Volume 2, Issue 1. July - September 2011
From the President's Pen Hello and welcome.
I'm very excited about the educational and fun Toastmasters year ahead! I’d like to sincerely thank the outgoing Boyd Park Executive Committee and all the members for their efforts over the past year. Our club has been extremely successful, and it's all because we worked hard as a team to achieve our goals. I believe the forthcoming year is all about momentum. Let's
keep doing the great things we've been doing, because it
clearly yields such positive results. But we're not going to rest on our laurels either. Let's make sure we keep our position as the most friendly, educational and fun club around! I look forward to seeing you at our next meeting. Until next time, remember to keep smiling. TM Emma Banks Club President
Inside
President's Pen Educational: Humour Club News Speech Contests Bird's Eye View Savvy Speaker's Toolkit Educational: Evaluations Club Executive
1 2 2 3 3 3 4 4
Key Dates • • • • • • • • • •
25 July: Contests 8 August: Meeting 22 August: Contests 12 September: Meeting 26 September: Meeting 10 October: Meeting 24 October: Meeting 29 October: Area 19 Conference 14 November: Meeting 28 November: Meeting
How Not to Croak When You Tell a Joke Let’s face it, humour is hard. Even experienced speakers struggle with knowing how to (appropriately) tickle their audience’s funny bones.
We all enjoy listening to a funny speech – the problem is, we typically don’t think of ourselves as being funny speakers. Members of Toastmasters are no different; that’s why we have assembled a wide range of resource material on this topic. Toastmasters exist to help your
audience laugh with you, not at you! Here are some tips:
• Be yourself. Think about what types of humour you appreciate, then create a library of such items. Don’t like jokes? Try a humorous anecdote or a witty observation from your own life. • Self-effacing humour is safe – a little of it goes a long way. The audience would rather hear
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about the time you fell on your face than when you saw someone else falling on their face. • It’s OK to be mildly amusing, rather than eyedabbingly funny. • Use humour sparingly, like a spice. At first, try using a humourous opener to your speech. A quote or offhand observation can be a good icebreaker.
(cont. page 2)
Boyd Park Bulletin. Volume 2, Issue 1. July - September 2011
DCP Progress 1/2
2 Competent Communicators
0/2
2 Competent Communicators
0/1
1 Advanced Communicator
0/1
1 Advanced Communicator
0/1
1 Leadership Award
0/1
1 Leadership Award
3/4
4 New Members
0/4
4 New Members
1/2
Training Winter/Summer
1/2 Officers/Semis
(cont. from page 1)
• Keep it relevant to your speech topic. • Avoid retelling jokes found on the internet. Chances are good others have already heard or seen them.
• Keep it clean! Humour is supposed to make people feel good – not embarrassed,
insulted or offended. • Make it readily identifiable as humour. But in case no one laughs, prepare a comment in advance or just move on. • Keep it appropriate to the audience and the situation.
• Work on your delivery. Practice using vocal variety and gestures. • Timing is everything. Pause before the punch line. © 2011 Toastmasters
International. Adapted from Mastering the Laugh. http://bit.ly/pcIwuR.
Accessed 15 July 2011.
Advanced Manual of the Month The Entertaining Speaker:
A varied and fun manual with 5 speech projects to help you focus on delivering entertaining, interesting and engaging speeches using a range of effective techniques.
Speech summaries: 1. Entertain an audience by relating a personal experience. 2. Develop and adapt material from other sources to suit your style. 3. Prepare a humourous speech. 4. Develop a dramatic talk. 5. Prepare an
entertaining afterdinner talk.
Remember, you can order 2 Advanced Manuals for free when you complete your Competent Communicator manual, or at any time from Toastmasters International www.toastmasters.org.
Nundah Village Festival 2011 Right: Members of Boyd Park
Toastmasters mingle
with the community's finest at the Nundah Village Festival in
September. Thank
you to everyone who
helped us set up and run the stall.
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m
n
e
g.
Boyd Park Bulletin. Volume 2, Issue 1. July - September 2011
Speech Contests 2011 Speech contests are a chance to practise communication and leadership skills under a strict set of conditions.
We generally offer four contests at Boyd Park Toastmasters: Table Topics, Evaluation, Humourous and International. Each contest has its own set of rules, and a points system for various categories of skills. If you're considering entering, check out the rulebook at www.toastmasters .org/rulebook. Winners at club level progress to compete against winners from four to five other clubs at area level. Next up
is division, and then district level.
