Meeting Agenda
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT MANAGING EDITOR EXECUTIVE EDITOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER REVIEWERS This is the final month
Club Business & Awards Editorial ……………………………………………….…………. 3
What’s New New Leader Titles ……..……………….……………………… 4
District’s Corner Club Growth …..….………………………………………..…… 5 Club Budgets …………………………………………………… 6 Reach Out ………………………………………………………. 7
Learning Moment Beyond the “sandwich” …………………….…..…….………… 8
District 59 Alignment for 2015 - 2016 …………..……………………….. 10
In my Division
News from Division A …………..………...…………………… 12 News from Division B …………..…………………...………… 13 News from Division C …………..………………...…………… 14 News from Division E …………..……………………………… 15 News from Division F …………..……………………………… 16 News from Division G ...………..……………………………… 17 News from Division H …………..……………………………… 18 News from Division F …………..……………………………… 19 News from Division J …………..……………………………… 20 News from Division K …………..……...……………………… 21 News from Division L …………..……………………………… 22 News from Division M ……...…..………...…………………… 23
Coming Up Next Autumn Conference ……...…………..……………………….. 24
District News Conference Pre-orders ……………………………………..… 26 Meet District 59 ………………………………………………... 27
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59
Ângela Azevedo Lopes Pedro Marcelino Masha Marjevscaia Ana Cabeça
[ 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, James Sorlie, Nelson english this theFerreira, version inKlajman, english thisLizioli, is Marcel Emílio, Anais Isabel Sylvie Sandra Damen, Ulrike Laubner, Siegfried Francesco Fedele, the version in english this isHaack, the version in Nacho Arenas, Robert Dohrendorf, Caspar Horne, Joan Fabregat, english is the version inCherington english this is Joãothis Sarmento, Julita Davies, Ian the version in english this is the version in 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
Let’s RISE and SHINE! The beginning of a new dawn
A
cronyms and metaphors, I love them both. I’m pretty sure all of you use metaphors in your speeches to create powerful images that stay engraved in the memories of your audience. You might know by now I like to call Toastmasters an eye
in the storm, a quiet spot in the midst of a turmoil, a safe yet challenging playground where we can learn and grow. Acronyms are abbreviations formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word: ASAP, AKA, VIP. Sometimes it’s hard to recall what the letters stand for: SCUBA, LASER, NASA. Acronyms can also be used to remember a message more easily: SMART, KISS. Throughout the 15,400 Toastmasters clubs with more than 332,000 members in 135 countries, we cherish our core values Respect, Integrity, Service and Excellence, RISE for short.
Missions and goals will only come alive if the people who are working on them enjoy what they’re doing and learning together Eight of these countries, with seven different languages and 207 clubs, to date, form our District 59. We belong to the most successful and most diverse districts in the world. And we grow, within the District, but there are also new countries applying to join. This year we will prepare the inclusion of Greece and create a Vision 2020 for Continental Europe. Keywords for the 2015-2016 District 59 Toastmasters year are streamlined quality (meetings, trainings and leadership), retention and sustainable growth, cooperation and exchange, visibility and continuity. If we mobilize the energy in the district and go for it, we will undoubtedly become Presidents Distinguished. However, missions and goals will only come alive if the people who are working on them enjoy what they’re doing and learning together, support each other and care. That’s why our motto this year combines RISE with SHINE: Supporting a Happy, Inspiring Network of Engaged Toastmasters! Let’s make it a fantastic Toastmasters year, let’s RISE and SHINE!
Marike Dijksterhuis (Marike) District 59 Director
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
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S EPTEMBER 2015
What’s New
New Leader Titles Effective on 2015
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n February 2014, the Toastmasters International Board of Directors voted to change all District Leader titles, effective July 1st, 2015. The updated titles will apply to the elected and/or appointed District Leader positions for 2015-2016 program year:
District Leadership Handbook in www.toastmasters.org
District’s Corner
Club Growth Sustainable Growth
C
lub Growth is the new name for Marketing. Our main priority this year is sustainable growth. This means to focus on club quality for the existing and new clubs.
