To all my Toastmaster friends,

The May 17th agenda is attached.  We are in need of a Toastmaster and timer for the May 17th meeting.  In addition, we have room for one more speaker if anyone is interested.

Also, our club will need new officers for next year. We need a President and Secretary-Treasurer.  Please think about the service & leadership role you can provide for our club.  Please let me or Barb Weisenberger know if you are interested in being President or Secretary-Treasurer for July 1, 2012 – June 30, 2013.
Gene VP Education
PS.  I will be without access to my email from May 10-May 14.  I will reply to your emails on May 15th.
“Having knowledge but lacking the power to express it clearly is no better than never having any ideas at all.”   Pericles

Chippewa Valley Toastmasters welcomes new member Dr. Steve Mickelson (left).  Following his first speech, Steve receives his Ice Breaker ribbon and mints from Gene Radtke, Vice President-Education.

As some of you might guess, the Grammarian’s word for the meeting was ‘lagniappe’.

The Grammarian’s role during a club meeting has several components. When introduced, the Grammarian announces the word of the day, state its part of speech, define it, use it in a sentence and ask that anyone speaking during any part of the meeting use it.
Typically the Grammarian listens to everyone’s word usage during the meeting. He/She writes down any awkward use or misuse of the language (incomplete sentences, sentences that change direction in midstream, incorrect grammar or malapropisms) with a note of who erred. For example, he/she points out if someone used a singular verb with a plural subject. “One in five children wear glasses” should be “one in five children wears glasses.” Note when a pronoun is misused. “No one in the choir sings better than her” should be “No one in the choir sings better than she.”

Write down who used the word of the day (or a derivative of it) and note those who used it correctly or incorrectly.

When called on by the general evaluator during the evaluation segment, the Grammarian will:

Stand by his/her chair and gives the meeting’s report.
Try to offer the correct usage in every instance of misuse (instead of merely announcing that something was wrong).
Report on creative language usage and announce who used the word of the day (or a derivative of it) correctly or incorrectly.

Some you know that these short comments are a lagniappe for the Ice Breaker speech announcement.

As its name implies, the Ice Breaker Speech is generally the first opportunity a member has to speak publicly. The International Toastmaster site says this:

You’ve attended a few Toastmasters meetings and you’ve seen others give their speeches. Perhaps you’ve noticed that some speakers are smooth, polished and experienced, while others struggle at a beginner’s level. Now it’s time for you to stand up and give your Ice Breaker speech. Just thinking about it gives you nightmares. Rest assured, you’re not alone!

No matter what skills you possess as a speaker, you’re probably going to find it a little stressful to speak for the first time in front of all these relative strangers. And because you know you’ll be evaluated as a part of the experience, it can be a frightening few moments of your life.

Would you like to know all the inside tips about how to manage your first Ice Breaker? Click HERE.

Come visit our club and watch a “newbie” in action! The agenda is right here: CVTM_April_19_2012

See you soon!

This is an especially exciting event for those participating in the Table Topics portion. Each contestant delivers an impromptu speech on the same topic. Sequestered, they do not have the ability to hear each others speech. This permits a level playing field in order to judge the 5-7 minute off-the-cuff speech. This is a wonderful opportunity to compare and contrast the style and the approaches of different speakers.

In the International Speech contest portion, I am rooting for Barb Weisenberger. She is an excellent speaker and is my role model at the moment. Come listen to her!

To all my Toastmaster Friends,