POWERtalking Issue 32 | March 2017 www.powertalkinternational.com
POWER talking ...... coaching coaching in in effective effective speaking speaking
In this issue Why I Write Mr. Renton Speaks Great Expectations In the Word Drawer Guide for Goal Setting Are You Normal or Nuts? Horse and Cart Marketing Keeping in Touch via Email Flight 2017 Ready for Boarding
In This Issue 3 Listening Emphatically
- by Christine Endo, International President
4 From the Editors - March 2017
- by Marijke Slager, Div. III VP & Marilyn Robinson, ITC Secretary
5 ITC Honorary Membership
- by Wyn Bowler, ITC Parliamentarian
6 Horse and Cart Marketing
- by Janeen Vosper, AC, 1st VP Council 7, Australian Region
8 Flight 2017 Ready for Boarding ... - by Joke Linders, Europe ‘92 Region
9 Guide for Goal Setting
- by Coby Wichers, Europe ‘92 Region
11 Great Expectations
- by Joanne M. Weber, Parliamentarian, Northeast Region
12 Why I Write
- by Carrolyn Pichet, Council 11, Blue Ridge Region
13 WiiFM?
- on Recruitment
14 Keeping in Touch via Email
- by Mary Wong AC, Australian Region
15 Mr. Renton Speaks
- by Pat Cartwright, Australian Region Rules Chairman
17 Are You Normal or Nuts?
- by Beatrice Squire, Fallfax Club, Council 11, Blue Ridge Region
18 In the Word Drawer
- by Keiko Fujiki, East Kobe Club, Japan Region - translated by Kazuyo Sugitani
Photo on front cover by Danshutter /shutterstock.com Graphics on p. 4, 5 & 20 designed by Freepik Cartoon on p. 8 from dsm-llc.com Photo of forget-me-nots on p. 8 from freeimages.com Photo of woman w/sign on p. 13 designed by Creativeart / Freepik Photo of sea on p. 13 designed by jannoon028 / Freepik Photo of clouds on p. 14 designed by Evening_tao / Freepik Photo of gavel on p. 16 designed by awesomecontent / Freepik
PUBLICATION GUIDELINES POWERtalking e-magazine is published quarterly: March, June, September, December. All submissions are made to the Editorial committee and once accepted become the property of ITC.
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Articles of between 500-700 words should be of particular interest to members and the mission of the organization.
Very much in demand are articles that have educational value for members.
Authors must submit a portrait photo of themselves as a seperate jpg or png file, together with, preferably, a 20-50 word profile of their credentials.
Write-ups on installations, anniversaries, charters and contests have limited interest and are rarely published.
Photographs must be submitted separately in their original format and size, not in Word or PDF documents.
Listening Emphatically - by Christine Endo, International President
Listening is a fascinating process, and a skill everybody can practice and master. As ITC-ers or POWERtalk-ers, we enjoy having someone who listens to us, who simply attends to us while suspending judgment and activities. It is always such an uplifting experience when you feel you’ve been listend to, heard and understood.
“Better listening, thinking, and speaking skills.” The ITC program teaches us to become careful listeners. Listening is a fading skill. Fortunately, the ITC program teaches us to become careful listeners and promotes “better listening, thinking, and speaking skills.” We learn that listening comes before thinking and speaking. To become a great communicator we need to be attentive listeners. One way we learn to be attentive listeners is through our beloved organization’s training. We train our ears to hear the Word of the Day, filler words, verbal viruses, descriptive language, and brilliant turns-of-phrase that speakers use. As speech evaluators, we learn to listen for the objectives of the speech, and for congruency between words and body language. We also learn to listen objectively and
without judgment. Former U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk wrote, “One of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears—by listening to them.”
“The Listening Game” - an exercise
A fun exercise to try next time you have a club meeting or meet with a group of friends is the “Listening Game.” See if you can identify, in your own mind, which people exhibit these types of listening qualities: Ignoring – choosing not to listen to the person speaking. Pretending – inserting phrases like “uh huh” and “oh yeah,” while pretending to listen. Selective listening – hearing only the portion the listener is interested in. Attentive listening – paying attention and focusing energy on the words spoken. Empathic listening – listening with the intent to understand. This is when we get into the speaker’s frame of reference, see the world as they see it, understand their viewpoints, and understand how they feel. Can you identify which of these qualities you exhibit?
Deep listening is miraculous
Empathic listening ought to be our goal as ITCers or POWERtalk-ers. I leave you with these final words by author and psychotherapist Sue Patton Thoele: “Deep listening is miraculous for both the listener and the speaker. When someone receives us with open-hearted, nonjudging, intensely interested listening, our spirits expand.”
