December 2015
Meeting Agenda
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT MANAGING EDITOR EXECUTIVE EDITOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Club Business & Awards Editorial ……………………………………………….…………. 3
District’s Corner New Clubs ………..………………………………………..……. 4 Club Building Strategies ..……………………………………… 5
Learning Moment Let’s go Corporate .………………………………………..……. 6
Special Event
In my Division
Autumn Conference ……………………………………..……. 10
News from Division A …………..………...…………………… 16 News from Division K …………..…………………...………… 17 News from Division B …………..………………...…………… 18 News from Division E …………..……………………………… 20 News from Division H ...………..……………………………… 22 News from Division L …………..……………………………… 24 News from Division M …………..……………………………... 26
Coming Up Next Spring Conference …………………………………………...... 28
What’s New Newsletters ………………………..……………………………... 29
Prepared Speech Bill Monsour……...…………..……..………….……………….. 30
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59
Ângela Azevedo Lopes Pedro Marcelino Masha Marjevscaia
[ This is the final month of the 2012-2013 thisCONTRIBUTORS: is the version in english this is the version in english this is the version in Marike Dijksterhuis, Dominique Carrasco, Francesco Vecchié, english is the english this is Klajman, Carolthis Bausor, Ian version Cherington,inJulita Davies, Sylvie Daniel Kervarec, Joan Fabregat, Lizioli, Margarida the version in english this isSandra the version in Brites, Ulrike Laubner, Luciana Riestra, Susana Caballero, Ana Isabel english this Luis is the version english Balint this is Ferreira, Carrilho, JoãoinSarmento, Juhasz, Bill Monsour in english this is the version in the version english this is the version in english this is 2015-2016 DISTRICT 59 TEAM the version in english this is the version in District Director Marike Dijksterhuis english this is the version in english this is Program Quality Director Manie Conradie the version in english this is the version in Club Growth Director Dominique Carrasco english this is the version in english this is Public Relations Manager Nelson Emílio the version in english this is the version in Administrative Manager Bess Stonehouse english this is the version in english this is Finance Manager James Sorlie the version in english this is the version in Assistant Finance Manager François Matthey-de-l'Endroit english this is the version in english this is Immediate Past District Director Jaap Russchenberg the version in english this is the version in english this is the version in english this is 2015-2016 DIVISION DIRECTORS the version in english this is the version in DIVISION A Sylvie Klajman english this is the version in english this is DIVISION Sandra Lizioli the version inBenglish this is the version in englishDIVISION this isCthe version Marcel Damenin english this is the version in english this is the version in João Antunes englishDIVISION this isDthe version in english this is the version inEenglish this is the version in Ulrike Laubner DIVISION english this is the version in english this is DIVISION F Siegfried Haack the version in english this is the version in Francesco Fedele englishDIVISION this isGthe version in english this is the version inHenglish this is the version in DIVISION Nacho Arenas english this is the version in english this is DIVISION I Robert Dohrendorf the version in english this is the version in Caspar Hornein english this is englishDIVISION this isJ the version the version inKenglish this is the version in Joan Fabregat DIVISION english this is the version in english this is DIVISION L Ana Isabel Ferreira the version in english this is the version in João Sarmento englishDIVISION this isMthe version in english this is the version in english this is the version in CONTACTING CLARION EDITORIAL TEAM english this is the version in english this is clarion.district59@gmail.com the version in english this is the version in clarion@district59.org english this is the version in english this is the version englishInternational this is the version inas Since 1924, in Toastmasters has been recognized the leading dedicated communication english this isorganization the version in toenglish this isand leadership skill development. Through its worldwide network of the version in english this thethanversion in clubs, each week Toastmasters helpsis more a quarter million men ans women of every ethnicity, education level and profession english this is the version in english this is build their competence in communication so they can gain the confidence toin leadenglish others. the version this is the By regularly giving speeches, gaining feedback, leading teams and guiding others to achieve their goals, leaders emerge. They learn to tell their stories. They listen and answer. They plan and lead. They give feedback–and accept it. They find their path to leadership.
WHERE LEADERS ARE MADE
Club Business & Awards
COPYCAT
L
ast Summer I was in Fake City for the International Convention. A most peculiar experience. I stayed in the huge Caesar’s Palace, walked through endless shopping malls and casino’s, along Venetian gondolas and palaces. We went for a dinner at
the Trevi Fountain below a painted sky, so realistic we actually found ourselves discussing if we would sit inside or outside. I found my way back to my hotelroom by turning left at my signpost, Michelangelo’s David. Spitting images, but something was missing. It made me think about the function of copycatting. We see it in copies of famous brands, in scientific articles and in art. Not only in Las Vegas, I recently saw a documentary where Chinese craftsmen were meticulously copying Rembrandt and Van Gogh. I wondered: is it a compliment or a kind of theft? Then something struck me: doesn’t learning always start with copycatting? Those of you who have children or younger siblings may recognize the funny or embarassing shock when you see your own behaviour mirrored in these kids. Doesn’t always feel as a compliment.
I wondered: is it a compliment or a kind of theft? And isn’t this the way we learn in Toastmasters, every time we do something for the first time: learning by observing each other, copying it, making it a habit? You know, I cherish Toastmasters for the value in itself but also because of the transferable skills I learn, although some of them are more useful outside the Toastmasters context than others. At work I often find myself the only one clapping when somebody tells a good story. But last week one of my trainees told me that he was very impressed by the way I’d mastered the art of shaking hands and thus managed to get connected to at least half of the audience during the ten minutes breaks of events. Clapping and shaking hands have become a second nature after a few years of Toastmasters. Copycatting, turning new behaviour into a habit, isn’t this also why we built this triangle of leadership roles in Toastmasters: start as an assistant, fulfill the role and become an advisor to our successors? It took me while before I realised what was wrong with David and the Trevi fountain in Las Vegas. Simply copycatting doesn’t work, it lacks soul. The child that mimicks you first, developes into a unique character. If I am an ah-counter or chair a District Council Meeting I use my observations of how others perform the role, but I add my own flavour and colour to it. That’s the way: observe, copycat, develop uselful habits and always put your own unique soul into it.
Marike Dijksterhuis (Marike) District 59 Director
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
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D ECEMBER 2015
District’s Corner
New Clubs 5 New Clubs since 1st of July 2015
F
ive club chartered since the first of July. Congratulations to club founders and all the team involved.
Building a new club is a great and very, very, very interesting adventure. Sometimes, people who has not been involved in this process do not realize the time and energy needed to have a motivated and committed team, a nice venue, a well prepared room, a structured meeting with agenda and defined role, a lot of guest who came because they heard about the club in a promotional campaign or in the website.