Why improve club quality ? •
In a club with a high level of quality: •
Members stay longer because the club help them to improve their skills
•
Guests want to join
How can we measure club quality? Toastmasters is an organization that have been continuously evolving during 90 years based on members experience. The tool that have been created to measure the quality is the Distinguished Club Program which tracks the progress of clubs in educational, membership, training and administrative goals. How can we increase club quality? •
•
By organizing training for •
Club officers
•
Club coaches, mentors and sponsors
By using existing or new tools (*) •
Moment of Truth (MOT) for the existing club to identify and implement improvements
•
Checklists and tools to build high quality new clubs
• •
MOT should be done in each club It is crucial to have a high level of quality for a new club to avoid it to become weak
What about club building? This year we want to gather and share tools, as well as feedback (good practices and pitfalls to avoid), for: •
Club building strategy (identify club building opportunities)
•
Club building process (checklists and tools to help to create a high quality level new clubs)
•
Corporate and business school news clubs
What about Public Relations? Public relations is a very important pillar for club growth: •
Public relations will bring guests
•
Those guests will become members and stay longer if the club has high level of quality
Dominique Carrasco (domiC) District 59 Club Growth Director
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
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S EPTEMBER 2015
District’s Corner
Club Budgets Integral in the Club Success Plan
T
he Toastmasters International (TI) program is designed to be supported by members through club dues.
Most clubs collect more than the $36 sent semi-annually to TI and keep reserves in a bank account or treasury. Why would a club need a budget? As a living laboratory in leadership, Toastmasters puts heavy emphasis on planning for success. The Club Leadership Handbook suggests that a club budget be prepared as an integral part of the Club Success Plan. A budget has many purposes: - Gauge the impact of planned club activities on the financial well-being of the club. - Set limits on the amount to be spent for various goals so that spending is balanced. - Provide a benchmark for monitoring actual financial performance. There are countless online resources available to guide in creating a budget. Income to include in a club budget are membership dues, special event fees and fund-raising activities. Typical expenses include membership payments to TI, printing, meeting refreshments & venue rental, collective/club transport, TI Shop materials, shipping charges, import taxes, etc. All of this should be budgeted. Toastmasters International offers some clear guidelines of what constitutes the proper use of club funds. Per protocol the use of club funds should be limited to educational purposes. Appropriate uses include: - Educational/administrative materials for club/member use. - Meeting place rental fees (if applicable). - Refreshments for club meetings (must be approved by the club). Inappropriate or questionable uses of club funds would be: - Parties and social gatherings. - Donation of money to causes or individuals.
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- Scholarships for individuals. - Payment of dues for individuals.
These short lists are not intended to be all inclusive. If in doubt review the Club Constitution. The basic message is to plan for success, include a financial roadmap and keep the club mission in mind: Education!
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James Sørlie (sorliej) District 59 Finance Manager
District’s Corner
Reach Out Let Your Country Know
D
o you still remember the first time you visited a Toastmasters club? How did you find out about it? For me it was a word-of-mouth testimonial, one of the most effective ways to promote anything and if you are as passionate about the Toastmasters concept as I am, for sure you will talk about it and
invite people to attend a meeting every opportunity you have. Although this is a very effective way to reach out to general public, we are limited in the number of contacts we can make so the key is to spread the message about Toastmasters far and wide and the only way to do this is to use communication channels we have at our disposal, one of which is the Magazine you are reading now, Clarion. Online Social Networks are growing fast and becoming the first source of information whenever someone wants to get information about a company or organization. This year, it is our goal to leverage these online channels, along with offline ones such as local and national newspapers, TV and radio channels, and other ways to promote your Club and activities. Your contribution is fundamental as you have the local knowledge and successful experiences that can be shared across the District.
“You can only have new Members if they know you exist” Good public relations activities create “awareness” and “positive response”. It stimulates the audience to do something, such as visit a club meeting, attend a Speechcraft or Youth Leadership Program, start an advanced manual or identify new ways to improve the way feedback is given. Attracting new members and retaining existing ones are two major goals of every club. You can only have new Members if they know you exist and know what you do, so let’s promote what we are proud of and do really well. We are here to support you, so reach out and let your country know the value everyone can obtain by joining Toastmasters.
Nelson Emílio (NelsonE) District 59 Public Relations Manager
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
7 S EPTEMBER 2015
Learning Moment
Beyond the “sandwich” Evaluation Enhancement Program
A
mong the immense learning we do in any Toastmaster club, the “sandwich” method is one thing on the list of almost all
Toastmasters. It is not uncommon to hear "I also started using this in my work, with my students, and even with my children.“ The Evaluation Enhancement Program was born under the premise that it is necessary to increase the evaluation effectiveness, in order to increase the overall quality of the clubs. Last year a handful of Portuguese Toastmasters dedicated some time to think about how we can develop and share best practices. And above all, how can we develop other forms of assessment - beyond the “sandwich” method. The result was shared in 6 workshops at the Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI). Involving dozens of Toastmasters and throughout the month of February, we received 67 reviews from people that were present in at least one of those workshops.
