“Post-Toasties”

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I am not sure who came up with the name Post Toasties, but this is the name that refers to the meal social hour that may follow a Toastmaster’s meeting. Since 2004 I have enjoyed quite a few “Post Toasties” social meetings and I have developed some wonderful long-term friendships because of them. Breaking bread with your Toastmaster friends is truly a great way to get to know your fellow toastmasters on a more personal level. You learn even more that you do from their Ice-breaker or CC speeches and you can continue the after meeting glow or just shoot the breeze. Whether it is a breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner or just a coffee, time with your fellow Toastmaster friends can be a fruitful investment in a new friendship.

Submitted By
Judy L. Pérez

All or Nothing

The theme was All or Nothing for the July 27, 2014 Top of Texas Toastmaster Club meeting, and it fit the day very well. Ana Ortega was our Toastmaster and Jeff Wright called our meeting to order as the presiding officer. Recent new member Bobby Russell who was a little under the weather graciously introduced “Eclipse” as the word of the day, acted as Grammarian, and also was the team’s Timer.

Ken Dorsey and Jeff Wright both provided speeches while Table Topics was lively with an All or Nothing twist. Ken’s sixth speech met the requirement for Vocal Variety and was entitled “Life Thru the Eyes of a Child”. Ken described colorful encounters he had with his boys when they were younger and how sometimes what they are thinking is anything but what you expected.

Jeff Wright’s speech was an excerpt from Romeo and Juliet Act II Scene II. With this speech, Jeff completed his Advanced Communicator Bronze Certification. Way to go Jeff! DeAnna Wolf and Apama Valluri provided Evaluations. DeAnna shared the importance of protecting the lectern space and never leaving it unoccupied. A valuable tidbit for everyone! 

Ana wrapped things up as JokeMaster and shared several clever and funny anecdotes that had everyone amused. Great meeting!

Submitted by Ken Dorsey











Photo Credits: vramak via Compfight cc and SFPrice

Everybody Loves a Story!

According to the Storytelling Manual, storytelling is a unique form of communication. Stories have been passed down through generations. They provide entertainment, history lessons, and moral values.

My mother was a storyteller. She told stories to my siblings and me, the library children, and, on occasion, adults. I recently finished the Competent Communicator Manual and my first choice from the advanced manual series was the Storytelling Manual. Last Saturday I gave my first speech from it. I practiced on my family the night before. My daughter, who is a thespian, shared some tips with me that I would like to pass on to you.

1. When portraying characters, take on their persona and use focal points. For instance, a little girl would look up when she speaks. “Bad men” would look down and use big gestures. An elderly person would be stooped over and shaky.

2. Use vocal variety to help define your characters. The little girl would have a high voice; the bad men, low, gruff ones; and the elderly person a slow and shaky voice.

3. When using hand and body gestures, keep your body open to your audience. If you’re changing direction, turn toward your audience.

4. Display confidence when you walk to the lectern: shoulders back, head erect, and walk with purpose. Put a smile on your face and take a deep breath.

5. If you make a mistake, leave the mistake behind you and keep going.

These tips certainly helped me last Saturday and can be applied to any speech. I look forward to learning more about storytelling as I continue to grow in my communication, leadership, and listening skills. That is what Toastmasters is all about.

Submitted By
Shannon Watenpaugh










Photo Credit: UNE Photos via Compfight cc and SFPrice 

Do-It-Yourself

Oh what a meeting this was this morning (July 19th)! First, let me start off by saying that one of our former members/location setup/location liaison/gracious hostess Faith Pinto stopped by and stayed for a meeting!  For those of our members who do not know, Faith and her husband Dan run the church where our meeting is located, and she has been busy working and going to school, so we wished her luck while she pursued her desire to care for others. Good news, she is now officially a Registered Nurse, and it was such a breath of fresh air to see her again.

Our meeting was excellent! I was the Presiding Officer and Toastmaster, so I noted that it is an interesting duty to pass the lectern over to oneself. I picked out a fun theme, Do-It-Yourself-Projects, and if anyone knows DeAnna, they know that when I pick a theme, there is always a twist, this time mine being “When Do-It-Yourself Projects Go Wrong.” I showed everyone wonderful pictures of what a project is supposed to look like, and the disasters that ensued when people attempt them themselves. My favorite disaster was someone’s front porch looking like a murder scene after a red food coloring fiasco.

Shannon Watenpaugh, as usual, delivered a beautiful story from the Storytelling Manual of how the Sparkling Fire Owl got its name. Shannon was timid, Shannon was brave, Shannon was soft-spoken, Shannon was intimidating. Shannon also did not use notes. Shannon, how come you’re not a writer? How come you’re not an actress?

Table Topics was great. The winner, Judy Perez, won with a story of how after looking at a DIY show once on building a bench led to her, from her own imagination and common sense, to create a bench and update a chair. We can learn so much about our fellow Toastmasters just from Table Topics.

I had a great time, the members and two guests had a great time, and I think we all were entertained by everyone’s participation. A guest comment was, “This meeting was a lot more fun and jocular than I expected!”

I’ll see you all next week!
DeAnna

Photo Credit: Victor W. via Compfight cc

The Importance of Listening

One of the benefits of Toastmasters that, to me, does not get enough mention as leadership and speaking skills, is gaining better Listening skills. As Toastmasters is for building better speakers, we probably gain listening skills at a faster pace due to our spending a majority of the time not on the podium. That being said, for interpersonal communication, how do we fare? I have compiled a list of tips from a couple of websites (skillsyouneed.com and mindtools.com) on active listening, which involves not only hearing, but letting the speaker know he or she is being heard.

