No Ordinary Boot Camp

Last weekend was a special weekend for Toastmasters in Division E (Northern Saskatchewan).  Saturday, inquisitive Toastmasters gathered at Great Western Brewing to participate in a Toastmasters Boot Camp.  No there was no marching or basic training.  This was a special session alllowing toastmasters to ask questions and learn ways to attain their communication and leadership goals.

The morning was kicked off with Rena, our past Division E Governor,  as our key note speaker.  She explained her journey through toastmasters, the opportunities she was able to take advantage of and how it has enhanced her life and career. When asked what it has done for her career her reply was "about $30 thousand a year.  Now that is a significant impact.  She left us with the question, "Where would she be now if she hadn't walked through those doors in the Don Ross Centre and joined Toastmasters?"  She encouraged us all to plot our road map to distinguished.

After our keynote presentation there were break out sessions so the participants could plot their course to realize the goals they had set for themselves.  There were 4 session which were repeated so everyone could take in a maximum of two sessions.  If there was anything that could be improved upon, it would be to repeat the session 2 more times so we could have attended all four.  They were that interesting, I wanted to attend them all.

The sessions included how to set goals and achieve your awards in the Competent Communicator, Advanced Leader and Advanced Manuals; Why educational presentations are important to you and your club; The magic of Mentoring and High Performance Leadership projects.

After a break and a few snacks we reassembled in the big room for three group sessions.  The first one dealt with the tools and techniques for giving effective evaluations.  The second session featured our very own Jane, well know at Prairie Schooners for her never ending enthusiasm, quick wit and love of life.  Jane gave us ideas on where to collect information for and how to deliver humorous speeches.  If you want to know what she is doing with the platter of vegetables, you will have to ask her. The last session was part of Paula's personal journey in Toastmasters with a speech entitled "How I purchase Patio Furniture".  This was another testimonial of how toastmasters has empowered her to Live, Love, Laugh, Grow and Fail.  She left us with the message that as, Toastmasters we are all winners.

All in all, this was a very worthwhile morning to spend with excellent presenters, relavant resource material and great fellowship.  If you missed this session, why not talk to your Vice President of Education, they will have helpful hints for you.

Flexibility means Business

Today's meeting was very interesting and educational all at the same time.

It turns out we were very few in numbers at our noon meeting today.  In fact the speakers that were scheduled were unable to attend.  So we had no speakers and the speaking portion take up the majority of the program.  Well what to do with all the time on our hands?

With a little flexibility, all those present were asked to introduce themselves trying to keep the theme and the word of the day in mind.  This exercise gives everyone an opportunity to speak as well as try and incorporate the theme and word into their introduction.  The word today was "Hello" as today is the 40th annual World Hello Day and the theme was "Gregarious".  We learned the definition of gregarious is to be fond of company; sociable and also to live in flocks or loosely organized communities.  Needless to say there were a few chuckles around the table during the introductions, especially for those who lived in flocks or loosely organized communities.

Well the introductions stretched the meeting out to 12:15, what to do with the next 40 minutes in the program?  Well it was decided that a business meeting could be held.  This would allow us to practice running a business meeting and get a little more familiar with Robert's Rules of Order. A great learning opportunity that turns out, we don't see often enough.  We didn't have any real business to attend to, and it was thought there might have been some "Monkey Business" left on the table from our last business meeting.  Let the fun begin.

We started with club Officer Reports, of course no one was prepared so it turned out to be a bit of a Table Topics exercise which was very well done.  While this was going on, the minutes from our last business meeting were located. We needed these to see if there was anything left on the table, a very important part to say the least.  It turns out there was a motion that needed to be dealt with.  There was some discussion around the motion to get everyone familiar with the issue and just to complicate matters, someone moved to amend the motion (amendment #1).  Well this amendment was seconded and there was a some discussion.  Then there was another motion to amend amendment #1 (amendment #2).  Fortunately, no one would second this motion to amend so it was not considered but then there was another motion to amend the amendment (amendment #3).   This one was simply to replace the word "or" with the word "and".  This amendment (#3) was seconded, was discussed and passed.  This affected the wording of amendment #2 which was then discussed, voted on and passed.  So now we had an amended main motion that originated at our last business meeting.  This again was discussed and oddly enough it passed as well.  Normally any monkey business that gets to a final vote is defeated.