The numbers indicate a very positive assessment. More than the numbers, which are so homogeneously positive, we would like to share some comments that reflect the positive impact of these workshops. Expectations were high! A closer look at the first reviews immediately show why we had such a positive result. The expectation was very high. This is an issue that really matters to all participants and it is, for many, a clear link between the quality of the club and the quality of the assessments made there (4.70 on a 1 to 5 scale). What was so positive? According to the participants’ opinion, it all began with the "professionalism of the Toastmasters who led the session, and consequent commitment to transmit relevant and high quality information” and also the "interaction with the audience [that] was brilliant and very effective.“
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In fact, when we planned the workshops with this team of 11 people, it was very clear to all of us that we would never present anything as experts. We just considered ourselves as Toastmasters who have a special interest in evaluations, and who have taken extra time to gather some best practices and to think of the most interactive and dynamic way to share them with fellow Toastmasters.
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And it seems that we have succeeded. One participant summed up our goal as - "the most important thing was the fact that the workshops were less theoretical and more practical, focused on the interaction with the audience, which allowed for greater learning and better understanding.“ It was dynamic, interactive. It was working ! And learn something new? Several participants mentioned all the opportunities to share with others Toastmasters, to work with different evaluation models and to be reminded of the importance of evaluations as very positive . Some notes were more specific and stressed the importance of listening to different opinions and views, to study different styles of learning, to see things from a different angle than usual. "Forcing me to think differently", wrote one of the participants. Or even more specifically "the need to address the evaluation as a speech.” In the “Evaluating Table Topics” workshop someone said "I learned a completely new concept to apply. Very useful and very well grounded! “ In the workshops we shared some materials which were a valued point by the participants. For example, regarding the “General Evaluation” workshop, it was noted that there are indeed many points to consider in a general evaluation and a follow-up grid can be very useful, or that it is very important to think carefully in advance, during and after the General Evaluation and what it entails.
"the need to address the evaluation as a speech" It was nice, we shared ideas, and we’ve learnt new things. And in the future what do we do with it? Not all stated with absolute certainty their willingness to take the acquired knowledge for their own clubs. The reasons may vary. It could be that they still do not feel sufficiently prepared to do so, and still want to participate in more similar workshops (4.70 on a 1 to 5 scale ). However, we received some clear demonstrations on the part of some participants - "this was the most important workshop, I will make a speech today in my club, based in the content :)“ We are fully aware that this is only the beginning of a movement that can gain more strength and expression if more people get involved, share their good examples and their successful experiences. In a short time maybe we can all say, “Wow! Remember when we only used the “sandwich” method? “ A very special thanks to Ana Ruela, Nuno Hélder Silva, Luís Caixado, Diogo Lopes Pereira, Pedro Fonseca, Zezé Almeida, Carlos Costa, Francisco Esteves, Paulo Salgado and all who have joined this movement and contributed to the workshops’ success!
Ana Isabel Ferreira (anaif) Division L Director
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
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S EPTEMBER 2015
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Masha Marjevscaia (mashamarjevscaia) & Ângela Lopes (Ângela_L) Clarion Graphic Designer & Managing Editor
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
SEPTEMBER 2015
In my Division
Division A Success in Communication and Leadership
D
ivision A, 2015-2016, is composed by 21 clubs, 8 of them are English speaking and 13 are French speaking.
At ‘The Europeans’ we have à good example of how French and English communities can work hand in hand. This club will definitely inspire my action during this year. Lately, French and English Clubs have been working closely and I'm please to testify their development. I’ll make sure English and French clubs will share good practices and organize more events together.
As a result, both communities will open up to new attitudes, benefiting their members.
“Together Everyone Achieves More!” Who’s my TEAM? Who’s going to work with me? Essentially, people of goodwill. They range from very experienced to very young ones. They belong to my Council Member and to my Area Directors team. This diversity will lead us to greatness. They are ready to show involvement, creativity and leadership. Furthermore, they are very involved in each program and I’m sure they will make Division A an outstanding Division! I have a strong desire to create new clubs (public and corporate). Three new clubs were already chartered, spreading the benefits of Toastmasters. It is also our intention to work with Division F. It’s a real challenge and I’m ready for it. Enhance quality and quantity. Improve language skills both ways and build cultural bridges. Many good initiatives were realized last year. We continue our development with a beautiful energy. Let’s do it together.
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Together Everyone Achieves More!
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Sylvie Klajman (sylvie.k) Division A Director
In my Division
Division B Going Above & Beyond!