Building a new club is always a fantastic adventure
We want to congratulate all those Toastmasters who are involved in all those project which succeed to a club charter, or not ‌ because, even if sometimes we do not succeed to charter, it will have been a great adventure.
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District’s Corner
Dominique Carrasco (domiC) District 59 Club Growth Director
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
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D ECEMBER 2015
District’s Corner
Club Building Strategy A tool to identify club building opportunities
Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here? The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to. Alice: I don't much care where. The Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn't much matter which way you go. ― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
D
ear Leaders, building new clubs is part of the mission of the District, an experience that requires effort and drive and a rewarding one.
There are many pieces for this task: who wants to sponsor a new Club? Who can be involved in the team? Where’s the most favourable ground to plant a New Toastmasters Club seed? What’s the best season to plant it? What will be the result after a year? And after five years? Planning in advance can help to achieve the best result in this task. As an assistant to the Club Growth Director Dominique Carrasco, I’m offering my service to help each Division in District 59 develop a strategy for building new Clubs.
A tool that will help you to reach your goals in the Success Plan and that can be used again next year by your successors, building on this year experience The goal of the project is to provide and refine a tool that will help you to: • •
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Collect useful information in a coherent way. Analyze the information to give meaning to data As an example of this step, consider the France map in the next page where the blue dots are for cities with more than 100.000 people and stars are for existing clubs. Create a plan of actions for the time frame considered (until the end of June, for example).
District’s Corner
The result will be a tool that will help you to reach your goals in the Success Plan and that can be used again next year by your successors, building on this year experience. The project will start with a pilot in France, thanks to the Division Directors Sylvie Klajman (Div A), Siegfried Haack (Div F), Sandra Lizioli (Div B) and their Club Growth assistants Sean Ryan (Div A), Philippe Christin and Carol Bausor (Div F). After learning the lesson on how to do it in the most simple and effective way, the project will be extended to all the District 59 Divisions I’d like to leave you with a quote about the flexibility needed in the execution of a plan: “I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination”
Francesco Vecchiè (francescov)
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Club Growth Director Assistant for Club Building Strategy
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
D ECEMBER 2015
Learning Moment
LET'S GO CORPORATE! Corporate Clubs in Europe
D
id you realize that almost 30% of Toastmasters clubs in the world are Corporate clubs? Most of them are in the USA, that's for sure, but there is a growing tendency in Europe for companies to understand that their employees would benefit from the skills we learn at Toastmasters.
So here it is a wonderful opportunity for District 59 to boost: •
The number of clubs in the District
•
Leadership awards for our Members
•
Our visibility in the business world
•
Career opportunities for our Members.
Corporate Clubs are not born overnight (even if in Paris, we have a new corporate club which came into existence… almost by itself!) * But helping to create a Corporate Club can be a most interesting experience for Toastmasters, as well as providing them with a great opportunity for a HPL project.
Here it is a wonderful opportunity for District 59 to boost
STEP 1: Identifying Target Corporations To create a Corporate Club, begin by making a list of the companies that you are familiar with (perhaps your own employer, or that of another member). We recommend that you target relatively big companies, since, for a Corporate Club to survive over a long-term, we need to have at least 200 employees on the same site. Then…. once a possible candidate corporation has been identified… Toastmasters need to start thinking like a corporate person! Be business-like in all your contacts with the company, and share ideas with your fellow members.
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* The Paris Club QUAI D'ORSAY was nonetheless helped into existence by Sylvie KLAJMAN and her team. Several people working here attended Toastmasters club meetings, and liked them so much that they decided to set up their own club.
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Learning Moment STEP 2: Set an interview with key players in the Corporations Make an appointment with decision makers, and make sure that you have a brief presentation prepared, in true Toastmaster style. Leave documents (I will be delighted to send you some!), and aim to leave with a date upon which you will be able to organise a Demo meeting. During your discussion, make sure that you stress advantages to the company of their employees sharpening up their Presentation and Leadership skills. Don’t stress the “club” aspect: it makes Toastmasters sound like a social opportunity, but rather talk about our wonderful educational programme, the learning approach, the feedback model, leadership and positive attitude. Ask if the Corporation would be willing to finance the club (it is customary to do so), and if they would consider giving a pay rise or a bonus to members who reach Toastmasters Awards. Contact the person you met after a maximum of 2 weeks to see if they have made a decision, or need more information.
STEP 3: Demo Meeting Make sure you organise a highly professional event: enrol other Toastmasters to help you. Look like the corporation you are going to: young people go to young style corporations… make sure you have understood their demographics, and aim to match them. Make the meeting easy for the corporation contact by sending him or her promotional material to circulate, and have fellow Toastmasters to participate and take on various roles on the day. Print a professional looking programme! And make it fun! (You already know how to do that!)
STEP 4: Keep in touch! For the Corporate Club to succeed, they must have at least 25 members at all times. You can help them to maintain good membership by remembering to invite them to Officer Training and all Area, Division and District Events. Provide support to the club, up to and after the Chartering process.
Launching a Corporate Club is a wonderful opportunity for you to have a privileged contact with the world of business. You will certainly meet a lot of interesting people and learn a lot yourself! And… you will be conducting great networking. If you would like a helping hand in organising a Corporate Club, or even a Corporate Summit – an event where you invite several
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Corporations at the same time – or want to know how to help flagging Corporate Clubs, please don't hesitate to contact me, Carol BAUSOR, Assistant to District Club Growth Director, in Charge of Corporate Clubs: carol.bausor@iltc-lyon.com.
Some countries seem to be better than others in creating and running Corporate Clubs: why don't we work together to share our skills and… get more Corporate Clubs launched in District 59!
Carol Bausor (CarolToastmasters) Club Growth Director Assistant for Corporate Clubs
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
D ECEMBER 2015
Special Event
Autumn Conference Building Bridges in Amsterdam
“O
ne of the best yet” was one of the compliments received during the closing ceremony of the District 59 Autumn Conference. Following a year of planning and preparations, we were hoping that all would go well. We could not have hoped for such a success.
The core team was small and efficient; Andy Baker as Contest Director (who had appointed Contest Masters to supervise each event), Eleonore Breukel as Education Chair, Ekaterina Voinova as Registration Chair, Saby Sangupta in charge of the 8 strong Venue team, Biljana van Zanten as Finance Chair and Julita Davies as head of PR and website issues. Their energy, creativity and leadership skills were vital in making the weekend run so smoothly and with such a high level of professionalism. Our theme was “Building Bridges” and we tried to reflect this in as much of the programme as we could. Friday morning was an early start for the team as the first attendees were in front of the registration desk and raring to go 2 hours before we opened! The happy faces of Saby’s team created the friendly welcome to set the tone for the Conference. Dutch and Spanish were chosen as the languages for the Humorous Speech Contests, and these were efficiently run in the early afternoon, followed by the semi-finals of the English Contest; both in full rooms with only standing room left!
