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!
Friday, October 22, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
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.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
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 highlight of the meeting was the Icebreaker speech presented by Mitch. Congratulations!
Friday, October 08, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
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.
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