Always Live in the Moment, "Be present"!

   I have this guilty pleasure of watching the short videos on various social media platforms. Some call them Reels or "shorts" but they are just short videos about just about anything and they can be addicting.  I am posting the link to one on Instagram by a comedian by the name of Mike Goodwin. He is very funny. This is a short video of him sharing a story about a time when he was doing a comedy presentation and he was not "present" and how he later thought about this and he was not as good as he could have been. I suppose there are many things that could be thought about from these very brief words here.  I would like for you to look at what he is presenting  through the toastmaster lens so to speak. What can we apply to our own public peeking opportunities? 

A few things I thought about are:

 Being present for your audience!  Don't be afraid to address things that are happening in the room. you are not here to recite words you are here to present a speech. This adds another level to your speaking. 

   When you are giving a speech it is not only about you. It's about your audience, What do you want them to get from your speech?  

 Give your best effort every time you present your speech. Give an "A" effort every time.  

I know there is much more that could be gleaned from his short video here.  Please,  Put your thoughts in a comment below this post? I would love to read them! 

Link to video:

Mike Goodwin

Story Collection Tool

  When you log into Toastmasters International Page and you go to  Base Camp and then to Paths and learning, you should see an icon called "Story Collection".  

  This is a tool you can use to document stories from your life to use later in speeches or presentations. It is a fairly simple tool. Here it shows a Story Collection Menu that you can set up for easy reference and retrieval of your stories. 

 When you got to the actual "Story Collection Pages" you use two basic fields to document your stories. The Topic and synopsis field. Which just like it sounds allows you to enter a synopsis of what the story is about . and the field below it that allows you to record the actual story. 

 This is a fairly simple tool and obviously this will store what you write here on the International Webpage for easy access whenever you need it. 

The Four Pillars of Membership Retention and Growth

  In my time in toastmasters I have seen many members come and go. There has been a core of us in Pioneer Toastmasters who have remained and I have grown love these people very much. I have enjoyed many years of friendly participation in Toastmasters and I feel a kinship with them. They are my friends. 

 Why do people not stay in toastmasters?  Well there are many reasons, "I am too busy with my family or career". Who am I to say that is not true?  I am sure it is!   Many years ago I actually joined a different Toastmasters club and when I was deployed with my military unit I fell off the membership and it was ten years before I came back.   Since that time I have been enjoying Toastmasters for some 13 strait years.  Why? Mostly my answer is it is funs and I enjoy it! i enjoy the community in my club and district. 

 An article in this months Leader letter talks to this subject very well. I will summarize my thoughts.  

They give four key influencers for people to stay in toastmasters. 

Education:  This come in large part in our pathways program. After you have been progressing in your speeches it may sometimes seem like this is not making much difference. I would propose that it is. Sometimes the actions in toastmasters are subtle but the results are significant. 

Education also comes from doing the different roles in the meetings and attending Toastmasters Leadership Institute's.  

Environment:

 A friendly welcoming environment has never been a problem as far as I can recall in Pioneer Toastmasters. We are a very welcoming and friendly group! We have been blessed with our stable meeting location for many years now. 

Enrichment:

 I have been asked why I like the most about toastmasters in the past. My answer remains the same in one word: Diversity.  We have people from all different faiths, political leanings, experiences, ages, races and the list goes on and on. We can come together for a common goal, to become better speakers and leaders, ultimately better people with each others help.  I enjoy being sociable with different people and I trust they enjoy my company too.   We also have opportunities within the District to meet even more awesome people through its events.  This to me has enriched my life! Other ways Toastmasters enriches us could be special events, celebrations,  Mentorship etc

Empowerment:

 Watching someone who is literally almost paralyzed with fear while attempting to speak in front of an audience, and then improve and grow in confidence is very enjoyable and rewarding. To see them grow in confidence and ability is very fulfilling. There are also opportunities for our members to do things outside of our club. As you grow in the club you get "comfortable"and speaking in front of another audience can be just the ticket to inject excitement and energy into ones presentation skills.  I still remember with fondness my experience with that as I was the speaker for an area evaluation contest!   It was great, I actually felt some of those nerves and excitement that I had left behind speaking in my home club.    There are many opportunities with other clubs and in our district to challenge yourself and grow your abilities.   

