Happenings in the world of City Speech Toastmasters Volume 3, Number 2 — February 2021 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meetings: Tuesdays @ 7:00pm. Virtual, Fremont Contact: info@CitySpeechToastmasters.org — 510-270-5517
2020 CLUB OFFICERS President Luz Flores, PM3 VP Education Tony Zhang, DL1 VP Membership Shue Xiong, PM1 VP Public Relations Abhishek Chaturvedi, CC, CL, PM4 Secretary Michael Gwinner, PI4 Treasurer: Venkat Raman, DTM Sergeant at Arms Praveena Raman, EC3
APPOINTED CLUB OFFICERS VP Pathways Praveena Raman, EC3 Mentorship Chair Michael Gwinner, PI4 Newsletter Editor Praveena Raman, EC3
EDITOR'S NOTE
Dear Toastmasters, We are now in the middle of contest, dues and succession planning season. With these in mind I encourage you to attend the contests as they provide immeasurable education and experience, make sure your dues are paid so that you can continue on this Toastmaster journey without interruption and also think about the leadership positions that you might enjoy getting involved with.
Speaking of leadership, I am thrilled to announce that Amit Kamble has volunteered to help with two important columns. Read this issue and find out which ones.
Also make sure you read the District 57 News and the Toastmaster magazine that arrive in your mailbox. They support your education with vauable articles and tips.
Please do think about how you can contribute to the newsletter. Please keep in mind that we learn from each other.
I also have a Special Valentine for you, my readers.
I am very happy that I have found a new Toastmasters Club, City Speech TM, in my new hometown, Fremont. You are very welcoming, hardworking, and have great energy. I was previously a member of Word Warriors, a Toastmasters club in Mexico, before we moved to the US. My husband was also a Toastmaster and even my son has visited area and district contests when his dad competed.
I am very excited in having the opportunity to be the President of City Speech. I want to support all of you in achieving your individual Toastmasters goals. Our Club has a great group of officers and members and we can achieve a lot if we all do our part. By doing this we can help our club become President's Distinguished every year.
Personally, I need to finish my Presentation Mastery path (I am currently at level 4). I encourage everyone to keep up the progress on each of the paths that you have selected. I would like to remind everyone who has renewed their membership by December 2020, that you have a free path to select by March 31, 2021.
I would also like to ask all the new members to break the ice and present the first project on their path. Taking on different roles in meetings is the way to grow as a speaker and as a leader.
I look forward to closing this Toastmasters year with you for another successful finish. I want to thank you all for your support; without you, this would not be possible.
Luz Flores, PM3 President
A great speech seduces audience members, engages them and then wins their hearts. - Jack Vincent, ACS, ALS In words you have a weapon More mighty than a gun; You can sway the multitude Or stir the heart of one. -Elizabeth Scott Stam
A Special Valentine
With the celebration of St. Valentine's Day, the month of February has been associated with love and relationships. In her article Woo your Audience and Build Relationships, Praveena Raman mentions that In our journey as a Toastmaster we continually strive to build relationships from the very first ice breaker to the professional speeches. She refers to the article, A Speech is a Love Affair (Toastmaster. February 2015; p14) by Toastmaster Jack Vincent where he mentions that a great speech is like a love affair as we seduce our audience and win their hearts. Praveena recommends we have a number of love affairs this year. To help us in wooing our audience properly. she gives us a Jingle, "Words we Love" written in 1930s by Elizabeth Scott Stam (The Toastmaster, June 1938;V4(n2):p22) where we can find the proper words to convey our love and passion in our speeches. What about relationships? Read more.....
CLUB NEWS
Contest Abhishek Wins Area Contest and Advances to Division Level. By Venkat Raman, DTM Treasurer, City Speech TM
Abhishek Chaturvedi, representing City Speech at the Area I-33 Evaluation contest on February 13, prevailed over two worthy opponents, Ivy Shen of Digitalkers and John Fernandez of CBC Toastmasters to claim the first place. He will now represent our Area in the upcoming Division Contest (March 12, 6-9pm).
Abhishek is a long time member of City Speech, joining the club in August 2015. He has a long track record of participating in the speech and evaluation contests. His particular affinity is for evaluations of speeches by fellow Toastmasters, although he is also an avid speaker. Abhishek has appeared on Toastmaster Time TV where he presented his speech titled "Fight or Flight".
