Pathways Progression

  Most of our members currently have been involved with Pathways long enough to be familiar with the different levels that it offers.   I will attach and link the following explanation of the levels from another web page that I found, I think it offers a good overview. 

  As one progresses and gets to higher levels the the complexity and challenge in these projects will increase. As you approach levels 4 and 5 it will take longer to prepare and complete these projects. 

 Two things I would suggest as options regarding this:

1.  Look over your pathways through all the levels and familiarize your self with what is generally going to be required for the future projects and speeches you will be required to accomplish. I have found that many times without even realizing it,  you may already be doing things that you can apply to these projects!  There are many ways you can get credit even outside of the typical weekly toastmasters meeting. Talk with your VP of Education (ME) and lets see what we can work out! 

  When I was working on finishing up my DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster) award a few years ago I needed to do what is called an HPL (High Performance Leadership) project  For a long time I jokingly referred to this as High Pressure Leadership project. :)   As I was reviewing the requirements and looking to define what I was going to do I very quickly realized when I was functioning as an Area Director I had accomplished several HPL's and never received credit for it, because I did not plan and submit these as my project.  

2.  When you are reaching these higher levels, you will, as I mentioned in the beginning of this post notice it taking more time and being more complex to get these accomplished.  So this will limit your ability to fulfill speaking roles for example, because you are preparing for a longer speech and so forth. I would encourage you to consider starting an additional pathway even though you have not completed the current one.  You can begin it while working on the later projects of the current one.  This will give you options when you are scheduled to speak for example and you are not quite ready with your 21 minute keynote speech project,  you can do the 5 to 7 minute ice breaker from your second pathway.  I know for me and probably many of you this is counter intuitive. I like to finish what I start and in this case finish it before starting an additional path!  However,  I have three pathways going currently! I am working to wrap up two of them this year and I am also filling those gaps with the third one. 

   Remember Fellow Toastmasters:  "Friends don't let friends do non manual speeches."

  You deserve to get credit and recognition for the things you are doing!  As a reminder,  when you do this you accomplish your goals in your pathway and you contribute to the goals of your Club, Area, and District.  

  

https://karenstorey.com/PATHWAYS/03-LEVELS.htm

  

 

You make a difference!

  

As VP of Education it is one of my responsibilities to present an educational moment each week.  I have thus far tried to mix it up with different topics. From how to's on club roles, club goals in the Distinguished club Program,  Toastmasters History or  even how to be better conversationalists. The sources of my educational moments are many,  from the TM international website to google searches and even from real life.  In this position I have felt energized and have tried to motivate and inspire that same energy into the membership of our club.  I think for the most part that's been well received.    

   I read many things on toastmasters subjects to inform myself and to find Educational Moment ideas. A recent example, is an article and it  talked about how club officers can experience burnout. The article went on to talk about what is called  "brown out". To be honest this was a new term to me.  Brownout is a relative to burn out.  Brownout is a gradual loss of motivation, purpose or engagement with ones work.  It can be driven by many things: Doubts about the usefulness of your work.  Lack of  recognition for the contributions you make and the perceived lack of appreciation. 

 Dear Toastmasters I say this genuinely and from the bottom of my heart. Please know how much I appreciate everything you all do!  From the newest member to the most seasoned one. To the club officers volunteering their own time to lead our club and complete its tasks. To the member who shows up and does their meeting roles to the best of their ability.  The beauty of being in a club like this is teamwork and the camaraderie that comes with that. We are working towards a common goal.of becoming better speakers and leaders. Which translates in my mind to we are working on becoming better people.  I cherish that more than anything we do in toastmasters. This is a worthy endeavor!   Once again I say to all of you in Pioneer Toastmasters! Thank you for everything you do!  I look forward to the rest of our year! 

This educational Moment was inspired by this article: https://www.toastmasters.org/magazine/articles/how-to-beat-club-officer-burnout

100 Years of Toastmasters

  The year 2024 Marks the 100 year anniversary of Toastmasters.  I have been reading some of the great information about this history on Toastmasters International Webpage.  Much has changed in those years and yet much has remained from those original humble meetings. 

 The club remains today the core and center of all of the Toastmasters International organization. Ralph Smedley the founder of  Toastmasters wanted the club  be a community that was supportive as one progressed. 

  Much of the toastmasters experience looks very familiar today as it did one hundred years ago.  Here is an evaluation form from 1936. Look familiar?  What we know today as the evaluator was known as the critics. An overall meeting critic we now call general evaluator. There was prepared speakers and impromptu speaking now known as table topics. 

 We now know our education material as Pathways. In the beginning they did not have any materials as they did not create the first manual until 1942.  Prior to this, speeches would often be created based on the theme of the meeting.  We still assign a theme to our meetings here in Pioneer Toastmasters. 

