Advancement

We haven't talked much on this blog about what's involved in being a Toastmaster, but last night's meeting gives us a chance to explain a little bit about how a new member gets recognized and honored for their growth and their achievement.

Two of our long-time members, Sheetal and Don, completed their Competent Communicator program last night, and were awarded certificates for their achievement.  In a little while, they'll be registered with Toastmasters International as Competent Communicators, and if they want a letter will go out from world headquarters to their employer and to local media outlets.

With them in this photograph are Phil our club president, Bill our vice-president of education (VPE), and Crystal our immediate past president (IPP).  Sheetal herself is one of our former vice-presidents of membership; Don is our current Sargent-at-Arms and nominee for vice-president of membership.  

Titles, awards, letters to your boss! So confusing!! What does all of this mean?

Well, when you join a Toastmasters club, you can request a mentor.  A mentor's job is to guide you through the first few speeches you give — because at its start, Toastmasters was an organization that taught public speaking skills.  Your first few speeches are about training you to talk about yourself, and learning to talk from an outline, and then learning how to walk away from your notes.  At the end of ten speeches, you'll have started to use greater vocal variety, to project confidence, to let your body language communicate with your audience as much as your words, and to persuade your hearers that you know what you're talking about.

When you've done those things, your fellow club members will recognize you by calling you a Competent Communicator.  It's the first award in the Toastmasters program, and it's the start of a beautiful training program that you can take at your own pace.  All you have to do is give ten speeches, and get feedback from your fellow members, and then your fellow Toastmasters, as well as the international organization to which you belong, will recognize your achievement.

But you may have realized that titles like Sargent-at-Arms and Immediate Past President speak to another kind of role that you're going to hold in Toastmasters.  That's the role of the officer or official in our club, and in the larger organization.  

A club doesn't exist without a team of dedicated people helping to make it happen week after week, and month after month.  An executive committee of seven members helps run every club in the country, and the world.  After you've been a member for several months, chances are pretty good that your club will begin looking at you and assessing your leadership potential.  They'll want to promote you to a leadership position pretty soon after you join and show your interest.

Because Toastmasters is a school for leadership training, in addition to being a place to learn to be a good public speaker.  As Sargent-at-Arms, you'll learn how to establish the right conditions for a meeting to be successful, week after week; as Toastmaster, you'll practice how to lead the meeting — and how to thank the team that made your meeting possible.  As Vice-President of Public Relations, you'll learn how to help your club publicize itself — and you'll find the team of club members who know how to make that happen and can advise you on reaching potential new members. You'll learn to navigate social media, and how to measure whether you're successful or not.

Ultimately, you're joining Toastmasters to advance in your regular life, though.  It's telling that Sheetal is a powerful leader in her own corporation, and recently came into her own as a much-sought-after master of ceremonies at family weddings in India.  Don joined Toastmasters to help his daughter; but now he's growing into leadership roles in other organizations, like the U.S. Marine Corps League. 

So come to Toastmasters to learn how to speak — and stay, to learn how to lead.

Two CCs in one night!

Phil Mason, Sheetal Patel, Bill Sullivan, Donald Ostertag, Crystal Storo
5-19-2015

Two of our longtime members earned their CCs in on night last night!

Congratulations to Donald Ostertag and Sheetal Patel.

We had a great meeting last night, filled with a great creative thinking session led by our member (and Area Governor) Crystal Storo, Two (count 'em two!) 10th speeches that were educational and inspiring, and an seminar type speech with some power packed ideas for Toastmaster Clubs everywhere. If you ever get a chance to attend a workshop or session with Heather Turner - don't miss it!

All in all a great meeting.

Next month - elections and even warmer weather!

Hope you'll come visit as we enjoy warm air and open windows - come see us and see your own potential.

I had to share this face of pure delight on Don as he got ahold of that CC....

2015 Spring Contest.

Every year Toastmasters Clubs around the world hold a Spring Contest.

This year's categories are the Evaluation Contest and the International Speech Contest.

Cromwell Community Toastmasters held our Club Contest on March 17th, 2015.

We had a great turnout of members and a whole roomful of guests!