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From the Editors - March 2017
- by Marijke Slager, Div. III VP & Marilyn Robinson, ITC Secretary In his 2013 presentation to Manitoba QNET Leadership Conference in Winnipeg, Canada, Dr. Joe Macinnis, physicianscientist and author of “Deep Leadership”, highlighted
three aspects of leadership: 1) Leadership is empathy – for the team, the task, and the technology. Develop the emotional intelligence to monitor your own and your team’s emotional state. 2) Leadership is endurance – knowing your values and having the strength and stamina to succed in the mission – no matter how long or how difficult. 3) Leadership is eloquence – speaking and writing with accuracy, brevity, and clarity. To command the moment, you must command the language. The articles that our members have submitted to POWERtalking magazine demonstrate
commitment to eloquence. The content of the articles provide ideas to help us develop our emotional intelligence and to know our values. We are fortunate to have members so willing to share their expertise. We, your editors, know that this is the “tip of the iceberg.” We have so many talented members with a wealth of experience that can help each of us to become better leaders and communicators. Take this opportunity to develop your eloquence by submitting an article to the next issue of POWERtalking. The theme for the June issue is Protocol and the submission date is May 1. This seems timely given that Region conferences will be taking place May and June and of course, convention will occur in July. Protocol becomes very important at these events, but it goes beyond our organization. If you happened to watch the inauguration of the President of the United States in January, you may have noticed the protocol. If it is done well, you might not have noticed. So, an area for exploration in the next issue! We welcome your comments and of course, your articles!
POWERtalking Magazine Editorial Committee Members Co-editor Co-editor Member Member Member
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Marilyn Robinson Marijke Slager Geraldine Lightfoot Aðalheiður Rúnarsdóttir Kazuyo Sugitani
Division II Division III Division II Division III Division IV
marrobins@mymts.net slalom@home.nl gerryvl@thot.net adalheidur.runarsdottir@gmail.com kksugi@nifty.com
ITC Honorary Membership - by Wyn Bowler, ITC Parliamentarian 2015-2017 (As specified in the ITC bylaws, the international level of ITC uses Robert’s Rules of Order (RONR), 11th edition, as the parliamentary authority. This article is based on RONR.)
Article 5 of the ITC bylaws defines the classes of membership that the organization has. As listed in Article 5.1, the classes are: 1) Member, as defined in Article 5.2 2) Member-at-large, as defined in Article 5.3 3) Life Member, as defined in Article 5.4 and 4) Honorary Member, as defined in Article 5.5. Article 5.1 also states that the classes of membership are limited to these four defined classes. An honorary member is defined by Article 5.5 as follows: “Honorary Member. The ITC Board may confer, for a specified period of time, honorary membership upon worthy individuals who are not members of an ITC club.”
So, what should a region, council, or club do if they want to acknowledge “worthy individuals who are not members of an ITC club”?
Can anyone be an honorary member?
Because only the ITC Board may confer an honorary membership, the board at any level can write to the ITC board asking that this be done. The ITC board will want to know how the person has supported the principles and training of International Training in Communication and its POWERtalk training programs. For example, in the past, a non-member was awarded an honorary membership for helping ITC with website construction and maintenance during the transition from the ITC headquarters in California to IMS. Alternatively, the individual can be recognized locally, perhaps with recognition at a local ITC event and an award or certificate of recognition. When this type of recognition is given, the ITC board would like to hear about the award and what the person has done to deserve such an award. And, consider writing an article for POWERtalking magazine.
Who can confer an honorary membership? The ITC bylaws also state that the bylaws for each level must not be in conflict with the ITC bylaws of the bylaws on any higher level. See Article 16.2 for region bylaws and standing rules. Article 17.2 for council bylaws and standing rules. Article 19.3 for club bylaws and standing rules. Therefore, the classes of membership defined in Article 5 also apply to regions, councils, and clubs.
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Horse and Cart Marketing
- by Janeen Vosper, AC, Fellow of ITC, 1st VP Council 7, Australian Region, President POWERtalk Brisbane South, 2nd VP POWERtalk Gold Coast About the author: Having worked for more than 20 years as General Manager of Sales, Janeen Vosper has a proven record for achieving outstanding sales results coaching high-performing sales teams. In her coaching business, Speech Perfect, Janeen’s passion is now to empower women. She does this through workshops, a podcast, personal coaching and keynote speaking. In her book ‘Good Girls do Sell: The Modern Business Women’s Guide to Authentic Selling’, Janeen shares her ideas on speaking confidence, authentic selling and effective marketing techniques. I see this day in day out at networking events and on social media: where the focus of the marketing is on the benefits rather than the needs. People have been using horses to pull carts for a few thousand years now. It’s safe to say the generally-accepted methodology (horse, then cart) has been thoroughly tested and found to be the most effective.
Are you putting the cart before the horse?
When it comes to marketing, most people put the cart before the horse thus missing amazing opportunities to have their brand recognised for the value they offer. You always want the horse to be pulling your cart and not vice-versa. What I mean by this is the brand, in our instance POWERtalk International, should be the horse and pull the marketing cart. Toastmasters have done this brilliantly for a number of reasons. - One is the name explains what the organisation does. (POWERtalk International brand now also does this but it now doesn’t have the membership base to utilise as well as Toastmasters) - two, the brand has remained consistent over the years; and - three, the members are united in promoting the brand. You would be very hard pushed to find a club that doesn’t have the brand Toastmasters in
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their title. And like all branding success stories, such as McDonalds, Coca Cola and Fedex, they know how to put the horse before the cart in their marketing. Coca Cola tell us how invigorated we will feel when we drink a Coke on a steamy day. McDonalds show us how much fun it is for a family to eat at a store and that mum and dad don’t feel guilty now there are ‘healthy choices’. Fedex touches on sensations of family, connection and peace of mind. And the audience trusts them because of how the story makes them feel.