Top of Texas Open House

• Resist the urge to speak right away. Be patient.
• Treat the speaker as if you were in his or her shoes – show respect.
• Watch the speaker: make eye contact, look for non-verbal clues, and avoid physical distractions.
• Provide small responses: nod, use facial expressions, and verbally encourage them to continue (“yes,” “go on”).
• Without interrupting, paraphrase.
• Do not let the speaker’s mannerisms distract or bother you. We all speak differently.
• Listen for tone/inflection variations and watch the body language. Non-verbal communication is just as, if not, more, important than verbal communication.
• Stray from finding that counter-argument. Try to understand his or her viewpoint from his or her perspective. When the speaker is finished speaking, then discuss.
• Listen for the big picture or the main idea of the speaker’s argument. Do not get so lost in the details you miss the major point he or she is trying to convey.
• When it’s time to respond, be honest and tactful in your response.

After compiling these tips I realized I have this habit of finishing the speaker’s sentences, thinking it was showing I was paying attention! When I listen from now on, I’ll resist the urge to speak for them. Do you have any takeaways from this? Discuss them with someone and foster your listening skills!

DeAnna Wolf
VP Education
Top of Texas Toastmasters

Meeting recap for 7/12/14 - Summer Blockbusters

Top of Texas was its usually lively and inviting meeting on July 12th. Even with only eight members and one visitor we were able to keep up the energy of a full house meeting. The theme of the day was Summer Blockbuster Movies. As the Toastmaster for the day I threw in a few tidbits on interesting movies that were in the theater and how much money some of these popular movies grossed. 

Only two changes were made on the agenda and we jumped right into the meeting. Aparna guided the general evaluation team through the necessary roles. The word of the day, truculent (aggressive / savage) was chosen by Shannon. It was used 5X during the meeting. Interesting phrases that were noted were “freshly squeezed” and “shining my lights”. There were four table topic participants, Shannon, Aparna and new members Jonathan and Bobby. Aparna took home the best table topic ribbon for the day. 

Bobby, braved the waters of being the timer for the first time. He did a great job of juggling the timing jobs of the table topics, a speaker with a Q & A session, an evaluation and even handing over the duties so he could jump in to participate in table topics himself. Bobby says he was not nervous while being the timer and he asked a few clarifying questions to help him understand for the next time. 

The speaker of the day was Jeff Wright. Jeff spoke from the Speaking to Inform advanced manual and completed project #4, Fact Finding Report. This was a 5 to 7 minute speech with a 2 to 3 minute Q&A session. His speech title was “Raw Milk, It Does a Body Good”. Jeff gave information on the differences between pasteurized and raw milk and gave two sources to find raw milk available commercially. Jeff was quick on his feet when answering questions from the audience and he did a wonderful job speaking to inform. 

Regina gave Jeff’s evaluation. She found Jeff’s speech informative, well prepared and complemented his dialog with the audience over the Q & A session. The only suggestion was to use visual aids when speaking to inform in the future. Overall Regina said that the speech was timely and well delivered. 

I served as the listener and quizzed the audience on detailed questions of the meeting. Lina Choun, our presiding officer, asked visitor Lucia R. for her guest comments. Lucia said she liked the group and would like to be a part of it again. New member in TOT? I believe Lucia will be back for more. 

It was discussed that the TOT annual barbeque will take place on August 2. Brisket, black bean soup and veggie burgers will be served. All members are welcomed to bring a side dish. Invitations and a list of sides will go out soon. 

Submitted By
Judy Pérez, DTM

How Readable is Your Writing?

Do you struggle with editing? I certainly do.

Whether it a be a speech, a resume cover letter, or a blog post I struggle with writing the perfect sentence.  I use too many words.  Sentences, or whole paragraphs, are written with a passive voice (like this one).

Microsoft Word will catch many of the "there" versus "their" type of errors. But wouldn't it be great if there was an easy way to grade what you've written? Wouldn't it be nice to have a tool that points out where sentences could be made less sucky by changing the length, voice, or word choice?

You are in luck.  Hemingwayapp.com is a simple application that analyzes the readability of your writing. Copy and paste into the editor and color highlights appear showing you areas of improvement. 

Check out the attached photo for the grade a first draft of this post received.  As you can see, there were several issues to address.








Are you writing your next speech? Before the final draft, I encourage you to let Hemingway provide sound editing advice.

Submitted By
Jeff Wright
President
Top of Texas Toastmasters

The First Step

We’re now at the half way mark for 2014! Every year, at the beginning of the year, lots of us make resolutions and set goals.  How are you doing on yours? Have you moved closer to what you want? Have you begun the work you need? Have you taken that 1st step?

The members of Top of Texas have definitely been doing all that. I see you participating in contests, moving into officer positions that will stretch you, finishing education goals, and stepping outside the club for leadership positions. We got our blog up and running.

All of that AND making healthy changes in our personal lives as well! Ana Ortega inspired us to pay more attention to our health with a speech she gave to our club earlier this year. Because of her inspiration, some of us are eating healthier and even participating in marathons.

But, how did we start to achieve our goals? How did we begin to work on making our New Year’s Resolutions come to fruition? How did we begin to make changes?

We started with 1 step. Just one. And then we kept moving.

Each day is a chance to start new, to set up a plan to make the decisions that will lead us where we want to be, to take that 1st step.

Submitted By
Sandra Price