Toastmasters Scarecrow: Stop Freaking about Public Speaking

Fox Valley Toastmasters had a very creative entry in the St. Charles Scarecrow Festival, which takes place every October. Pat Reisdorf, president of the club, gives the following report:

From Toastmasters District 54

Attached is a color picture of “Stop Freaking about Public Speaking”, a whimsical display created & sponsored by Fox Valley Toastmasters 3399 for the community in the 25th Annual St. Charles Scarecrow Festival, October 9-11, 2009. The Scarecrow Festival typically attracts 60,000+ visitors every year, so members thought it would be a great way to publicize Fox Valley Toastmasters 3399, as well as support and promote Toastmasters clubs in the surrounding area.

Agenda (guarded by a Crow)
7:30 Welcome
7:35 TMOE: Jack O’Lantern
7:40 Motivator: Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater
7:45
Speech #1 Don’t Get Stuck with a Pumpkin by Cinderella
Speech #2 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Crow by Ida Raven
Speech #3 How to Get A Head in Business by the Headless Horseman
8:15 Break
8:20 Table Topic Theme: Which Came First: The Pumpkin or the Pumpkin Seed?
8:25 General Evaluator: The Great Pumpkin
8:45 Awards
8:55 Concluding Remarks
Listening, Confidence, Communication and Leadership

Treasurer JoAnn Cassell and her husband, Tom, came up with the design concept, and shared it with club members, who then contributed ideas for a general theme. The decision was made to use “Stop Freaking about Public Speaking”. JoAnn, Tom and family took the leadership on assembling the display and were assisted by long time members, Jim Enockson and Glen Heller, who contributed overall expertise and woodworking savvy to build the podium and the wooden/tin gavel from scratch.

Although the club did not win a cash prize, based on Festival votes from the crowd, it was a display that won the hearts of many passersby. Comments from the crowd included, “Gee, I was always going to try Toastmasters out sometime” and “I wonder if we should both visit a meeting” and “I think there’s a Toastmasters that meets near where we live - we’ll have to check it out!”

As a member commented on the rainy Thursday evening prior to the official start of the Festival, “I stood in front of the display for a long time so I got to hear a lot of comments from people stopping to take a look. The feedback was great and the exposure for Fox Valley Toastmasters and Toastmasters in general will be awesome. With the potential lift in membership from this project, we may have to move our meetings to the United Center!”

Congratulations to Fox Valley Toastmasters for taking such a creative and enjoyable approach to publicity!

Peoria Times-Observer Human Interest Story

The Peoria Times-Observer has a nice human interest story on one of our fellow Toastmasters in Peoria, Illinois.

http://www.peoriatimesobserver.com/lifestyle/x1128400152/No-fear-of-public-speaking-here

Toastmasters International Recognizes District 54 Leaders

Robert Grenier received the Excellence in Leadership Award from Toastmasters International. The award is given to District Governors of Distinguished Districts. District 54 received this honor for 2008-2009. Aloysia Mitchell received an Excellence in Education award, and Martie Ogborn received an Excellence in Marketing award at the International Convention in Connecticut. The awards were presented at the September meeting of the District 54 executive council.

Open House Walks the Talk

by Tom Nosal

N.B. Holding a club open house can draw new traffic and help your community know about your club and the benefits of Toastmasters. We asked Tom Nosal, President of Walker’s Talkers Toastmaster club, to give this report of the open house his club held this past Spring. Tom now reports that four new members have joined the club as a result of the open house. —Ed.

As you requested, this is a summary report on the open house that Walker’s Talkers Toastmasters Club hosted on April 30th, 2009.

Overall the open house was a huge success. We had 40 people register for this event, and 29 guests attended—not a bad ratio for a free event. As for the guests, some of them expressed an interest in looking further into Toastmasters. We are continuing to follow up with our guests to have them attend an actual club meeting.

The purpose of the open house was two-fold. To provide a public service to the community and introduce them to Toastmasters. Our club had been working for some time on trying to figure a way to get the message to job-seekers on the ways that Toastmasters can help them in their job search and beyond. Our club usually does some kind of special events throughout the course of the year where we invite the public through the media. When we started looking at an open house for April, we brainstormed on how we could reach out to job-seekers. It so happened that one of our members was working on a speech project that involved leading a panel discussion. So an idea was born.