Abhishek is currently pursuing the Presentation Mastery track in Pathways and working on his Level 5 projects that will help him complete it. His next path: Engaging Humor.
Well Done, Abhishek! Congratulations!!
All City Speech members are encouraged to attend the Division I contest on March 12 and support Abhishek in his quest to advance to the final tier, the District Contest on April.16. Mark your calendars now. Joining instructions will be forthcoming soon. .
Member Spotlight A huge shoutout to Amit Kamble and Jeff Cheang (both joined recently) for volunteering as SAA and Timer at the Area I-33 International Speech and Evaluation contest. They executed their roles with perfection. Impressed with Amit Kamble as a first time Toastmaster for his quote, No one is perfect - that's why pencils have erasers, as he transferred the gavel to the General Evaluator. Kudos to Darshana Suresh for having completed the first level of the Leadership Development Path. Praise to Srinivas Koneru for staying on after the club meeting formally ended and sharing with other members how he prepared for his first time as a Toastmaster using the resource from Toastmasters International. A valuable tip for every one.
TIP: If you would like to spotlight any new or veteran City Speech TM member, please send a few lines to a short paragraph containing the member's name and what they are commended for to City Speech News Editor at news@cityspeechtoastmasters.orgby March 15, 2021.
Welcome to City Speech TM Family By Amit Kamble
Recently all City Speech TM members were sent a link to a form with the following 4 questions to enable us to get to know our family members better: What's your favorite cuisine and a restaurant you want to recommend? What is your favorite pastime during stay-at-home situation? What was your favorite pastime before pandemic started? What holiday destination you want to visit when travel restrictions will be removed?
Please find below the answers that our recent family members provided. Thank you for for sharing your interests with us.
Srinivas Koneru: I love Indo Chinese food and would recommend Inchin's Bamboo Garden in Fremont. My favorite pastime during the pandemic has been watching Netflix and playing board games. Before the pandemic, I enjoyed Hanging out with friends. Once the travel restrictions are lifted, I would like to visit Las Vegas; missed playing blackjack for very long.
Wendi Higuchi: I do like a variety of cuisines including Japanese, Chinese, Italian and I would recommend A Slice of New York Pizza. During the pandemic my favorite pastime has been baking . Before the pandemic I used to spend a lot of time in running . Once the travel restrictions are lifted I would like to visit Japan.
TIP:All membersshould have received a link to this form by email (Please check your spam folders). Please fill in the information as we can then showcase members during their birth month, have some fun and strengthen our relationship.
Division I News
Divison I International Speech and Speech Evaluation Contest
The Divison I International Speech and Speech Evaluation Contest will be held on Friday March 12 from 6:00 - 9:00 pm (PST). Please mark your calendars and plan to attend and support Abhishek Chaturvedi, as he competes in the Speech Evaluation contest. Please visit the District 57 website to register for the event.
District News
Did you read your D57 Newsletter that was delivered to your mailbox on Monday February 22, 2021, with the subject line Struck by Lightning...Twice! (And enthused about it). A highlight is the podcast series by Steve Taddei that is written up in the Newsletter with links to the Podcast. The latest is a 6 episode series on Leadership. This podcast series of 17 episodes started off as a Level 4 path project.
D57 Contest Schedule: International Speech and Evaluation Contests Area Contests – held in February, 2021 Division Contests – held in March, 2021 District Contests: Evaluation Contest on April 16, International Speech Contest on April 23
Toastmasters International News
City Speech Members who have renewed their membership by Dec 2020 - Sign up for your free path by March 31, 2021.
Confidence is unique because it cannot be taught but is gained in every path.
---Nick Jack Pappas
"Learn to laugh at yourself and the audience will laugh along with you." ----Laura Mishkind
Pathways Training and Path Spotlight. By Praveena Raman, VP Pathways
Training: In the 2020-2021 Toastmasters year the following three presentations were presented at our club. All these presentations (video and slides) can be accessed on City Speech TM website under Member Resources (log in required).
Pathways to your Goal: an introduction to the Pathways program (article). Presented on October 27, 2020.
