POWERtalking June 2016 by POWERtaking e-magazine

POWER talking POWERtalking Issue 29 | June 2016 www.powertalkinternational.com

... coaching in effective speaking

Leading the way through shifting winds, changing tides and oceans of opportunity

In this issue

3 - A message from the International Board by Mary Flentge, President-elect 4 - From the editors Marilyn Robinson & Marijke Slager 5 - Becoming a better Secretary by Marilyn Robinson 6 - Hilary Brown receives the Queen’s service medal by Marilyn Robinson 8 - From ITC to professional speaker - a thought on evaluation by Noreen Kolesar 9 - Lexicology - ideas by Marijke Slager 10 - WordPower - Club conflict by Mary Marshall 12 - The Parliamentarian explains - Electronic meetings by Wyn Bowler 13 - Your hidden talent - It’s there, look for it! by Geraldine V. Lightfoot 14 - Tool chest for mentors by Kazuyo Sugitani 15 - Email: The Dos and Don’ts by Aðalheiður Rúnarsdóttir 16 - Ideas for a workshop on the “Elevator Pitch” by Marijke Slager & Vera Blom

The cover photo was taken by Óli Jón Jónsson, a member of Club Harpa in Iceland region.

Publication guidelines: POWERtalking e-magazine is published quarterly: March, June, September, December.

Articles of between 500-700 words should be of particular interest to ITC members and the mission of the organization.

All submissions are made to the Editorial committee and once accepted become the property of ITC. Very much in demand are articles that have educational value for members.

Authors should wherever possible submit a photograph of themselves together with a 20-50 word profile of their credentials.

Write-ups on installations, anniversaries, charters and contests have limited interest and are rarely published.

Images must be submitted as a separate jpg file at 300dpi.

A Message from the International Board - by Mary Flentge, President-elect

As an organization that has been around since 1938, whether it be under the name of International Toastmistress Clubs or International Training in Communication or even POWERtalk International, we are still delivering the same first class training programs where members are coached in effective speaking and leadership skills for personal development. Wide range of skills Today, the ITC POWERtalk International Training Programs offer training on a wide range of skills. To start with Speech Construction: • how to plan a speech that will bring your audience to attention right away • how to make your audience curious to hear more • how to keep your audience awake and interested ‘till the end.

Effective speaking is about learning the techniques to get your message across in a relatively short space of time. Every ITC/ POWERtalk meeting provides the coaching and the feedback to make this happen. You learn-by-doing in a friendly supportive atmosphere amongst friends, where feedback to improve is paramount. WHAT should be improved; WHY should it be improved; and HOW it should be improved, is an essential part of the learning process. Presentation technique POWERtalk Training Programs help you learn how to express yourself clearly; how to project your voice so that everyone can hear you; and how to listen with your brain and not your heart. We use the latest presentation techniques, such as PowerPoint; Prezi and YouTube. We cultivate skills in using Social Media, like Facebook, as well as the latest PR techniques. Our training is all-round. The International website will show you the way, www.powertalkinternational.com. Learning is a life-long experience that will never end. In this day and age, WE - the ITC/POWERtalk members, can help you keep up!

From the Editors - June 2016 - by Marilyn Robinson & Marijke Slager

Serving as co-editors of POWERtalking magazine is an exhilarating experience! We are learning so much about the many diverse activities that our members and clubs engage in. We are blessed to have an exceptional member, Aðalheiður Rúnarsdóttir, of Iceland Region, take on the challenge of compiling each issue. Our committee member from Japan brings a wealth of experience as well and Geraldine Lightfoot, former ITC President and Chair of Fellows of ITC Committee is a source of knowledge and expertise that we value highly. Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on our March issue. Your comments and suggestions are helping to shape the development of this magazine, which is intended to be a source of information for your own

personal use as well as for use in promoting this great organization of ours. The next issue will be available in September. The theme will be “Getting started in the new term” offering ideas on how to make your club/ council/region 2016-2017 term productive and rewarding. Suggested topics include goal setting to achieve results, building a strong leadership team for region, council, club; how to ensure files are kept current and in good condition for transfer to successor; what should be archived. We invite you to consider submitting an article yourself that will benefit others. In the meantime, keep those comments and suggestions coming. This magazine can only be as good as you help to make it!