The format that the open house took on was a shortened version of a regular club meeting, followed by a panel discussion on topics of interest to job-seekers. The panel discussion was the “hook” to get guests more interested in attending. Once we decided on a format, we had to find a place to hold it because our usual meeting place could not accommodate more than a couple of guests. We were able to secure a meeting room at our Village Hall which worked out well not only for the size of the room, but also for its location and accessibility.

We then had to secure our panelists. We purposefully looked for panelists that were not associated with Toastmasters so that we could maintain a decorum of neutrality. Our panel experts talked on topics of resume writing, working with on-line applications, career transitioning, networking, using the public library, and COBRA & health insurance.

Our marketing for this event was through various different means. We used local newspapers, radio stations, flyers, and direct marketing to job networking groups. We also distributed flyers to local churches and colleges. More than 90% of our attendees indicated that they heard of our open house through postings at local job networking clubs. Only one person indicated they learned about this event through the newspapers.

We also secured some sponsorship’s from local businesses who provided refreshments, printing services, a registration website and also covered the costs of the meeting room. We also worked with a state senator’s office to gain some support. Unfortunately, the local congress people were unable to attend due to their being in session.

At the meeting itself, our introduction of Toastmasters only lightly touched on the public speaking aspects. What we really focused on was the leadership and management training aspects of Toastmasters, linking the roles of club officers and beyond to their counterparts in a business environment. For example, V.P. of Membership = HR Director, Treasurer = Chief Financial Officer.

We only had one speaker for the evening and one Evaluator. For our Table Topics, all topics were related to job-seeking or the workplace. And we had guests pick the speaker from cards in a basket and if their speaker won best Table Topic speaker, that guest also won a prize.

We received great feedback from our guests on the meeting. Most of them had no concept of all the things that Toastmasters can offer them.

This open house was a lot of fun and a lot of hard work. We learned a great deal from this experience and plan to do similar events in the future. And I earned a Competent Leader credit for chairing this event.

I can provide more details on any aspects of the planning or of the meeting itself if you need it. Thanks for the support by District 54 and by Toastmasters International.

Toastmaster's Speech Contest

by Martie Ogborn

Here are the Toastmaster's Speech Contest Judging Criteria for the Spring Competition.

International Speech Contest

CONTENT (50%)
Speech Development - Structure, organization, support material - 20%
Speech Development is a way the speaker puts ideas together so the audience can understand them. The speech is structured around a purpose, and this structure must include an opening, body, and conclusion. A good speech immediately engages the audience's attention and then moves forward toward a significant conclusion. This development of the speech structure is supported by relevant examples, illustrations, facts, and figures, delivered with such smoothness that they blend into the framework of the speech to present the audience with a unified whole
.
Effectiveness - Achievement of purpose, interest, reception - 15%
Effectiveness is measured in part by the audience's reception of the speech, but a large part is your subjective judgment of how the speech came across. You should ask yourself such questions as "Was I able to determine the speaker's purpose?" "Did the speech relate directly to that purpose?" "Was the audience's interest held by the speaker?" "Was this speech subject appropriate for this particular audience?"

Speech Value - Ideas, logic, original thought - 15%
Speech Value justifies the act of speaking. The speaker has a responsibility to say something meaningful and original to the audience. The listeners should feel the speaker has made a contribution to their thinking. The ideas should be important ones, although this does not preclude a humorous presentation of them.

DELIVERY (30%)
-Physical - Appearance, body language - 10%
Physical presentation of a speech carries part of the responsibility for effective communication. The speaker's appearance should reinforce the speech, whether profound, sad, humorous, or instructional. Body language should support points through gestures, expressions, and body positioning.
-Voice - Flexibility, volume - 10%
Voice is the sound that carries the message. It should be flexible, moving from one pitch level to another for emphasis, and should have a variety of rate and volume. Good voice can be clearly heard and the words easily understood.
-Manner - directness, assurance, enthusiasm - 10%
Manner is the indirect revelation of the speaker's real self as the speech is delivered. The speaker should speak with enthusiasm and assurance, showing interest in the audience and confidence in their reactions.