O
ur Motto: ‘Going Above & Beyond!’. Our aim for this season is to give full support to the District’s Mission: ‘We build and support all Clubs in achieving excellence’. To do so, we will work together supporting Members, helping them to succeed as Leaders, and strengthening Clubs establishing
team work and collaboration habits. Last season we had a lot of successes, both personal and collective, far too many to mention here. All over our Division we’ve seen high quality standards in meetings. As a consequence, and because we want to go Above & Beyond!, It’s going to be a very busy and challenging season. Almost every Area Director will be involved in club building. The seeds have already been sown for ‘Aperitivo’, a new club under Hilary Peden supervision. Married with an Italian, she’s involving fellow members from the ‘Berlaymont Toastmasters Club’. Like her, they are super excited to help sponsor a new club in their mother tongue: Italian. Sabine Schönangerer will support the ‘Dacia Romanian English Club’ to charter. The same will happen with Peter Le Page for corporate club ‘Nanospeakers’ and for a new corporate club at Ernst & Young. Crista Filip is involved in starting a corporate club, while Gerard van Geleuken is supporting the ‘Tip Top Advanced Club’.
“Introducing you the Division Team” As Division Director, I am proud to have such a great team working with me! My ‘dream team’ is: Hilary Peden (Area B1), Alexis Brouard (Area B2), Sabine Schönangerer (Area B3), Peter Le Page (Area B4), Crista Filip (Area B5) and Gerard van Geleuken (Area B6). To boost our Public Relations activity, I am delighted to have Margarida Brites Nunes, member of ‘Les Orateurs du Jeudi’ (Luxembourg) and Maria Elena Casti, member of ‘The Berlaymont Toastmasters Club’ (Brussels) . They will help me to collect and tell news from Luxembourg, Metz, Belgium and Lille.
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Sandra Lizioli (sandraliz) Division B Director
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
S EPTEMBER 2015
In my Division
Division C A year to remember
A
new Toastmasters year is starting again. Especially for all the officers, this means a new period with new challenges, and I’m not excluded from this. This year I am Division Director for The Netherlands. For me, this role
is still very new and different from the role of Area Governor. I look. forward to an exciting year working together with many great people. I am sure together we will make this Toastmasters year unforgettable. Traditionally we kick off the new period with a big training event for all the (new) officers in The Netherlands and this year was no exception. On June 20th we welcomed over 100 Toastmasters during this year’s training event. In this event, not only incoming officers, but also all Toastmasters in The Netherlands, were invited.
Transparency, training and learning As every year, the new Toastmasters year starts with our long Dutch holiday season. During this period, things tend to move just a little bit slower than normal. Therefore, it is a wonderful time to prepare for the rest of the year. Together with the new Area Directors, we looked at the year ahead and set some goals. This year we will focus on creating a transparent Division and Area structure, expanding the successful “from speaking to trainer program" and creating a lot of learning opportunities, so everyone can grow even further this year.
When I look at the calendar for the coming period, many exciting events are going to happen. Various workshopevents, a corporate summit in October and, in November, the District Fall conference that will be hosted by our Division. All together, we have an exciting year ahead of us. I am
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looking forward to work with all of you and make sure this will be a year to remember.
Marcel Damen (MarcelD) Division C Director
In my Division
Division E Where are you toastmasters?
T
he small country of Switzerland is enriched with four languages and a huge variety of cultures. Since this year, we have been divided into three Divisions. Toastmasters in Switzerland are growing very fast. Division E is the biggest Division with 17 clubs and intends to be even bigger. Read about the
seeds that we will plant to grow our Division to over 600 members in 2015-2016. How did you get to know Toastmasters? Did you work or live in an English speaking country? Then you probably grew up with Toastmasters. If you asked somebody over here what Toastmasters is, they will talk about a lovely slice of bread for breakfast. Division E is located in the German speaking part of Switzerland, but only 40% of all 17 clubs are German speaking clubs. In the last four years, we chartered several new English and German speaking clubs. However, we want more. There are more people in our region who need professional speaking and leadership skills! Educational rhetoric courses are springing up like mushrooms, but we all know that Toastmasters is the only means to offer constant training with approved methods for everyone and every purse. Let’s spread the word!
Growing Toastmasters’ awareness in Switzerland - Division E Besides the obvious focus on quality and supporting our clubs to reach more Selected and President’s award than in the past, we do focus on Public Relations. Therefore, we do have a Division Growth Officer helping to make Toastmasters visible in a blind spot area around Zurich. This area was analyzed in our first Division Meeting and will probably lead to a new club in 2016. The Division Growth Officer will reach out companies and organisations, communicating and inviting them to contests and special events. The region of Division E will hear about Toastmasters! We will introduce ourselves to different media and talk about Toastmasters. The “toastmaster “ shall get a liasion with “rhetoric” and leadership. We will communicate closely with media for each Division’s contest, their winners and success stories. We focus on German speaking
media
before and after special events to attract people looking for better speaking skills. Social media will be one part of this
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Public Relations strategy. We are convinced: in one year many Swiss people will know and want Toastmasters.