Our theme was “Building Bridges” and we tried to reflect this in as much of the programme as we could. The evening social event was a walking trip to an Amsterdam “brown café”, which was enjoyed by a sizeable group – particularly impressive as winter had decided to arrive that very evening. I am sure that Paul Huxley did enough chatting and drinking to keep the visitors warm. Saturday was the full day programme. A Table Topics Contest with 13 contestants at 9 a.m. was a test of commitment for everybody – the energy in the main room was a sign of the level of achievement and fun that we were all aiming for.
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We received over 30 applications to host workshops and we choose a variety of new faces to fill our 22 slots. Next to registration desk, we had a sign-in system where people could show their interest in attending a specific workshop; this allowed us to reshuffle the location according to the size of room required. This was a great success, and happily we still had some very full rooms.
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Special Event
Conference Team Conference Team Dutch Humorous Speech 1.
Renaat Toppets
2. Paul Dumont 3. Remco van der Kuijp
Dutch Humorous Speech Humorous Speech Contest – English (Finalists) Spanish Humorous Speech 1.
Joana Sanz
2. Lucia Maté 3. Juan-Pablo Chaclan
Spanish Humorous Speech
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TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
D ECEMBER 2015
Special Event We are very proud that all of the items in the Conference ran exactly on time. With the exception of the DECM, which ran 40 minutes over into a one-hour lunch break. I strongly suggest that a system of discussion and voting on points and motions be devised to save lengthy debates on points of order or on topics that were previously known. Poor council members were left to scrap for a quick sandwich before heading into the afternoon session.
The job of keeping (nearly all of) us awake after lunch was well done by keynote speaker Jessie Gordon, with an animated presentation on gaps and bridges in personal communication. Perfectly in theme and despite some challenges, the only she dropped were the chocolates!
The late afternoon was the build up to the grand finale; where 6 contestants vied for the Humorous Speech crown.
Within 2 hours we were all back, suited and booted and looking as elegant as could be for the champagne reception and gala dinner. An Italian “family� dinner, served on long tables and with no set seating plan made for an informal and relaxed, fun dinner with lots of cross-cultural bridges being built. The prize giving ceremony was short and sweet and the attention was maintained. We had a short break for gelato in another room as the main hall was remodelled for DJ and dance floor. The party went on as it can in Amsterdam.
Table Topics
English Humorous Speech Contest - Finalists
Table Topics Contest
English Humorous Speech
1. Percy Roland
1. Ivan Ottaviani
2. Carol Bausor
2. Colm Kehoe
3. Melchior Glatthard
3. Jennifer Rietbergen
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Special Event
Gala Dinner
Ivan Ottaviani
Sunday morning’s closing ceremony was short of a few people (no surprise) but the workshops were well enough attended (considering).
Humorous Speech Contest – English (Finalists)
The formalities were expertly and efficiently done and we were well ahead of time when I was called to the stage with my team. In fact, my whole team had not yet arrived!
I will honestly never forget the ovation received from the (growing) audience – it made all the hard work totally worthwhile.
My thanks to my team, the District Council and to the venue staff at De Zwijger. It was amazing!!
All the best to Luxembourg for the spring. The bar is high!
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Ian Cherington (IanC) Conference Chair
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
D ECEMBER 2015
Special Event
Autumn Conference Building Bridges in Amsterdam
W
e had 300 attendees, 24 workshops and 4 contests: - Table Topics Contest
- Humorous Speech Contest English, Dutch and Spanish Winners of the contest are listed on our website: http://www.tmamsterdam.com/winners/ Our keynote speaker was Jessie Gordon, world-wide communication specialist, motivational speaker and author. You can check the Conference photos on our website: http://www.tmamsterdam.com/photos/ If you would like to access the workshop materials, keep on checking this page for slides and handouts. We are updating the website as we receive the materials: http://www.tmamsterdam.com/workshop-materials/ If you enjoyed our Conference, please share your comments, insights, testimonials or recognitions on the event website. We would love to hear from you! - http://www.tmamsterdam.com/wall/ Go to the website and comment! Thank you to all attendees of D59 Autumn Fall Conference in Amsterdam, you made it special!
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Julita Davies (JulitaD) Public Relations Chair
Special Event
Conference Team
Dutch Humorous Speech Humorous Speech Contest – English (Finalists)
Spanish Humorous Speech
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Autumn Conference Attendants Building Bridges in Amsterdam
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
D ECEMBER 2015
In my Division
Division A Membership News
A
success story to share:
1. Find a good venue: We have a large and free venue at MDA Paris 8ème. 2. Choose evening mentors: Our club has a strong core of experienced members. We choose an evening mentor to welcome guests and ensure they are seated next to a member.
Recruit twelve new members out of fifteen guests at your first meeting 3. Incentive of professional trainings: This year, TMI Club "Les Ailes" decided to organize professional trainings, in addition to the regular TMI meetings and had onthe-spot registration of new members that evening. 4. A visible website: We have an optimized website so guests can contact us easily, quickly and without obligation. According their feedback, the guests also appreciated our cordial and warm environment and the friendliness of our club. They were also impressed by the level of the speeches that evening.
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TMI LES AILES - PARIS - France www.toastmasters-lesailes.fr
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Sylvie Klajman (sylvie.k) & Daniel Kervarec (danieldk) Division A Director & VPM TMI LES AILES - PARIS
In my Division
Division K Ignite the club !!!
I
n my last meeting with club officers, I had prepared a few words about the importance of their work and commitment to the club.
But, did I need to repeat about commitment to all those members who had expressly come to a meeting of officers? Does one who lives filling up an agenda, session after session, is not aware of its importance?
So I decided to change it on the fly. Focusing on the real fuel of our actions... PASSION!!! The same one that was showed for our representatives of Division, Oliver, Barbara and Joana, in the past District Contest.
They competed fiercely with the champions of France, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the other Spanish Division and... we have a District champion... and no losers when you put all the awareness and effort.
Creating the climate in order to find meaning to attend sessions is basic... and then everybody shines. Let's do it with passion, let's ignite the club !!! On December 11th, we had the yearly Christmas party in Barcelona and I can feel how the organizing team is putting enthusiasm with no limits. The Area K4 has already begun to organize the Division Contest Spring’16 in Alicante... five months before!!! I want to feel this same energy rushing up the clubs.