LANGUAGE (20%)
APPROPRIATENESS - to speech purpose and audience - 10%
Appropriateness of language refers to the choice of words that relate to the speech purpose and to the particular audience hearing the speech. Language should promote clear understanding of thoughts and should fit the occasion precisely.

CORRECTNESS - grammar, pronunciation, word selection - 10%
Correctness of language ensures that attention will be directed toward what the speaker says, not how it is said. Proper use of grammar and correct pronunciation will show that the speaker is the master of the words being used.


Evaluation Contest

Analytical Quality - clear, focused - 40%
Analytical quality refers to the effectiveness of the evaluation. Every evaluation should carefully analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the speaker's presentation. Were the evaluator's comments clear and logical? Did the evaluator identify specific strengths and weaknesses of the presentation?

Recommendations - positive, specific, helpful - 30%
Recommendations are an important part of an evaluation. An evaluator not only points out the strengths and weaknesses of a speech, he/she also offers specific recommendations for improvement. Recommendations should be practical, helpful and positive, and they should enable the speaker to improve his or her next presentation.

Technique - sympathetic, sensitive, motivational - 15%
Technique refers to the manner in which the evaluator presents his/her comments and recommendations. An evaluator should be sensitive to the feelings and needs of the speaker, yet inspire and encourage the speaker in his/her future speaking efforts.

Summation - concise, encouraging - 15%
Summation is how the evaluator concludes the evaluation. The conclusion should briefly summarize the evaluator's comments and suggestions, and be positive and encouraging.

Table Topics Judging Criteria

by Martie Ogborn

Content (55%)
SPEECH DEVELOPMENT is the way the speaker puts ideas together so the audience can understand them. The Table Topics response is structured around a purpose, and this structure must include an opening, body and conclusion. The response is supported by relevant examples and illustrations, facts, and figures, if appropriate, and is delivered smoothly.
EFFECTIVENESS is your subjective judgment of how the response came across. Were you able to determine the speaker’s purpose? Did the speech relate directly to the given question or topic? Was the response clearly and logically presented?

Delivery (30%)
PHYSICAL presentation of the response carries part of the responsibility for effective communication. The speaker’s appearance should reinforce his or her response. Body language should support points through gestures, expressions and body positioning.
VOICE is the sound that carries the message. It should be flexible, moving from one pitch level to another for emphasis, and should have a variety of rate and volume. A good voice can be clearly heard and the words easily understood.

Language (15%)
LANGUAGE refers to the choice of words that relate to the response. Language should promote clear understanding of thoughts and should fit the occasion precisely. Proper use of grammar and correct pronunciation will show that the speaker is the master of the words being used.

Humorous Speech Judging Criteria

by Martie Ogborn

SPEECH DEVELOPMENT is the way the speaker puts ideas together so the audience can understand them. The speech is structured around a purpose or theme, and the structure must include an opening, body and conclusion. A good humorous speech immediately engages the audience's attention and then builds to a significant conclusion; it is not a series of jokes or a monologue.

EFFECTIVENESS refers to your subjective judgment of how the speech came across. What was the purpose or theme of the speech? Did the speech relate directly to that purpose or theme? Was humor used effectively?

SPEECH VALUE justifies the act of speaking. The speaker has a responsibility to say something meaningful and original to the audience, even in a humorous speech. The ideas should be important, even though they are presented humorously.

AUDIENCE RESPONSE reflects the audience's reaction to the speech. Did the speech hold the audience's interest? Did people understand and laugh at the humor?

PHYSICAL presentation of a speech carries part of the responsibility for effective communication. The speaker's appearance should reinforce the speech. Body language should support points through gestures, expressions and body positioning.

VOICE is the sound that carries the message. It should be flexible, moving from one pitch level to another for emphasis, and should have a variety of rate and volume. A good voice can be clearly heard and the words easily understood.

MANNER is the indirect revelation of the speaker's real self as the speech is delivered. The speaker should speak with enthusiasm and assurance, showing interest in the audience and confidence in their reactions.

APPROPRIATENESS of language refers to the choice of words that relate to the speech purpose and to the particular audience hearing the speech. Language should promote clear understanding of thoughts, should fit the occasion and should be in good taste.

