Table Topics Funfest was Fun!

A recipe for fun. Mix together Val, our warm welcoming Toastmaster, Marc our creative Table Topics Master and our willing victims (oops volunteers) and voila - lots of laughs at the Table Topics Funfest and Potluck Lunch. The room was full and the food was very tasty. Cleverly using a tag team format (so they could eat lunch too), Kevin and Darlene evaluated 13 speakers. Our entertaining speakers were: seasoned Chris, Ruth, Phil, new Chris, Mitch, Jean Francois, Kyle, Linda, Mary Jane, Ray, Lee, Geetha, and Helen.

NOTE: CTI is taking a break for the holidays so the first meeting of the New Year will be Jan 5, 2011. We hope you will plan to be there.

Table Topics Funfest and Potluck Lunch

Val will be our Toastmaster for our annual Holiday Table Topics Funfest and Potluck Lunch. Plan to be inspired, have your funny bone tickled or just enjoy the nonsense as Marc, our Table Topics Master leads us in a round of impromptu speaking challenges. The food is always good, and the company is great, and the topics will be interesting. What more can you ask?
Extended time: 12:00 noon to 1:30 pm on Wednesday, Dec 15
Please come for the whole party or for whatever portion you are able to.

CTI is a Distinguished Club!

What is a Distinguished Club? Toastmasters International recognizes Toastmaster clubs that show the club is energetic, welcoming, growing and organized and that the club members are achieving their objectives. A club that achieves 5 out of 10 goals and either grows by 5 members or has a membership of over 20 is awarded Distinguished club. So far, CTI has achieved 5 goals. Being recognized as a Distinguished Club is not just a numbers game, it's an award that is earned by running a club that meets member needs.

CTI Techtalkers now has Distinguished Club status with Val's ACGold! We are now only 2 goals away from Select Distinguished.

Other levels of Distinguished Club status are: Select Distinguished Club (achieve 7 out of 10 goals), President's Distiguished Club (achieve 9 out of 10 goals).

Val is Golden!

Great news! On Nov 17, Val presented her 10th speech towards her Advanced Communicator Gold award.
To receive this award, Val presented 10 speeches for the Competent Communicator, 10 advanced speeches for Advanced Communicator Bronze, 10 more speeches plus 2 educational sessions for the Advanced Communicator Silver, mentored a new member for three months, presented a Success/Leadership module "Working in a Team Environment", and presented 10 more advanced speeches. That is a major achievement involving 43 presentations over 6 years.
To send Val your best wishes, please email her directly or add a comment to this posting.
Congratulations, Val!

Division J Rocks at District Contests

Nine entertaining, hilarious contestants had the audience laughing for two hours at the District 42 Humorous Speech contest on Nov 13, 2010 in Canmore. Garrett Ulmer, from Division J, came first with his funny story about childhood pranks, titled "Why are Kids so Bad? Jody Fireman, from Division G, came second.

On Friday night, Nov 12, the nine Table Topics contestants entertained us with stories around the question "If you had three wishes, what would you wish for and why?" Audience members said afterwards that the table topics contest was like a bonus mini-humorous speech contest. Kelly Kaur, from Division G, won first place and Nandini Venkatesan, from Division J, came second.

Division J Contest Results Are In!

The hall was so full they had to bring in more chairs at the Division J Contest on Friday evening, Oct 29, at the Thornhill Baptist Church. They came to cheer on their champions. They left laughing and smiling. It was a great evening with 5 humorous speakers and 6 table topics contestants. Garret Ulmer came first in Humorous Speech, representing Igniters, and Nandini Venkatesan came first in Table Topics, representing Calgary Advanced. They will go on to compete in the District Speech Contests in Canmore on Nov 12 and 13.

Quick Tips for Evaluating a Speech

Evaluating a speech is really about being a good audience member, about listening carefully and simply sharing what you have seen, heard and felt. Remember that you are sharing one person's viewpoint, one audience member's response to the speech, and you are offering honest, encouraging feedback to help the speaker recognize what he/she already does well and identify how to become an even better speaker.

Here are some quick tips to help you get started:

• When taking rough notes, some Toastmasters divide their page into 4 sections:
• upper left quadrant - list the objectives in short form
• upper right - jot down examples of where the speaker met the objectives, circle the objectives that the speaker didn't meet.
• lower left - jot down your notes about what worked for you, what you particularly liked
• lower right -jot down examples of what didn't work for you (poor gestures, flat voice, closing and opening didn't work together etc). Write down any suggestions you have to help them improve next time.
• When you write in the evaluation section of the speech manual, use your rough notes to guide your answers so that they are balanced, helpful and encouraging. 
• When you deliver the evaluation:
• start with something that you really enjoyed about the speech
• tell the speaker how you are going to evaluate.
• acknowledge the strengths the speaker already has from your perspective, give examples
• give feedback on how well they met the objectives of the project
• offer examples of one or two areas for improvement with specific suggestions about what could be done next time to improve
• end with what you liked best about the speech. 
• There are many ways to organize a speech evaluation but this method, called the sandwhich method, will help get you started on the path to being a good evaluator.