With quite a bit of laughter, some head nodding and a lot of puzzled looks we learned why 2 amendments to a main motion are all that Robert's Rules will allow, how important it is to state your motion clearly and

succinctly so it can be recorded accurately.  We also learned you can't try and convince us to be in favour of your motion before it is seconded.  And most importantly, when the Chairman doesn't instruct the timer on the length of the business meeting, it can go on and on and on.

We had a good meeting even though we had no speakers.  We had fun with our introductions while our business meeting was abruptly ended without any consultation with the assembly or instruction from the timer.  But most importantly we learned that with flexibility, you can conduct a lot of business.

S.W.O.T.

Have you ever been involved in a SWOT?  Companies and organisations will often undertake a SWOT analysis to improve their business operation or the group effectiveness.  What they are looking for are their Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.  Toastmasters are no different. But their SWOT analysis is called "Moments of Truth".

Well this is what happened at this weeks meeting.  Julia presented a Moments in Truth session to the club as one of the requirements she needs for her Advance Leader Bronze award.  She gave us a brief description of the program, basically what is our first impression in a number of areas.  We then broke into small groups and were given these areas to analyse, areas that define how a well run Toastmasters Club operates.  We then got an opportunity to report back on how we felt.  This feedback will then be turned over the club executive and plans will be made to improve the areas that were not at their peak.

The area that we looked at were in fact our
First Impressions,
New Member Orientation,
Fellowship, Variety and Communications
Program Planing and Meeting Organization
Membership Strength and
Recognizing Accomplishments

I think we scored high in all these areas but there was some room for improvement and I look forward to the changes our Executive team will introduce to address the issues discovered.  So if you are interested in improving yourself or organization, why not get involved in a SWOT analysis or get involved in a Moments of Truth.

The unknown is exciting

We had another interesting meeting today.  It seems like all our meetings are interesting, in one way or another.

Although every meeting we have follows a set pattern, there are often differences from week to week.  It could be because we have two interesting speakers, they could be seasoned Toastmasters or relatively new toastmasters like we had today.  Or it might be an added business meeting or a member induction. You never really know what exciting things are going to happen until they unfold.

 

Mandy gave our first presentation.  She has been a Toastmaster for only a few months now and our second presentation was by Meg who just joined our group 2 weeks ago and completed her ice breaker speech today.  Mandy spoke on the history and functional characteristics of eating utensils and how the different forms evolved over time.  She ended with a brief explanation of the benefits of using chopsticks.  Her presentation was informative and very interesting, especially the fact that there are different types of chopsticks based on your main diet.

 

Seven Happy Inductees

Now Meg completed her "Ice Breaker" speech today, her first speech where she introduces herself.  We learnt a lot about Meg.  She is funny, likes writing and photography and is a recent transplant from Vancouver.  This will be her first winter on the prairies and she is ready to cope with what ever weather comes her way.  Meg presented her personal journey about public speaking fears, from almost passing out before a speaking engagement to missing out on being the Master of Ceremonies at a good friends wedding.  Meg has set some goals to improve her speaking skills so she can overcome this fear and she also wants to  develop her leadership skills.  Well Meg, I think you have come to the right place.  But hang on, I think you will be having so much fun, you won't realise how much learning is actually going on.

As I mentioned, you really don't know what is going to happen at a meeting until you get there.  I was expecting a business meeting, as that is what was scheduled.  I was looking forward to hearing about the great things the club executive is planning for the next few months.  Well that didn't happen.  Instead we had new member inductions.  I had forgotten we hadn't done this in a while and had seven new members to induct.  It is great when these new members stand in the front of the group and recite their promise and then the rest of the membership get to promise to support them in their Toastmaster journey.  At the end, they were all presented with a membership certificate.  It will be interesting and exciting to watch these new members as they hone their speaking and leadership skills.

Talking about excitement and not knowing what is exactly scheduled.  I understand a random meeting is planned for the future.  Random in the fact that only the speakers come to the meeting prepared.  All the other roles are drawn from a hat as you arrive.  This presents a great learning opportunity and often times forces you out of your comfort zone as there always is a real chance you will need to perform a role you have never done.  I also understand our Vice President of Education is considering a backward meeting in the future as well.  I have seen these in the past and they are great fun.  If you want to see one in action you will have to come out for a visit.  But don't be surprised if the meeting is adjourned before it actually gets started.

If you are interested in learning more about Prairie Schooners, why not head over to our website or visit us on Face book.  The links are at the top of the Blog and if you have questions that aren't answered, stop by for a visit anytime.  Visitors are always welcome with no obligations.

See you soon.