Brrrr!

Wasn’t it a cold one today?  I bet most people would have rather stayed indoors, but instead we got out of our nice warm beds and ventured out to work this morning.  Some of us actually took the time to go to a Toastmasters meeting during the lunch period.

Well, that is what I did, and was pleasantly surprised to find steaming hot coffee and sweet treats for our club meeting.  Most of our members came from the down town core and enjoyed the refreshments.  It was a chance to warm up after a brisk walk to the meeting.  Those members that work in Saskatoon Square didn’t need the warm up, but appreciated the treats just as much.  Thanks must go to the Executive for providing such a nice surprise.

The theme of the meeting was “Playing in the Snow” and with the word of the day being “frost” we were quickly transported back to the cold reality of the day.  

Our meeting room was crowded today with thirteen members present.  We had prepared speeches by Shuqing (project 4) and Christine (project 2). It was very interesting to learn about the Chinese New Year and traditions that surround that time of year.  We also heard some interesting facts and anecdotes regarding our ill fated penny.  Both were excellent, interesting and exciting presentations.

Table topics kept with the snow theme as well.  With questions about playing in the snow and whether it is better to shovel or use a snow blower.   Judging by the answers; I don’t think the respondents had any trouble answering the question.  We heard very good mini speeches which lasted up to two minutes.

For those that couldn’t make the meeting, I think there was still some coffee and treats left at the end.  But they will be cold now.  Just like the temperature outside.

Why not come out for a visit and see what Toastmasters has to offer?  You will certainly get a chance to warm up and you never know, there might even be some treats for your enjoyment.

The Cart before the Horse

 “Well, why don’t you stop by for a visit and see what Toastmasters is all about?” 

This is the way I would normally finish my posts.  At today’s meeting it was appropriate to start at the end and work toward the beginning of our typical meeting.  You see, our meeting today was in a backward format.  We closed the meeting at noon and opened the session at 1 o’clock.  The speech evaluations were presented before the speeches and the awards for best presentations were awarded before the votes were counted.  So I am starting the way I normally conclude.  A little confusing, you are right, but a whole lot of fun.  Because of the format, speakers really had to pay attention so they could incorporate those things pointed out in their evaluation into their presentation.  I think everyone was somewhat successful and we all had a lot of fun. 

As far as the presentations go, both were project 5 from the Competent Communicator manual.  Chris talked about his experiences while being a perfect Horse Dad. It turns out his daughters are heavily involved in showing horses and we heard about all the different jobs he takes on before, during and after a show.  Not only is he the driver but also the meal/snack planner, barber, supporter, cleaner and tack jockey at his daughter’s events.

Melissa asked us if we were loosing the art of communication.  She started by asking us who remembered using the old style rotary phone and who sends text messages with their cell phones.  Melissa went on to explain that in the past most conversations were either in person or over the phone where now a lot of information is relayed with text messages.  She explained some of the benefits and drawbacks with text messaging, concluding that you can see the change in our communication skills even when you are not connected to your phone.  She gave example of poor spelling and the inability to carry on a conversation.  Things which we often see in our daily lives.

The meeting theme was HUGS, January 21^st was National Hug Day, and our table topics questions followed the same theme.  It turns out that for most of those in attendance, hugs were appreciated but everyone liked to receive them in a non-public area.  Public Displays of Affection were frowned upon.

We ended the meeting by introducing ourselves while trying to use the theme and word of the day in our introduction.  After our introductions the word of the day was announced.  I am not sure if the two guests at the meeting could follow what was happening.  I hope they return to see how one of our regular meetings is conducted.

Hello

What does Toastmasters mean to you?

That was the question at today’s meeting. 

With a theme of “Toastmasters” and the word for the day being “Leaders”, we learned about how our Toastmasters Communication and Leadership experiences have affected our lives.  We learned why some people joined, heard a 2 minute ice breaker speech that was really a Table Topic and how Toastmasters has impacted our personal and professional life.

Well, enough with the introductions.  We had 2 great prepared speeches today.  Meg presented speech number two from the Competent Communicator manual and Julia presented speech number 3 from the Speaking to Inform advanced manual. 

Meg’s objective was to organize her speech, which she certainly did.  She told us up front we were going to learn about all that goes into a television news clip.  She then described in detail the three major portions that must happen before we see the piece.  This included the investigation, which involves the research, information gathering and  actual capturing the story on video.  We then learned all that is involved in reducing those potential hours of video tape into a 2 or 3 minute spot on the evening news.  And finally we got a glimpse of all that happens behind the scenes as the announcer introduces the piece and the final tape rolls.  It turns out the announcer does very little other than look nice and introduce the piece that was created in the background by all the support staff.

Now Julia’s objectives were to present a demonstration talk.  She did an excellent job at showing us how to tie a tie with a single Windsor knot.  As both men and women wear ties, this was an interesting and valuable lesson.  Julia’s presentation was easily visible to all the audience and her demonstration was further enhanced by the colour of the tie she used as a prop.  The tie was very colourful with Bright Red, Royal Blue and Forrest Green sections.  Something you might see on a circus clown.  It was very bright, very colourful and very happy.  It was in perfect contrast against her lemon yellow blouse.  Her instruction was delivered at a perfect pace so we could all see and learn from her instruction. Unfortunately she didn’t go into how to fix the problem of the fat end being to long or the knot being too tight.  Maybe she is saving that for another presentation.  We will have to wait and see.