POWERtalking Magazine Editorial Committee Members Co-editor Marilyn Robinson marrobins@mymts.net Division II

Co-editor Marijke Slager Division III

slalom@home.nl

Member Geraldine Lightfoot Division II

gerryvl@thot.net

Member Aðalheiður Rúnarsdóttir Division III

adalheidur.runarsdottir@gmail.com

Member Kazuyo Sugitani Division IV

kksugi@nifty.com

Becoming a better Secretary - by Marilyn Robinson, AC, ITC Secretary 2015-2017 We have all listened to minutes meeting after meeting, not giving much thought to how the secretary put them together, but this article will give you some pointers. We all know that the president presides from the centre of the table. Who sits next to the president? The secretary sits to the right of the president and the parliamentarian to the left. The president relies on their expertise to see that things happen when they should, are recorded and handled correctly. Summary of duties The bylaws spell out the duties of the secretary so you know what the duties are, but the bylaws don`t tell you HOW to actually do them. What, then, are the duties of the secretary? Here is a brief summary. 1. Keep a record of all the proceedings in the form of minutes which should contain the following information: • The kind of meeting: regular, special, adjourned regular, or adjourned special. • The name of the club or organization. • The date and time of the meeting and the place if it is not always the same. • The fact that the president and secretary were present, or in their absence, the names of the persons who substituted for them. • Whether the minutes of the previous meeting were read or circulated in advance and approved as read or circulated or as corrected and the date of that meeting. • All main motions or motions to bring a main question again before the assembly, except any that were withdrawn, giving: - The wording in which each motion was adopted or otherwise disposed of. - The disposition of the motion including

if it was temporarily disposed of, any primary and secondary amendments, and all adhering secondary motions that were pending. - The name of the make of the motion but not necessarily the seconder unless desired by the group. • All points of order and appeals, whether sustained or lost, together with the reasons given by the chair for the ruling. • Elements of the program with the names of participants. • The hour of adjournment. 2. Keep on file all committee reports. 3. Keep the official membership roll and roll call where it is required. 4. Make the minutes and records available to members upon request. 5. Maintain a list of all existing committees and their members. 6. Furnish delegates with credentials. 7. Sign all certified copies of Acts of the Society. 8. Maintain record books. 9. Send copies of the minutes to the president within one week following the meeting. 10. In the absence of the president and vicepresident, call the meeting to order and preside until the election of a chairman pro tem. 11. Present Board of directors’ recommendations to the group. 12. Advise the appropriate or designated authorities when new officers are elected. 13. Reply promptly to correspondence with copies for the president. 14. Perform other duties as listed in the bylaws and standing rules or as requested by the president or the group. This is a brief overview of the key duties of the secretary. While it may seem onerous, in fact, this is a very exciting role and one that I encourage you to take on when you are offered the opportunity.

Hilary Brown receives the Queen’s Service Medal Hilary Brown, DC, and ITC International President 2002-2003 was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal in April 2016 We were all thrilled to learn that ITC Past President Hilary Brown had received the Queen’s Service Medal. We were very interested to learn more about this great honour and asked Hilary to share this significant event in her life with the members of the organization she has served so well over the years.

Hilary, Congratulations on receiving this distinguished award. Can you tell us what the award represents and how you were chosen to receive it? “There are very rare occasions in a person’s life when one is taken entirely by surprise with some wonderful news. Imagine therefore, how it was for me in September 2015, when I received an envelope embellished with the New Zealand Governor General’s coat-of-arms. In it was a letter from Lieutenant General, the Honourable Sir Jerry Mateparae, saying I had been nominated for a Queen’s Service Medal and asking whether I would be happy to accept it. The award was for 30 years of service to the Community and to Public Speaking. It was

truly humbling to realise that there were people within my local community who thought my contribution over three decades was worthy of recognition by Queen Elizabeth (who is also New Zealand’s monarch as NZ is still part of the British Commonwealth).”

But there must be a lot of hoops to jump through when offered such an honor? “Yes, once a recipient has accepted the nomination it is forwarded to the Queen for her endorsement and signature. And then comes the hard part – keeping this information totally confidential for three months until New Year’s Eve - when the awards are published in the New Year’s Honours listing.”