 Smedley himself referred to the first speech members would give as "Ice Breakers" and was intended for members to introduce themselves to the club. 

  Much like people, clubs have different personalities. Some or more formal some are not. Some are   corporate clubs which meet during work hours of a business, others are community clubs. Some are even formed in prisons.  I have enjoyed the community and sense of camaraderie that Pioneer Toastmasters has and continues to offer.  In that same way there were even in the tough times of war,  clubs formed in prisoner of war camps during WW2 and Vietnam. 

  Many of us that were in TM at the time of the pandemic found ourselves in a  virtual environment having toastmasters meetings on the computer. That has, in a large way,  transformed toastmasters meetings to this day. Who would have never even been considered just a few years ago are reality today. Having international members attending via computer screens?  This would definitely would be an eye opener for those early members 100 years ago! 

  I have said for many years when asked what is my favorite thing about Toastmasters.  The diversity that it exposes me to.  Long time friends and fellow toastmasters members share a very differing view about many things. We come from very different backgrounds and faiths, We still can come together and work on becoming better speakers and leaders. Bottom line we work on becoming better people!  

 Pioneer toastmasters shares very much in this rich history of Toastmasters as the club was originally founded in1959.  Even as I advance in age and often joke how old I am getting that was before I was born. 

 With all of this history in mind and how far Toastmasters has come, the challenge as I see it is where do we go from here? What will the next one hundred years look like? Where will you go from here?  Let's move forward together. The future is now. 

   The source of inspiration for much of what I have written here is this article: https://www.toastmasters.org/magazine/magazine-issues/2024/oct/enduring-structure 

Speech Contest Season is upon us!

   Speech contest season is upon us in District 26. 

 There are three speech contests that you can participate in this year.  

• The Online speech contest which will end on the District Virtual Stage April 25th
• Humorous Speech Contest Ending on the District Stage on May 3rd
• International Speech contest ending at the World Championship of Public Speaking at the International Convention in August

  For the Online Contest Area level Contest is on November 9th 12:30 to 5:30 pm

  Not only is this a great opportunity for all of us to compete in Speech contests it is also a time to volunteer to help in the contest with roles like Toastmaster, Timer, Judges, vote counters and so forth. A lot of great opportunities to get credit in your pathways as well!   They will need help at all levels going forward, so don't miss out on a great experience in helping with these contests.   

  There are some requirements that have to be meet for the International Contest. We can talk further to those specifics individually.  

 I will include a link below to a very well put together webpage form District 26 the explains a lot about these opportunities and how they can fit into your pathways journey.   An example is here:

 The link for the webpage is here:   https://www.d26toastmasters.org/2024-2025-speech-contest-season/

 Please contemplate where you fit into these opportunities and I will see you at the contest!  

First Quarter Standings and other things

 

   We are already close to the end of the first quarter of the fiscal year.  I thought we could do a quick review of the DCP report.  As you see form the report we currently have one checkmark and that is in our Administrative requirements and it shows we did those tasks as required and achieved that goal! We also got our officers to training for the first period for the year.  

   If you look further at the report we have achieved Two level 1 Awards and one level 2 award. Great work and keep progressing in your path's and more will come. 

  Our membership numbers are holding steady at 17 and hopefully we will have all of our members renew this next few weeks.   We will be welcoming new members into our club here in the coming months! So tell your friends and invite them to our meetings! We have a lot to offer people in helping them become confident leaders and speakers. 

   I would ask,  please If you have not filled out the Member Interest Survey and returned it to me, please do so?  I would love to talk with you further about what you hope to achieve this year in Toastmasters!  

   I am continuing to schedule as I talked about previously four weeks out with assigned roles and 8 weeks (4 weeks beyond those first four weeks) or more out  of the meeting templates. So you can plan if you like to schedule when you wish to speak or do other roles in our meetings.  

  One thing I have loved seeing is teamwork in our club. When someone can't make a speaking or other role that we be prepared to step up and fill that role for each other. This will ensure we have meeting roles filled and keep us all progressing in becoming better speakers and leaders.  We are a team here and we all succeed when we work together.  I am proud to be on this team with you all. 

  

A Conversation Resume?

   My wife and I recently started doing something we typically have not done.  We decided to make it a conscious effort and not just one of happenstance.  When we attend church each week we make an effort to meet at least one new person or couple!   I know that may sound trivial, but it is a purposeful thing that we focus on doing. We introduce ourselves and make sure we listen when they tell us their names. I even, very shortly after we meet, write their names down and refer back to it to keep that in my memory.  When we go the next time to church we try to seek them out and say hello once again, remembering their names and so forth. What this has done is we now know many more people and recognize them when we see them. We are able to much more easily strike up conversations and get to know one another as we go along. I have little doubt these people will grow to be even better friends as our relationships grow. 