We hope everyone had a great time and we welcome our visitors to come visit again and experience a more usual meeting. We are always this friendly!

Contest Master Crystal Storo with Evaluation Contestants Andrew Watt, Jennifer Bourne, Miroslav Grajewski, Sheetal Patel

Contest Master Crystal Storo with Jennifer Bourne, Phil Mason, Hollie Rose

Congratulations to our club members who finished in first place at the club level.
In the Evaluation Contest - Andrew Watt.
In the International Speech Contest - Hollie Rose.

We hope lots of club members will come support our winners as they compete at the Area level on Thursday April 2, 2015 from 7-9 pm, to be held at Middlesex Community College.

Make plans now to join us and cheer on Andrew and Hollie.

Humorous Speech Contestant #5 - William Sullivan

Bill Sullivan presents his humorous speech in the contest for our District.

The 2014 Fall Contest winner for District 53.

 

International President of Toastmasters, 

Mohammed Murad with Bill Sullivan 
at the District 53 Conference

Cromwell Community Toastmasters is proud to have a District Speech Contest winner in our midst.

Longtime Toastmaster Bill Sullivan recently competed in Toastmaster’s annual Fall contest and took his humorous speech about corporate productivity processes and laundry all the way for the win! Myself a member of Cromwell Community Toastmasters, I took the opportunity to interview Mr. Sullivan about his experiences.

Bill Sullivan, Thanks for taking the time to chat with me about your recent achievements and your Toastmaster journey. How long have you been a Toastmaster? 

I have been a Toastmaster for 6 years. I joined in January 2008.

And what originally drew you to the group? 

I have worked for the same company for 23 years. I love my job and the people I work with. As I was increasingly being asked to speak in front of different groups, I knew that I needed to gain better experience in public speaking if I was to feel comfortable in front of a larger audience. I had heard about Toastmasters while listening to a business book on tape by Jack Walsh, CEO of GE. I researched online, off and on, for a long time and finally made it a New Year’s Resolution to join.

That leads me to ask; Has Toastmasters helped you in your professional life?

Greatly. I use Toastmasters every day at work. Whether it's speaking in front of a group, presenting to customers, running meetings, inspiring employees or providing feedback, I am always referencing my experience in Toastmasters to help me communicate my message. I have found that Toastmasters is the only organization that provides members with the day to day knowledge of management and communication skills that is directly connected to being successful. 

It makes perfect sense that Toastmasters is effective in contributing to career success, but has Toastmasters helped you in your personal life?

Very much so. I have found that I am more willing to volunteer when asked because of my Toastmasters skills and the confidence I have gained through Toastmasters helps me know that I can bring valuable experience to any project. It has also helped me to recognize those moments when it is necessary to reach out to someone at a meeting or social gather who may just need a little nudge to be included in the conversation. This effort has allowed me to befriend individuals with whom I may not have had the opportunity before. Many of these relationships I still have today.

What officer positions have you held in the club?

My first officer position was Secretary of the club. When I joined the club had no Secretary so I decided to jump in with both feet. I was the club’s President in 2009 and the VP of Membership in 2010. This year I am Vice President of Education.

[VPE (Vice President of Education) is a very important officer position. Toastmasters has two education tracks. One is the Competent Communicator track, the CC.  It consists of ten speech projects designed to teach different aspects of public speaking such as, organizing your thoughts, using body language and using your voice effectively to communicate your message. When completed the member is said to have earned their Toastmasters CC. The second track is Leadership with a series of projects in the Competent Leader manual. When complete, the member has earned their CL. The VPE helps members track their progress in all education manuals.]

Along with the comprehensive public speaking and communication track, Toastmasters has an excellent leadership track that teaches you the basics of being a leader; from how to listen, to how to run a successful meeting. As VPE I continually remind members that it's easy and fun to start working on their CL as soon as possible. Once you have started the leadership track volunteering to help the club becomes much easier. Every time a member signs up for a role as Grammarian, as Timer, as Evaluator, our whole club reminds them to take credit for the roles in the CL as well as to sign up for specific positions that help fulfill the projects in the CL.

What Toastmaster awards have you achieved and what are you currently working towards?