New Year’s Eve must have been a great relief. But the Award Ceremony itself wasn’t on New Year’s eve, was it? The ceremony must have been a prestigious event and an awesome experience.

Nick, Gaby, Rachel, Hilary, Pat & Ben in front of Government House

“It was, and than I had to wait four more months. The Awards Ceremony was

held in April, 2016, and I was permitted to invite six guests to attend the function. The Medal recipients had the choice of having it presented in Auckland or in Wellington. Wellington is our capital city and also where Government House is situated. $70,000,000 has recently been spent upgrading the building so it was an absolute privilege to be able to receive the award there and to be hosted by the Governor General and his wife to afternoon tea after the awards had concluded.”

Only six guests? It must have been hard to determine who you would invite as your guests. ”Six guests are quite difficult to narrow down when you have a husband and four children who all have partners. So husband Pat, three of our offspring Gaby, Nick and Ben plus Ben’s wife Rachel were all thrilled to be able to attend plus my longest standing friend Marg.”

Hilary and the Hon. Louise Upston, Minister for Women.

On New Year’s Day, the first person to arrive on our doorstep to offer congratulations was our Taupo electorate Member of Parliament, the Hon. Louise Upston, Minister for Women. She made a special request to be the MP who attended my award ceremony. One Member of Parliament is given leave to attend each ceremony. I was honoured to have the photograph taken with her after the ceremony.”

”There were 21 New Zealanders honoured that afternoon and I was #16. The Governor General had no notes as he congratulated each recipient. He has the warmest of smiles and looked each of us in the eye as he congratulated us, pinned on our medals and talked about what we had done to earn the recognition. I was amazed at the homework he had done about POWERtalk and our place on the world stage, about what an honour it had been for New Zealand to have had me elected as ITC’s first NZ International President and how important good communication skills are to our lives.”

Tell us about the ceremony. How did it feel to receive an award like that? How did you feel after the ceremony?

Congratulations, again, Hilary, on a well deserved award. All members in the ITC family are so very proud of you.

“Before April 12, being installed as ITC International President had been the greatest honour in my life, but receiving the Queen’s Service Medal for service to the community and to public speaking has now surpassed that. I do not know who nominated me but I am truly grateful and humbled that they thought highly enough of my service to do so.”

From ITC to Professional Speaker a thought on Evaluation - by Noreen Kolesar

When I joined Toastmistress back in 1982, as a charter member of the newly formed Portage Trail Club, little did I know how far it would take me. The experiences I had serving on the boards at all levels in the organization developed many skills and built my confidence. It was never my plan to become a professional speaker, it just evolved. Now I am still a proud member of POWERtalk, where I continue to push myself to be a better speaker. I have also joined the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS). CAPS is a member organization of the Global Speakers Federation (GSF). Many countries around the world have similar associations, affiliated under the GSF. The U.S. was the original country to form an association and theirs is called the National Speakers Association (NSA). I first joined CAPS as a Candidate member because I did not qualify as a professional speaker, based on the number of paid speaking engagements that I had each year. Candidates are allowed two years to qualify as a professional. A five minute presentation At the CAPS annual convention they have a session called Rising stars. For this session each province selects one of their newly minted professional members to present five minutes of their material. Immediately after each speaker has spoken, a panel of three long time professional speakers provides valuable feedback.

Last year I was fortunate to be the representative from my chapter. The objective of the Rising star event is not a competition. It is to provide constructive support to up-and-coming speakers and I was excited for this opportunity. About 50 people attended this session and a fellow member recorded my presentation for me.

The panel was not necessarily looking for a wellrounded five minute speech, just five minutes of our material and they cut some speakers off at five minutes, even mid-sentence. The recording of my presentation is 5:06 and the recording of their comments is 6:08. ‘What does this presentation need to have more impact on the audience?’ Their comments did not follow the POWERtalk model of evaluation with a commend, recommend and commend. Although they didn’t say it, their comments were all Noreen Kolesar, member directed around, of Speech Masters Club ‘What does this and past Division II Vice presentation need President, has her own to have more impact on the audience?’ company called Mindstage, or more specifically, where she promotes her ‘What would it take belief that a fit brain is just to move this from a as important as a fit body. $200 presentation Noreen is a certified Brain to a $2000 presentation?’ Gym instructor and the