Have the horse pull the cart
Many organisations including POWERtalk put the cart first by talking about what their club does. Truthfully, most people don’t care. They just want to know what is in it for them and how they will feel if they joined. If you are beginning your
marketing, or explanations for that matter with OUR CLUB or something similar, you are putting the cart first and trying to drag the horse. If you want to be marketing as well as these leading brands, you must put the horse first. How do you do this? By telling stories. Each member of POWERtalk International has a story to tell. Every club has a story, a history that can be built into a story to create awareness. • What is the story behind the workshop or the upcoming event? • What are key turning points that has brought a member, the club, the organisation to this point? • What advice is the club/organisation constantly giving members that could be shared with the media in the form of a story? • What are the members’ stories that enlist an emotion when shared, that make people want to hear more?
Always consider ... what is in it for the reader? What is the point of your story? Like writing a speech, your story must have a point that is going to promote interest and have the reader wanting to know more.
A good story needs to be shared
Building trust in our brand through stories will increase our profile. It will create interest and people will then seek you out rather than you trying to sell the idea of membership to them. Stories then need to be shared. This can be done on the club websites then the link shared across social media by all your club members. This will also help promote traffic to your club website. Google loves stories and your site will rate higher if you add to the club blog. Being ready with a good (and short) story when someone asks about the club will have greater effect than telling them what you do. You want to enlist emotion.
Remember you are not providing information about the member, the club, the event. That can come later once you have an audience of eager fans.
When writing your club marketing, think about how the top brands do it and always ensure you put the horse before the cart.
But be careful here when writing stories.
Remember, sell the sizzle ... not the sausage.
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Flight 2017 Ready for Boarding ... - by Joke Linders, club Eloquent Haren, Europe ‘92 Region Boarding on flight 2017 has been announced. We hope you have packed only the best souvenirs from 2016! The BAD and SAD moments, if carried, must be thrown away in the rubbish bins on arrival. Flight 2017 will be 12 months long. So loosen your seatbelts, jingle and mingle. The stop-overs on this flight will be: • • •
Health Love Joy
• • •
Harmony Well-being Peace
Refueling will be at: • • •
Giving Sharing Caring
The following menu is offered and will be served during the flight: • • • • • •
Cocktail of friendship Supreme of health Grating of prosperity Bowl of excellent news Salad of success Cake of happiness
All accompanied by bursts of laughter. Wishing you and your family an enjoyable trip on board Flight 2017!!!
THINGS WE FORGET 83% of us forget people`s names. 60% of us forget where we put things. 57% of us forget telephone numbers just checked. 53% of us forget words “on the tip of the tongue``. 49% of us forget that we already told someone something. 42% of us forget people`s faces. 41% of us forget directions we’ve been given. 41% of us forget what we just started to do. 41% of us forget what we were just saying. 38% of us forget whether we locked the door, etc.
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Guide for Goal Setting - by Coby Wichers, Europe ‘92 Region We often want to make changes in our life, but we sometimes don’t know where to start. Goal setting can help you to identify where you want to go and the steps needed to get there.
How to do it
Begin by identifying your goals. Take some time to think about the things you would either like to do or that you want to change in your life. Try to identify many short-term goals, like things you wold like to work on over the next couple of weeks or months, some medium-term goals for example things you wold like to be able to do in six to twelve months from now and a few long-term goals, for example, things you are hoping to accomplish in your life-time. Goals can be related to a variety of life areas such as: • • • • • •
Relationships (Friends and Family) Career/ School Finances Health Lifestyle Personal Development
When you are setting goals you need to keep a few points in mind.
Be Realistic
Make sure that your goals are realistic and attainable. If you set your goals too high, it will be too difficult to accomplish them and your motivation will drop. For example, if you have never worked out, expecting yourself to go to the gym for a an hour four times a week is unrealistic. A more realistic goal would be to go to the gym twice a week for 20 minutes. Your long-term goal may be to go to the gym four times a week, but you need to start with smaller goals and work your way up to the long-term goal.
People often have goals about never feeling anxious or making mistakes. However, these goals are unrealistic because it is normal to feel anxious, and everyone makes mistakes some time or other.
Keep your goals concrete and specific
You are far more likely to accomplish your goals if you make them concrete and specific rather than vague. If goals are too vague, it will be difficult to determine what steps you need to take to accomplish them. If your goals are specific, it will be easier to know when your goals have been met. For example, “exercise more” is not a very good goal, because it is too vague. How will you know when you are exercising enough? How often do you want to exercise? For how long? “Exercise 2 times a week for 20 minutes” is a better goal because it is more specific – you will know exactly when you have completed it successfully. Poor Goal Examples Eat Better
Good Goal Examples Eat at least 1 piece of fruit each day
Go back to school Take a writing course in September Meet new people Sign up for a hiking course Save money Put $100 each month in a savings account Travel Book a trip to Paris Be less anxious Take a rest every day at noon Write down your goal! You are more likely to stay on top of your goals if you have made a list of them.
Break your goals into smaller steps
Many goals can be broken down into smaller steps. This is especially true of medium and long term goals. For example, if your goal is to develop some friendships at work, an initial goal may be to ask two co-workers about their weekend plans on Friday afternoon. If your goal is to find a new job, a smaller goal may be to check the classified ads in the newspaper on Saturday.
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Identify obstacles
Once you have established a realistic and concrete goal, identify any obstacles that may be standing in the way of accomplishing your goal. For example, one of the obstacles for going to the gym may be finding childcare. So, if you have set a goal of going to the gym for 30 minutes after work on Wednesday, you will have to arrange for a babysitter.
