The Pink Rose Newsletter News from Toastmasters International - Area 15 – Autumn 2007 Leeds City Toastmasters - York EbOrators - Manchester Orators - Strictly Speaking Harrogate
Welcome to the very first Pink Rose newsletter. Why Pink? Well Area 15 incorporates both the White Rose and the Red Rose counties. The purpose of this newsletter is to share with all members of Area 15 the successes of members & clubs, ideas and thoughts to help all members develop and grow, and to keep everyone informed of what is happening in the Area. How often this newsletter is published depends upon you, the members and clubs. As Area Governor most of this edition is my own articles. For the future, I open up this newsletter to all members to submit articles on anything they think is relevant to Toastmasters. Subject to good taste and decency, I will strive to publish any articles submitted. Hope you enjoy
Michael J. Clarke, Area 15 Governor ACS CL
michael.clarke@shorelinehp.com
Speaking Competition News
Where Do You Fit?
Every Autumn Toastmaster clubs conduct 2 speaking competitions – Humorous Speaking & Table Topics.
Many new members ask me how they and their club fit into the ‘big picture’ within Toastmasters International. Well here goes...
The winner and runner up go through to the Area competition. From there the winner competes in the Division E competition and that winner competes in the District final at the Autumn conference. Manchester Orators hosted the Area 15 competition with the winners being Chris Venables (Leeds City Toastmasters) in the Humorous Speaking and Phil Heath (Leeds City Toastmasters) in the Table Topics. They both represented the Area well in the Divisional E final, in Bicester, but unfortunately neither won through to the District 71 final, but well done on a great effort. In addition, thank you to all who came down to Bicester to support them. The next competitions will be in Spring 2008 and are the Prepared English (otherwise known as the International Speech competition) and the Evaluation competition. The District 71 final will be in Killarney on 9 th to 11th May 2008. The Division E final will be on 20th April 2008 in Aberdeen. The Area 15 final has still to be confirmed.
Your club is part of Area 15 of which I am the Area Governor for 2007/08. Area 15 covers, at present, the North of England. Area 15 is part of Division E of whom the Divisional Governor for 2007/08 is Judi Malan. Division E covers Scotland, North of England, West Midlands, Wales and the South West. It is the biggest Division by area. Division E is part of District 71 of whom the District Governor for 2007/08 is Mary Murtagh. District 71 covers the United Kingdom and Ireland. District 71 is part of Toastmasters International and is one of nearly 90 Districts worldwide. There are 40 Areas and 8 Divisions in District 71 with just under 200 clubs in total
Dates For The Diary Autumn District Conference
9-11 Nov. 2007
Cairns Hotel, Harrogate
Your Club Needs You
Toastmasters Awareness Day II
Have you considered becoming a member of your Club’s committee? Even if you haven’t, to achieve Advanced Leader you need to.
Venue to be confirmed Division E Speaking Competition
17 February 2008
20 April 2008
Aberdeen, Scotland Committees change over every 1st July, but here is an idea. Why not ‘shadow’ this year’s member to find out what they do. They’ll love it and you will find out so much. Go on give it a go – just ask.
Spring District Conference Killarney, Eire
9-11 May 2008
It’s Not Just About Speaking! There are two paths within Toastmasters – Communication and Leadership. The Competent Communicator and Competent Leader manuals cover these. These help you chart a course to what you wish to achieve in Toastmasters. Sometimes members become so intent on Communication i.e. speaking, that they forget to become involved in Leadership. A good Toastmaster gets involved in taking on other roles than speaker at a meeting, such as Toastmaster, Evaluator, Grammarian and others. This is where the Competent Leader manual becomes such an important tool. It helps you plan how you can be involved in your club in a far better way. Becoming a Competent Leader is as much of an honour as becoming a Competent Communicator. So don’t give it second billing and remember ‘It’s not just about speaking’ – get involved in your club, you’ll love it.
Role Review Book Ahead To be a leader of any kind there needs to be planning. If you don’t know where you wish to be, how do you know how to get there? It is just the same in Toastmasters. You need to decide what you desire out of the organisation, and just as important, what you can give to the organisation. To achieve this you will find it useful to plan your path through Toastmasters and not just your speaking.
When I’m talking to members quite often there seems to be a fear about taking on the role of Toastmaster. They tell me I could never do such a ‘big’ role until I’m much more experienced. I believe this is a wrong mindset. I’ve love being Toastmaster and always have from when I was a founder member of Leeds City Toastmasters. Here is what I think about the role. You have to remember certain points at the start such as welcoming visitors, explaining Toastmasters and introducing the committee.
Review the Competent Leader manual and plan your route to become Competent Leader. Once you have planned your course then contact the VP Education to inform them of when you wish to take on the roles you have planned.
From there on the Toastmaster is nothing more than a Master of Ceremonies introducing those who have taken on the role.
Doing this will help you and help your club so remember book ahead.
Make yourself a note to set out speech timings, use of evaluation slips and voting. To me being Toastmaster is a breeze and it is just down to the mindset you use. So go on volunteer – soon!
How Do I Find Out? When you join Toastmasters, there is so much to learn. So how do you find out what you need to know? Here are some tips to help you become a more knowledgeable Toastmaster. The first source and the easiest is to ask more experienced members. Ask the President or other committee members – you know who they are as they are introduced at every meeting. Next, check the material you received with your Membership kit. Your manuals and the ‘A Toastmasters Wears Many Hats’ leaflet provide a valuable source of information Ask me, your Area Governor Michael J. Clarke on michael.clarke@shorelienhp.com. If I don’t know then I usually know someone who does. Check out the District 71 website www.d71.org, which has a superb knowledge base and the Toastmasters International website www.toastmasters.org which has an extensive database of knowledge. If none of these help then maybe the answer is just to do what you feel is best – and tell others for the future.
Stop Press Strictly Speaking Harrogate are due to Charter in November. I’m sure you will all wish me to send a warm welcome to all the members of the latest Toastmaster club in Area 15.