June 15, 2017 Meeting

Posted on by John Wendtland

A few highlights from our June 15th meeting….

Heidi started out the evening with an idea-rich speech on various methods of crafting speech introductions that capture the audience.

Ben took the stage as the Topics Master and began dishing out challenging topics for off-the-cuff speeches…..

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Ivan talked about “If not now, when?” and “What will be important when you are 80?”

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Eric then discussed, “When does time pass the most quickly for you?” and “Is it possible to lie without saying a word?”

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Finally, Heidi responded to “When is the last time you tried something new?” and “Would you break the law to save a loved one?”

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May 18, 2017 Table Topics

Posted on by John Wendtland

Table topics are one to two minute impromptu speeches about a given subject. The Table Topics Master prepares several topics in advance and requests volunteers to speak on one of the topics. Since the speaker has no idea what the table topic is, this is a great opportunity for learning to speak off-the-cuff. Preference in table topics speaking is typically given to members that have no other meeting role or guests who would like to volunteer.

Jeff McRaven–famous for challenging table topics–was the Topics Master.

051817 Table Topics Jeff Topics Master

Sheila Wilkinson responded to the question, “How long would you keep a friend if they talked to you like you speak to yourself?”

051817 Table Topics Sheila Wilkinson

Julie Court pondered, “When you look back over the past month, what single moment stands out?”

051817 Table Topics Julie Court

Eric Goetz worked his way through the ethical dilemma, “Is stealing to feed a starving child wrong?”

051817 Table Topics Eric Goetz

 

TIPS from a toastmaster. Tackling project 4

Posted on by Callie Herron

Jeff McRaven discusses how he tackled project 4 of the Competent Communication handbook.

Title – The Great Molasses Flood of 1919

Project 4 is all about using correct grammar. That’s simple for me ‘cause I talk goodly.  In fact, I’m probably the bestest talker I know.  Like totally, you know?

In truth, my mother was an English major.  When I was naughty, she made me read Edmund Spenser poetry.  I was a VERY good child.

The main thing here is to watch your um’s and ah’s, pronounce everything correctly, and stay away from jargon and slang.  In short, use correct English.  The best piece of advice I can offer is to stay within yourself.  By that I mean don’t try to use words you don’t ordinarily use.  If it sounds odd to you, it will sound odd to your audience.

‘Slow down’ is good advice too.  If you talk fast, you are more bound to slur words together or clip the ends of words.  That’s a sure-fire way to turn “thrust” into “thruss”.

TIPS from a Toastmaster

Posted on by Callie Herron

Coming up with ideas for a speech is tricky. Sometimes it is helpful to have examples to spark ideas.

Or maybe you are considering joining Toastmasters? Part of being a member is working through the projects in the Competent Communication handbook. Each project has you focus on a different area to help build speaking skills.

See below for one Toastmaster’s experience with the third project–

Project 3 – Get to the Point

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Title – The Difference Between Hard Drive and Memory

I have a degree in computer science.  I know.  You think I’m a nerd.  Well I’m not.  I have a couple exciting hobbies.  In my spare time I build electronic devices and I also read about U. S. history.  Ladies, the line forms to the left.

Anyway, the manual said I should give a speech with a clear and specific purpose.  As a computer support guy, I am constantly confronted with people saying they need more memory because it is full.  Or they need a new hard drive because they only have four gigabytes.  Riiiight.  So over the years, I’d developed a short lecture about the difference between hard drive and memory.  This one was easy peasy because I was explaining something I had explained dozens of times before.

So that’s my advice.  Everybody has something they explain constantly.  Explain it to us.

When writing the speech, try starting with a single sentence that is the point of what you are talking about (this is called a thesis).  For example:  “domestic cars are best.”  Then, get rid of anything that doesn’t directly relate to the thesis.  Make your points, but never get very far away from your thesis.

by Jeff McRaven