Schedule your goals
You are more likely to complete your goals if you are clear what you are going to do and when you plan to do it. Use a day planner or calendar to help you remember to complete your goals. For example, your goal may be to practise relaxation for 15 minutes on Saturday morning around 10 a.m. TIP: It is important to be flexible. Sometimes things can get in the way of accomplishing your goals (for example, there is a rain storm on the day you wanted to go for a hike, or your son comes home sick from school the morning you were planning to practise driving). Be willing to come up with an alternative plan (e.g., go for a walk in an indoor mall or reschedule your driving session for the next day).
Carry out your goals
Now that you have picked a goal, you need to start taking the necessary steps to follow through with it. However, it can be hard to get started. In addition to writing down your goal (e.g., work out at the gym for 20 minutes after work on Wednesday), you can write out the steps that you will need to take to complete it (for example, call babysitter on Monday to arrange for her to pick up the kids after school on Wednesday, pack gym clothes on Tuesday evening, take gym clothes on Wednesday morning, head straight to the gym after work on Wednesday). You are more likely to take the steps needed to achieve your goal if you write them down first. The key to achieving your goals is to just DO IT! Don’t wait for the motivation to come before you act; take action, and motivation will follow. For example, you may not feel motivated to start exercising, but once you have done it a few times you will start to feel more motivated to do it again.
“I did it”
If you are able to accomplish your goal, reward yourself. It’s not easy to accomplish your goals. So it’s important to reward yourself when you do.
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It may be helpful to use specific rewards as your motivation to achieve a goal. For example, plan to purchase a special gift for yourself (DVD, CD, book, treat) or engage in a fun activity (rent a movie, go to the movies, go out for lunch or dinner, plan a relaxing evening, watch your favourite television program) after you reach a goal. Don’t forget the power of positive self-talk. If you had trouble completing your goal you may need to revise it. • Take a step back and see what got in the way. Retrace the steps in your goal setting . • Make sure your goal was concrete and specific. If it was too vague, it may have been difficult to tell if you completed it. • Try to schedule your goal, because this will increase your chances of accomplishing it. • Find ways to get around obstacles. • Write down the steps that you need to take to accomplish your goal. TIP: As you complete goals, check them off your list. This can be a helpful reminder of all that you have accomplished so far.
Helpful hints
Start Small. Making small changes can have a big impact on your life. Don’t try to do everything all at once. Instead, pick one or two goals to work on at the time. Be patient. It can take time to meet goals. Especially long-term goals. Hang in there and stick with it! Don’t think in “all or nothing” terms. No one completes all of their goals all of the time. You have not failed if you don’t accomplish all of your goals. Praise yourself for the goals you were able to meet and come up with a new plan for accomplishing the goals that you were unable to complete.
See also: International website: Education Features, Operation/Training - How to write an Action Plan - Self-development - Goal busting - Setting personal goals
Great Expectations
- by Joanne M. Weber, Parliamentarian, Northeast Region
About the author: Joanne has been a member of ITC since 1970 in four Rochester clubs. She has held all club offices and all but treasurer at region and council, including several stints as bylaws chairman and parliamentarian. Current specialties include parliamentary procedure, bylaws, and anything to do with words. She retired from Kodak in 1998 and her outside interests include choral singing, science fiction (especially Star Trek and Doctor Who), all things Harry Potter, murder mysteries, and church work. She is kept company by four cats. By the time you read this message, the end of the year holiday season will be over and we will have settled into that long period of waiting until the spring holidays. I hope you all came through the holidays intact - physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The Christmas holiday period is one that traditionally tries the hardiest soul, with so much to do that we hardly seem to have time to enjoy the season, but, for most of us, it is a busyness that is filled with joy of family, friends, and special celebrations.
Others are happy, why not me?
It is also a time which, paradoxically, brings great sadness, even depression, to others. This dilemma has been explained as the result of great expectations to which the reality does not measure up. That failure of expectations hits on more than one important level - particularly family and material goods - and compounds the sense of failure that some feel at this time. Some of us see the happiness of others around us, the material prosperity, the close-knit families, and say, “Why not me?”. We wonder where we have gone wrong.
Expectations and disappointments
One way of looking at it is to say that our expectations of ourselves (and others) are too high, too unreasonable, too unachievable. We may be inclined to respond by lowering expectations, particularly of ourselves. How many times have you heard others say or even said yourself, “I don’t expect much; that way I’m never disappointed”. While that may prevent some pain, it is not a particularly enriching way to live. If we are going to grow, we must be constantly pushing at our limits and, if we are in some way responsible for the growth of others, pushing them at their limits as well.
What is reasonable in the way of expectations? For myself, I expect that I will do the best that the circumstances allow. This does not always mean that it will be the best possible performance in absolute terms; sometimes the circumstances do not permit the preparation, the time that might be invested in the best of circumstances. What has been hard to do sometimes is to accept that the “best the circumstances allow” may indeed be a very high expectation. It may be more than others think is possible. It may also be less, that we may fall short of the expectations of others. If that is the case, so what! In the end, the only person we are accountable to is yourself. Only we know how we measured up and the failure to measure up to others’ expectations is their problem, not ours.
Expect more from yourself than of others
We have to take this same attitude in our expectations of others or we will indeed be disappointed. Others may not measure up to our expectations, but if we sense that they made a valiant effort, that they ran a good race, we have no cause to be more disappointed in their performance than they are.