creator of the W.I.S.E.R. I found the comments Brain Program explaining I received to be very that simple adjustments to insightful. Most of the comments I had your lifestyle can make huge never heard in all my differences to your brain’s years in POWERtalk functioning. She credits and were mostly POWERtalk with providing about the actual her with the skills she needs content; which points or turns of to present interesting and phrase would catch educational sessions. the audience and which points might be a little sleepy. One of the panelists suggested that I immediately engage the audience by establishing common ground. Let them see how my topic is important to them. And he gave me a couple of suggestions on how I might do that. Use call-backs I began my talk with a story, which all the panelists liked. However, they suggested that I further develop the story and then continue to use call-backs, or continue to reference the story as I go along, almost like creating my own running joke.

One comment was around the wording of a specific phrase that I used. The panelist thought it sounded like a teacher and he said “We all know how much we hated school.” And then he gave me a couple of alternate phrases that would have more impact.

In the end I was grateful to have received this valuable coaching support from three highly successful professional speakers. Their willingness to help other speakers succeed speaks to their generosity of spirit and their passion for the speaking industry.

Lexicology - ideas

- by Marijke Slager - Reprinted from The Communicator

In a previous version of the ITC Educational Manual, there used to be a project called Lexicology. The purpose of Lexicology was defined as “to help members build more extensive speaking vocabulary, create better word pictures, and convey more exact meanings by the appropriate word choice.” The Lexicology project is still used in many clubs but members often find coming up with ideas for lexicology a daunting task.

Crosswords puzzles Here are two ideas, Crosswords and Word Games that you may consider using the next time you are asked to do the Lexicology lesson at your club. Crossword puzzles can be found in the daily newspapers or magazines or you can devise your own, possibly using ideas relating to ITC/ POWERtalk. Word games Word games are lots of fun. For example, how many words can you create out of the letters in ‘Motivate’ and ‘Lounged’? Each word must be four letters or more. Only one form of a verb is allowed, e.g. ogle, or ogled, but not both. Proper nouns or slang words are not allowed. Want to play? A list of possible outcome from ‘Motivate’ and ‘Lounged’ will be published in the next issue of the magazine.

You can easealy creat your own Crosswords puzzles, word-searches and other word games on-line. Just put ‘puzzlemaker’ in to your search engine and start creating. Use your imagination when picking a theme for your puzzle. We used POWERtalkrelated words for our wordsearch, Lexicology. We used puzzlemaker.com to create it. Solutions will be published in the next issue of the magazine.

WordPower - Club conflict

- by Mary Marshall, Waitakere Club, New Zealand Region

Waitakere Club set out to prove the truth of Kipling’s are, quote, “Words are, of course, the of course, the most powerful drug used most powerful by mankind”, with used by our WordPower themed programme. mankind.” Proving that words do not Rudyard Kipling need to be dull Janet Henderson presented Club conflict based on the popular TV series Family feud.

“Words

drug

The rules of the game In Family feud contestants from two different families compete. Each round begins with a “face-off” question that serves as a toss-up between two opposing players, with the host asking a survey question that was previously posed to a group of 100 people. (Example: “Name something you might eat for breakfast”). A certain number of answers are concealed on the board, starting with the most popular. The first player to buzz in gives an answer; if it is the most popular, his/her family immediately wins the face-off. Otherwise, the opponent responds as well and the higher-ranked answer wins. The family that wins the face-off may choose to play the question or pass control to their opponents. The family with control of the question now tries to win the round by guessing all the remaining answers, with each member giving one answer in sequence. Giving an answer not on the board, or failing to respond within the allotted time, earns one strike. If the family earns three strikes, their opponents are given one chance to steal the points for the round by guessing any stillconcealed answer; failing to do so awards the points to the family that originally had control.

Janet could not survey 100 people so she went online and used that well-known standby, Google. We did not have buzzers when someone gave a wrong answer but the audience delighted in providing the buzzer noise. A whiteboard served as the scoreboard. We did not have a faceoff but took turns.