CORRECTNESS of language ensures that attention will be directed toward what the speaker says, not how it is said. Proper use of grammar and correct pronunciation will show that the speaker is the master of the words being used.

JUDGE’S CODE OF ETHICS

• Judges will consciously avoid bias of any kind in selecting first, second and third place contestants. They will not consider any contestant's club, area, division or district affiliation. Nor will they consider any contestant's age, sex, race, creed, national origin,
  profession or political beliefs. They will demonstrate the utmost objectivity.
• Judges will not time the speeches and will not consider the possibility of under-time or overtime when judging a contestant's speech.
• Judges will support by word and deed the contest rules and judging standards, refraining from public criticism of the contest and revealing scores and ranking only in accordance with official policy.

Maxey’s Keynote to Influence Fall Conference

by Luann Larson

Cyndi Maxey, a certified speaking professional, specializes in presentations and communication that drive profitable performance.

Ms. Maxey practices what she preaches. She speaks most often to healthcare, pharmaceutical, women’s, consumer, foodservice, insurance, and technical audiences and is author of over 75 published articles and five books. Her latest book, Speak Up! A Woman’s Guide to Presenting Like a Pro, was endorsed by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

Maxey also co-wrote the top-selling field guide, Present Like a Pro. It demystifies public and professional speaking based on work with physicians, engineers, and technical professionals.

Cyndi Maxey will keynote the Toastmasters District 54 Fall Conference with her presentation entitled “Speak Up! How to Master the Art of Influence.” The presentation will occur Nov. 14, 2009 at 10:30 a.m. The conference will be held at the Best Western Prairie Inn, Galesburg, Illinois.

Learn more about Cyndi Maxey at http://www.cyndimaxey.com.

Contest Time Is Here!

by Martie Ogborn

This year District 54 is holding two contests: a Humorous Speech contest, and a Table Topics contest. There should be some pretty good competition!

Contests will be held at all levels: Clubs, then Areas, then Divisions, and then finally at the District level. Here are the guidelines for contest dates:

Club Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contests:
now through September 15

Area Contests:
September 16—October 15

Division Contests:
October 16–31

District 54 Contest:
November 13–14
(at the District Conference)

Local clubs should plan now to conduct a Humorous Speech Contest as well as a Table Topics Contest to decide who will represent your club at your Area contest. Add some excitement to your club and support your representatives at each level of competition. Please get in touch with me (mogborn@verizon.net) if you have any questions.

District 54 Dispatch, September 2009

The September, 2009 edition of the District 54 Dispatch is now available here (475 KB PDF). Thanks to all whose writing and activities made this newsletter possible. As you'll see, great things are happening in the District.

Cyndi Maxey at District Conference

Cyndi Maxey, a Chicago-area speaking professional, will be presenting the keynote address at the Toastmasters District 54 fall conference, in Galesburg on Saturday, November 14. The keynote is entitled "Speak Up! How to Master the Art of Influence." You can visit Cyndi Maxey's website at http://www.cyndimaxey.com/

Advanced Expressives Helps Train Trainers

The Advanced Expressives Toastmasters club is offering a training workshop to help teach people to be effective trainers. This is an open workshop with a moderate fee to cover costs - and well worth it, from the looks of it! The workshop is this coming Saturday, Aug 29. See attached flyer for details.

New Lenox Toastmasters

We have several new clubs in Toastmasters District 54. One of them, New Lenox Toastmasters, was recently featured in the New Lenox Patriot.

Membership

I was reading the District 47 June newsletter about the LGET reading the District reports and looking at them in a different way. She found that as of May 31, one month before the end of the year, 46% of the clubs didn’t have a single CC, and 57% didn’t have a single AC, yet the District finished as Presidents Distinguished with 507 CCs and 206 ACs one month later.

I decided to look at the District 54 membership numbers for last year and found 42 clubs had a net gain of 0 or lost members. That indicates over half the clubs are not growing. The previous two years we had 46 clubs (both years) that had a net gain of 0 or lost members.

Last year was an improvement over the previous two years, but it seems like having over 50% of the clubs with a net gain of 0, or loss of members, indicates we are not meeting the members needs.

Our goal is to have all clubs at charter strength, or a net gain of 5 members. Any ideas on how to improve the situation?