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Creating the climate for members in order to find meaning to attend sessions is basic and then everybody shines, the experts in their contests, beginners in their first steps forward without fear. Let's do it with passion, let's ignite the club!!!
Joan Fabregat (fabregatj) Division K Director
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
D ECEMBER 2015
In my Division
Division B Belgium building bridges
A
msterdam 2015: Belgium Building Bridges Congratulations to Renaat Toppets, Toastmasters Hasselt: winner, Dutch Humorous Speech Contest; Congratulations to Jo Ann Broger, Brussels Toastmasters - the first in a line up of 12 TT contestants with Table Topic
question, SUGAR!? Congratulations to Colm Kehoe, Armada Toastmasters Club - 2nd place English Humorous Speech Contest; Congratulations Agnes Tarnai - Yes! She is our latest DTM! Brussels Club & Artful Orator Daniel Mouque - the perfect Contest Master Daniel is never shy on stage. In fact, he's so at home on stage that he even dressed up as a Dutchman in drag as the Contest Master of the English Humorous Speech Contest in Amsterdam. He certainly warmed up the audience and had us laughing before the programme started!
Daniel Mouque
Renaat Toppets
Colm Kehoe
Jo Ann Broger
Agnes Tarnai
Aperitivo Toastmasters - first bi-lingual Italian English prospect club launches in Brussels Brussels has several bi-lingual clubs - Armada (Spanish), Berlaymont (French), Blackforest (German), Dacia prospect (Romanian), Claddagh (Irish) and Atomium (Dutch). We've now decided to add Italian to the mix and bring the spirit of Italy to Toastmasters. The evening starts with a Spritz, un aperitivo, and then we merrily go into the meeting 'A alto voce!" The location is unique - a concept store that combines food, fashion and fun! Meetings our on Mondays. Our first demonstration meeting was on November 9th; we now continue with two more in 2015, kicking off officially in January 2016. Tutti benvenuti! Join our Facebook page!
Ernst & Young - new prospect corporate club has first demonstration meeting
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On October 27th, Ernst & Young (E&Y) held their first demonstration meeting with Lars Sudmann (Brussels Club) and Jeffer London (Artful Orators) as guest speaker and evaluator. Area Director Peter Le Page helped organize the event and being the Table Topics Master. Over 30 people attended. Watch this space. Second demonstration meeting planned for January 2016.
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In my Division A weekend away with Toastmasters Gent: where members learn, grow & have fun! Have you ever considered spending a weekend away with your club? Home away from home is the perfect recipe to get to know each other, re-energize and inspire growth. Toastmasters Mathieu Piens and Anton Lemmens went Above & Beyond when they organized a Toastmasters weekend for their fellow club members from the Gent Toastmasters Club from October 9-11th. It was a weekend away filled with workshops about creativity, how to live a positively balanced life, table topics, viewpoints and resolving conflicts. “Above all, it was an occasion to learn, to have fun and to get to know each other a little better, both for the club's long-standing members as well as newcomers, for whom it was the perfect opportunity to feel part of the family from the get go!” - Glenn Degrendele, VPPR. Friday The weekend kicked off was on Friday evening, with a delicious home-made meal with burgers & chips accompanied by a lot of chatter and followed with games to get to know each other even better. One of the games was “Ask a Question”! You have a deck of cards with questions. One person at a time picks a card with a question on it and picks somebody to answer the question. That person then picks another card and chooses somebody else, and so on. ‘”It was a fun and informal way to get to know each other at the start of the weekend.”, says Glenn. Saturday On Saturday, they started the day with a 2-hour creativity workshop where the goal was to work in teams and gather ideas for special themed Toastmasters meetings, combine three of them into one themed meeting idea and present that idea in front of the whole group. During a long two-hour lunch break, people could play kubb, relax in the sauna, go for a short swim in the elements outside or just sit around and chat over a coffee. How to overcome fear in life In the afternoon, everyone was treated to an inspirational workshop about how to overcome any fear in life, get where you want to be and live a positively balanced life. After this workshop, it was time to put their very own inspiration to use in a table topics workshop, where they received tips from the club's best table topic speakers on how to deliver a successful table topic. Says Glenn, “Time flew by as the clock turned to 6.30 pm and, in no time at all, we were served tasty vegetarian cooking. With our stomachs full, we were divided into teams of 4 or 5 people to compete in a 30-question quiz. The winner received a bottle of champagne! The evening continued with playing board games, chatting, sweating (again!) in the sauna and playing "werewolves" until late into the night. It was magic!” Sunday Sunday started with more workshops including one on viewpoints, a training which is often given to actors and other stage performers and another on resolving conflicts. After a short test to determine how everyone handles conflicts (compete/collaborate/compromise/avoid/accomodate), people were divided into groups and given a case conflict which they had to resolve. As this final workshop drew to a close, so did their fantastic weekend. “Although this weekend has only just ended, some of us are already looking forward to next year's Toastmasters weekend.‘” Check out pictures on Facebook!
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Why don't you plan a weekend away with your club? It's a great way to build relationships and encourage growth in a place away from home! For further information contact Glenn Degrendele (glenn-dgbe), VP PR.
Sandra Lizioli (sandraliz) Division B Director
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
D ECEMBER 2015
In my Division
Division E An example of co-working, fun and learning
R
hetorik Club Winterthur used once more its experience to fill up a room with 100 members and guests for a contest.
The aims of this Division Contest were challenging: - Motivating multiple clubs to participate and members to take part as contestants - spread the word about Toastmasters to public and find interested people in Rhetorik as guests - create a learning atmosphere with workshops and lovely food - don't run in a financial disaster. Yes, we can! I am proud to be Director of this Division. All Area Directors and Club Officers did a brilliant job in motivating their clubs and spread information.
Div. E has done a great job in delivering a professional setting, good organisation and great pleasure in his first contest. Although Switzerland was spread in 3 parts, more than 100 guests had the chance to see magnificent speeches and workshops. So it is time to share our experience: When we knew the date, we were searching in June for workshop leaders and keynote speaker, as well as a location.
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In my Division Rhetorik Club Winterthur is a young club without substantial financial reserves. Members were searching for sponsors. The Division E asked all 17 clubs for a contribution of 75 CHF. This was a rather unusual procedure and merely a 1/3 paid the contribution. However, I hope the wonderful experience and feedback we got will lead to a better cooperation in this respect. We used Emails, Newsletter, Xing, LinkedIn and Facebook to spread the word as well as Public Relations before the Event. Two days after the event the Press already published a detailed article. The club spread the information on the Homepage and Fb as well. This were very good means to make non-financial marketing. However, several hundred flyers were printed and spread amongst the clubs, at Area Contests and in business and private. This is an expensive means and was seen as action to spread the word about Toastmasters and its recipe in a long term. In German and English language!