Club conflict The two teams lined up and Club Conflict was off. First question: The ten most common words in the English language. Team A decided to accept that challenge. After four correct answers they ran out of steam and the dreaded buzzer and a large X on the scoreboard started. Three Xs later and the challenge was passed to Team B. Much to Team A’s relief they also struck out and Team A won the first round. Second challenge: Top seven synonyms for the Word ‘Word’. Sounds easy, but it was harder than we thought - until we heard the answers and every-one had that “of course” moment. Team B won this round. With the tie the tension rose as it was all or nothing in the third and final round - Words that do not have a Rhyme. Janet gave everyone an example at the start – in this case the word orange. However this was the only word that everyone knew and both teams failed so the overall result was a draw. Just a minute Not to be outdone for Issues of the Day we had that old UK radio show challenge – Just a minute. In the show panellists are invited, in rotation, to speak for one minute on a given subject (which they are normally not informed of in advance), without “hesitation, repetition or deviation”. •

“Hesitation” is watched very strictly: a momentary pause in speaking can give rise to a successful challenge, as can tripping over one’s words. Even pausing during audience laughter or applause (known as “riding a laugh”) can be challenged.

• “Repetition” means the repetition of any word

or phrase, apart from words such as ‘and’

or ‘a’ or ‘the’. Words contained in the given subject are exempt unless repeated many times in quick succession. Skilful players use synonyms to avoid repeating themselves. Even letters may not be repeated; for example, the term “BBC” must be avoided, as it can be successfully challenged for repetition of “B”. • “Deviation” originally meant deviating from

the given subject, but gradually evolved to also include “deviating from the English language as we know it”, “deviation from grammar as we understand it”, deviating from the truth, and deviating from logic. Nevertheless, leaps into the surreal are usually allowed.

A panellist scores one point for making a correct challenge against whoever is speaking, or the speaker gets a point if the challenge is deemed incorrect. If a witty interjection amuses the audience, but is not a correct challenge, at the chairman’s discretion the challenger can nevertheless be awarded an extra point (the “bonus point” rule). A player who makes a correct challenge takes over the subject for the remainder of the minute, or until he or she is successfully challenged. The person speaking when the whistle blows after 60 seconds also scores a point. An extra point is awarded if a panellist speaks for the entire minute without being challenged.

The conclusion A special mention must be given to Miriam Matthews who completed an unchallenged, witty 60 seconds on the subject of “toast”. Mary Marshall took umbrage with the Timekeeper when he “forgot” to show the light when the 60 seconds was up and she had to talk for almost two minutes. Throughout the evening our Compere Helen challenged us with words to expand our vocabulary. Kathleen Dixon presented a clever and entertaining speech called “A Train of Thought” about literally how one thought can lead to another. Amanda Quennell showed the power of words in branding as she took us through the value of the right logo and tag line for a business or organisation. The evaluators complained that the assignments were too hard to evaluate as they found it difficult to listen as they were laughing so much. Overall everyone agreed that the meeting had all the components you need. We all learnt something, we were all challenged and we all had an awful lot of fun.

It is rare for a panellist to speak within the three cardinal rules for any substantial length of time, whilst both remaining coherent and being amusing. Therefore, to speak for the full minute without being challenged is a special achievement. However, if a panellist is speaking fluently on a subject, staying reasonably within the three rules, and seems likely to speak for the whole minute, the other panellists often refrain from challenging. Let’s begin Again we were divided into two teams. We did not score points but started the challenge on one side with subjects given to us by the Chairman Barbara Henderson-Wragge such as Holidays or Pets. Simple subjects to expound on until you throw in the rules above. At first challenges were slow but as the members got into their stride they came thick and fast. Challengers stuttered a little when we realised that if you made a successful challenge then you had to pick up and complete, if you could, the 60 seconds.

The Parliamentarian explains Electronic meetings - by Wyn Bowler

[As specified in the ITC bylaws, Robert’s Rules of Order (RONR) 11th ed. is the parliamentary authority. This article is based on RONR] In many organiztions, more and more business is being conducted in electronic meetings and by email rather than by members being together in one room. The ITC bylaws state in Article 14. Electronic Meetings: The ITC Board and any committee at any level are authorized to meet by telephone conference (teleconference) or through other electronic communications media (e.g., videoconference) so long as all the participating members can hear and/or see each other and can interact simultaneously.

