A Confused Mind Doesn’t Buy
Schedule of Events
News & Notes – Toastmasters Facts
District 26 Marketing Activities
Boosting Employee Success with Toastmasters
Why go to the District 26 Spring Conference?
Are you a Leader Enabler or a Godfather?
What about the children?
Club Membership Dues
We appreciate your $UPPORT!
Spring Conference 2014 Breakout Sessions
HELP WANTED
Musings - Club Social Functions
Pass it on!
Let the rest of your club know the April 2014 Dialogue is available.
If you had been with me this past week you would have witnessed a very strange expression on my face. I visited a club and I thought I knew what to expect. All Toastmasters Clubs operate on the same structure and principles of a safe environment to build Communication and Leadership skills in. As I witnessed a guest, how they were greeted and made welcome, I started making notes. Even after visiting over 93 clubs I still learn a lot of new ideas.
As the meeting progressed I stayed out of the way of the club officers who sat with their guest. I soon remembered that I too was a guest. I was welcomed but never explained the club culture. Why there were snacks but we weren’t told when we could eat them. The timer announced that she just turned lights on for the speakers but never explained what the colors meant or that times were different for each speaker. Grammarian gave a word of the day and forgot to tell us to try to use it whenever we spoke that night.
The prepared speeches were excellent. They stretched their skills and took greater personal risks. The evaluators matched the presenters adamant styles. When “Table Topics” began I saw the fear grow on the face of the other guest. The Table Topic Master walked to the front of the room and said “Who wants to volunteer for an embarrassing question about Valentines Day?” I could tell they weren’t joking. That was the actual series of questions they planned to ask! Then waited for someone to come forward as a “volunteer”.
The meeting soon ended and I visited with the guest too. They planned to visit 2 other clubs and join the 1 that was the best fit. Yesterday I got an email telling me they found the perfect club. They were so impressed that they wrote a check out during the meeting and signed up for their first speech too.
“What was the difference in the club’s?” I had to ask.
“The club had a printed agenda for us to follow. It was clear where we were going in the meeting. There were names and titles for each step. Also, I didn’t feel like a “Victim” when table topics came around. I wasn’t confused. I recommended the group to my daughter & 2 coworkers.”
Yes I have seen it many times in business. When a client was confused they didn’t buy my services. I challenge you to look at your club meeting from the “Guest’s eyes”. If you are trying to save money by not printing agendas, I question, is it worth the loss of 4 new members?
BackApr 1 – April dues renewals due to TI
Apr 1 – Initial Nominating Committee Report to District Governor
Apr 7 – 43 Minute District Leadership Conference Call 1st Mondays
Apr 9 – DG Announce District Officer Candidates
Apr 30 – Area Governor second round visits should be completed (reports due 5/31)
See the district calendar for more details
BackYOUR Story Needed
Many people have heard of Toastmasters and most believe it to be a “public speaking group” and while it’s true we have all spoken publicly in our clubs, Toastmasters is much, much more than that.
Toastmasters has help many of us in ways we never imagined. I have heard Toastimonials of Toastmasters who learned how to give evaluations at work; who have gotten job promotions because of meeting participation; who have given eulogies they never would have been able to; and the list goes on.
I am looking for YOUR story to add to these and others for the upcoming D26 Toastimonials Page. Some will be in print, some will be video but all will help visitors understand the variety of benefits that Toastmasters has to offer.
Send me your story of how Toastmasters has helped you to pro1314@d26leaders.org. Deadline for submission is May 15th, 2014
Please see the D26 website for a complete list.
Apr 1 – D3 International Speech and Table Topics Contests
Apr 5 – Eastern Division International Speech and Table Topics Contests
Apr 5 – M1 & 2 International Speech and Table Topics Contests
Apr 8 – D6 International Speech & Table Topics Contests
Apr 10 – D1 & D2 International Speech and Table Topics Contests
Apr 12 – Foothills International Speech and Table Topics Contests
Apr 12 – Southern Division International Speech and Table Topics Contests
Apr 16 – D5 International Speech and Table Topics Contests
Apr 24 – M5 & M6 International Speech and Table Topics Contests
Apr 26 – Northern Division International Speech and Table Topics Contests
Late February and early March the district held several kickoff meetings in the Metro and Denver Divisions. Thank you to every Toastmaster who assisted with the kickoff meetings.