Pathways: Ready! Set! Go! (Pathways Lightning Talk series): builds on the introduction and covered logging into Base Camp and selecting a path
Pathways: Beginning the Climb! (Pathways Lightning Talk series): covered the levels of a path, the projects from start to finish and tips for the climb towards your goal.
I would like to invite you to participate in the Pathways Lightning Talk series and share your experience with projects on your path (at any level), which projects were attractive to you, did you tie your projects with your path, and lessons learned.
Michael Gwinner has shared with us a graph (current as of February 16, 2021) showing the number of members that have either started or planning to start on a given path. Read On
Path Spotlight: Engaging Humor Toastmasters International has highlighted the new Engaging Humor path this month. The project Know your sense of humor is required on this path but is an elective on all the other paths. So everyone can benefit from the spotlight below.
Using humor (at the appropriate time) in our communication and engaging audiences with humor have been topics of discussion through the years. At Toastmasters International humor has been brought to the fore front with the introduction of the new path "Engaging Humor". Toastmasters International's most recent Public Speaking Webinar Series had two Humor Workshops (webinar links below) for you to explore laughter at its deepest level with a panel of experts—
Additionally the February issue of Toastmaster had the following articles for your reading pleasure:
"The Formula for Funny." about four basic humor categories and the 'rule of three' comedy technique. This is primer on Engaging Humor path and incorporates a link to a podcast and Tarvin's viral 2017 TEDx Talk, "The Skill of Humor,".
"The Magic Power of Humor" Author Nick Pappas mentions that if you want to spark laughter, these three types of humor can unite you and the audience: (1) Relatable humor, (2) Self-deprecating humor and 3) humor that leaves you vulnerable
"Mortifying Moments Onstage" where Toastmasters share their most cringe-worthy stories—and how they can laugh at them.
Challenge: I challenge you, my readers, to find out other articles from the past (start from the 1930s) that speak of the importance of humor in a speech and present it as your Level 1 Research project.
TIP: If you have questions about your Path or the Pathways program please schedule a half hour 1:1 with me by sending me an emailatvpp@cityspeechtoastmasters.org.
Vocabulary Builder:
Words for Ever: by Amit Kamble
Every week at our meetings we are introduced to a Word of the Day (WOD) by the Table Topics Master. We try and use it in our speech at that particular meeting while the Grammarian keeps count of its use. How many of us actually use it then and afterwards? In this monthly column I am going to list the words that we have been exposed to so that we can refresh our memories and use these words often until it becomes a natural part of our daily vocabulary. Use these words in your prepared speeches and see what happens!
2020 was indeed a very unusual year. The pandemic also had an effect on the Word of the Year. Dictionary publishers like Merriam-Webster chose 'pandemic as their top choice however Oxford English Dictionary declared that the scope and impact of COVID-19 did not justify picking just one Word of the Year. Curious? Read the arcticle "Words of the Year" (Toastmaster. February 2021)
WOD - February 2021
Reflect: (verb) think deeply or carefully about
Incredible: (adj) impossible to believe, extraordinary
Enjoy: (verb) take delight or pleasure in
Unrestrained: (adj) not restrained or restricted
Beloved: (adj) dearly loved
TIP: Read the January 2021 issue of City Speech News for the first refresher word list and keep using those words as you add the above to your vocabulary! Build it!
Articles - Food for Thought:
"If your first speech was to inform, consider a story for the second or focus on incorporating humor with the third, etc...... [consider your audience] What do I want them to know about me? How can I build a relationship with them?" ---Kevin Markl, DTM
Feature: Breaking the Ice!
Ice breakers have been a part of public speaking and communication since time immemorial, after all it is introducing yourself to someone you don't know to begin a conversation. The Ice breaker as a speech project has been a part of toastmasters since the beginning of the organization. Here we are highlighting what you can do with an Ice breaker to make it fun, enjoyable and meaningful.
Toastmaster Peggy Beach in her article Ice Breakers Offer Endless Opportunities in the January 2021 issue of Toastmaster, asks you, the reader, to explore the benefits of delivering multiple ice breakers and accept the challenge of tying the ice breaker to ypur path. Additionally the article gives advice from expert Toastmasters and lists 10 ideas for your next Ice breaker speech.