All members must be able to hear each other. Ideally, the members should be able to see each other, too. The ITC board uses GoToMeeting for its electronic meetings. In the GoToMeeting version the board uses, only six persons can be seen at any time. The board decided that the six members to be visible are the president-elect, secretary, and the four division vice presidents. Using this setup, the president can see when the other board members want to say something. (To keep the meeting orderly, they raise their hand rather than speaking out for recognition.) The seven board members (the six mentioned plus the president) and the parliamentarian can hear each other at all times. The system allows the board to have open debates. The ITC bylaws also have this in Article 12. ITC Board. Meeting Call: 12.3.2.b Business that must be handled between meetings of the ITC Board may be conducted by any available means.

In the ITC sample bylaws for council and region, there is suggested, similar wording in the Board of Directors article to allow electronic meetings and email voting: Meetings. Meetings of the board shall be held at the call of the president. Two or more members of the board may call a meeting should the president fail to do so. Such meetings may be held in-person, by mail, or by electronic means.

In emergency situations, therefore, email can be used. For email motions, as with electronic meetings, the steps of handling a motion follows the procedure as if the members were in a room together:

Your club could use similar wording in its bylaws if the members would like to give the board permission to meet electronically.

• The President emails the motion to the members asking for debate. Members should be given sufficient time to email their opinions to all of the other members.

If this wording is not in the bylaws of a club, council, or region, then electronic meetings are not allowed. That is, if your club, council, or region wants to allow electronic meetings, the bylaws must specifically allow this method. See RONR pages 97-99, which is about electronic meetings.

motion, the president takes the vote, and the president announces the result. (See RONR, section 4, The Handling of a Motion.)

How to handle motions In electronic meetings, the steps of handling a motion must follow the procedure as if the members were in a room together. That is, a motion is made and seconded, the president states the motion, the members debate the

• A member who wishes to have an email vote taken sends the motion to the President. Using text such as “Motion to …” in the subject line helps facilitate the email process.

• When the debate seems to be concluded, the President sends an email that asks the members to vote. Using a subject line such as “Vote on motion to …” is helpful. • The President compiles the vote and announces the result. • The motion is then ratified at the next meeting, whether in person or electronic. All members must be included in all emails about the motion, both the debate and the vote.

Using electronic methods to conduct business can be cost and time effective for an organization. When using electronic meetings,

however, make sure that business is handled in the same manner as if the members were together in one location.

Your hiddent talent It’s there, look for it! - by Geraldine V. Lightfoot, D.C., FITC

Success is just another name for your unlimited power to be – to be more creative, more understanding, more humble, more daring, more determined and more dynamic – success is the power to discover your talents and potential. Paul J. Meyers says: “Success is your unlimited power to be the person you can become.” He goes on to say that you can never truly succeed solely by accident or luck. Real success depends upon how much of your talent you develop and use. Assess and weigh your own unique talents and capabilities – they constitute your potential. Know thyself In his book “The Magic Power of Self-Image”, Maxwell Maltz reminds us of the Greek proverb KNOW THYSELF. But the truth we believe about ourselves is so often false. Most people tend to downgrade their abilities and talents. Do you? Do you feel you have abilities and talents? A certain man was asked if he could play the piano. He replied, “I don’t know, I have never tried.” Think about that! Perhaps he did have the talent, but was not aware of it. How many of us are like that man? How many things could we do if we tried? What is talent? According to my dictionary, it is ability, aptitude, cleverness, a gift, a capability. I believe everyone reading this article has at least one talent and more likely several talents. What are your talents? What are your special gifts?

What do you do well? If you have talents be proud of them – put them into words. And it is possible you have a talent you are not fully aware of – a hidden talent! Doesn’t that just blow your mind? Is there something other people have always encouraged you to do that you have repeatedly avoided doing? Maybe an assignment which you feel you are not ready to do. Perhaps you have thought you might like to present a workshop but you feel you aren’t good enough. If you can dream it, you can be it! Many years ago I often daydreamed that I was standing in front of a huge crowd using excellent oratorical skills and showing no sign of nervousness. My daydream began to see the light of day when I joined our great organization POWERtalk International. It was a “hidden” talent trying to be recognized and developed. Never stop trying to develop yourself. If you do, you sell yourself short and your talents go unrecognized. Your potential is fundamentally inexhaustible, but unused potential has little significance. Oliver Wendall Holmes wrote: some people go to their graves with their music still inside them. Some people have natural talent, whatever they do appears to be done with little effort. But these people are in the minority. Most of us must continually work at improving our talents and reinforcing our capabilities. We must continually enhance our talent with ongoing training – training we receive in POWERtalk International. Talent plus training plus commitment equals success. The next time you look in the mirror remember that you have the potential to become successful in whatever you undertake. I believe you have that potential – do you? Believe in yourself and be the best you can be!