The Department of Energy (DOE) held their kickoff meeting on 2/27/14 sponsored by two DOE employees. What a gathering! We could feel the energy in the room! Forty one people attended the kickoff meeting to learn about Toastmasters. Those trailblazers who participated in Table Topics had the club members laughing. The following week 32 people showed up for the second club meeting. Alan Swartz and Pat Moore agreed to mentor the club. Additionally Dennis Ryan will help the club as they move toward chartering sometime in April.
Fidelity Finance, sponsored by Brent Clark, held their kickoff meeting on 3/5/14. Fidelity Finance started up a new call center in Greenwood Village late last year. Brent has worked with the call center management to bring in Toastmasters for their employees. Pat Brodbent, M-6 Area Governor, will help sponsor the club to help members learn the Toastmasters processes and help new officers lead the club pre-charter. Did you know that sponsors work with club before the club charters and mentor work with the club for 6 months after charter? The Fidelity Finance club which meets at 5:30 PM could use two mentors if you need the Advance Leader Silver credit. Brent and Pat have an ambitious goal of chartering by the end of March to get double membership payment credits for District 26.
Xcel Energy was the second kickoff meeting the first week of March on 3/7/14 in downtown Denver. At the Xcel Energy meeting our District Governor Tom Hobbs was the Toastmaster for the day – he brought with him 703 gallons of energy! The small but engaged group will meet twice a month at noon if you are looking to sponsor or mentor a club in downtown Denver. They are on track to charter by the end of April.
Congratulate District 26’s newest club RRG Rocks! Riverstone Residential Group (RRG) held their kickoff meeting on 3/10/14 as the second half of a new training program they instituted for the residential property managers along the Front Range. They plan to host their Toastmasters club at the end of the bi-monthly training sessions. The club is the brain child of Justin Van Landschoot who started a club Parker CO in 2005. The day of the RRG Rocks kickoff meeting 21 people signed up to be charter members. RRG Rocks chartered on 3/18/14 March (eight days kickoff to charter), bringing in double membership payment credits for the district. This closed club, which meets at 2:00 PM not far from Tamarac Square will be mentored by the Denver Division Governor Joan Janis.
Send requests to sponsor or mentor the new clubs to Deborah Frauenfelder at LGM1314@D26Toastmasters.org.
Thank you District 26 Toastmasters for continuing to market Toastmasters within your communities!
BackRiverstone Residential Group is one of the largest multi-family management companies and oversees apartment rents nationwide. With today’s rental market booming and many management companies competing to be the best, offer the best, and provide the best, Riverstone has creatively found a way to surpass the competition by investing in the growth of current employees. Under the lead of Justin Vandlandschoot, Vice President of Operations for Riverstone, the Central Mountain Region (CMT) has taken the initiative to find innovative ways to outdo the competition and the property management industry as a whole.
In September of 2013 Riverstone’s CMT region decided to invest in the growth of current employees by creating outlets for new experiences, challenges and opportunities to produce engagement and involvement from some of the top-preforming Property Managers in the region. A collaborative group was formed to help facilitate these initiatives which is now referred to as Opportunity Rocks and consists of 18 managers looking to take their careers and knowledge to the next level. While most of the involved Property Managers are well–versed in management skills, financial skills and customer service skills; one imperative skill seemed to be lacking, public speaking.
To increase knowledge and confidence in public speaking and set a competitive edge, the Opportunity Rockers decided to reach out to Toastmasters and charter into District 26. It took only 8 days from start-up to charter. The Rockers were eager to get involved and are now committed to gaining knowledge and developing essential skills for future public speaking circumstances that will likely arise with owners, clients, investors, and competitors. By using the skills that will be developed by the program, participating associates and Riverstone will have one more reason to prove they are the best-of-the-best!
When people join any organization, they have a reason. For Toastmasters it is generally, "I want to be a better speaker." "I want to overcome my fear of speaking to groups." Perhaps you had a similar reason.CLUB OFFICER TEAM leading as a TEAM is the key to a successful Club. He explained the way each officer touches the member and how club officer functions work together to build the club success. One suggestion is to complete as much of a new member application as possible in advance including the amount due for the month so it is fast and simple to sign the member up.
After being with the organization a short while, most new members will have attended club meetings, learned about the organization, gained new friends and delivered some manual speeches. This is great, but they are just scratching the surface of their membership value.
The sad truth is that after completing the Competent Communication manual, more than half of the club members leave. The reason is they thought Toastmasters was a course and they finished it, or they felt they got good evaluations and are 'good enough'. Toastmaster never promises instant results, it is a process that must be experienced over time.