The workshop sessions were well-prepared by Toastmaster members and the feedback "great tips - I have learned so much". The break time was marvellous. A communicative cosy session in different languages. Just right to talk to share experiences and make new friends. The food and drinks prepared us all for the 2nd term. However, I also saw that the knowledge on roles in a contest is not "on the sunny side of Toastmasters". There is a need for a better preparation on contest roles and rules. The language issue no longer exists. 15 out of 17 clubs have participated. They worked very well together - as judges or contest chairs in a non-mother language sessions.
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We reached our aim due to networking outside the clubs, enthusiastic toastmasters and engaged Area Directors. Thanks to all.
Ulrike Laubner (ulrilaub) Division E Director
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
D ECEMBER 2015
In my Division
Division H Chronicles Eventful couple of months in the Division!
A
n action-packed couple of months saw the Autumn Contests happening; first at club level, then the Area Contests that happened in Madrid, Vitoria and Marbella. The last weekend of October we had Division Conference
in Seville, where the contestants for the Division level were decided. We enjoyed a weekend of fun (Humorous speeches always are) in and outside of the Conference venue! During the Gala dinner Outstanding Member recognitions were given to Isabelle Steiner (TM Sevilla), Cristina Juesas (Vitoria) and Raquel García (TM Madrid) for their special contribution and dedication to Toastmasters. District conference in Amsterdam had good participation from Division H: congratulations to Percy Roland, winner of Table Topics contest in English, and to Lucía Maté, who won second place in the first District 59 Spanish Humorous Speech Contest!
Outstanding Member recognitions
Also, the bid for organizing District Conference in Autumn 2016 was approved. In November, MAD Fun&Sun: come to Madrid! Plenty of activity in the forming of new clubs as well: you can read about our newest Club, Ericsson TorreSuecia (Welcome!), but also meetings for prospective clubs are being held in companies: Airbus, Gas Natural and in cities: Zaragoza, Cádiz and Santiago de Compostela. On another note, many will agree that public speaking is not a skill particularly trained in Spanish educational system. Benito Vega, our Area H1 Director is leading a wonderful initiative promoting Toastmasters among children: Youth Program.
Percy Roland, winner of Table Topics Contest in English
Moreover, we had Excelencia Toastmasters in the radio, talking about fear of public speaking at "Gente Despierta" program in Radio Nacional. Lastly, some club business: renewals happened in October; do not forget to update your member list in EasySpeak! And do start thinking about TM Christmas party, always a good chance to get together, have some food and drinks, organize themed Table Topics and enjoy!
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Lucía Maté, 2nd place on Spanish Humorous Speech Contest
Luciana Riestra (LucianaR) Division A Public Relations Coordinator
In my Division
Ericsson TorreSuecia goes live in Madrid!!
N
ew Corporate Club Everything started when a friend talked to me about the initiative being run at Ericsson Madrid R&D Club. Attending some meetings as a guest I realized the initiative would have a great acceptance at Ericsson Madrid headquarters, where where most of the people have a close relationship with customers; and Communication and Leadership skills are crucial.
Ericsson is a company that devotes time and money to its main asset, People, so creating a new Toastmasters Club at Madrid Headquarters was perfectly aligned to that philosophy. Before deciding to create the new club I needed to try the experience myself, so I joined Ericsson Madrid R&D Club. I delivered my first speeches, played roles at meetings and learnt the basics about running a club. Then, in close collaboration with our colleagues at R&D Madrid Club we organized awareness sessions at Ericsson Madrid PMO. Mouth to ear worked so perfectly that we were asked to run additional sessions. Learning & Competence Development Department also helped us promote the initiative together with our Communication Department. Open Doors Day session run in March 2015 was a sound success with the Auditorium fully packed with around 70 people. In a few months we already had a group of almost 30 people eager to start practicing public speaking and leadership abilities.
We are officially a new club since October 1st… and our 40 members are so eager that our speeches calendar is fully packed up to January 2016! We are officially a new club since October 1st but we have been running bi-weekly meetings since the 1st of July. We even managed to hold weekly meetings during summer time. Our 40 members are so eager to improve their communication and leadership skills that our speeches calendar is fully packed up to January 2016. The start-up of a new club is a thrilling experience, especially when all the members are new (just 2 of us have some previous experience about Toastmasters). Our committee is made up of motivated people with scarce knowledge about Toastmasters, but full of energy and initiative. Together with our Ericsson Madrid R&D colleagues we managed to start running the club in a really short time. Still in our ice-breaker phase, we are already eager to participate at Spring Contest... We’re the new kids on the block ready to be heard!!! You’re welcome to visit us anytime!
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Susana Caballero (ecesucp) Ericsson TorreSuecia President
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
D ECEMBER 2015
In my Division
Division L No Limits to Learn, Live, and Laugh!
M
any thing is happening around Division L. All the Clubs have been very dynamic, and the networking is going beautifully.
In the three Areas (L1, L2 and L3) of the Division L, there had been many events and iniciatives that are worth telling about. In Area L1, the Oporto Toastmasters Club made it’s 9th anniversary and completed 300 sessions, so a big thumbs up for them, , congratulations! In Area L2, the Aveiro Toastmasters Club held the Autumn Conference, and what a great event
it
was…
the
Toastmasters
that
represented Division L in the Finals in Amsterdam are: Paulo Salgado (Table Topics in English), Sara Rodrigues (Prepared Speeches in
Winners of the Speech Contests
Spanish) and António Calheiros (Prepared Speeches in English). Congratulations to all! Aveiro TC is also supporting the growth of a new Toastmasters Club, named Bairrada TC. Very soon we will have more news about them. Also in Area L2, the EDP Toastmasters Club won the Ralph Smedley Award. This a very recent Club, with less then 2 years, and it has been growing very fast. (at the moment is the Club in Division L with more members.)
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Aveiro Toastmasters Club
In my Division In Area L3, they had a great event that gathered all the Clubs in the city of Castelo Branco. That is a fantastic way to strengthen connections, and change experiences and ideas. There has been some other initiatives, promoting the membership and networking: •
The EDP Toastmasters Club has being organizing Workshops for members of Toastmasters and potential future members. The themes are related to developing the soft skills, for example how to be on TV and radio interviews, posture, dress code, time to talk... Recently they had a Storytelling workshop that was open to the Toastmasters community and others. This way is also helping people to became more interested in Toastmasters meetings.