It was nice to see our two guests today.  Jackie returned from her visit last week and joined the club today.  Welcome aboard Jackie.  I know you will enjoy your time with us.  As well we welcome back Erin who was a member of the club last spring.  She had transferred her membership to a club in Moose Jaw while she was attending school and now that she is back in Saskatoon on a work placement, it is her intention to transfer her membership back to us.  Glad to see you back Erin.

We are always open to visitors so why not come out and see us in action.  There is no obligation to join or say anything.  We will however ask for your thoughts or impression of the meeting before we close.  Who knows, you may even learn something.  I know I did today.

Back From the Break

Well it has been a few weeks since I have sat down at the computer to tell all of you what has been happening at Prairie Schooners.  This is because we suspended meetings during the Christmas break and I was away during our lunch social just prior to the break.

Well we are now back to our regular schedule, Wednesday noon, 4th floor, Saskatoon Square, and had a truly exciting meeting today.

Ray presented some challenging Table Topic questions that followed the theme of United States politics.  I think those that responded found it a little difficult as all their times were around the one minute mark instead of the usual two.  But none the less, we got to practise putting our thoughts together at a moments notice.  I am thankful I was not called upon as I would really have been stumped and would probably have used one of my "Get out of Table Topics Free" cards.

Our feature presentation was by our President Jane.  She is working through the Entertaining Speaker advanced communication manual and presented a dramatic story from her past when she was in the South African Navy.  The title of her presentation was "Deflecting World War III".  Now if you have ever heard or more importantly, seen Jane's presentation, you can just imagine the vocal variety, gestures and drama she displayed as she was trying to prevent her ships from firing on a Russian warship during the cold war.

I am looking forward to getting back into the Toastmasters groove and hope to see you at one of our meetings in the near future.  Come check us out and see what Toastmasters is all about.

Let it snow! Let it Snow! Let it snow!

 4Although the meeting theme was “Volunteer” and the word of the day was “Altruistic” the two presentations today were on the “snow” theme.  Kris gave an excellent presentation on the “Love – Hate” relationship we have with winter.  His objectives were to focus on his word choice, which he certainly did.  Many vivid images were described which included such phrases as “hurtling down a snow hill at breakneck speed on a thin layer of plastic aptly called a Crazy Carpet” and  his description of the “soft fluffy snow falling that feels like concrete when we try to remove it from our driveways”.  This was a great presentation demonstrating the power of word choice.  Kris could certainly have presented a much shorter, more exact and factual presentation but it certainly would not have been as entertaining.  Great Job Kris.

The second “Snow” presentation was about our responsibilities as Saskatoon citizens and what the City’s objectives are regarding snow removal.  This was an informative speech from one of the Toastmasters Advanced Communication Manuals.   Julia is currently working in the Advanced Communication track of Toastmasters and did a great job explaining how the city uses the priority road system to clear the city streets.  And if you live in a house or operate a business, we are also responsible to clear the snow in front of our buildings and businesses.  Julia did a great job using the speaking space available to her with only one prop to show us.  No notes were used at all.  Way to go Julia.

Member attendance was down a little at today’s meeting but everyone chipped in to fill the roles and we were able to conduct a short business meeting.  You may recall a few weeks ago we had a lengthy business meeting were it was passed that the Chairman bring specific treats to the meetings.  Well, as the Chairman of the meeting today, I tried my best to have someone introduce a motion to impose a fine on the Chairman if the treats were not available, as they weren’t today.  But no one wanted to bite on the idea of another, possibly long discussion.  Oh well, a possible learning opportunity lost perhaps.

We started and ended the meeting on time and had 2 great presentations.  If you are interested in learning more about Toastmasters why not drop in for a visit and see what we are all about.  Who knows maybe the Chairman will have treats for us.

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. 

BOO!!

The overall theme of the meeting today was a little scary.  As you can imagine the theme was Halloween with all of the members present dressed up in their work clothes.  Nothing odd here but we did have one of our guests attend in costume.

We also had an uncommon word for the "word of the day".  The idea is that we try to incorporate this word into our presentations.  Well the word we tried to use was "minacious". Luckily we missed the opportunity to introduce ourselves and try to use this uncommon word.  But I can report we didn't have minacious Table Topics session.

Table Topics allows us to practise our impromptu speaking and the questions today kept to the theme of the meeting.  Three questions were asked of three members who had to put together a 2 minute response on the spot.  The questions were "What was your most memorable Halloween costume", "What safety measures will you be taking tonight to protect the children that come to your door", and "What is the funniest or most entertaining movie you have ever seen?"  If you were asked, how would you do?

We also had 2 excellent presentations and two great evaluations.  Marloes presented a vary interesting talk about ostimates and the support group that is present in the city.  Marloes shared her own experiences as a member of her family is an ostimate.  Richard presented two different stories that explain how the Hanging Hearts Lakes in Prince Albert National Park were named.  He left us wondering which one was fact and which one was legend.  I don't think we will ever know for sure.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe All Hallows' Eve.