It’s great to watch and listen, and it’s great to have role models.  The one thing that isn’t great, however, is trying to duplicate that professional speaker’s style and mannerisms. 

That speaker didn’t become successful because their style and mannerisms are the only correct way to do things; they became successful because the style and mannerisms they’ve selected work well for them.  If you try to copy them exactly, what you’ll wind up being is a poor imitation of somebody else’s success.

So why not be yourself?  Rather than being a poor copy of Tony Robbins, why not be the best you?  Focus your attention on your material and your audience, rather than trying to copy others’ mannerisms.  Your speeches will be 100% better - without any extra work!

We had three competitors in our club competition, and three fantastic speeches.  When the points were all tallied, Barb Weisenberger took 1st place, and Christopher Kamrath took second place.  This means that both Barb and Chris will be advancing to the area contest later this month - which will also be held at our normal meeting place (the LDS church in Eau Claire).  Way to go Barb and Chris, and good luck at the area contest!

Rather than canceling the meeting we will hold it a week earlier:

January 31st, 2008 @ 6:30 pm.

Well, it’s that time of year again, and we’re putting together an amazing evening of speaking, conversation, and networking for Toastmasters and guests alike.

You are cordially invited to:

What:

The First Annual Toastmasters Fall Dinner Extravaganza

Where:

The Creamery Restaurant & Inn
Downsville, WI
www.creameryrestaurant-inn.com

When:

Monday, 22 Oct 2007

6:00 PM - Social Hour
7:00 PM - Dinner

Please RSVP to:

Rick Suydam, Area N-3 Governor
rick@organichrd.com
715-505-1518

Join us (and bring your spouse / significant other) for a great evening!

Also, please forward this to everyone in your club - we have the restaurant for the evening so we’re looking for a good turnout.

More details (including menu details) to follow next week…

Hope to see you there!

Rick

Rick Suydam
Area N-3 Governor

rick@organichrd.com www.organichrd.com

715-505-1518

Join us (and bring your spouse / significant other) for a great evening!

Also, please forward this to everyone in your club - we have the restaurant for the evening so we’re looking for a good turnout.

More details (including menu details) to follow next week…

Hope to see you there!

Rick

Rick Suydam
Area N-3 Governor

rick@organichrd.com www.organichrd.com

715-505-1518

“Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for love of it.”

- Henry David Thoreau

• This is a workshop for the general public as well as interested Toastmasters. There will be multiple tracks to give people the opportunity to visit sessions they are interested in. Available sessions include:
• Interviewing Skills
• Web Site Design
• Public Speaking
• Power Point Design
• Presenting With Power Point
• Leading Meetings
• Tracing Your Roots
• Training Design
• Creating a Public Relations Campaign
• Resume and Portfolio Building

When:

• September 29th, 2007 8:30 am - 2:00 pm

Where:

• LDS Chapel
• 3335 Stein Blvd
• Eau Claire, WI 54703

Cost:

• $5.00/person

Contact:

• Matt Lind, contact information in the RSVP and Poster below

Attachments

• 2007 Toastmaster’s Professional Learning Workshop RSVP
• 2007 Toastmaster’s Professional Learning Workshop poster

Club President: The club president is responsible for running the club over the course of a year. He will start the meeting and discuss old and new business and introduce the toastmaster.

Toastmaster: The toastmaster is the master of ceremonies for the meeting. The toastmaster will be responsible for making sure that the meeting is rewarding for the participants and runs both smoothly and on time. He will introduce his staff and speakers and make sure that the podium is always manned.

Grammarian: The grammarian introduces a word for the meeting. The participants in the meeting try to work the word into their speeches or reports. This both expands your vocabulary and encourages you to think on your feet while giving a prepared or spontaneous speech.

Ah and um counter: Listens to the grammar during the meeting and takes note of any filler words or other crutches that could potentially interfere with communication.

Timer: We’ve all been to meetings that have run too long. One of the goals of a Toastmaster is to be able to deliver speeches or reports within alloted periods of time. Speaking concisely yet informatively is a skill your co-workers and management will appreciate.

Table topic master: The table topic master introduces one or more topics for club members to speak about. This hones your impromptu speaking skills for those occasions when your opinion or input is requested without prior warning.

Speaker: The speeches given in a Toastmaster’s meeting are designed to progressively improve your abilities. Speaking within alloted time limits has already been mentioned but skills in organizing your speech, using presentation materials and improving your body language and clarity are worked on as well. The Competent Communication manual does this through 10 speeches. Each speech concentrates on a new skill while building on the basics introduced on previous assignments. The actual topic of the speech is up to you.

Speech evaluator: Speech evaluators apply analytic skills to evaluating the speaker and their speech. This improves your ability to think critically and deliver reviews. Speech evaluations aren’t delivered to tear down the speakers, instead they’re intended to highlight the skills which are already apparent and provide feedback on areas that could use improvement. This assignment is beneficial to both the speaker and evaluator.

General evaluator: Apply critical thinking and evaluation skills to the meeting as a whole. Did it start and end on time? Were the evaluations useful? What went well and what could use improvement?