Ulrike Laubner (ulrilaub) Division E Director
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
S EPTEMBER 2015
In my Division
Division F Small Division, Great ambitions
T
o live happily, live hidden” is what a French proverb says. It describes Division F quite well, as it is particularly happy. No, Division F is not hiding, but since it is very small, you can barely see it…
“Who’s hiding behind Division F? What did it accomplish since its creation in July 2014? What are its ambitions this year? To make it simple, let’s say Division F is the South of France! It’s the Sun of the Mediterranean, the wines of Bordeaux, the airplanes of Toulouse, the luxury of the French Riviera, the Lyon gastronomy and the snow from the French Alps. The country of happiness, right? It is also one of District 59’s smallest division: 11 clubs and 280 members. Nevertheless, its journey ever since July 2014 has been full of challenges: two new clubs (Lyon and Montpellier), two new prospect clubs (Toulon and Marseille), the organization of the District 59 Conference in Lyon and a successful Corporate Summit in May.
“Division F members are fantastic” Then there is the most visible part of the iceberg… The fact that Division F is a champion factory! Indeed, during the Fall District Conference in Lyon, two of its members, Dominique CARRASCO and Alexandre ZAMBELLI won 4 of the 12 prizes, including the most coveted one: the English Humorous Speech Contest! And during the Spring District Conference in Porto, Carol BAUSOR and Frédérique GUIGO won also 2 Prizes! Now, what’s next? Until June 2016, Division F will face many challenges, as 3 new clubs will be created, including Monaco and Sophia-Antipolis, Europe’s largest High Tech park. Lastly, the icing on the cake is that in February 2016 we’ll organize our DECM in Nice!
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To summarize, Division F is a sunny place, where we eat well, grow champions and have high expectations for the future. Small? It might be. But happy? Definitely!
Siegfried Haack (Siegfried) Division F Director
In my Division
Division G Working together to develop a United Italy
I
taly is the new kid in District 59, since it only joined the District one year ago. For many Italian
Toastmasters being part of a large organization, much wider than their own club, is still a new feeling. Joint activities between clubs are still not so common, mainly because between the most northern club and the most southern one there is a distance of almost 900 kilometres, while between the most western and the most eastern ones there are 500 kilometres!
For all the above, this year the Division team will be working in developing cooperation and exchanges between the clubs at a national level, as well as a wider participation in the District activities. Let me introduce myself: I am Francesco Fedele, Division Director, and I have been President of Toastmasters Roma and Area G3 Governor. Three Area Directors are working directly with me: for G1 (North/West Italy) Davide Rampoldi, for G2 (North/East Italy) Laura Tavola and for G3 (Central/South Italy) Paola de Santiago Haas. Together we are the District Officers that support all the Italian clubs. Our extended team will include the coordinators of the different projects that we will be launching. Our first activity was the first Italian joint Club Officer Training, which was held in Bologna, an halfway point, on June 20th. The training brought together 50 officers representing almost all the Italian clubs. Apart from the great learning experience, the best was the opportunity to know other Toastmasters from other Italian clubs, sharing experiences and ideas. Our planned activities for the future include a new Italian Division website, joint marketing, training activities and shared translation of marketing materials, as well as easy-Speak – we believe that having materials in Italian is key to the development of Toastmasters in Italy. We are starting this year with 14 clubs organized in three areas and we set up a Club Development Team that will work on adding three new clubs and one area to our Division. This will create smaller areas, enabling the organization of joint activities within areas.
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We have a lot of passion and enthusiasm, but we also have a lot of work to carry out: if you would like to help please write to me at ff@toastmastersroma.it or call me at +39 392 4725317. I count on you to grow Toastmasters in Italy and Italy in Toastmasters.
Francesco Fedele (Francesco) Division G Director
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
S EPTEMBER 2015
In my Division
Division H A “new” and fantastic Division
D
ivision H lost a leg, but we still are a strong Division. We will miss our friends from the (new) Division K after last year’s Division split, but there was a good reason for that split: the growth in clubs (and members, of course), that we have experienced in the last couple of years in Spain.
This growth will not be an exception during this year ahead. We are going to have many new Toastmasters friends in cities where Toastmasters are already present, as well as in some new cities all over the country. We must be thankful to the fellow Toastmasters that support new clubs’ demo meetings, even if it implies driving some hundreds of kilometers. A couple of years ago, a Corporate Club seemed to be something rare in Spain.
However,
nowadays, companies have realized how useful Toastmasters are for their employees and they are sponsoring new clubs, or even creating their second one, like Ericsson is doing soon. Part of this growth is thanks to the visibility obtained with the media coverage that Toastmasters had in our Division, namely in regional televisions (ETB), and in national (El País) and regional newspapers. Awareness is key for growth and every time you talk about Toastmasters, you are helping us to have more fellows to learn with. As in any good speech, the call for action comes in the last 30 seconds: The events where we all meet as a group are our Division Conferences. The teams are already working on them. Seville will
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host the Fall Conference on October’s very last day, while Bilbao will do the same with the Spring Conference on April 2016. Write these dates down in your agenda and see you all there!