Expect great things from yourself
Keeping our self-expectations ahead of others will mean excelling, pushing our own limits just a little each time. Encouraging others to do the same, to keep their self-expectations ahead of ours, will fuel their drive to excellence. At the beginning, in the middle, and at the end, it is we who set the standards for our performance, the degree of excellence we achieve. And only we can judge how we do.
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Why I Write
- by Carrolyn Pichet, Council 11, Blue Ridge Region
About the author: Carrolyn Pichet is a native Washingtonian who received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Howard University and attended the University of Maryland for her Masters. She lived and taught English in France for fourteen years. She worked for the D.C. and Federal Governments in the Metropolitan area for over 50 years. She has been a member of POWERtalk International since joining the Postal ITC Club in 1992, and is currently a member of CABarettes ITC Club, Blue Ridge Region. She fulfilled duties at club, council and regional levels and is a past president of Council 9. Carrolyn enjoys participating in POWERtalk speech and writing contests and presenting workshops on creative writing and storytelling. She’s won 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize for her fiction, non-fiction and poetry in various contests in our organization. Carrolyn is an author and poet. She has published four books since 2010: motivational, autobiographical describing her childhood growing up in Washington, DC, poetry, and her latest, a historical biography of her 92-year-old aunt. Members, why should you write the book that’s been calling to you for so many years? The following reasons come to mind; you know something very special that you should share with others; writing your book will be an enlightening, rewarding experience; and one that’s so very easy -if you can talk, you can write.
“I’ll be an author and poet.”
There was never anything in my life’s aspirations that ever hinted, “I’ll be an author and poet.” In fact, I was within my last month’s countdown to retirement when the following thoughts came to me. I’m about to retire at 69 years old, but my life’s not over. I can still think and reason, I can still dance up a storm and I plan to continue to grab life by the fistfuls. It was at that very moment I decided to write a book to share with others that life doesn’t abruptly end at retirement. My first book is The Best Is Yet to Come: How I plan to beat the age game by not getting old at all! It’s a self-help, motivational book to improve one’s health, mind and body and conspires with the reader to build strong, positive attitudes, develop a sense of humor and use their own resourcefulness and wisdom while living life to the fullest. I challenge the reader to take charge of his/her own destiny.
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My second book, Growing Up in the Nation’s Capital: We made it but it took an entire village, is a treasure trove of humorous tales and adventures I shared with my childhood friends and siblings while growing up. But I remind you that most of my tales took place when the “protagonists” were merely innocent kids just doing what happy kids do. You’re served the most unimaginable deeds that any rag-tag gang could conjure up. These were images of my childhood when the youngsters were brought up by parents, family, friends and neighbors in loving, caring village communities. I am a better person because of my village neighborhood. It was my passion for poetry that led to my third book. I wrote a book of poetry called My Lovely Golden Rose which demonstrates my poetic reflections and memories of the people whose influence in my life have made me who I am today.
A 92 years old aunt still driving
Finally in 2016, I wrote the book that was by far the most pleasant experience of all. It’s called Telling It Like Is: The Remarkable Life Experiences of My Aunt Edna. Aunt Edna is precious, an extremely rare jewel--one not easily found. Aunt Edna is 92 years old, still driving, and just like the Energizer Bunny, she’s still going strong. To write this historic biography, the most wonderful part was that I had the privilege of spending months in intimate contact with my aunt. I spent captivating moments wrapped in her love, laughing at her humor and being enchanted by her quick wit and intelligence. The result is a stunning quilt in vivid detail, each square lovingly sewn next to the previous one.
My time with her was as enjoyable as a lovely piece of cake--a delectable dessert!
What are you waiting for? Share your thoughts Your reasons to write may even be more valid than mine. You talk constantly to others daily about your life experiences. If you can say it, you can write it. You must have secrets, jokes, anecdotes and many humorous moments to share. Everyone knows that the person who
makes you beam with pride is the sweetest, most handsome and intelligent grandchild in the world. You want to share your special love for him/her with us all. Write about your feelings and tell everyone how that bundle of joy and the apple of your eye is your greatest source of pride. What are you waiting for? Share your precious thoughts with us. We’re all waiting for your first book. It’s so easy—surely, it will be “a piece of cake.”
WiiFM?
- on Recruitment Here we have put together some good examples that have been used by many clubs, tried and true. You can use one of them or make your own!
The most important part of your membership recruiting message is the headline. If your headline doesn’t engage the reader it’s a wasted effort.
Tongue Tied? – Untie the knot at ………
Most of us are scanners, and don’t read newspapers or magazines from cover to cover. We flick through and read the article with the headline that catches our interest first, I suspect that is also how we scroll through our Facebook messages. WiiFM – What‘s in it For Me?
Lost for Words? - Find them at ………
When preparing your web message, press advertisement or any printed message think of your target audience and engage them right at the beginning by telling them what is in it for them.
Do you feel Invisible? - Be seen and heard! How? - Contact our club at ………
Rather swim with sharks than speak in public? - We can help at ……… With a little imagination, you will come up with some grabs that suit your club and culture. Just let loose and be creative, let your inner author / word nerd shine. And remember - WiiFM?
A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true. 13
Keeping in Touch via Email
- by Mary Wong AC, Fellow of ITC, President ITC Australian Region Inc.