  You might be thinking Chris what does this have to do with public speaking or Toastmasters?  I believe communication is more than just making a speech. I read a recent article in the Toastmasters magazine entitled: "Create a Conversation Resume".  It is a reflection of areas of your life that are great for a conversation. It is an intentional preparation for you to have some ideas to bring up in a conversation. This resume is something you can review prior to going to social events and so forth so you are prepared to be a most excellent conversationalist. An intentional way to connect with people!  I think most of us , of course, want our speeches to connect with our audience, It is no different in a conversation. 

 This resume is something that you can put together and use as a reminder of some things about you that would be great when in engaging in conversation. To quote the article

"It should include talking points about your daily life, personal background, notable experiences, and current events. Remember to review this résumé before you head to social events, and you’ll be able to keep up with just about anyone."

The article, which I will link at the bottom of this post. walks you through things like : 

  Daily life. What did you do over the weekend?  

  Personal: What are your hobbies?

  Notable: What are you five most unique experiences?

  Staying Current: What are some funny personal situations from the last week? 

  For some of you conversation is easy. Some people struggle with conversation and having a "prepared spontaneity" for potential conversations is just what they need to engage with people.   

   Developing this part of your life in my opinion will cross into other areas as well. Can you imagine you would better at table topics if you had developed a conversation resume? How about your social life? What about in an interview? How about just expanding your sphere of influence?   

   If it does nothing else but help you to make more friends I think that is most certainly worthy of the effort. 

The link to the article is here:  

https://www.toastmasters.org/magazine/magazine-issues/2022/dec/conversation-resume 

Changes coming to the Pathways Education Program

  Many, if not all of you Toastmasters have received this email recently. While I have a built in resistence to change especially when it would seem that in that change we are sacrificing some things. However,  I will try to make this educational moment informational and also try to put a positive view on it . Here is contents of that letter: 

September 6, 2024 


Dear Toastmaster, 

We are excited to share that we are actively testing the new and improved Base Camp to ensure it’s ready to launch soon.  

To prepare for transitioning to the new system, there will be a Base Camp outage beginning on October 9, 2024, that is expected to last through October 25, 2024, while we conduct critical platform testing. If you’re working on a project you may want to reference in that time frame, we recommend you download the project PDF by using the Print My Project link on the Your Evaluation page of your project. Plan to download any needed materials or wrap up any loose ends before Base Camp is inaccessible. Remember, the following items will not transfer to the new system: 

• Feedback sent on Base Camp – If you have comments, constructive feedback, or encouragement you would like to reference later, take a screenshot or copy and paste the text of the feedback elsewhere. 
• Documents uploaded to My Documents – If you have previously uploaded files you would like to reference later or save in the new version of Base Camp, download them from your My Documents folder and save them to your device. When the new Base Camp is available, you'll be able to upload your files there. 
• Assess Your Skills – In the new version of Base Camp, projects will be redesigned, and the Assess Your Skills activity included in your projects will be replaced with a new type of before and after reflection. If you would like to reference any of your Assess Your Skills answers after the transition, be sure to record them now, either by taking a screenshot or recording them in another manner. 
• Understanding Your Leadership Style or Understanding Your Communication Style projects – The answers to the questionnaires in these projects will not transfer to the new system. If you would like to reference them later, go into the project, take a screenshot of your results, or record them in another manner.  
• Story Collection Tool in the Engaging Humor path – The information you recorded here will not be available in the new Base Camp. Please copy, paste, and store it elsewhere if you would like to access it later.  
• Meeting roles – If you would like a record of meeting roles you’ve logged on Base Camp, please save your record elsewhere.  
• Completion certificates – While progress and credit will be transferred to the new system, certificates will not. If you would like copies of certificates you have earned, download and save them. 

Additionally, to ensure your education progress is up-to-date and accurate when you log into the new system, ask your club officer to approve any pending Level completions and submit them on Club Central before October 9. 

A reminder message will be posted to the Toastmasters website in advance of the outage and we will send you more information during the outage period. We can’t wait for you to explore the new Base Camp experience! 


Sincerely, 

Education Team 
Toastmasters International 
toastmasters.org

This email has been sent to all members. 

  The link at the beginning of the letter (See Above) will take you to the Toastmasters International Webpage and to an Education Program "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQ) which also has a lot of good info.  I would encourage you all to read it.  

There are some improvements coming to include easier navigation of base camp, A mobile device application available in the future, The ability to share your accomplishments directly to social media and much more mentioned in the FAQ. 

 

  I would emphasize the dates that Pathways will be down and be prepared for speeches or projects you might be doing during that time.  Backup documents that will no longer be accessible and join me in trying to be patient and embracing change.