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Nacho Arenas (Nacho) Division H Director
In my Division
Division I Members Speak and Grow
T
he newly formed Division I represents 11 clubs, with more than 350 active members in a region with more than 2.5 million we
residents. If we want to reach 1% of our target group, we would have to serve more than 1’000 members in roughly 40 clubs. Today we have clubs in Basel, the heart of Swiss pharmaceutical
and
chemical
industry,
Bern,
the
picturesque Swiss capital, Lucerne, the political and cultural hub of central Switzerland, and in the famous tax haven Zug. Despite the rapid membership-growth of 5-7% annually, the quality of both our club meetings, as well as the Division I contests, is on European top level. As proof, two members of clubs within Division I were recently winning contestants at District level, in Budapest and Lyon. But the upside of the membership-growth is that, with more clubs, there is more diversity in our community and potential new members have the freedom of choose which club suits better their preferences. For many, speaking in front of a group is a severe obstacle and at least one third of the total workforce should benefit from better communication skills significantly. Today on our mission to empower more individuals to become better communicators and leaders, we already have a good mix of seasoned, well established clubs and fresh, highly motivated, inspired members. We have a good blend of public, corporate and university clubs, but honestly, there is still a large room for improvement until we serve an appreciable number of individuals in our region. Today, we support club committees with trainings and guidance, making sure that they are withstanding their Moments of Truth, supporting the club officers to achieve success in the Distinguished Club Program, thus ultimately offering excellent club experiences to their club members. As Toastmasters, we have the mission to empower our members to become more effective communicators and better leaders, to help as many individuals as possible, to find their voice, and to flourish, while making it through the educational and leadership track. We all accomplish, as we engage, contribute, help to organize an event, empower others, participate, and connect within and beyond our clubs. Keeping our Toastmasters Promise should also mean that we, as volunteers, shall balance our Toastmasters activities with other areas in our life that are important to us. That we do not become over-committed, but still committed enough, to go to our club meetings, to make ten speeches each year, to participate in the contests, while reflecting on our progress. Than, it is simply like this, we will SPEAK AND GROW!
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Some of the best examples will speak at our Division I Conference, 31st October 2015, in Basel. You are most warm welcomed to join us, whether you will come as a guest, volunteer, or as a participant! See you there.
Robert Dohrendorf (Robertatt) Division I Director
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
S EPTEMBER 2015
In my Division
Division J A newly formed Division!
T
his is the first year of the newly formed Division J. Division J was formed as part of the restructuring of Division E, which comprised the whole of Switzerland last year, but was split into three Divisions.
Division J is a small Division, consisting of only three Areas, and currently comprises the Lake Geneva Area, with clubs in Geneva, Nyon, Lausanne, and Vevey, as well as the region east of Lake Geneva, with a club in Randogne, close to Sion in Valais. A fresh start for a new Division gives many exciting opportunities for forming new clubs, and closer cooperation between the Areas, because travel times are more manageable. The Division is off to a good start, thanks to the three new Area Directors: Pavel Savitch, Eliane Maalouf and Alexandre Gamberoni. Pavel is the Area Director for clubs in the Geneva Area, Eliane has clubs from Nyon and Lausanne in her Area, and has already a great new prospect club, while Alexandre has clubs from Lausanne, Vevey and Randogne in his Area.
“A fresh start for a new Division gives many exciting opportunities for forming new clubs�
Pavel, Eliane and Alexandre have already conducted club officer trainings, and are very motivated to make this a great year, for themselves, and for the clubs in their Areas. We had our first Division meeting in June, in Lausanne, where we had the pleasure to meet, get to know each other in person, and talk about the upcoming Toastmasters year. The month of August is a little slow, with many clubs taking a break because of Summer holidays, but on September there will be plenty of activities, in particular club contests.
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Division J is looking forward to the training in Leuven, Belgium, to deepen their knowledge, and get to know more of the officers of District 59.
CLARION
Caspar Horne (Caspar) Division J Director
In my Division
Division K Service and excellence
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t the beginning of my second year in Toastmasters, the club committee in which I was VPPR, decided to regulate the incoming of new members in order to control the growth of the club. For me, who had been working to strengthen a club that could barely count fifteen attendants in a session
one year earlier, it was a shock. At that moment, I decided to create a new club for all these new people who knocked on the doors of Toastmasters. But although there were people interested, but although I received much help from other Toastmasters members, but although I had experience as an active member of the committees... How difficult it is to create a club! In my opinion the quality of a session is the key to having a successful club, but this may be short lived, like the beauty of a flower on a Spring afternoon. Having a powerful committee is crucial to be a strong club. With no committee, the possibility to survive as a club is zero.