As an organisation that purports to train in communication, it is vital that we ensure our communication methods are current – we become irrelevant if we are not up to date in our core area of expertise. In our modern technological world, email [and other digital methods of communication] has quickly overtaken the postal service we once all relied upon. Nowadays, if you don’t have a working email account, you are well behind the times. Some people would argue that they don’t have an internet account and only access the internet via public connections, such as the library or internet cafes, so don’t have the ability to have an email account. But modern technology also has them covered, with a multitude of free online email accounts available – such as gmail, yahoo, mail.com and a plethora of others – do a Google search on ‘free email account’ and see for yourself how many there are. The truth is you don’t need a website, or internet account to have an email account which can be accessed from anywhere in the world. Interestingly, some countries have security systems in place that block email from other countries, but don’t block email from the free online email accounts [eg. AOL often blocks email from Australia]. So, even if you have a private email account, it can be worthwhile setting up a free online account which forwards mail received to your private email account so that you are still able to receive email from your international friends and associates. Signing up is simple – just select a provider, follow the prompts, fill in your details and you’re set. Usually the account provider will ask you to suggest your email name. Often, a note will pop up saying that name is taken. The
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suggestion is that you be creative with the name – use numbers, to make it personal to you – a recommendation here though, that you don’t use numbers such as birth date, as this can be a security risk. You might end up with something like mary123lovesitc@gmail.com as your email address [no, that’s not a real account]. Keep trying different combinations until you strike one that works for you. It is recommended that all clubs have a designated email address for PREM use - again, this could be a free online email account. For example, POWERtalk Brisbane Central might use itcbrisbanecentral@gmail.com; or sundayjapanitc@yahoo7.com could be the Sunday Club’s account. This account could then be used as an ongoing email account which appears on club websites, business cards and all marketing and promotions your club publishes. Designating an account specifically for use by the club provides security through keeping personal email addresses private and means that this account can be passed on from one PREM chair to the next, term after term, so all previous advertising remains useful and current for the club. Remember, it takes up to 11 times of seeing an advertisement before people act on it these days, so it’s important that the contact details you give out stay current over long periods of time. I’d also recommend office bearers for Councils, Regions and even International Officers have designated email accounts. This prevents confusion, and keeps email addresses current from one officer to the next in subsequent terms, so eliminates the need to wait for rosters for updated information at change of term. Email forwarding can be used from that account to the personal email account of the officer in question, so all email received is automatically forwarded, thus eliminating the need to constantly check more than one account. As the account is passed from officer to officer, the backup information and password on the account should be changed, thus ensuring account security is maintained. Our website states we are ‘the Ultimate Communication Organisation’, so let’s live that
ideal by ensuring our communication methods are current and accessible internationally. Set up your online email account, and discover how simple and cost effective it is to remain in touch with people from all over the world. If
you are having difficulty getting started, seek some mentoring from another member of your Club, Council or Region. After all, mentoring and communicating are both strengths of our Organisation.
Mr. Renton Speaks
- by Pat Cartwright, Australian Region Rules Chairman “If an organisation has a meeting then the meeting should have organisation … A meeting should never be an event at which minutes are kept while hours are lost. - Speech by the Author to a Toastmistress Conference.”
This acknowledgement is by N. E. Renton, in the front pages of his book Guide for Meetings and Organisations. The “Toastmistress Conference” referenced is the 3rd Annual Conference of International Toastmistress Clubs, Australian Flinders Region, held in Melbourne in May 1981. Nick Renton was presenter of the training session “For All We Know”. On a personal note, this region conference was the second I had ever attended and my first meeting with Nick Renton, who made a lasting impression, guiding continuing interest in meeting procedure. In our organisation, various parliamentary authorities are used, depending on the country. Differences between the authorities make international meetings rather challenging.
Australia and New Zealand
Mr. Renton’s first Guide for Meetings and Organisations was published in 1961, as a 204 page reference manual for clubs and societies. The parliamentary procedure part of the book was extracted from that used by the Parliament of Australia, based in turn on the parliamentary rules used for centuries in Great Britain, under the Westminster system of government.
Mr Renton used clear language in his step-bystep guide in the decision-making process at the non-political grass-roots level. Enter the world of motions, debate and voting. Unlike some other parliamentary authorities, he then examined the unwritten rules governing the conduct of meetings - to explain what are (and what are not) logical, workable and effective procedures. The manual dealt with practical issues in setting up and running organisations and the roles of officers. The burgeoning Toastmistress clubs in Australia adopted Renton’s Guide as their Parliamentary Authority. Australian clubs had an advantage - Renton, N . E. (Nicholas Edwin Renton) was alive and kicking, as the saying goes, and living in Melbourne. He made himself available as a speaker and workshop leader to many organisations and welcomed queries and suggestions. He then added new material to his work in future editions. His advice was sought by telephone on many an occasion. His final edition was published in 2005, five years before his death. By then, the work was in two volumes; Volume 1 Guide for Voluntary Associations and Volume 2 Guide for Meetings. None of his original text had changed, simply added to with examples, further suggestions and including updating in line with advances in society.
USA
There had been earlier manuals on parliamentary procedure in America, significantly the 1801 A Manual of Parliamentary Practice, by Thomas Jefferson. The process of debate was in the same order as under the Westminster system, stemming from early colonial government. General Henry Martyn Robert, in 1876, produced his first edition of Pocket Manual of Rules of Order for Deliberative Assemblies. This is now commonly known now as Robert’s Rules of Order
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Newly Revised (RONR). It is the authority used by our clubs in the USA, Canada, Japan and Europe. The 1915 edition of RONR was the last completely reworked and 75% enlarged by the original author. That stood for 28 years until the 5th edition was published in 1943, under the guidance of Robert’s daughter-in-law and grandson. All later editions have been prepared by persons who either knew and worked with the original author or are connected to such persons in a direct continuity of professional association. Also available now is Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised IN BRIEF (RONRIB).