When you provide honest feedback from your personal experience of the speech, you help both new and seasoned speakers by reflecting back their speech from one audience member's viewpoint. That glimpse of how an audience member responded to the speech is a valuable gift, indeed!

Congratulations to Val and Carole

Our club champions, Val and Carole, both did outstanding presentations at the Area J41 contest on Thursday, October 21, 2010.

The results are:
Table Topics:          1st Place - Dolores from Speakers' Edge
                               2nd Place - Carole from CTI
 Humorous Speech: 1st Place - Garrett from Igniters
                               2nd Place - Val from CTI

The first place winners will be going on to the Division J contest on Friday, October 29. If for any reason the 1st Place winners are unable to compete, the 2nd place will go on.
CTI was also well represented at the contest by Rosario who is the current Area J41 Governor, Linda, Helen, Chris, Mary Jane and Darlene. Rosario did double duty by not only organizing her own area contest but also including that of another Area Governor. Well done Val, Carole and Rosario!

Wednesday is Our Meeting Day

Today at our meeting, members voted unanimously to move CTI's meetings to Wednesday permanently. We achieved a quorum with 17 paid members present. Wednesday has proven to be much better for most of our members and 3 of our members who had some challenges with Wednesdays are working on changing their schedules so they can attend.

Lively meeting!

A nearly full board room, three guests (Kyle, Jean and Lee) and a lively debate - the energy in the room was high. Everyone had a chance to participate during the meeting on Wednesday, Oct 13! Helen and seasoned Chris were asked to take on challenge roles at the last moment by Toastmaster Darlene and did a great job of Thought of the Day and Joke of the Day. Table Topics Master Linda led us in the debate posing the question: should we use electronic means to increase voter participation in the upcoming elections? Kevin spoke on the PRO side, new member Chris spoke on the CON side. It was interesting to hear the perspectives of members Phil and Mary Jane and guests Kyle and Jean.
The highlight of the meeting was the Icebreaker speech presented by Mitch. Congratulations!

The First 45 Seconds

First impressions are tough to overcome. Whether you are presenting a speech or going to a job interview, you need to capture your audience's attention in the first 45 seconds or they will go on to thinking about something else. If that happens, they might miss the very special gift that you are giving them - the key message of your speech.

The first contact that the audience has with you is the title. It is a great tool for generating interest and arousing curiosity. Titles should be short, intriguing or humorous, generate interest, and relevant to your audience and your speech.

From the moment your name is called, you have the opportunity to engage the audience, to perk their interest and show that you are confident and credible. Dress appropriately for the occasion. Remember that people want you to succeed. Shake hands firmly with the Toastmaster, make eye contact with the people in the room. When you scan the audience, remember that you are also being scanned. The audience is thinking, "Do I need to pay attention to you?"

Every word must count in your opening few sentences as if each was a piece of gold. Every movement must support your message.  A simple rule of thumb is to use the active voice whenever possible.  Don't say "At dawn, the crowing of a rooster could be heard", instead say "The rooster crowed proudly at dawn". Use vivid word pictures or interesting relevant facts to capture your audience's attention.

Avoid qualifiers like rather, very, little, pretty good, or maybe. They are leeches that suck the power out of your words. Say "We will do better" rather than "We will try to do a little better", or "He was impatient" rather than "He was rather impatient".

Walk to the front of the room confident that you have a message that the audience will want to hear and that they want you to succeed. Craft your title and your opening so that you grab the audience's attention and make them think "I want to hear what this speaker has to say!" You have 45 seconds. Use it well.

Our Champions!

Shown in this photo are our Champions, Carole (left) in Table Topics and Val (centre) in Humorous Speech with Contest Toastmaster Linda (right). Carole and Val will represent our club at the Area J41 contest on Thursday, Oct 21.



The Humorous Speech Contest
Our funny bones definitely got tickled at CTI's humorous speech contest on Wednesday September 29. Contestants Laurie, Mary Jane and Val had the audience laughing aloud with their stories about coping with a teenage vegetarian, renovating a haunted house and surviving an older sibling. Congratulations to all three contestants!

The results:
First place:       Val with "Sugar n Spice"
Second place:   Mary Jane with "What's a Little Dust"
Honourable Mention: Laurie with "Living with a Teenage Vegetarian or the Invasion of the Bean Sprouts"

Thank you to Toastmasters Karen from Golden Gavel, Spence and Laureen from Valley Echo and Marvin from Igniters who came to help us with judging the contest and to all the CTI members who took on roles to make the contest happen.