“Having a powerful committee is crucial to be a strong club” The mission of the Division K’s team is to serve club committees, sharing our experience, being connectors between them and bringing closer the tools that Toastmasters International has. To realize this mission, Area Directors and Division Director are building a team in three sections: •
One, the IT team, to prevent that a glitch can mean a limitation in the development of sessions and clubs;
•
Two, the Public Relations team, to spread the name of Toastmasters through the media, and … •
Three, a group of experienced members, full of enthusiasm to help new or struggling clubs to maintain the quality of the sessions.
Members and Officers, from the first day that you have the idea of creating a Toastmasters club, the club is yours. But never forget that you are not alone. In all the countless times when you are on a crossroads, your
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Division K team is ready to give you advice to take the right direction and to smooth the way.
Joan Fabregat (fabregatj) Division K Director
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
S EPTEMBER 2015
In my Division
Division L No Limits to Learn, Live, and Laugh!
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s a Psychologist, I am frequently asked, “Do you really think that people can change?” My default reply is: “If I didn’t, I’d be in the wrong business”. In fact, from my professional experience, I’ve never met someone who didn’t want to be or do better in some aspect of their lives; and to achieve
this, they do actively and fervently seek out change! That said, change doesn’t come easy and the transition can often be terrifying. Challenge and fear are two of the main reasons why people succumb to complacency and wholeheartedly believe that change is impossible. It’s not! Over the past five years in Toastmasters, I’ve never been asked by a non-TM, “Do you really think people can change?” Instead, I’m frequently asked, “How do people change?” or “How does it work?”. My response is simply, “Come and see for yourself!” In fact, I’ve witnessed so many people improve through Toastmasters - and not just in their speaking skills - that my theory was reinforced: everyone wants to change, they just need the proper place, opportunity and encouragement. Having this in mind, the Division L team (excellent team, by the way) created the motto: “No Limits to Learn, Live, and Laugh. Always with Love!”
“Everyone wants to change, they just need the right place, opportunity and encouragement.” This moto contains our core values:
Learning. The foundation of Toastmasters is also ours. We seek
Ambition (no Limits). To excel within ourselves, to go
learning for our own and will strive to create learning
further and always seek to improve.
opportunities to each and every member in our clubs. Live. We understand that for Toastmasters to be a part of every member’s life, we have to value the way each members lives his or her own club. Laugh. As Ralph Smedley taught us – we learn better when we have fun. Love. The sense of belonging to a group and feeling safe enough to fail or to take risks is inevitable when we love what we do and the people with whom we do it.
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This is how we plan to succeed this year in Division L. You should come and see for yourself!
Ana Isabel Lage (anaif) Division L Director
In my Division
Division M Together we can go further!
W
e've been busy! July 4th we had the TLI (together with Division D), where new club officers received training and 140 toastmasters participated – all clubs were represented – in a full-day event with 15 high-quality workshops for officers and members, focusing on club roles/life, speech competitions,
communication and leadership. After one of the workshops, some Toastmasters organized an event entitled "Mindfulness for Toastmasters” on July 24th. Quality is the cornerstone for healthy clubs, areas and divisions, and should be present in our sessions, roles, speeches and evaluations. The most important asset in our clubs are the members, since clubs are made of people and are for the people. All clubs need new members, with new ideas and challenges, as well as investing in increasing member retention to maintain experienced Toastmasters, which is essential to guarantee quality and achieve excellence! We have some of the biggest clubs in Portugal and the will to help smaller clubs in their growth process. Club building will only happen in a sustainable manner, in order to guarantee that prospect clubs become chartered clubs, chartered clubs become healthy clubs and healthy clubs become successful clubs! In September, two new prospects will be open at Cisco and HP. They are expecting your visit to help them grow!
“Division M will focus on members and quality!” Trying to enhance the quality of evaluations within your club/area? Why not organize a "The Art of Effective Evaluation" workshop for your members? Get in touch with Nuno Maximiano (nunomax) for some help. Children are the future and we are running several Youth Leadership Projects in our Division. If you are interested in knowing more, helping out or even creating a YLP, contact Fernando Santos Costa (tm.Fernando). Want to know what an HPL project is? Go to Advanced TM Runners on September 21st and attend a workshop by Luís Caetano (lcaetano) on "High Performance Leadership“. Last but not least, one of the high points of our semester, will be the Division M's Fall Conference. It will be held on October 24th in a surprise location! More information! Save the date! Our Division is an ambitious one and we are aiming at great accomplishments from our clubs and members, fostering excellence
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and growing Toastmasters awareness in Portugal and the world. As a new division, we have a unique opportunity of making a difference! The difference starts in YOU!