•
Oporto TC, with the collaboration of another Clubs has promoted a day for Master Mentoring Program. The goal is to be well prepared and to grow as a Mentor, the exchange of experiences has a very important role in this process.
Steal the Cup The Cup, since the last Clarion, was stolen from Invicta TC by Marinha Grande Toastmasters Club, and now is waiting for the visit of, at least two members from other club. This initiative makes Clubs visit each other, and until now has been a huge success. I think that another Club is already preparing an assault to Marinha Grande TC… be aware!
Toastmaster of the Year During the Toastmasters District 59 Autumn Conference 2015, in Amsterdam, there was the moment to announce who was most voted for the Toastmaster of the Year 2014. And the Winner was….. Ana Isabel Lage Ferreira, from the Division L, actual member of Invicta TM and Division Director. She was asked about her thoughts when she knew about that recognition. “My first reaction to this award? Why me? I kept repeating this question with a mixture of awe and sheer happiness, while Jaap over the phone gently tried to explain what was going to happen in the following day in Amsterdam. My story is no different from thousands of others. I became a Toastmaster to develop my communication skills. And like those other Toastmasters, I ended up developing my sense of self, not only as a leader and communicator, but also as a person and a friend. And also like all Toastmasters, that was only possible because I listen, learned and shared a lot with very special people – every member of every club of every session I attended since I joined in 2011. There are however three people whose influence lasts until today. João de Mendonça for his passion and the way he believes and
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cheers everyone. Sara Magalhães, for her enthusiasm and perseverance. Carlos Costa, my mentor, for his support, care and wisdom.
Thank you, thank you, thank you all for considering my story, and work worthy of recognition. My heart is full. Toasts!”
Luís Carrilho (lcarrilho)
Assistant Division L Director - M&PR Coordinator
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
DECEMBER 2015
In my Division
Division M Dynamic Team
A
mazing! This is the way of describing the last few months! On October 24th, the Division M Fall Conference took place in Lisbon (at Ordem dos Engenheiros) where more than 80 people gathered for a fantastic event with contests, keynote speeches and several pitches!
The contest winners were: •
Humorous Speech in Portuguese - Orlando Martins (Business Speakers TM)
•
Humorous Speech in Spanish - Paulo Martins (Business Speakers TM)
•
Humorous Speech in Dutch - Áurea Sequeira (Young Entrepreneurs Toastmasters Club)
•
Humorous Speech in English - Paulo Martins (Business Speakers TM)
•
Table Topics in Portuguese - José Esteves (Taguspark TM)
•
Table Topics in English - Mariana Vieira (Business Leaders TM)
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In my Division At District 59 Fall Conference in Amsterdam, our champions Áurea, Mariana and Paulo were superb, and although they did not win, they represented us very well. During the event, Ricardo Cabete also presented a highly participated workshop called “Light Your Fire”, which got the audience on fire. One of the highlights of the Gala Dinner, was the moment were our most recent DTM, Sara Magalhães, received recognition from the District on her achievement, with her being the first female DTM in Portugal and our Immediate Past Division Governor.
The first edition of the "From Speaker to Trainer" was held on December 7th (in Club ISCTE, the venue of Business Speakers and Advanced Toastmasters Runners), and a second edition is being prepared for the next semester. Participants who want to run put in practice what they've learned and present their own Toastmasters workshops will be helped by this team and receive follow up and feedback. This program is being managed by Sara Magalhães (magalhaess), so if you want to participate contact her. Several clubs/areas are preparing to host "The of Effective Evaluation" workshops in order to improve the quality of evaluation within our sessions. Thinking about this? Get in touch with Nuno Maximiano (nmaximiano).
We already had some Youth Leadership Projects, but are striving for more. If you want to participate in these projects, know of an opportunity for these programs or simply want to know more, Fernando Santos Costa (tm.fernando) is the person managing these programs. This first semester we’ve created two new clubs, Toastmasters @ HP Lisbon and Cisco Lisbon Toastmasters. We have some more prospects and leads, so if you want to help or have an idea for a new club contact Flávio Oliveira (FlavioCFO).
On January 16th, we are having together with Division D, our Toastmasters Leadership Institute. It's the first event of the next semester, and is being hosted at the Instituto Superior Técnico at Taguspark (Porto Salvo/Oeiras). All officers and members are invited to participate in this event, attending training for officers, workshops and having a lot of fun.
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Thinking about hosting one of the workshop? We will be accepting applications in a couple days. More news on our event we'll be sent over to all members.
João Sarmento (jsarmento) Division M Director
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
D ECEMBER 2015
Coming up next
Spring Conference 20-22 March 2016 in Luxembourg
L
uxembourg Talks 2016 Since its split at the Spring Conference in 2014, District 59 has gone places: from Lyon to Porto and now from
Amsterdam, it has covered in excess of 5000 kilometers. And now, it will be in Luxembourg - this little Grand Duchy of a country, set between Belgium, France and Germany, offering you the opportunity to delve into its days of old, to find the secrets of... the Grund, but also to make the most of the District Conference, as you warm up to the weekend, play along at the parties, feast on the food, down the drinks and compete like the true champions that you all aspire to be. Those are not the only activities for you to be a part of it all! Join in to judge, conduct yourselves as chief judges, write up your workshop plans, contemplate yourself as contest chairs, volunteer to take on one of the umpteen opportunities that offer themselves to you. We have negotiated great accommodation deals for your comfort, and have the best program planned, as part of the conference and on it's fringes. We look forward to having you on board to enjoy the legendary luxury of Luxembourg, so that we can offer a memorable moment of mirthful merriment to each one of the record numbers of attendees we anticipate to welcome. So join in and make Luxembourg Talks 2016 the successful District Conference 2016 YOU want it to be! The Dream Team James Sørlie: Finance Chair; François Matthey: Finance Assistant; Diane Ries: PR and Sponsorship Chair; Stefanie Zutter: Venue Chair; Kuba Jakubiak – Digital Media Chair; Marina Tataram: Education Chair; Pierre-Elie Bernard: Contest Chair; Balint Juhasz: Conference Co-Chair ; Prince Motiani: Conference Co-Chair. Learn more about the conference and fetch your ticket via www.luxembourgtalks.org The early bir tickets are already gone, and the normal tickets are also selling out fast!
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Balint Juhasz (baliju) Luxembourg Talks Conference Co-Chair
What’s New
Newsletters Division A & New Clarion Page
C
ongratulations to Division A Public Relations team, for producing an amazing Newsletter for all Division.
