Merry Christmas Potluck Lunch Dec 13

Come and invite a colleague to our 5th Annual Christmas Potluck and Table Topics Funfest from 12 noon to 1 pm in Boardroom 2 & 3 on Thursday, Dec 13. Bring something to share for the potluck and join in the lunch and the fun.

Anyone can participate in the table topics funfest. Whether you are a new member, experienced Toastmasters or a guest, you are invited to entertain us for a 1 -2 minutes. Prizes will be awarded for our table topic champions: the funniest, the most informative, the shortest time, the most improved, the tallest tale. and the overall table topics champion. Val will be our Toastmaster and Marc will be our Table Topics Master.

Halloween Open House

On November 1, CTI invites you and a co-worker or friend to our Halloween Open House. There will be sweet treats, Icebreaker speeches and Spooky Table Topics. Please join us for an hour of learning and fun.

Marc Wins Second at the Area Contest!

Marc did us proud at the Area Contest, winning second in Table Topics. Nandini, an Igniters Club member, won first place.
Congratulations to Marc!

Congratulations to Our Table Topics Contestants!

Four table topics contestants gave us a very fine Club Table Topics contest on September 20 and showed us how impromptu speaking should be done.
The winners are:
First Place - Marc
Second Place - Audrey

Marc will be going on to the Area J41 contest on Thursday, Oct 4 at the Students Council Chambers, MacEwan Hall, University of Calgary. Time will be in the evening. More details as we receive them. Please plan to attend to cheer on Marc as he represents our club.

Unfortunately, the humorous speech contest was cancelled. If you are a paid-up member of CTI and interested in being our representative competing at the Area contest, please email Darlene. We plan to select our rep by vote at a very short business meeting on September 27.

Come Out to the Speech Contests on Sept 20

You are invited to come and join in the fun on September 20 when CTI Techtalkers will host the club Humorous Speech and Table Topics contest. If you work in the building or just want to visit, come and enjoy some laughs with our club.

Any member of CTI Techtalkers is eligible to enter either one or both contests. If you are interested in entering the contests as a contestant or becoming a judge, ballot counter, timer or Sergeant at Arms, let Marc know. Marc has volunteered to be the Contest Chair.

Humorous Speech
Allst you have to do is write and present a 5 - 7 minute speech that will make the audience smile and perhaps even guffaw. Tell a story that tickles your funny bone and it will tickle someone else's too!

Table Topics.
See the tips in the article below "How to Succeed in a Table Topics Contest". Any member can enter whether you have been in Toastmasters 20 years or 2 meetings.

Officials (judges, ballot counters, timers, sergeant at arms)
Without you a contest cannot happen. You will find that it is a great learning experience. Don't worry if you are not sure what to do, an experienced Toastmaster will brief you on your duties before the contest starts.

Let the contest begin!

Note: First Place winners of both contests will be eligible to move on to the Area J41 contest sometime in the first week of October. Winners of the Area J41 contest will be eligible to move on to the Division Contest in the third week of October. The District 42 contest for all of Alberta and Saskatchewan is in Calgary on November 2- 4, 2007.

How to Succeed in a Table Topics Contest

You go to the front of the room during a table topics session excited and sure that you can dazzle the audience for 1-2 minutes. Then the Table Topics Master reads THE QUESTION- and your mind goes completely blank! Has this ever happened to you? Many of us have experienced that awful moment.

If you plan to enter the table topics contest this month, here are a few tips to make sure that you can present your best - even under the pressure of a contest.

1. Jetstart the brain.

• Read the newspaper or watch the news. Keep abreast of current events and think about the 2 or 3 things you might want to say on the topics that interest you.
• Listen to a child. My best ideas come from listening to my grandchildren and hearing what they have to say about school, parenting, the meaning of life.
• Think about one person that you have read about or met that is a role model (or has changed your life) and why.

2. Think about a reponse that you could make if the following values type questions were asked:

• What does friendship (love, faith, marriage, honour, loyalty etc) mean to you?
• What would you do if ...(you had a million dollars, you could vacation anywhere in the world all expenses paid, you could live anywhere in the world, etc)?
• If you could change anything in the past...(your past, world history, work etc), what would it be and why?
• What advice would you give to...(your 10 year old self, your child, your friend etc)?

3. Organize your thoughts:

• When you listen to the question, listen carefully. Before you speak, take a few seconds to think about your main points. If you don't feel you can answer the question exactly as it is presented, remember that it is OK to acknowledge the question and then segway into what you want to talk about.
• Take a slow breath in from the diaphragm for a count of 4 and let the breath out quietly for a count of 4.
• Look at the audience, smile and start.
• Make a strong opening statement, 2 or 3 main points, a story to illustrate your point, wrap your table topic up with a closing statement that pulls us back to the opening and the question.
• If you are one of those gifted people that can do humour on the spot - this is a huge bonus -- especially if it entertains and/or helps you to make a point.

