The mission of a Toastmasters club is to provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment in which every individual member has the opportunity to develop oral communication and leadership skills, which in turn foster self-confidence and personal growth.
PRESIDENT PERRY OPENS OUR MEETING
Perry, our Peace Speakers president, opens our Toastmasters meeting with reference to today's agenda created by Betsy. When his family lived in Minnesota, his son tried his hand at snow
boarding and found it (to his surprise) very challenging. Perry notes that we also face
challenges in life that bring us to Toastmasters where we fight through discomfort and adversity to achieve communication and leadership skills. Like the Olympians, we struggle but overcome, and that takes commitment, which is the Word of the Day (in noun form).
PATHWAYS - A NEW OFFERING!
At our Peace Speakers meeting today, we embark on bringing Pathways into our awareness and usage. It's Toastmasters International's revitalized educational program that's been rolling out worldwide recently. A considerable upgrade from the original Legacy educational program, Pathways has more flexibility, choice and opportunities for growing communication and leadership.
As the blogger, I volunteered to work with Perry to go to Toastmasters International online https://www.toastmasters.org and show our members and our guest just how simple it is to take the Pathways assessment. I had established a password previously and logged in easily. The questions were clear and the length of time for answering was minimal. Out of 10 possible learning paths, 3 were suggested based on the responses I gave to their prompts. I didn't choose a path today, but I will at a later date when I've given it some thought. As a committed member of Peace Speakers, I plan to finish my 10th speech this year to earn my Legacy certificate. In the meantime, I can still embark on Pathways, before or after my last speech in the Competent Communication Manual. Lots of flexibility in Toastmasters...depending on my individual needs!
TOASTMASTER MOVES US ALONG
Betsy, our Toastmaster for the day, runs with the theme of the Olympics for our meeting. With the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in full force, she knows that the athletes' Herculean efforts relate to our drive to overcome personal challenges as well, even if the skill sets are different.
As the Toastmaster, Betsy developed the agenda for our meeting today and leads the educational part of our program. This gives more members and willing guests the opportunity to speak and practice getting comfortable with communication and leadership roles.
Betsy introduces our prepared speaker for the day, sharing that even though Sharon has been a Toastmaster for a decade, she is new to our club, so she is giving an Ice Breaker speech today, which we love.
PREPARED SPEAKER, SHARON, TELLS US "WHO'S THIS CHICK?"
The basics of Sharon ’s Ice Breaker speech are shared today
in this blog. When she began her speech,
she said she used the word “chick” in the title in reference to herself because
it denotes a lightness and fun, and that’s what she’s about. As the blogger, I’m already interested in
what she has to impart!
When you meet a person in the business setting or socially, one of the
first questions you ask them is “What do you do?” Generally, this question means “What do you
do for a living?” Over the past 40 years,
I’ve had many different answers to this question. In my twenties, the answer was “I’m a sales
Manager for Frito Lay. In my thirties,
it was “I’m a mom and small business owner.”
As I moved into my forties, I answered with “I’m an entertainer and track
mom.” Now, I don’t really have an
answer.
I don’t work for a big corporation.
I don’t run a business.
I don’t manage a team.
My kids are in college; I quit my job and moved into a simple loft
apartment. At first, I slept a lot. Watched far too much TV, and took long walks
with my dog. Then I began asking
myself, “What do you do?” All my adult life I have been identified by my marital status, my job
title or my children’s level of achievement.
Now when someone asks me, “What do you do?” my answer is “As little as
possible.” I learned to relax and enjoy
my life. Be sure, I work! I’m not
independently wealthy. But I try to only do things that I enjoy.
And relaxed Sharon was giving this Ice Breaker speech! With so many achievements under her belt, she's earned this more laid-back time in her life, which she keeps meaningful. The Ice Breaker speech always gives us delightful and insightful information about our new members.
OLYMPIAN TABLE TOPICS
Our Table Topicsmaster, Eva, is on the prowl for members and any willing guests to answer questions she's created that relate to our Olympics theme. This gives everyone at our meeting a chance to think on their feet and share a response that's 1-2 minutes in length. It's fun, the answers are usually quite interesting, and it helps individuals grow their communication skills. Eva asks for volunteers first.
The Olympics contribute to global peace and understanding by bringing together athletes from around the world to compete in a nonpolitical environment. Do you agree? Why or why not?
Betsy agrees that the environment at the Olympics is basically nonpolitical. Athletes from all over the world compete and become friends. One person congratulated the others who received medals. It is obvious that their commitment and respect for others is awe-inspiring.
What is your favorite or least favorite sport in the Winter Olympics?
Dorothy, a visitor to our club today, shared that her least favorite, yet interesting sport is curling. She finds it interesting that the U.S. team members won the gold, but she thought their moves made them look like they were just cleaning the floor. Her favorite Olympics sports are figure ice skating and bob sledding. (We love it when our guests jump in and play Table Topics with us!!!)
Many of the Olympic athletes have inspiring stories about overcoming odds and setbacks to become gold medal contenders. Imagine that you're competing and tell us your story.
Kay says that as an Olympic ice skater, one of the biggest hurdles was just coming up with outfits that would fit her 6-foot frame, so she had to choose her tailor very carefully. And the long hours of practices she committed to day-in and day-out plus the costs of this sport were grueling. Learning how to do the twizzles, flips and turns in sync with a partner was just so demanding. She loved ice skating in the Olympics, but it could be so debilitating!
SPEECH EVALUATOR SHARES HER OPINION
Betsy begins to wind down the educational part of our meeting by calling on the members, who agreed to take on different roles, to give their reports. After listening to those who spoke today, the Ah Counter/Grammarian shares the number of space fillers like "ah, um, you know" and the sentence shifts she heard. There were at least 3 uses of the Word of the Day (committed). The Vote Counter notes that Kay (your blogger) won the Table Topics votes for the best short talk, and the Timer shared how much time each speaker spoke, which keeps our meeting neatly packed into its 1-hour time frame. Like the Olympics, we gave it our best shot today. The practice empowers us.
If you're a visitor to this blog, you are likely thinking about making a life-changing decision to visit a Toastmasters meeting. Whether you want to better prepare yourself for the rigors of professional life or want to improve your personal communication, Toastmasters has a path for you. Pay us a visit soon! Peace Speakers are friendly and will support you as you move your own pace through the program. We look forward to bringing you into our club and working with you!
OUR NEXT 2018 MEETINGS:
Wed., Mar. 7 - Conference Room B
Wed., Mar. 21- Conference Room B
Due to inclement weather, we are canceling our Wednesday, March 21, Peace Speakers Toastmasters Club meeting. We will back at 1:00 p.m. at 100 Witherspoon Street on Wednesday, April 4 for a meeting with as many as two prepared speeches.
Wed., Apr. 4 - Conference Room B
Wed., Apr. 18 - Conference Room B
Wed., May 2 - Conference Room B
Wed., May 1 - Conference Room B
Wed., June 6 - Conference Room B
Wed., Apr. 20 - Conference Room B
Blog visitors, it's been a while since I've been able to blog our meetings, but they are still continuing every 1st and 3rd Wednesdays. Please visit us!
Peace Speakers Toastmasters Club
1st and 3rd Wednesdays (usually)
1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
100 Witherspoon Street
Downtown Louisville, KY
Respectfully submitted,
Kay Chambers
Blogger for Peace Speakers
and VP of Education