Toastmasters Leadership Institute

Connor Cunneen

Every summer and winter, Toastmasters District 54 hosts three "Toastmasters Leadership Institutes," or TLIs. These training events generally run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on a Saturday in July and again in January/February.

Last Saturday, July 25, the TLI "North" took place in Plainfield, Illinois at the Chicago Bridge and Iron Co. It is a beautiful facility, and very well-equipped for training, with projectors in every conference room and in the main cafeteria / meeting room where the main sessions took place.

The keynote speaker for the event was Connor Cunneen, a thoroughly entertaining and motivating speaker. He gave his keynote address entitled "The Gift of GAB: How Goals, Attitude, Behavior can give you a top o' the morning feeling AND help you BEAT the recession." Check out his website at IrishmanSpeaks.com.

After the keynote, there were training sessions for all of the club officer roles: club President, VP Education, VP Membership, VP Public Relations, Secretary, Treasurer, and "Sergeant at Arms" (a name that trips many up: Just think of arms in terms of using your own arms to do physical things, and not in terms of firearms, and you'll get the idea of this job). I am serving as the Secretary of the DeKalb club this year, but I received that training at the (equally excellent) TLI south in Bloomington at State Farm earlier in the month. Instead, I attended Lauran-Bell Harrison's session on "Storytelling for Effective Communication" - using stories to help your presentations communicate powerfully and from the heart. I also provided the training for PR Officers, with a focus on the art of writing a press release. I hope to post more about that another time.

Now it's your turn: Did you attend one of the summer District 54 TLIs, or have you ever attended a Toastmasters Leadership Institute? What are your experiences?

Aloysia Mitchell, District Governor

July 1, 2009 marks the beginning of a new Toastmasters year. I hope you found 2008-2009 to be rewarding and filled with happy memories. By Endurance we Conquered under the leadership of Bob Grenier, DTM, and this year we will Empower People to Prosper!

Toastmasters International is an organization that will help you develop your communication and leadership skills but did you realize it can help you Empower People to Prosper? As you develop your communication and leadership skills you develop the ability to prosper in your workplace, home and community. Many of us join Toastmasters to learn how to become effective communicators. As we join a club and learn more about the organization we discover there is a leadership track. It is in the leadership track that we develop new skills. I encourage you to use these skills not only help yourself but to help others. As we expand the network of Toastmasters Clubs we offer more people the opportunity to gain the benefits of the Toastmasters organization.

In 2009-2010 our District Goal is to charter 10 new clubs this year, have each club be Distinguished and achieve the rank of President's Distinguished District! Sound easy, right? The truth of the matter is that there are several variables that have to be reached for this to be achieved but it is possible. President's Distinguished District is a B.A.G - Big Audacious Goal - but it is one that is within our reach.

In order to achieve this goal, we need to surpass previous educational goals. Historically, the District surpasses the goals set by Toastmasters International. Let us blow it out of the water this year! I am asking all District 54 Toastmasters to achieve at least one Educational or Leadership goal this year even if you have already achieved the status of Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM). I have committed to achieving a Competent Leader and Advanced Communicator-Bronze this year. What is your goal? Send me an e-mail with “TM goal” in the subject line and tell me your goal. I want to celebrate with you when you achieve your goal.

In addition to achieving educational goals, we need the entire District Team to work on building new Toastmasters clubs and adding new members to existing low member clubs. We don't want to lose any clubs this year. Let us empower all clubs so they know they play an important role in our District Success.

I look forward to working with each one of you so we can have a fun, successful year.

Aloysia Mitchell, DTM
District 54 Governor

Northern Illinois Toastmasters District 54 Gets a Blog

Toastmasters District 54 is now blogging. After several years of using primarily old media, such as email, to communicate with one another and with the public, Toastmasters D54 is now blogging.

The advantages of a district blog are many.
(1) It creates a central hub for our communication with members and the public.
(2) Readers can comment, which means that good conversations can happen.
(3) The blog creates a news feed that can appear in a variety of places, including the readers' own news readers, so they can keep up with the district. I am also planning to see about hooking the blog into the District 54 Facebook page and the District 54 website.

What kinds of things would you like to see us talk about on this blog?