Tool chest for mentors - by Kazuyo Sugitani

Our organization is a collection of experienced members and newly joined. One of the important parts of the training a newly joined member gets in POWERtalk is the guidance of the persons who have been there and know what is is like to take your first steps in uncharted territory. This is why it is so important for exsperienced members to lead the way for the new ones and take on the role of mentor. Being a mentor is something one has to learn. Here are a few ideas, some tools, a mentor needs to have in his tool chest. Use the Master manual Utilization of the Master manual for learning and executing our skills protects us from becoming complacent in our training techniques. We want to ensure that what we learn and teach is based on and consistent with our POWERtalk Master manual. Base your mentoring on the Master manual As POWERtalk members, many of us were spoonfed the Master manual from club members. As we grew in POWERtalk, we observed others -who sadly, for some of us were not teaching what was written in this training manual. Therefore, as mentors, we must read the Master manual ourselves to ensure that we are mentoring and training our mentee (protégé) properly. Develop the art of listening As mentors, one of the primary things we do is listen. YES, some people are especially good listeners. However, no matter what kind of listener we are, we can always improve our listening skills which will in turn, help maximize our mentoring compentencies.

Use the power of questioning Mentors must know that being a good listener

requires more than using our ears. Mentoring also requires that we know when to listen and when to speak, moving effortlessly from one to the other like dancers who move freely from one step to another. Don’t presume where our protégé (mentee) is going (leading us) in the conversation. We must be prepared to follow them wherever they lead us. Be an advocate for your mentee (protégé) When we invite members to join POWERtalk International, in essence, we are saying that we accept them, which is similar to what happens when we mentor. People want to know that we accept them — warts (their limitations, their fears, and their skills) and all. They need to know that we are with them one hundred percent and that we believe in them. They need to hear us say, “You can do it. I know you can do this. You just take a deep breath and go for it.” Mentoring is an opportunity to learn and grow It can be a very rewarding experience for an older member to mentor a newbie. Mentoring is not only helping others learn and grow, it is also a way for older members to practice and grow too. It’s an opportunity to practice your listening skills, to give positive feedback as well as advice on how to improve. It’s an ideal situation to learn new ways of doing things, as the new members have fresh ideas and a new way of seeing things. Take the opportunity to pay forward what you have learned and become a mentor, today!

Email: The Dos and Don’ts - by Aðalheiður Rúnarsdóttir

Today, almost everyone who has access to a computer and the internet has an email address. Some even have several; one for work, one for family, another for all kinds of subscriptions, newsletters and so on. Email is replacing the traditional letter. It is different in the way that it is shorter, simpler and more condensed, delivery is faster and easier. But just as it is with writing a letter with a pen, there are guidelines one should follow when writing and sending email. In this article the focus is on the professional aspect. The writing First, let’s acknowledge that there is a difference between sending a business-related email and a personal one and that a person should never use work email for personal use. Secondly, keep the contents of the message concise. The proper greeting is important; be friendly, respectful and approachable. Be brief and specific and put the most important information at the top. Use bullets if you have more than one topic to discuss, but avoid other formatting like changing fonts. Just keep it simple. Underlining can be mistaken for a link. Avoid using upper case letters, IT IS CONSIDERED YELLING! Don’t use emojis, save them for family and friends.

have many topics to discuss, consider sending multiple messages with different subject lines. The last step is to add the recipients. This way you won’t send an unfinished draft by accident. Only include people who are involved in the matter at hand. The “To:” field is for the the primary recipient(s) who are expected to take action or you would like a response from. The “Cc:” field (carbon copy) designates people who need to be passively informed, but aren’t expected to comment on the message. The “Bcc:” field (blind carbon copy) designates recipients whom the other recipients cannot see. If mailing to a group of people whose addresses you want to keep private, put them all in the ‘Bcc’ field and your own address in the ‘To’ field. If you are responding to an email message you can choose between ‘Reply’ and ‘Reply to All’. With ‘Reply’ you only reply to the sender. ‘Reply to All’ will send your reply to those in the ‘To’ and ‘Cc’ fields. When replying, remove recipients that don’t need to see your reply. Finish with one last review When you are all set and done, review one last time. Check if your message is on point and error-free. Are the proper attachments included? Wait a moment if you are upset. Keep those simple points in mind and you will fare well when dealing with email and remember that practice makes master.