Great Britain
Parliamentary rules had been documented at various times, as early as the 16th century. Erskine May’s Treatise on the Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usage of Parliament, by Thomas Erskine May Esq. (later Sir Thomas), was first published in 1844. This is still used and the current edition is commonly called Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice. Although this authority was used in the government, clubs and societies in Great Britain had the same need for a handy reference on parliamentary procedure. Leslie Hall took up the challenge in 1966, writing Meetings: Their Law and Practice (The M&E Handbook Series). The current edition of this work is used by clubs in Great Britain.
Between the Authorities
As all these parliamentary authorities had the same roots, the steps of debate are the same. A motion is introduced, debated, amended if allowed and a decision made. However, the names of the various types of motions differ and how they are dealt with can differ. Robert’s Renton To introduce business: - Main motions - Substantive motions To amend a main motion: - Subsidiary motions - Substantive motions To affect how a main motion is handled: - Subsidiary motions - Procedural motions To deal with the meeting itself, not the business: - Privileged motions - Procedural motions Questions of procedure: - Incidental motions - Points of order
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Main and Substantive motions are the same in every respect when the purpose is to bring business before the assembly. Mr Renton says a substantive motion is one ordering something to be done, authorising some past or proposed action, expressing the meeting’s opinion in regard to some subject, or otherwise dealing with the organisation’s general activities. This includes proposed amendments to motions and all substantive motions are dealt with in the same way. All motions start with “That …” (which is not a requirement under Robert’s). Renton describes a procedural motion as one affecting how a substantive motion is handled and those dealing with the conduct of the meeting itself, not the business. Robert’s Rules of Order Motions Chart, on www.robertsrules.org, lists all these types of motions as Main Motions, with differing requirements, despite the fact that the Table of Contents for Robert’s Rules of Order Revised, on the same website, lists the types of motions as shown in the above grid. Confusing for the member wanting to be prepared for international meetings! Sir Thomas Erskine May, General Henry Martyn Robert, Thomas Jefferson and Leslie Hall would concur with those insightful words spoken by Mr Renton to the conference in 1981 – organisations do need organising. Although procedures may vary, results are the same.
Are You Normal or Nuts?
- by Beatrice Squire, Fallfax Club, Council 11, Blue Ridge Region, Div. II
About the author: Beatrice is a charter member of the Fallfax Club and has held all offices at the club level, held offices at the Council and Blue Ridge Region levels, and served as chairman or a committee member at each ITC level. She is an ITC fellow, has participated in the international speech contest at the ITC level two times, and placed first two times at the international level in the writing contest (non-fiction). Do you fit in or stand out from the crowd? Are you considered a bit eccentric, strange, weird or superstitious? Have you ever wondered how you might score on the Rorschach Inkblot test? Most of us are not quite as normal as we might seem, nor is our unusual behavior or phobias necessarily nuts. Much too often people feel threatened by others when they challenge conventional wisdom, have peculiar personality quirks and mannerisms, do things differently than most, or do not look the part.
Learn to celebrate your uniqueness
As long as your idiosyncrasies do not interfere with your ability to go about life, and you are not hurting anyone or harming yourself, do not be concerned. Since the beginning of time people have taken risks, relied on their instincts and gone where there was no path and left a trail. Human talents and passions are tremendously diverse and take many forms. Sometimes we thrive and other times wilt, and in the process may fail. Learn to celebrate your uniqueness or eccentricity and thrive. Leonard DaVinci, the Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor and master of other skills, slept two hours at a time in fourhour intervals. Charles Dickens would only write and sleep facing north. The world would not be the same without some of the great talents who did not follow the crowd. They have brightened our lives with their skills, creativity and innovations.
Writers and especially teachers are known for having strong positions about punctuation and sentence structure. Stephen King, the prolific contemporary writer, also has firm views. In his book, “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, King said, “I believe the road to hell is paved by adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops.” He stated that adverbs rob details and specificity from the rest of the sentence. Being abnormal or different in dress, musical taste, thoughts and expressions seems to be especially true of many jazz musicians. The great American jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Sphere Monk immediately comes to mind. He had a unique improvisational style, was renowned for his distinctive taste in suits, hats, and sunglasses, went days without speaking to others, and was noted for an idiosyncratic habit during performances. Sometimes while the other musicians in the band were playing, he would stop, stand up from the keyboard, and dance for a few moments before returning to the piano. His work was largely overlooked, and he struggled at times to make ends meet. Years later he was declared a genius.
You owe yourself your own authenticity
You owe yourself your own authenticity. Do what is reflective of your vision. Rather than living a life of regrets, embrace the potential and the pain and trust your instinct even in unchartered territory. Mary Seacole, a pioneer and heroine of the Crimean War, was of mixed race and overcame a double prejudice. She built a hospital with salvaged driftwood, old packing cases and sheets of iron. She also visited battlefields to nurse the wounded. Her immense bravery and nursing skills made her famous. Florence Nightingale looked down on Mary’s low social status and mixed race background. There is the past and there is the future. Often we might have to conquer the here and now. The late Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa,
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spent more than a quarter of a century in prison. Once while hosting a reception with dignitaries from all over the world, he formally welcomed everyone and then said something that left many in awe. He introduced three of his former jailers and said that he was pleased that they were present.