João Sarmento (jsarmento) Division M Director
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
S EPTEMBER 2015
Coming up next
Autumn Conference 13-15 November 2015 in Amsterdam
T
he Conference in a nutshell. The District 59 Autumn Conference will be held on 13-15 November 2015 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The best speakers, representing eight European countries, will take part in Humorous Speech and Table Topics contests. Along the competitions, the attendees will have the opportunity to attend a wide variety of workshops and a gala dinner, all at the conference location: Pakhuis de Zwijger, which overlooks the river and the center of Amsterdam. This is the… version of the District 59 Conference and the second time that it has been held in Amsterdam. The last time was back in the heady days of the beginnings of Amsterdam Toastmasters as the first club in this city. We raise a glass in a toast to those who were involved in that event and are still in touch now. They know who they are!
Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contests The growth of Toastmasters has been reflected well in this region – from a single club for several years, there followed a divergence into a Dutch speaking club, and then another, and then a dinner speech club aptly named Taste & Toastmasters. Then the bug took hold and our city now boasts 7 clubs with one more coming. The Conference team is made up of members of all of the Amsterdam clubs and we are proud to have built bridges connecting those clubs, across 2 languages, 180 members and 23 nationalities. Our theme was chosen to help you connect to new friends and we hope to provide you with the best location and information to do so. We welcome the member countries of our District – it is an exciting prospect for us to host fellow TM’ers from Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium and our own Netherlanders. (not to be confused with Neanderthalers... Not funny? Come on, it’s a humorous speech weekend!)
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There will be something for everyone… that’s a promise! And if we don’t have it, tell us and we’ll help you to find it. It’s Amsterdam!
Go to www.tmamsterdam.com and book your place NOW!
We are very happy to be appearing in this pilot issue of the Clarion magazine and believe that this will be a great asset in promoting our Conference and enabling a better communication across our wide and wonderful District. Go to www.tmamsterdam.com and book your place NOW!
If you want to Sign up and lead a Workshop go to http://www.tmamsterdam.com/workshops/ and fill your applications until October 1 st!
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Julita Davies (JulitaD) & Ian Cherington (IanC) Public Relations Chair & Conference Chair
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
S EPTEMBER 2015
District News
Conference Pre-orders Pre-paid order pickup in Amsterdam
I
n response to feedback from past conferences, the District has decided to pilot a new service model for the District Store. Rather than blindly ordering an inventory from the Toastmasters International Shop that does not always move, the plan is to collect preorders of the things that people actually want.
Then, contingent upon pre-payment, the District will order the Toastmasters International Shop merchandise and have it ready for pick-up at the upcoming District conference. To place a pre-order, go to the bookings page at d59shop.tmclub.eu and make your selection of the items available. The site provides a linked overview of the inventory from the Toastmasters International Shop. Use the overview to quickly browse both the toastmasters.org/Shop website and jump to the item in our site. If an item you want is not listed, contact the team and we will add the item to the order form. Once you make your selection, submit the request and then check your email for payment instructions. Be sure to include your order number (i.e. the 58815-XXX code) in the bank transfer description. Logistically, for this service model to work, both orders and payments must be received by the 30th of September. After this date, the shop will close. All unconfirmed requests will expire, meaning the associated items will not be ordered.
District Store service on Easy-Speak: d59shop.tmclub.eu This service is open to all Toastmasters and clubs in the district. Prices are pegged using an exchange rate of 1 â‚Ź/$. You save shipping charges, credit card fees and import duties. If someone other than yourself will claim your order, please be sure to indicate this/whom when you submit your request. Unclaimed orders will not be shipped after the conference, nor refunded. Be sure to bring a suitcase big enough to carry whatever you order! What about cancellations or changes? To cancel or change an existing order, simply revisit the site and edit the quantity for the item(s) in your original order. To cancel an order set the quantity for the item to a blank space. As before, once you submit a change, you will receive another email confirmation with any eventual payment instructions. In the event of cancellation of an already-paid item, a 100% refund will be made if the cancellation is submitted prior to the
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30th of September. Saisir l'occasion!
ThĂŠodore Eches (TedX) D59 - District Store Shop Bear
District News
Meet District 59... ... on Social Media!
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ou can find out more about Toastmasters International and District 59 on Social Media. District 59 has an official website, a Facebook page and a Facebook Group where members can share ideas! Take a look!
http://www.district59.org
facebook.com/ToastmastersDistrict59
http://www.toastmasters.org/
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facebook.com/groups/Toastmasters.district59
Ângela Lopes (Ângela_L) Managing Editor
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL, DISTRICT 59
S EPTEMBER 2015