Humorous Speech Contest reminder

Humorous speech contest is on Wednesday, Sept 29 in Boardroom 2 and 3.

Prepare to laugh and learn. Let's all come out and support our humorous speakers.

Which Magical Power Would you Choose?

Three contestants in the CTI Techtalkers Table Topics contest were asked if they could have any magical power, which would they choose. Impromptu speaking is difficult enough at any time but in a contest situation, the pressure is on. The contestants showed us how it is done. They inspired and entertained us as they spoke about their favourite magical power.

First Place - Carole "Resolving world hunger "
Second Place - Kevin "Curing mental illness"

Congratulations to all our contestants, Carole, Kevin and Linda! Carole will now be going on to the next level - the Area J41 contest on Thursday, Oct 21 at 7:00 pm at the University of Calgary Students Council Chambers. Let's plan to be there to cheer Carole on.

Contests Contests Contests

Two Contests! Two opportunities to hear some mighty fine speakers.

On Thursday, September 23, come to cheer on our creative Table Topics contestants !

In the Table Topics contest, all of the contestants leave the room and then, one by one, they return to answer the same question in a two minute impromptu speech. It is fascinating how different those answers can be. Contestants are judged on delivery, content, and use of language and must answer the question.

On Wednesday, September 29, tickle your funny bone by listening to our humorous speech contestants entertain you with their funniest stories. Each contestant will deliver a 5-7 minute humorous speech on a topic of their choice and will be judged on delivery, content, use of language and audience reaction.

All members and guests are welcome!

Awards Day and Table Topics Funfest Results

Val, incoming President, was our Toastmaster for the meeting and honoured our outgoing President, Kevin, with vote of thanks and a keepsake book.

CTI was pleased to recognize new members, Linda, Ruth and Edgar and welcome them to the club. Linda and Ruth will be presenting their icebreaker speeches at the June 24 meeting.

Table Topics Funfest was led by Marc who challenged the speakers with interesting questions that sparked a lot of humour and stories. The funniest one was by Laurie who regaled us with tales about going to the dentist as a child. Winners of the funfest were: First - Laurie, Second - Darlene, and Third - Ruth.

The most UMs award went to Edgar - our new member. It won't be long before Edgar will be able to pass the dubious award on to some other member.

Club of the Year ribbons were awarded to:
Best Gestures - Marc
Best Humour - Laurie
Most Improved Table Topics Speakers- Gaoming and Mary Jane
Most Enthusiastic Toastmasters - Chris, Rosario and Darlene

Val was awarded two prestigious awards: Toastmaster of the Year and President's Choice
Congratulations to all our winners!

Important Events Coming Up!

Here are some important dates to mark in your calendars. Be sure to come and join in the fun!

May 12 and 13 -- Talk up Toastmasters table in open area

May 13 -- Guest Day

May 20 -- Find out what the Executive does. Hear some entertaining speeches

May 27 -- Guest Day and Cookie Day. Bring your favourite cookies to share!

June 3 -- Elections and Table Topics Fun Fest

June 17 -- Year End Awards and Potluck Lunch

Tip of the Week: Finding a Topic

Speech topics are floating in the air like dandelion fluff in the spring. All you need to do is pay attention, grab a couple, and see where they lead you. Every contact you have at work, every experience that makes you laugh or cry, every action that inspires you contains the seed of a great speech.

It is said that every topic under the sun has already been explored so there is nothing new. The new element is YOU. You bring a new perspective to old ideas. You have a unique way of looking at ideas that others need to hear. We anticipate with great pleasure hearing what you will have to say.

Keep a small notebook of speech ideas with you at all times. Write a few words down when an idea sparks your imagination so you won't forget it. You can look at all the experiences, funny situations, inspiring ideas that you have jotted down later when you are ready to write your speech. Pick one. And sign up for a speech next week.

Be prepared to enjoy the experience of giving your speech. We will!

What a Great Division J Contest!

Six contestants. Six fascinating stories. The Division J International Speech contest was solid gold from beginning to end. Our Mary Jane delivered a speech "Reach for the Sky" with an inspiring message of hope and courage, about her journey with cancer. The audience was in her hands, laughing with her about her bossy husband, in tears at the struggle, inspired by the message of hope.

The results were:
Stu Schultz - First Place
Scott McCrae - Second Place
Mary Jane McGrath - Third Place

Well done, Mary Jane!

Mary Jane wins Area J41 International Speech Contest

CTI's International Speech contest winner, Mary Jane McGrath, won the Area J41 speech contest with her moving story, "Reach for the Sky and Fly". CTI members present could definitely be heard cheering wildly for her after the win was announced.

Mary Jane goes on to the Division J contest on Friday April 16.

Congratulations to our champion!