Thirdly, include contact info in a signature at the bottom with your name, job title, organization and phone number. Finally, limit the use of attachments. Consider using Dropbox or Google Drive links which save storage space for you and the recipients. Subject line and recipients After having written your email, create a subject line that is descriptive of the content. If you

Ideas for a workshop on the “Elevator pitch” - by Marijke Slager & Vera Blom

What is an “elevator pitch”? It is a way to present yourself, your product or your service. It is called an elevator pitch because the duration should not be longer than an elevator ride from bottom to top level. It can be anything from 30 sec to two minutes, but no more than 100 words. This is useful when you have only a short period of time to convince your listeners. The purpose is to get your listeners to hear more about you/your ideas/your product/your service. The elevator pitch originated from entrepreneurs looking for Venture Capital to start their own companies. The venture capitalist has the money but not the time, so in order to be noticed you have to convince them of your qualities in an ultra short time. When to use an elevator pitch Some people think that this is only useful for salespeople who need to pitch their products and services. But you can also use the elevator pitch in other situations. For example, you can use one to introduce your organization to potential members, but also for networking, job hunting, and in order to make a point during conversation. How to construct an elevator pitch The following elements should be present in an elevator speech: Who you are, what you offer, what is the advantage for your buyer, why should he/she choose your offer. • Limit the number of words to 100. Keep polishing your pitch until it is perfect and contains only necessary information.

• Use clear language, no fancy words. If it takes too long to explain, it is not a good idea/ product/service.

• Use powerful and strong words to frame your organization/ idea/product/ service; start with a catchy introduction. • Create a visual image, which is easy to remember. • Make it a story that pictures the problem and the solution. Stories are powerful. • Adapt your speech to your audience; every audience is different. About the technique An elevator pitch is a brief, persuasive speech that you use to spark interest in what your organization does. You can also use them to create interest in a project, idea, or product – or in yourself. A good elevator pitch should last no longer than a short elevator ride of 20 to 60 seconds, hence the name. The elevator pitch should be interesting and memorable. It also needs to explain what makes you – or your organization, product, or idea – unique. Creating an elevator pitch It can take some time to get your pitch right. You’ll likely go through several versions before finding one that is compelling, and that sounds natural in conversation. Follow these steps to create a great pitch, but bear in mind that you’ll need to vary your approach depending on what your pitch is about. • Identify Your Goal • Start by thinking about the objective of your pitch. For instance, do you want to tell potential members about your organization? Do you have a great new idea that you want to pitch to an executive? Or do you want a simple and engaging speech to explain your job?

• Prepare until it is perfect, ask for feedback, practice out loud, be sure that you are convinced of your message, beware of verbal/non verbal communication, gestures. • End with an invitation to a reaction, be prepared for a follow up, if people are interested, you should be able to present further information. • Be enthusiastic.

”A story should be like a miniskirt enought to cover everything and enough to fascinate.”

long

short

Winston Churchil

Two people work together Here is an idea of how to practice pitches in club:

After the presentation an evaluator gives comments and recommendations. Project the cards, so everyone can see the subject of the Pitch. Master the pitch Elevator pitches are a very special kind of speech and it can be entertaining to give a workshop on the subject at club or region. It gives members a chance to use their imagination in a new way and even put their acting skills to work.

Find clips on YouTube of elevator speeches. Here is one to get you started: bit.ly/Elevator-pitch

• two and two work together; • each pair gets a card with a subject; • five minutes to prepare;

Here are some examples of subjects, but you can surely use your own ideas.

• one person gives the pitch. Give evaluation after two pitches (have two members do this in turns). This is an idea of things to think about during evaluation; the speaker should do: • Say who he/she is • Say what she/he offers • Say what is the buyer’s value • Engage the audience • Have a catchy introduction • Use powerful words - less then 100 • Secure a follow up

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