Welcome to CTI Techtalkers! We are an open Toastmasters club that is committed to helping our members achieve their communication and leadership goals. We offer encouragement and support, a mentoring program and lots of fun while learning. Guests are welcome.

Meetings are held every Wednesday from 12 noon to 1 pm at 3553-31st St NW, Calgary, AB. Our club meets all year.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

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!

Saturday, January 20, 2007

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!