Most contests stop there, but the winner of the District International Contest has an opportunity to compete at the International Convention, usually in the United States. For this, you'll have the financial and moral support of Toastmasters. If you win at this level, you'll be awarded the title of World Champion of Public Speaking. If you think such lofty heights are beyond you, think again: not only is the winner of the District Evaluation Contest a member of Boyd Park Toastmasters, but
last year's World Champion hails from Queensland. So we're fortunate to have regular access to speakers of this calibre. Finally, none of this can happen without the teams of contest officials who organise each step of the way. Judges, contest chairs, tally counters, timers,
Bird's Eye View
Members are at the heart of Toastmasters International. Here are the structures that are in place to serve us, and provide us with as wide a range of opportunities as possible.
sergeant at arms... you don't have to compete to practise your skills in a club contest. So pull up a chair or a lectern - and enjoy the contests as they unfold over the year. See Key Dates (pg. 1) for upcoming conferences and contests.
The Savvy Speaker's Toolkit Don't miss these two online resources which offer detailed analyses of presentations and speeches by experienced and famous speakers, including Steve Jobs, Elizabeth Gilbert
and Barack Obama. Watch the speeches on video, read the analyses, and learn from the very best. 1. Manner of Speaking: by Toastmaster and
experienced laywer John Zimmer http://bit.ly/o5ZdFW 2. Six Minutes Speaking and Presentation Skills: bite-sized tips http://bit.ly/qjei6H
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Š 2011 Toastmasters International. Extract from Toastmasters International Service Chart. http://bit.ly/nMQoj. Accessed 15 July 2011.
Boyd Park Bulletin. Volume 2, Issue 1. July - September 2011
How to Give Killer Evaluations A good or great evaluation should do the following:
some positive comments or a positive overall impression.
• Inspire the person receiving it to new heights. • Give the recipient specific information that can be used constructively. • Encourage the person to seek additional input and evaluation. • Maintain the person’s respect and build your relationship based on trust.
Here are more some tips for your evaluations: • Know the objectives of the speech.
The “sandwich technique” is a simple strategy widely used in Toastmasters International. It can be used to give a killer evaluation that will leave the recipient in a positive state. The technique simply involves starting the evaluation by mentioning some positive aspects, followed by a couple of specific suggestions for improvement, and ending with
single sheet of notes broken into parts, with the top third being some positive specific comments, the middle third being one or two specific suggestions for improvement, and the bottom third for overall positive impression and maybe a closing comment. This can help focus your evaluation. It does not need to be a sheet of multi-point checkboxes used for government inspections!
• Don’t be a critic. This isn’t a movie. This is part of a process of building up team members. Nor is it about passing or failing – leave that in school. Act like a coach, not like a judge.
• Do not give a “whitewash” evaluation. It does not help either party to give a falsely positive evaluation.
• Keep it simple. Figure out which areas to emphasise and which to leave out. The guts of most evaluations can be broken into three areas: a) content, b) organisation, c) delivery.
• Practise, practise, practise. That's what your Toastmasters club is there for!
• Prioritise and comment only on a couple of main points.
© 2011 Stepcase Limited. Peter Paul
Roosen and Tatsuya Nakagawa, Atomica
• Create a simple evaluation form for your own use. A
Creative Group. http://bit.ly/oAgY6r.
Accessed 15.07.11 (adapted for length).
Your Club Executive 2011 - 2012 President
TM Emma Banks
VP Membership
Joe Skilton ACB ALS
Secretary
TM Jean Katajamaki
VP Education
VP Public Relations Treasurer
Sergeant at Arms
Newsletter Publisher: Emma Banks
Geoff Dillon CC
Sarah Dillon CC CL
Andrew Cole ACS ALS Robbie Aquilina CC
Newsletter Editor: Sarah Dillon
For more information about Boyd Park Toastmasters Club, check out our website at http://www.bptmc.org.au
We meet in the upstairs meeting room of the Prince of Wales Hotel, on the corner of Sandgate and Buckland Roads, every 2nd and 4th Monday of the month, from 7.15pm. Visitors are always welcome. If you are interested in Toastmasters, but our meeting location or time does not suit you, call our toll-free number on 1300 30 40 69 to find a more convenient club in your area. Page 4