Here is a statistic that may shock you. One third of our members will leave the club every year. Some will relocate, some will have scheduling conflicts, some will have health issues, but if we did not continue to actively recruit new members, our organization would soon disappear.
We have been going strong since 1924, In light of the major attrition in membership, what still keeps us growing? It is that the organization is much more than what happens inside a club meeting. And for those who discover the wealth of opportunities throughout the district, they are kept inspired and challenged. They have new friends and access new opportunities to exceed expectations. For the same dues, these members reach outside their club and get far more value from their modest club investment.
Many members will go to area or division contests, and that is a good place to begin reaching outside a club. The biggest opportunity, however, comes from attending the twice a year district conference. Here you meet hundreds of like-minded folks whose sole mission is to be a better leader and communicator. These folks are just like you. They are happy and enthusiastic and offer models of participation that will change your life permanently. It has mine, and I have been a member for more than 26 years.
People from throughout District 26, will assemble this Spring to meet, learn, lead, and communicate, All Toastmasters are not just welcome, but encouraged to participate. You will learn how our wonderful organization functions so well. You will meet members who have great success stories to share. You will be able to share your experiences and learn how to overcome issues that you and your club need to re-energize. You will gain new and lifelong friendships.
This year you will meet Mark Brown, a World Champion of Public Speaking, who now earns his living as a speaker and mentor. His speaking ability and message will inspire you to new heights. You will meeting Tom Jones, our Region 1 International Director. He will tell of new changes and opportunities in our worldwide organization. You will witness the District speech contest finals and participate in our District Council Meeting. You will socialize with fun people. You will smile a lot.
You will learn about opportunities for leadership growth and personal recognition that will build your character and give you confidence to succeed in your life's path.
There is a small extra fee to attend, because the costs of putting on this magnificent event must be shared by all. I assure you that you will get more than you put in. We are non-profit and all those who help put this event together, do so as willing volunteers. We passionately contribute back because we have discovered that the many facets of opportunity in our district and want them to be shared with as many members as possible.
If you have not yet registered, do so now. It is May 16 & 17 at the Embassy Suites in Loveland, CO. You can register here: http://bit.ly/1pBgecT.
Register before May 1 and get early pricing. First timers get a special price, too. If you have registered, I look forward to meeting you personally. I hope you have signed up to volunteer. There are many conference roles waiting for you. My fellow Distinguished Toastmasters and I will be happy to share with you our path, listen to your needs and encourage you to pursue your Toastmasters path for your personal gain and happiness.
Why do you go to the Toastmasters District 26 Conference? It is where communicators and leaders flourish. You see the real reason people join Toastmasters is not to be a better speaker, it is they have a message inside of them that they are compelled to share and they want to do it greatly, they want validation and respect. It is the reason we are all part of the largest non-profit educational organization in the world. Toastmasters International, Where Leaders are Made.
BackWhere Leaders are Made. We have all seen this and we know that Leadership is half of Toastmasters mission statement “We empower individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders”. But are you a Leader Enabler or Godfather/Godmother?
Here are few question to ask yourself:
If you answered Yes to any of these questions, you most likely are not a Leader Enabler but the Godfather/Godmother that Lance Miller spoke about at the Toastmasters Leadership Institute in January. The one who makes sure everything is going “right”. While your intentions are good, you might be doing your fellow members and club a disservice.
OK to Fail. Lance Miller also pointed out that Toastmasters is a safe place to fail. Mistakes are made at meetings, that is what Toastmasters is all about, a safe environment to try something new. New to you, new to the meeting, whichever. It is through our trying new things that we can fail and learn. Or succeed and soar.
Godfather/mothers may feel they are protecting the member or the club from “failure” but in reality failure can help cultivate success as you can read here.
If you are a Godfather/mother, ask yourself before helping, are you serving others or serving yourself so that you don’t feel uncomfortable by the error? Maybe you have a fear of failure or fear of the club’s failure. Here are some steps to help you identify and help, if that is the case.
