of Halloween", came from the Entertaining Speaker Manual. Tim Tonkovic was Christy's evaluator.   Christy spoke of her love of haunted houses. As a little girl, she loved them during the Halloween season. As a mother and a wife, she gets to experience a "haunted house" on a daily basis. Christy spoke of changes that came with marriage and children, and how her once-perfect house became a place of organized chaos. Things got lost or misplaced; furniture moved, piles of stuff appeared in random places. Her sparsely decorated town house was now filled with collections of comic books, video games and toys. Over time, Christy learned how to accept the fact that she can't have control over everything and she has now grown to love the noise and the mess that came with a husband and two little children. 

          Danita Fox was the second speaker. Danita was evaluated by Linda Williams. Danita's speech came from the Specialty Speech Manual and her objective was to convince the audience to buy a product. Danita began her presentation with a sales pitch in which she was sellling a revolutionary water bottle. She soon transitioned to her main sales presentation where she was promoting her fictional firm, Fox Consulting. We learned that Fox Consulting offers extensive training, developing and coaching program which will help any company reach its goals and increase employee productivity.
          Juan Martinez was Table Topics Master. Table Topics participants were asked a series of Halloween-themed questions. 

          Danita Fox, in her official role of Area Governor, reminded us that Toastmasters is of excellent value but only if we practice, participate and attend. It is the best program in which we can improve our public speaking and communication skills.

Ribbon Winners: 

Tim Tonkovic - Best Evaluator

Judy Anderson - Best Table Topics Speaker

Christy Gardner - Best Speaker

Congratulations, winners!

Notes:

Next meeting is November 4

Christmas Party is on December 16. We will exchange gifts and fellowship. Please invite a friend.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Hello Toastmasters and Guests!

The following update has been provided by our VP Membership, Christy Gardner, who kindly agreed to temporarily take on the duties of Secretary. Thanks, Christy!

"It was a great meeting with about 20 people present, including 3 guests - Rita Essick, Karen Essick, and Angela Fox. Although this was her first time at an Oyster Point Speakers Club Toastmasters meeting, when Toastmaster Adam Gold asked Ms. Rita Essick if she would be so kind as to provide a Word of the Day, she quickly used her Smart phone and came up with "fossick", a verb which means to hunt or seek out. Several speakers used the Word of the Day during the meeting.

We had three wonderful speeches. Victor Lopez gave his Icebreaker speech and we learned many different things about him, such as he has volunteered at a hospital and at a local radio station, he was a cop, he is an optimist, and he is an actor. Cristina Stoia gave her 2nd speech, which started off asking the audience whether they would rather go back in time and feast with the Romans or go into the future where our food might be served up in a pill. She then told us about the customs of Romans when they prepared for and enjoyed a feast. Our 3rd speech came from Mr. John Harman, DTM, who spoke about traveling with Mr. Jerry Keast, our District Governor, to various Toastmasters events. The audience voted John Harman the best speaker of the evening.

Lois Boyle was our Table Topics Master and she asked various questions of the Table Topics participants - Stan Dalziel, Linda Williams, Christy Gardner, and Sandy Peterson. Participants had to talk about topics such as raising money for a nudist colony, saving the woody woodpeckers, why I live in a swamp, and why I live in a treehouse. The audience voted for Linda Williams as the best Table Topics participant.

The three evaluators did a great job providing positive feedback to the speakers. Nancy Hogg evaluated Victor Lopez's speech; Matt Phillips evaluated Christina Stoia's speech, and Rick Boyer evaluated John Harman's speech. The audience voted Rick Boyer as the best evaluator of the evening.

Our Club President, Stan Dalziel, closed out the meeting by giving out the awards, inviting our guests to speak, and informing us of some changes to future meetings. These changes include combining the Grammarian and Ah Counter into one role, discontinuing the role of Humorist, increasing the time allotted for Table Topics, and creating a new role - "Professional Tip of the Day" which will be kicked off by Magda Brugos. "

 
PHOTOS:  http://www.radiantharvest.com/TM/photos/
 
See you next time!
Magda Brugos
OPS Club Secretary