Below is a story of how a Toastmaster club in Mexico makes it fun with a symbolic ceremony.
Ice breaker Ceremony at the Word Warriors Toastmaster Club in Toluca, Mexico By Luz Flores, President City Speech TM
The Ice breaker ceremony and speech were an important experience for all the members at the Word Warriors Toastmaster club in Mexico. Ice breakers started your path and your Toastmaster journey. I was a member of the Word Warriors before moving to Califonia.
Meetings at Word Warriors had the prepared speeches section at the beginning and always started with the Ice breakers. After the break, we would have the ice breaker ceremony, speech evaluations, followed by table topics and general evaluation. The ice breaker ceremony was led by the Club President. During the cermony the ice was broken literally by the new members and not just verbally. After the ice was broken, the President of the club would give some encouraging words to the member or members who presented the icebreakers.
What was the main ingredient of the Ice breaker ceremony? Read On
TIP:If you are interested in contributing to the newsletter please see Call for Articles below.
Old is Gold By Praveena Raman
Critique or evaluation has been a part and parcel of the Toastmasters program since its inception in 1920s, perhaps even earlier. Listed below are a few articles through the years that exemplify the importance of this skill.
In Helpful Criticism, William Walters (Toastmaster. 1938;v4(n3):26-28) writes that criticism is like a two-edged sword: It is an instrument which can be beneficial to the highest degree, and it is also a weapon which of all weapons can have the deadliest effect.
Article Criticism That Really Evaluates (published in Toastmaster. 1939;v5(4):9) outlines the nine detailed points that La Jolla Toastmasters Club's general critic provided the club's speakers and individual critics ahead of time. This resulted in the meeting having an hour of unusually helpful criticism and suggestions.
August 2014 issue of Toastmasters has two interesting articles on evaluations: An Evaluator's Recipe which talks about 11 ingredients you would need to make a savory speech and The Importance ofEvaluation .
The Art of Evaluation(Toastmaster. October 2016) lists 5 points to keep in mind when giving evaluations but the last point on delivering an evaluation in turn gives 5 points to practice, making the whole experience an art to acquire.
Crown jewel of the Toastmasters programwhere Venkat Raman (City Speech Blog. 2018) states that providing evaluations is the crown jewel of the Toastmasters program and asks if you agree with him.
TIP:Toastmasters International has archived Magazines/Journals from 1930 onwards available to the public. There is a plethora of information to use as we improve our communication and leadership skills.
DID YOU KNOW? "By 1934, when the Toastmasters club members desired to give all members the opportunity to speak at every meeting, an impromptu 'current events' segment began," mention Bremen and Beth in their 1999 thesis on Toastmasters. As meetings at that time were conducted at dinner, these speeches were given around the dining table of a restaurant. Members often had a chance to quickly prepare as the speaker who was next in line could pick his topic from the hat, so to speak, when the previous speaker was presenting. They go on to say "This impromptu segment, renamed 'Table Topics,' became an official portion of the Toastmaster International's (TI) program."
Inter-club speech contests were also part of the Toastmasters program from the early years. During the speech contest, the contestants had to first give their 5-7 minute prepared speech and then a 1-2 minute speech on an impromptu topic.
Challenge: I challenge all of you to do some digging and research and find out the sources from where I got my above trivia. hint: start from the 1930s magazines and also search for historic articles.
Call For Articles
We seek articles from members touching upon various issues and tips that would benefit our fellow Toastmasters. These timeless messages will find a home on our website for durable use. You will have a published article with your byline and that can earn you points towards your OATM award.
You can be proud of making a difference in many lives.
Please email your article ideas to Editor at news@cityspeechtoastmasters.org. After defining the scope, you will be able to write and submit them.
I look forward to your ideas to strengthen our website and newsletter with relevant content.
If you are submitting for inclusion in the next issue of City Speech News, final articles should be sent to me by March 15, 2021.
If you have enjoyed reading this newsletter, please consider forwarding it to someone you think may be interested in the Toastmasters program and City Speech Toastmasters.
If you received this email from someone you know and want to receive future issues directly from us, please subscribe here.
No comments:
Post a Comment