OK to Help. Lets be clear though, help is not always a bad thing, there are plenty of times and opportunities when it is appropriate to offer help and suggestions. When someone asks; when you are General Evaluator; when you are a Mentor or Coach etc. Just keep in mind that there are only a few things that are critical in how Toastmasters meetings are run and if you are disrupting a meeting to point out an “error” that can be damaging to the psyche of a member and is disruptive to the rest of the meeting members. So before helping, stop and ask yourself, is it really that important? To the member? To the meeting? Or just to you? If the only yes is to you, then it is better to not help.Story. As a new member the fear of making mistakes as meeting Toastmaster prevented me from taking that role for a long time. When I finally took the role, I made many mistakes. I forgot to call the Evaluator to read the objectives, I forgot to ask for time for written evaluations. I forgot to introduce the General Evaluator and called up the 1st evaluator. The only thing that I was corrected on during the meeting was to allow time for written evaluations. I realized my other mistakes when my nerves calmed down after the meeting. Those mistakes were made and yet the meeting was still a success.
If I had been corrected during all those mistakes, I am sure I would have made more, been humiliated and might not have come back. I am so thankful to my club for allowing me to be empowered by my mistakes and to realize that it is OK to make them and as a result I have grown from them.
Path. We all have our own path in Toastmasters ,and we go at our own speed. We all have different goals and different ways to accomplish them. I am willing to guess that these paths are like snowflakes and no two are alike, so never assume that the help you are given is the help that is needed and remember that when you take over someone’s work for them, you are not helping them but hurting them as you have taken their empowerment and leadership away.
Enable. When we keep our feet on our own path, we stay out of the way of people on theirs and we empower them to grow, fail, learn and strengthen their leadership skills. This helps us all stay focused on our steps and helps us all be the most empowered Leaders we can be.
BackIt was not exactly what I had expected. Two 16 year old kids walked in to the room. Each wearing well fitting black suits with ties and NO tennis shoes! Two more came in with knee length dark business skirts and their hair wrapped into a tight bun. I felt like I was in a court house with shrunken lawyers. With brief cases, legal pads and excellent posture they set up for a “in my face cross examination debate”. In 40 minutes they had presented a case about: If the government should fund a research project to develop a program to stop a disease that could destroy the banana crop in South America creating a potential economic crisis.
They did this with amazing organization, clarity in voice and supporting evidence. I was placed in the difficult position of determining who presented the best case and won the debate.
In 4 days this was duplicated 47 times. In addition there were impromptu speeches, Extemporaneous Sales Pitches and Story Telling sessions – over 213 students eagerly competing in 13 different types of communication events. This 4 day event was not what I expected of the kids I often see hanging out at the mall.
You should experience these kids doing what most adults are afraid to do. Speak with a voice of confidence and excitement. Well you can, just like I did. They need you as an objective judge at their competitions. This was the 2nd year I was asked to be a judge at the Rocky Mountain Classic Speech and Debate Tournament. The NCFCA held this regional event that drew students from South Dakota, Texas, California & throughout the west, all to Denver Colorado.
So why would they ask you to attend? They need your feedback. You as a Toastmaster are actively building communications skills and developing the best speech evaluation skills in the world. This is just one of the ways you can take your Toastmasters trainings back to the community. You can have fun, help the youth and promote Toastmasters to the world. Go help the children in your community today.
BackClub membership dues were due to Toastmasters International by 31 March. If for some reason your club’s officers did not submit your club’s dues on time, then know the grace period ends 10 April. After 10 April, the payments are late.
You may ask why is paying dues on time important? Three reasons come to mind.
First, to have access to club management tools on the Toastmasters International website, clubs must stay in good standing. Good standing means at least 8 members must pay dues and the club officers submit the dues for the club.
Second, when club officers submit dues payments for 8 members, the club earns credit toward the Distinguished Club Program. The Distinguish Club Program is our club goal system within Toastmasters. Distinguished clubs typically are vital healthy clubs with engaged members. These dynamic clubs effectively facilitate fun learning experiences for the membership body.
Third, your members can compete in contests outside the club. Contest season is upon us. For members to compete outside the club the members and the clubs must be in good standing on the day of the event. If either the member or the club is not in good standing, the member cannot compete in Area, Division, District contests (or beyond).Help your members compete by paying a minimum of eight members’ dues to include the people competing.
BackThe District has been recognized for some of THE BEST DISTRICT CONFERENCES year after year! It is an honor to showcase our contestants and provide valuable training at conferences.
Costs keep rising faster than the registration fees we charge. The district absorbs some of the costs to offer our members an affordable price so more members to attend and share ideas.