Division A December Newsletter English http://bit.ly/1NdnQyl Division A December Newsletter French http://bit.ly/1jJGfdH Next edition is March 2016. Send your articles, award information, club news, ideas to editordivafrance @gmail.com.
Clarion has a new format available! Check out the new Wordpress page of Clarion at https://clarionsite.wordpress.com/!
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Ângela Lopes (Ângela_L) Managing Editor
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
D ECEMBER 2015
Prepared Speech
Bill Monsour Interview with a Toastmasters Addict
I
was a bit uncertain about how to start my interview with Bill Monsour DTM. Besides being known as a guru of the easySpeak club administration software, he’s also an international speech champion, past parliamentarian and Toastmaster of the Year of District 59. Before I could ask my first question, however, Bill turned the tables on me and politely asked why I
wanted to interview him. I did not know at that moment that my plan for a short interview would quickly become quite fun and inspirational... and not so short, after all. Pedro - Bill, everyone knows you are the easy-Speak ‘guru’. How did you get involved in this project? Bill - My background is theatre, acting, dancing and singing, which is another side of presenting in public from speaking. EasySpeak is the software that powers our club administration website www.tmclub.eu, used by all Toastmasters club in Continental Europe. When I was asked to get involved in the project nine years ago, it was actually just to help with promoting this tool to all the clubs in our District. Later, as I became more and more involved, I began to provide tech support and training. Since I am not a programmer, however, it was from the side of understanding the end-user.
“I believe that absolutely everything with Toastmasters is a role-play and role-playing is a very effective learning method. ” Pedro - What do you do to be so successful as a tech support person? Bill - First, you need to be friendly and sympathetic to the end-user’s needs. It also helps if you are familiar with the whole Toastmaster’s program. Often, in order to show people how to use the easy-Speak system, I first have to help them understand what their officer role is. Then I can explain how easy-Speak is designed to support the Toastmasters Club Leadership Handbook and the learning exercise of being a club leader. Pedro - Ok, you think that people should know their officer role in order to use easy-Speak correctly. In your opinion what do you think is necessary to be a good officer? Bill - Actually, I think about this question often since I’m always looking to encourage any Toastmaster who has leadership potential. I have spoken at many, many officers trainings all over the District, and if I get the chance to speak again at a training, I would start by asking why they want to be an officer of the club. If they don’t say that they want to practice their leadership skills,
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then I would suggest they think about the wonderful opportunity they have as a club officer to participate in a role-play in a small business environment in which they can get feedback and support. This is the spirit that I think is necessary to be a good officer because, if people see running a club as a learning opportunity, they will engage more, they will read the Toastmasters handbooks and they will look for improvement.
CLARION
Prepared Speech Pedro - Do you think Toastmasters is about role-playing? Bill - I believe that absolutely everything with Toastmasters is a role-play and role-playing is a very effective learning method. First you read some theory and understand the role-play exercise. Then you run the role-play, doing your best to apply the theory. Afterwards, by evaluation, you learn what to improve. Sadly many officers miss this learning opportunity and are not getting the most out of their time as an officer. Pedro - What are you learning in your role as a system administrator for the website www.tmclub.eu? Bill - I have learned how important IT management is for the success of a modern business. Look at the Toastmasters leadership exercise... you have the District Director, the Club Growth Director, someone in charge of Education and so one, but the Toastmasters program doesn’t have an IT Director. Why not? Nowadays, every big company has an IT Department. Of course, the World Headquarters of Toastmasters International started an IT Services department a few years ago, too. But why isn’t it already a part of the leadership development role-play in our clubs and District? There are the roles of “Webmaster” and “Web-site Committee” which appeared in the Competent Leadership manual some years ago. But, IT is much more than supporting a club website like on the tmclub.eu platform. Think about all the social media today and helping our members with all their technical questions. The easy-Speak software was developed by Malcolm Warden DTM in England, who made it available for clubs around the world. The system is designed as an administrative tool: communication, public relations, administration and everything else you need for club and District meetings. By the way, we are always looking for volunteers to help on the easy-Speak Support Team as developers and also for support and training. Pedro - What are you learning in your role as a system administrator for the website www.tmclub.eu? Bill - I have learned how important IT management is for the success of a modern business. Look at the Toastmasters leadership exercise... you have the District Director, the Club Growth Director, someone in charge of Education and so one, but the Toastmasters program doesn’t have an IT Director. Why not? Nowadays, every big company has an IT Department. Of course, the World Headquarters of Toastmasters International started an IT Services department a few years ago, too. But why isn’t it already a part of the leadership development role-play in our clubs and district? There are the roles of “Webmaster” and “Web-site Committee” which appeared in the Competent Leadership manual some years ago. But, IT is much more than supporting a club website like on the tmclub.eu platform. Think about all the social media today and helping our members with all their technical questions.
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The easy-Speak software was developed by Malcolm Warden DTM in England, who made it available for clubs around the world. The system is designed as an administrative tool: communication, public relations, administration and everything else you need for
club and district meetings. By the way, we are always looking for volunteers to help on the easy-Speak Support Team as developers and also for support and training.
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
D ECEMBER 2015
Prepared Speech Pedro - Where can people sign up to be an easy-Speak Support Team member? Bill - The volunteer should have some free time and some sort of interest in technical things, as well as good social skills. It’s hard to find people like that who are not already too busy with other Toastmasters projects. But, if this sounds exciting to you, contact D59ITManager@gmail.com for Pau Rey who has taken over coordination of support and training for the district. My job, nowadays, is to focus on database system maintenance, like adding clubs to the database, merging duplicate user accounts, catching spam and maintaining the email system. Pedro - You’ve been talking about your work for the Toastmasters community. Looking at your extensive LinkedIn profile, however, I was wondering how you manage everything? Bill - For work, I’m a self-employed trainer of presentation skills, so my schedule is flexible and I can fit many things in. It takes good planning and time management. I also just love what I do and I like to keep busy. Pedro - Can you summarize your path as a Toastmaster and tell me why you joined? Bill - I joined Toastmasters in 2002 and since then I’ve been participating very actively by competing in speech contests, running different workshops, founding clubs and I have filled many club and District leadership roles. After 13 years, I am still discovering there is so much more to learn as a Toastmaster. For me, it is like a fitness program for my mind. I plan never to stop my Toastmaster’s addiction. To quote Diana Ross DD [Distinguished Diva], “if there's a cure for this, I don't want it.” Last year, in the Netherlands I set up a nine-month program called the X-Train program - a series of workshop days to help members develop their training skills. Participants gave many short workshops for practice. The reason why I started this program was to improve the quality of training at our officer trainings. I hear many officers say that it is only at the end of the year they finally understand what they should have been doing the whole year long. Meanwhile, that year the club quality may have suffered by less-than-great leadership. I think we can do better in preparing incoming officers so they do well right at the start of their leadership year. Also, nine years ago, Elizabeth Nostedt DTM and I co-founded the ‘The Professional Trainer Group of Toastmasters” in Continental Europe to help experienced trainers learn from and support each other, and also to let us mentor those toastmasters who want to become professional trainers one day. Now Agnes Tarnai DTM is co-manager of this project and we have a Facebook page, but later this year we will announce a new website, a speaker’s directory and a new name for our group. How does the European Trainers Network sound to you? The main reason I joined Toastmasters was because I wanted to get evaluation for my own skills as a professional trainer. My clients don’t know how to evaluate me in an effective way as Toastmasters do. Toastmasters also gives me many examples of good and poor habits to use when I need to explain to my clients why they should do this and not that. I joined Toastmasters, as well,
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partly in order to network. I’ve even been offered some paid work through referrals from fellow toastmasters.