You may find, as I did, that the exercise of thinking about your interests and values is stimulating and worthwhile in itself. Thinking ahead will help you answer any table topic question - even under pressure.

Can't wait to hear you in your next table topics session!

Summer meetings

CTI Techtalkers is meeting every week during the summer months. Attendance is variable due to holidays and work schedules but the enthusiasm and welcome is always high. Come on out and practice your communication skills with a very friendly, supportive group.

If you are working on speech projects, this is the time to present. If you are preparing for the upcoming September Club Humorous Speech contest, this is the time to test your material.

CTI Techtalkers celebrated our 5th Anniversary by sharing a huge Anniversary cake with our fellow employees and entrepreneurs at the July chili-bakeoff. Everyone had a great time.

Congratulations to Terry who brought us our new website http://ctitechtalkers.freetoasthost.org/ It has proved to be really useful for scheduling meetings and meeting roles.

Battle of the sexes

Be sure to come out and defend your gender! We are having coffee and muffins in the ARTC lobby from 10:30 until 12:00 on April 26 to try and entice guests and new members. This will be followed by a Battle of the sexes Table Topics extravaganza at noon. This meeting promises to be lots of fun and I hope to see you there!

Area Contest Results

Congratulations to all of our contestants for their excellent efforts at the Area International Speech Contest and Evaluation Contest! There was tough competition with highly skilled, experienced speakers in both contests. Darlene placed second and Ellen placed third in the International and Evaluation contest, respectively.

Cheer on CTI at the Area 41 contest

An unprecedented four contestants are moving on to represent CTI Techtalkers at the Area 41 contest on Thursday, March 22. They have all been working hard practicing and honing their skills over the past few weeks since the club contest. CTI Techtalkers, Igniters and Speakmasters club champions are all competing so it should be very exciting.

Evaluation Contest: Ellen and Carole

International Speech Contest: Darlene and Marc

(See pictures below of our CTI Techtalkers winners- special thanks to our guest Spencer for taking the photos!)

Area 41 Contest
Time: 6:30 pm
Place: Student Council Chambers, MacEwan Student Centre, University of Calgary
(across from the food fair - Dairy Queen)

Evaluation Contest Result

Congratulations Ellen on winning the evaluation contest! It was an exciting event, with Carol taking an international phone call on her way to the lectern but still maintaining her composer and taking second place. Special thanks to our test speaker, Keith, who presented an excellent speech for the contest. Also thanks to our Elizabeth, area governor, for making an appearance. I look forward to the international speech contest coming up this Thursday.

Speech Contests

A reminder that CTI Techtalkers has two speech contests coming up soon. The evaluation contest on March 1 followed by the International speech contest March 8. All current Toastmaster members are eligible for the Evaluation contest but to be eligible for the International speech contest members must also have completed at least 6 speeches from the Communication and Leadership manual.
See this link for more information on the contests: http://209.97.192.123/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=52
I encourage you all to participate in one (or both) of the contests or volunteer to help out with the judging!

Fresh start to 2007

January! It's a good time for a fresh look at what we are doing and where we are going. For myself, I find that now is a good time to assess my progress, change a few habits, refresh my spirit, and prepare myself to grow in my communication skills.

One commitment that I am making is to improve my attendance at CTI Techtalkers meetings. I have managed to reschedule my day so that I can attend more regularly. I attended last Thursday and re-remembered how energizing the meetings are. I hope you will be able to come more often too. You bring a special gift to the meeting that enriches us all.

My second commitment to myself is to do more speeches at this club and others. When I did a table topics recently, I realized that my skills are slipping. I will need lots of practice and your very insightful feedback to keep on improving my impromptu and prepared speaking. In return, I offer honest evaluations of your work and encouragement as you work towards your own goals.

Spring evaluation and international speech contests are coming soon. That is a great mechanism to jumpstart improvement. If you would like to really challenge yourself, enter the contest. You would be surprised at how focused your evaluation and speaking skills become as you enter contest mode. You begin to examine the smallest details and finetune your speaking so that you can be the best you can be. If you have questions about the contest or how to prepare, talk to someone who has been in a contest before. For example, Carole, Marc, Val, Wendy, Joanne and Darlene have all reached Area level or above and would be glad to answer your questions. If being a contestant is not your desire this year, there are lots of supporting roles that are very valuable - judges, toastmaster, SAA, ballot counters, timers, calligrapher, contest chairman.

Re-energize yourself. Come to the meetings! See you there!