Practice relentlessly, take time to relax
In addition to practicing relentlessly to improve their skills, many professional athletes have pre-game strategies or rituals. Usain Bolt of field and track fame, and widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time, calms his nerves before a race by talking about fast cars, women and music. At times we should probably ignore the critics. Barbara Walter, an American broadcast journalist and known for having hosted a variety of television programs, was told, “with your voice, no one is going to let you broadcast.” Even against the odds, you must strive to create the kind of self and environment that will make you happy to live with. Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller, a German poet,
philosopher, physician, historian, and playwright, deliberately let apples spoil. The aroma, somehow inspired him. His wife stated, he “could not live or work without it.”
Accept conditions or accept responsibility
Two primary choices in our lives are to accept conditions as they exist or accept the responsibility for changing them. Donovan Livingston, a master’s graduate from Harvard University in 2016, was chosen to speak at the School of Education’s convocation. Instead of a traditional speech, Livingston performed his poem, “Lift Off.” Something like this had never been done before. The speech went viral and has been viewed over 5 million times on YouTube. How weird are YOU? Are you plain vanilla normal or totally bizarre? Perhaps sometimes you feel like a nut and sometimes you don’t. Stroke the genius within. Know thine own self and have a keen eye for what works for you. Paint that picture. Write that story or poem. Compose that music. Refuse to be a collection of mirrors reflecting what everyone else expects of you and be yourself.
In the Word Drawer
- by Keiko Fujiki, East Kobe Club, Japan Region - translated by Kazuyo Sugitani
About the author: Ms. Fujiki has been a member of East Kobe Club, Japan Region for 27 years. She served all offices of the club more than double for each office. Her most honorable event in her ITC life was when she won 1st place for non-fiction at the Writing Contest in 2013. A drawer can be considered as a box used for keeping something important. I like to think about how to increase words, brains or stories in the drawer and then how to use them. I like to think about the process of making a sentence by weaving those things kept in the drawer.
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A person who has many words in the drawer is considered superior to others. How many words you have in the drawer is proportional to knowledge on a wide variety of subjects. The knowledge creates your point of view which is helpful for making various sentences as well as you want. The more knowledge you have, the more various sentences you can write. You need to have skilful usage of your drawer where you have a lot of words. Well, how can you increase words in the drawer and put those words together to make your sentence more attractive? Let me talk about it from my experience.
Write everything down
Write down the words you encounter that you are interested in. You need to just do it, you must make it a rule to keep memo paper and a pen with you all the time. One word per memo paper. On the reverse side of the memo, write about when you encountered the word, why you like the word, how you feel about the word, and what situation you were in. This information will give you helpful tips for writing a sentence better. I usually use memo paper that is 1/8 size of A4 paper and put them in my apron pocket when I’m at home, in the kitchen and at bed side as well. You might have an experience that you recall some good idea or something while sleeping but you forget all about it after you are awake. So it’s important to have a memo at the bed side. Of course keep a memo in your purse. To be honest I would like to put it even in the bathroom………! A great word comes to your mind instantly but is often gone quickly. It’s a magical thing! It is said that a fish you lost is somehow big. If you forgot to take a memo, only your regret remains. Another tip is to be a good friend with a dictionary. Whenever you find a word you don’t know well, consult with a dictionary.
Be curious and attentive to your surroundings Spread your antenna high and wide in order to get interested in what you see, what you hear and what you read, and then enjoy them whatever they are. It is really important to have a different point of view you have never had with curiosity.
The number of “WHY” questions you have makes your drawer bigger. I believe you have heard the phrase “glass ceiling” used for the recent USA Presidential Election. I put it in my drawer.
Put words together like a puzzle
Put the various memos you wrote in your favorite box and keep them for a while. I like chocolates very much and so I use an empty chocolate box for those memos. I let those words mature slowly in the box. Those words must be waiting for the time to be picked out of the box. Sometimes you can open the box secretly to look at those words. The empty chocolate box is going to change into a jewel box! When the box becomes full of words, your work will start by putting those words together and weaving them into sentences. It’s an exciting time to pick memos out and put them all on the table or on the floor. The table and floor are full of your jewels. You are going to pick up words to put together, throw some and pick up again -this process will make words alive because they are weaved into a sentence. The words kept in a small box were picked up and put on the table or floor and they are slowly getting awake and find their right place themselves. It takes time but it’s an enjoyable and happy time to make your favorite sentence.
Being a good writer
However, a sentence is not only for yourself, it must be understandable to your readers. I have made a list of tips on what I believe will help you become a good writer.
Ten tips to be a good writer 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
The subject and predicate verb have the correct relation. Is a participle correctly used? The sentence has a proper length-not too short and not too long. Is the sentence written with a point of view of the readers? Don’t write a sentence with uncertainty-be careful of every single word and phrase. Does it explain well? Don’t have typographical errors. Is the context proper? Try hard to make what you mean understood by others. What you think is natural is not always regarded as natural by other people. Finally read what you write and confirm that it doesn’t sound awkward.
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“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ...�
- C. S. Lewis
POWERtalk International www.powertalkinternational.com info@powertalkmail.com