There are 3 ways you can help us continue to keep costs low:
Please contact Fundraising Chair PDG Julia Davis, DTM; jkdolls@msn.com; PO Box 185; Firestone, CO 80520 or LGET Linda Rhea; LGET1314@D26Leaders.org for further information.
BackBelow is a partial list of presenters for the Spring Conference.
David Dye: Train the Trainer – How to train, facilitate and leave them wanting more
Pamela Hertzog: Writing a Speech of Mythic Proportions – Using screenwriting tools to energize your storytelling
Chrys Withrow: High Performance Leadership – A high value for us ALL!
Maura Thompson: FaceBook – How to grow your club for free
Devorah Uriel Listening to Connect – How listening will make you a better speaker!
Joe Sabah & Deborah Johnson: How to Speak Outside Your Club for Fun and Profit
BE at the PREMIERE Toastmaster Gathering:
District 26 2014 Spring Conference
May 16 & 17, 2014
Embassy Suites Loveland
Room Block reservations due April 16
http://tinyurl.com/d26conferencerooms
Conference Early Bird Registration Due May 1
https://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1454680
Do you have what it takes to edit the Dialogue?
Regretfully, I must give up the job after the July issue is published. It’s been a great ride, but now it’s time to turn the reins over to someone else. Briefly the job consists of nagging the district officers until they submit an article or articles, collecting other articles, and assembling them into the document you see each month.
If you are interested and have questions, please contact me, Gordon Savage, at gordonsavage@msn.com or by phone at 303-646-0547. Or sign up directly with Bea Macliz at bea.garcia.macliz@gmail.com.
Are you ready to serve?
The following appointed positions on the district team need to be filled for the coming term:
Public Relations Officer,
Secretary,
Treasurer, and
Area Governors.
These positions qualify for credit as a district officer and offer you an opportunity to serve your fellow Toastmasters. Please contact Bea Macliz before the spring conference at bea.garcia.macliz@gmail.com to volunteer.
The District 26 Nominating Committee placed the following Toastmasters on the ballot:
District Governor – Linda Rhea
Lt. Governor Education & Training – Deborah Frauenfelder
Lt. Governor Marketing – Darryle Brown and Keith Horowitz
Denver Division Governor – Eric Dunham
Eastern Division Governor – Stacey Williams
Foothills Division Governor – Rhea Thompson
Metro Division Governor – Lori High
Northern Division Governor – Stephanie Jensen
Southern Division Governor – Michelle Mras
Clubs should determine whom their representatives will vote for before the district business meeting on May 17th. Bios will be available in the Candidates Corner of the May Dialogue.
BackNormally I write my musings about the lead article, but this time I want to discuss a different topic. Toastmasters is, as you know, a volunteer organization. I can think of three things this does for us: It keeps the cost down. It offers the opportunity to learn leadership by hands-on experience. And it gives us an opportunity to repay other members for their service.
Keeping the cost down should be obvious. By limiting the paid staff to the folks that run world headquarters, we keep our operating costs down. Thus we can offer high quality training at a significantly lower cost to the members.
As far as I can tell, the leadership aspect was a by-product of the structure of the organization. Dr. Smedley recognized the educational value of serving in club and other organizational offices, and specific training soon followed. Later the various jobs were reorganized to offer more opportunities and level the load. More recently Toastmasters introduced a leadership educational track to add focus on specific leadership skills and encourage members to develop as leaders. By bringing leadership training more in line with communication training, International made it more accessible.
This all leads up to that third observation. Toastmasters leadership is service leadership. The men and women who lead Toastmasters are serving all of us. They don’t get paid to do their jobs, but we all owe them a debt. We can repay them in a number of ways, but the most important is serving them back. We are currently putting together the team that will serve the district for the 2014 – 2015 term. We have candidates for the elected offices, although additional candidates can run from the floor. We still have appointed positions to fill. We never seem to have enough area governors to go around, and that is both the most important job and the most satisfying.
It’s time to look into where you can contribute. Where do you fit in? What are you going to do about it?
BackPublisher / Governor
Tom Hobbs, DTM
Phone: 303-671-0469
Email: dg1314@d26leaders.org
Editor
Gordon S. Savage, DTM
36923 Forest Trail
Elizabeth, CO 80107-8126
Phone: 303-646-0547
Email: gordonsavage@msn.com
Public Relations
Maura Thompson, CC, CL
Email: pro1314@d26leaders.org
Title & Design
Carol A. Harris, ACB
E-mail: thewriteniche@aol.com