 These "four pillars" are worthy of evaluation in our own experiences in Pioneer Toastmasters and beyond! What do you think you might like to try next?  How about competing in speech contest? maybe being a guest speaker at another club to help them grow?   I think these four areas are worthy of some evaluation and perhaps some ideas for each of us how we could do better or maybe do something new in these areas. 

References:  https://toastmasters.org/magazine/magazine-issues/2025/march/4-influencers-of-membership-retention

Put off Procrastinating.

This week I prepared and gave a speech about procrastination. I had already written the speech and hade begun preparing to deliver it,  when I got this months email about the Toastmasters Magazine being available. I visited the website and started looking it over and I found an article entitled "Put off Procrastinating" by Caren S Neile PHD

It is a very good article and has some great thoughts about why we procrastinate and how it is tied to our emotional life.  To quote the author: " ...avoiding whatever it is that causes us short-term displeasure in favor of long-term guilt." 

 It goes on to delve further into this aspect of the psychology of procrastination and is very interesting. 

There is an entire section of the article that talks about how to deal with procrastination. Three of those ideas are : 

• Make the task as pleasant as possible. Do you prefer working in your pajamas? Would music help, or even something as simple as chewing gum or drinking a cup of coffee? Can you talk to a friend on speaker phone while you’re cleaning out the shed?
• Plan your reward. Sometimes, that slice of pizza waiting for you in the fridge can do the trick. Personally, I bring the chocolate right to my desk, so I can enjoy my reward in advance while I’m doing the unwanted task.
• Indulge in pride. Someone is counting on you to do a good job. By taking pride in yourself and in your work, you might find that extra motivation to get it done"

Part of the article talks about "Practicing not procrastinating" in Toastmasters:

"Practice in Toastmasters 

Toastmasters is a great place for you to practice not procrastinating. Here are a few strategies to try. 

1. Work through your speech ideas with a mentor or other club member. If you and that person get along well, the task can become automatically more pleasurable.
2. Reexamine your speech topic. If you’re feeling stuck and avoiding working on your speech, try tackling your chosen topic in a different way, using other examples or stories, or a completely new approach. 
3. Maybe it’s the targeted skill itself, such as storytelling or body language, that is causing you to procrastinate. Consider moving on to a different skill and circling back at a later time."

The article is very good and I would encourage you all to readout in it's entirety. The link to that article is here:https://www.toastmasters.org/magazine/magazine-issues/2025/march/put-off-procrastinating

Friendly Reminders and A couple websites I found.

  Fellow Pioneer Toastmasters:

 Just a friendly reminder to be forward thinking and look out a few meetings on the schedule and plan what you would like to do.  The club depends on us,  the members,  to fill the roles each week. I try to schedule 4 weeks out as best I can.  I also have the meeting templates out usually at least eight weeks. 

Several things you can do to help the club. 

Mark your attendance.  If you know you won't be at a certain meeting in the future go into the schedule and mark yourself as not attending. That way you will not be scheduled. 

Next is if you have a desire to speak or serve in a specific role in the coming weeks you can feel free to schedule your self as you wish. 

 I came upon a couple websites that I found to be wonderful. 

The first one is SOBRIEF:   https://sobrief.com/

 This website is a website that summarizes books. The Banner when you first go to the site says : Read any book in ten minutes." This to me would appear to be very useful for many things. I would say that reading a book is best but reading its summation and key points is better than not reading at all.  Also is a great tool for review of ken points in a  book.  This site could also be a great resource for speech ideas and so forth. 