After a member earns their CC we can begin work towards advanced certifications. First to follow the CC is an ACB – Advanced Communicator Bronze, then ACS – Advanced Communicator Silver, then ACG – Advanced Communicator Gold. Ten additional Speech Projects from a variety of possible manuals must be completed for each advanced certification. I had great fun working from the “Humorously Speaking” and the “Entertaining Speaker” manuals to get my ACB. For my ACS I completed the “Storytelling” and “Persuasive Speaking” manuals. I am working towards my ACG certificate currently with the "The Professional Speaker" manual and "Speeches by Management" manual. I have also been awarded the Advanced Leadership Bronze award.

Have you competed in contests before?

District 53 Governor, Bette McIntyre with
Bill Sullivan at the District 53 Conference 

I try to encourage participation in the club and I enter each contest every year, or if needed, I volunteer to help run the contest. So you might imagine I compete in these realms a lot. I've had some memorable experiences with contests. Twice I went as far as the District level contests. The first time, in November 2012, I went all the way to the District 53 finals in the evaluation category. I was fortunate to place first in the Evaluation Contest that year. This year I placed first in the 2014 District 53 Humorous Speech Contest. It was the second time that I had entered the Humorous Contest. The first time I made it as far as the Division level, but I learned that to win you really need to be confident in your speaking ability and really connect with the audience. It gave me great insight into how well prepared the other Toastmasters were. I took what I learned at that contest and applied it this year. Winning Toastmaster contests is a big achievement but I truly feel that the experience gained participating in these events and the support shared amongst the folks attending and competing is the greatest reward.

If you had advice to give to the larger world – both toastmasters and non-toastmasters alike – what would it be?

We are often told that if we set our mind to something we can achieve almost anything. But this thought process needs to be accompanied by a plan of action. Generally a good plan of action includes many, many small steps. Toastmasters has a proven step by step process that takes you from small opportunities to speak, to the ability to deliver expansive presentations, while making you feel comfortable every step of the way. If you asked me when I first joined Toastmasters if I ever would compete in a speech contest the answer came easy to me "NO." But today I’m a different person. I am more confident in my speaking ability and I believe I owe that to Cromwell Community Toastmasters and the Toastmasters education program.

Thank you Bill for taking the time to share with us.

Toastmasters International is an international organization that teaches Public Speaking and Leadership skills. TMI thrives in 126 countries with over 14,000 clubs. Cromwell Community Toastmasters is proud to be a part of this 90 year old organization. We meet twice a month at the Cromwell Town Hall, on the first and third Tuesday of every month from 5:30pm to 7:30 pm. Upcoming meetings include January 20^th, February 2^nd, and February 16^th.

Any last words Bill?

I encourage anyone who is looking to grow and learn, to come visit one of our meetings. Come see what Toastmasters is all about. Visiting is free and guests are always welcome.

See you at the next meeting!

Liberation from One Right Way

You might think that a person comes to Toastmasters meeting to learn “the right way” to present oneself in public speaking.    Even though TM meetings follow a formal structure, my growth path with Cromwell Community Toastmasters has been an exercise in thinking outside the box.
The Toastmasters experience has liberated me from thinking that I have to respond to a question or a structure in a certain way.   It has helped me to be more flexible in problem solving and solutions creation at work.   I have learned to see meetings as opportunity for collaborative interaction – even when there’s a deadline driven agenda and a firm need to demonstrate progress.   This perspective is far more empowering than viewing a high-pressure meeting as an “audit”.  Such a meeting becomes an experience where you answer the questions exactly as asked and the value of your perspective is lost to the team because you allow the conversation to be driven entirely from another person’s point of view.

Perhaps the most obvious place that the Toastmasters meetings support individuality and freedom of expression is in the Table Topics portion of the agenda.   In our club, the room is given a topic and a person is offered an opportunity to speak extemporaneously on that topic – or on anything else they want to share instead.    The result when a person exercises that option the room comes alive in a special way.  Regardless of what they choose to say there’s something infinitely more interesting about hearing what a person brings of their own accord rather than the well-trodden call-and-response of question-and-answer.