CLARION
Prepared Speech
Pedro - You said your background is in theatre, singing and dancing, so I have to ask you this... searching online, I found a Bill Monsour on the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com). Is it you? Bill - Yeah! Ha, ha. Did you see the movie I was in? Pedro - Not yet… Bill - The movie is called Oversexed Rugsuckers from Mars; you should see it. It’s got aliens, murder, thrills and nudity! Very funny. One film critic calls it “the worst film ever made” so that means it is very special, right? Before I got my university degree in management, I studied acting in New York, and later I studied singing and did auditions in Hollywood. I’m still acting in movies from time to time. Next September go see the film Alberta where I play a cagey Canadian real estate agent. Pedro - How useful is that acting experience in your daily life? Bill - I apply my knowledge of performance on the stage in a business environment. For example, when I coach people on their speeches, their storytelling, their voice, their body language and how to connect with the audience, most of my understanding and exercises come from my theatre school training. The important thing is to exchange some kind of energy with your audience. I call it building a “heart bridge.” Pedro - How important is it to connect with the audience? Bill - It is essential. We know it’s very important to consider who your audience is, because you’re doing it for them. However, it’s also important to find your passion for your speech topic. If you don’t have that passion, the audience will feel it’s missing and be turned off. This happens in every art form, not just speaking. You need to take advantage of the human connection... show your personality and humanity. You can’t relate to your audience as if you were talking to robots, especially not when you’re performing live.
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TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
DECEMBER 2015
Prepared Speech
Pedro - Is that one of the key points of your coaching work? Bill - Definitely. I remember once I did a workshop for Toastmasters officers about how to run contests. I only had 45 minutes to speak, so I didn’t have time to teach them every fact, tip and trick that I have learned. Therefore, I focused my session on the ‘why’. Pedro, have you ever seen Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle? The one where you find the ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘how’? Many managers tell people what to do and how to do it, but they don’t tell why. They should start with the why. So, as I didn’t have time to speak about everything, I helped them understand why contests are such a valuable education for the people organizing and participating. Helping to run a contest should be a fun learning opportunity for everyone and not an obligation. If the people participating are not motivated to read any of the Toastmasters preparation materials, don’t see it as an role-play exercise, and don’t ask for an evaluation of the event afterwards, then it’s a missed learning opportunity. I will repeat what I said before that everything in Toastmasters, including this interview, is a learning opportunity. Pedro - Bill, we are reaching the end of our interview. Bill - Wait! This interview was too serious. We need a wild story! Pedro - I’m not a wild guy... You’re our hope. Bill - Ok, I’ve got a little story to share. When I won the District International Speech Contest in 2005, I then had two whole months to prepare another two speeches for the World Championship of Public Speaking in Canada. Now the rule is changed to only one more speech, but back then it was two more. I’m not joking when I say that those months were the most nerve-wracking and intense two months in my life. Did I have two ready and polished world-class speeches in my repertoire to present at the international conference? Nope! But, I thought I could work fast because I had written my winning speech for the District Contest
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in only three days; a great idea for my speech just suddenly had appeared to me. I checked it with some friends and that was enough to win that year. No offence to the other contestants that year, but I do think that speech quality in our District has shot way up since 2005.
CLARION
Prepared Speech I ended up drafting about ten speeches about death in my family, organ donation and other really deep and emotional topics. But each time I performed them in my club, people groaned and said that I couldn’t go to the contest with such dark, sad stories. Looking back, I think the topics were not bad themselves, but I did not know then how to tell the stories with a bit of humor and lightness mixed in. I mean, the speeches were so drowned in emotion that the audience had no moment to come up for air! Weeks of mounting stress went past and by the time I boarded my flight to Canada, I still didn’t have an acceptable speech written! It was during that 8-hour flight to Toronto that I relaxed and wrote a fun, honest speech that I would later give at the contest. A tip for aspiring champions, I can recommend KLM for writing speeches. On the contest day I awoke feeling ready to compete with a speech that I could be proud about. But then, at the contest briefing only a few hours before the contest, they instructed me to use face makeup because of the strong lighting needed for the official video cameras. Makeup?!#*! Where was I supposed to find makeup at the last moment? But, keeping calm, I walked into a local drugstore to tell my dilemma to a kind salesman and that man offered to make-up my face for free, with the best products in the store, if I would only have dinner with him the next night! Willing to give my all for my District, what else could I do? In many unexpected ways, my trip to the Toastmasters International Convention was an unforgettable and richly fulfilling experience. One lesson I brought back from the Convention to our District was that speech champions generously support other contestants. Since then, I’m happy to see all our District contest winners mentoring and sharing their experience with so many other Toastmasters. That’s great, isn’t it? Pedro - That’s the true Toastmasters spirit. We like heavy metal in our lives. Bill, I don’t have English words to express how thankful I am for your time and for everything you’ve been doing for the community, so I’ll say it in Portuguese: muito obrigado! Bill - Thank you for your time, too, Pedro. I enjoyed talking with you. Good luck with all your future interviewing! A true leader is someone that inspires us. Thank you Bill for inspiring us. Stay awesome!
SHORT AND QUICK FAVOURITE SONG The Impossible Dream. ONE QUOTE THAT YOU LIKE Life is best when there is love and humor in it -- love to understand it and humor to survive it. HOW IS YOUR PERFECT SUNDAY Going for a morning walk in nature; fresh green salad for lunch; chamber music concert in the afternoon and ballroom dance class in the evening.
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THE QUALITY YOU MOST ADMIRE IN ONE PERSON Ability to find life funny and entertaining.
Pedro Marcelino (pedro_marcelino) Executive Editor
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
DECEMBER 2015