The website is Z-library and is a free ebook site. https://www.zlibrary.cc/

  While I fully am continually impressed with our city libraries and the online accessibility to things I would add this website to your favorites and when you are looking for a book check this out. Ebooks you can download.  All free. 

 

NegativeTopics in Toastmasters Speeches?

  Depending on the toastmasters club many clubs make an emphasis to stay away from social issue topics or political topic  speeches.  I think we all know at least in a general sense why that is. We al probably have some of that in our family dynamics, for example at Thanksgiving gatherings. We get together with people from our families that perhaps we don’t any other time of the year. It may turn to political discussions and arguing ensues.  Feelings get hurt and it turns into a not so thankful gathering. 

  I believe with mature and reasonable attitudes almost any topic is allowed in a speech and in toastmasters.  

 Two points I would offer for your  consideration:

1. Avoid Negative topics.   

  Some of you are thinking Chris you just said that most any topic is allowed!   Indeed I did , but what I am talking about here is if your speech is going to leave your audience worse off than before you presented it.  Perhaps you should consider not presenting it at all!   No one wants to hear a speech that leave them with a feeling of despair or depression!   When presenting a topic that is negative  I would highly encourage you to present solutions to the problem at hand. Make the solutions as practical as possible so if people are compelled by the information you shared they can take some kind of action.  Include a positive attitude of solutions and not just doom and gloom. 

2.   Be hard on the topic and not on each other! 

   Years ago for a college class I was taking one of the assigned readings was a book called “Getting to Yes Negotiating agreement without giving in”  by Roger Fisher and William Ury.

 In that book this concept it talked about and they use an illustration of putting the issue or topic on a table and both sides take time to either beat up on it or affirm it. Not taking shots at each other!   Beat up on the issue not each other!   I believe social media has created a mass of people that are doing the exact opposite of this principle. They are going strait to beating up on each other and it is absolutely not productive and destructive to our society as a whole. It is definitely divisive!    In speeches this can be challenging sometimes to distinguish to an audience. Statements like  "I respectfully disagree with "xyz" position and here is why." will got  long way in neutralizing peoples emotions.  The antithesis to that is saying something like "This  position is idiotic and here is why."

 Remember like it or not we are all in this thing we call life together at one level or another!

  In conclusion I would bring up a quote that I find so very true and I can think of examples of how it has been proven to be true in my own life. 

"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”   Maya Angelou

 I submit to you fellow toastmasters this is very true in speeches as well. How do you want your audience to feel when hearing your speech?  That is what they will remember most.  

Some friendly Reminders For Pioneer Toastmasters

   Pioneer Toastmasters:

  It is my privilege to be in this club and associated with such great folks as you!   I was asked to do an educational Moment on some things we have sometimes been forgetting to do. It is easy as our lives get busy and full. 

  One of these things is for the Toastmaster of the week. When you are toastmaster for a given week you are in charge of that meeting.  Sometime before that weeks meeting,  Sunday or Monday,  go in and  review what we have on the agenda.  Review what roles are filled and which one perhaps are in need of someone to fill it.   Ideally if you know of someone without a role perhaps message them and ask if they can fill in on vacant roles.   After doing your best to ensure a full agenda, send out the agenda to all members with a note saying something along the lines of:  you are looking forward to this weeks meeting. Highlight what roles still need to be filled and encourage members to go in and sign up. It is also a good time to remind the speakers for  the week to fill in their speech information. 

 The toastmaster is responsible to ensure the meeting is staying on time. This typically has not been an issue in our club lately. However there have been times when we had three speakers and time was shorter for table topics as an example. Be aware of these situations and maybe clue the table topics master with a  reminder "we need to finish by 8pm" on table topics.   Don't forget to fill out your agenda form and after the meeting is adjourned sign it and turn it into the secretary. 

   Remember being the Toastmaster is your opportunity to lead.  You can be creative with this as well. We typically don't see this but the sky is the limit!  Maybe dress according to this weeks theme?   Sounds like fun to me!