I am convinced that this is a vital key to making the jump in your career from high-performing contributor to leader; the jump from following operations procedure to full participation in strategy.   Would I eventually have come to this realization on my own?  That’s likely.   Would I have been able to apply it immediately after understanding it without the Toastmasters model?  Not as likely.   And that’s where I find the value of that balance between structure and freedom that is a Toastmasters meeting.

— respectfully submitted by Jennifer Bourne
2014-15 Secretary, Cromwell Community Toastmasters, #5908

JOIN US NEXT TUESDAY, December 5, 2014

5:30 to 7:30 pm 

And every first and third Tuesday of the Month

CROMWELL COMMUNITY TOASTMASTERS

Cromwell Town Hall,

 41 West Street, 

Cromwell, CT 06416 (2nd floor,  follow the signs)

What I get from Toastmasters

by Heather Turner, club member and former VP of Public Relations

In the beginning…..

I attended my first Toastmasters meeting when I was 18, on the suggestion of my boss, as I was extremely shy and the description wallflower would have definitely applied to me. I believe I attended a grand total of 3 meetings. I never did give a speech (that I recall) and decided at the time it was not for me.  In hindsight I wished I had stuck with it, but realistically at that age you don’t know what you want or where you want to go in life.

A bit more than a decade ago I ventured forth once again to try Toastmasters. I found a club locally to me (at the time) in New London, NH. I attended one meeting and was somewhat interested, but I didn't think it was necessarily the place for me, for while everyone was very friendly, I was by the far the youngest person at the meeting (by about 40 years) and it struck me as being quite formal at the time. Everyone clapping, shaking hands and “Thank you Mr. Toastmaster!”

There was one woman there who was starting a third? fourth? career as a personal chef (not culinary trained just someone who liked to cook) and she gave her speech about making a dish, along with props of a whisk and a large bowl. For some reason that totally put me off — my former life as a professional chef rearing its ugly and egotistical head, or perhaps because her talk was making me cringe internally. It was a very good speech and well-presented; but in the same lines of how I thought the book and movie “Julie and Julia” went, when someone talks about cutting corners and having bad sanitation skills in the kitchen, it makes my hackles go up. Once a Chef always a Chef, as my husband likes to pick on me about.

Signing Up

About 4 years ago (August of 2010) my family had just moved back to Connecticut. I didn’t know a soul and I wanted to get out beyond my comfort zone. For the past few years prior I had been giving seminars to teach social media to groups. Talking to groups of 10 to 15 people didn't faze me, but I was being asked to go to conferences and speak in front of hundreds. The tipping point came for me when I went to a conference, and was asked to fill in for a keynote speaker who couldn't make it due to the weather.  People told me afterwards that everything went very well... but standing up there in front of almost five hundred people and drawing a complete blank on what I was going to talk about, for what was probably only a couple of minutes but seemed to me like an eternity, is something I remember well. I think if I was in a Toastmasters club at the time who fined members a penny for ums and ahs, the jar would have been overflowing as well.

What have I gotten out of Toastmasters? Confidence! I can now speak in front of hundreds of people and feel comfortable doing so. What else? The knowledge that I have become a better speaker and I can benchmark that through conference reviews that I have gotten back over the years. The best thing I have gotten from Toastmasters though by far is good friends. Since we have moved back here, my circle of people that I hang out with the most are other Toastmasters, some from the clubs I belong to, some from clubs all over the country that I have met over the last few years.  People join Toastmasters for all kinds of reasons, not just to gain more confidence or to become a better speaker, sometimes their bosses encourage them to come, sometimes because they have gotten a promotion and now need to give presentations to staff.

How to find a club to join?

Toastmasters is in itself a great organization in that everyone works at their own pace. There is no pressure to “do”.  People not familiar with Toastmasters just think it’s about public speaking, but don’t know about the leadership aspect. They don’t know that speeches are evaluated and your fellow club members will give you suggestions for improvement. 

I would suggest if someone is considering joining Toastmasters (and Toastmasters come from every walk of life and every profession under the Sun), visit a few clubs before joining. Every club has its own dynamics and its own strengths and challenges. If a club doesn't click for you, try a different one: each is unique.