Using Your Gavel

Here are some tips from Robert's Rules of Order on How to Use the Gavel in Your Club Meeting:

One Gavel Tap
  - used to inform members to be seated
  - used to announce the results of a vote or outcome of decision
  - used to adjourn the meeting

Two Gavel Taps
  - the presiding officer taps the gavel twice to call the meeting to order

Three Gavel Taps
  - the use / purpose is typically assigned within the organization.
  - in most instances, it is used to instruct members to stand up.

Tips from Tops of Texas

How To Start a Youth Leadership Program within Toastmasters

One of the strengths of Toastmasters is learning the value of communication and competent leadership.  It’s such a great idea and offering that Toastmaster makes available to anyone interested in helping to start a Youth Leadership Program.  Since getting started and taking that first step is always one of the hardest things we encounter….let me take that first step for you and help you know what to do to get started. It’s really not that hard!  

Here is where you go on the TI Website to get the material:  Click Here

Once on the site, assuming you are sure you want to start a Youth Leadership Club, then the Youth Leadership Kit is what I recommend you grab to start with.

PLEASE NOTE: this kit only serves to supply enough materials for 5 students.  

 Here’s a link directly to the Youth Leadership Kit ç start here – this has the forms and info on what you will need to submit. The kit itself is $17.00

  

…and depending on how many students, the way to start I would think is get the kit, then go back to the material and get what additional materials you need for any additional students once you have a better grasp of the program.  The limit for any Youth Leadership Program in terms of size is 25 members.

Here is the description that can be found on the Toastmasters International Website as of Dec 2016:

........................................................................................................

Youth Leadership Program

The Youth Leadership Program is a workshop consisting of eight one- to two-hour sessions that enable participants to develop communication and leadership skills through practical experience. The program is presented during or after school, or on weekends. Participants learn to:

• Evaluate present speaking ability
• Organize and give speeches
• Give impromptu talks
• Control voice, vocabulary and gestures
• Give constructive feedback and more

Each Youth Leadership Program group is limited to 25 people. Participants are selected by the sponsoring Toastmasters club or by a cooperating organization (such as a school).

A local Toastmasters club serves as sponsor and provides a coordinator to present the program. The individual coordinator attends each meeting, where he or she will lead most of the presentations and counsel participants. The coordinator assigns an assistant who can fill in for the coordinator should he or she be unable to attend a meeting. Meetings generally follow a format similar to that of a Toastmasters club meeting, including an announced agenda, practice in parliamentary procedure, and the selection of presiding officers.

  ……..............................................................................................

Once you have received your kit from TI, start first by using the Coordinator Manual.  It provides what you need to submit to form your Youth Program with explanations. 

Please note that you really do need to get the Youth Leadership Kit from the link provided above to really get the materials you need to get started.  I’m emphasizing do this first. 

I also recommend you visit this website below as it will help you gain a better understanding of the program while you’re waiting on your kit to arrive.

Check Out This Website   <= after looking at several sites, I thought this particular site stood out as being one of the best and most helpful.

Then here are some other links I found that I thought might be useful:

PDF  <= PDF on “How to start a Youth Leadership Program”

Here’s an old Youth Leadership Guide from District 25, although some of the links no longer work. Still, the material is very helpful: Old PDF Guide

Check out this copy of a Youth Leadership Workbook in PDF form for reference.  Please note that I don’t know if this is still the most current workbook, but I’m sure they are similar and should be useful in giving you a visual idea of what you will be receiving in your kit to work with.  Go to: Workbook

Finally, a video interview on the Youth Leadership Program I found that isn’t atrociously long and has some content coupled with a nice show and tell.  Actually very useful and visually shows many items. Check out this Video

In summary,  here’s the order  I’d recommend be followed to get started with a Youth Leadership Program

1. Order the $17.00 kit from TI – this has the Coordinator Manual                                                        

2. Watch the video... it’s a little fluffy, but it also gets you familiar with what you’ll get and need to do

Then…

3. Dive into the Website I sent you above.  I think this has what you need to help you really get started once you get your kit.

4. Look thru the other links, and spend a moment with the one showing the workbook. These links should offer some ideas / formats and a look into the Youth Leadership Program further before you get your material.

5. Final point - as you read and watch and get your footing and understanding, I would recommend going ahead and getting whatever else you may need for any additional students only after you had a chance to receive and review your kit.  It will take a little time to get the forms in place, and it won’t take long to get the additional manuals to begin – and – this way you can be sure of exactly what you need once you’ve had a chance to rummage thru your kit further.  Just a suggestion.

You may also find that as you learn How to Start and Present a Youth Leadership Program that it would provide an EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITY for a How To Informative speech. You could also perhaps invite others to help you out, form a committee and teach “How to Start a Youth Leadership Program” via an HPL project (High Performance Leadership) with the goal to get other clubs informed and more youth programs started within our District.

Great Links to have in your Back Pocket

Everybody knows a few ... here are some for the speaker, writer, and Toastmaster to help out!

District 25

Toastmasters International

Stage West Annual Playwriting Contest

Poetry Society of Texas

Storyteller Night (Stage West - Fort Worth)

Benbrook Library

Pocket Sandwich Theatre

Toastmaster Manual Links

Carroll Creek Toastmaster Collection of Useful Links

50 Clever Ideas for Table Topics

Do you C what I C?

I know .. I know ...we need an acronym for the word acronym.  In Toastmasters, acronyms are alive and well there too.  You just can't get away from them it seems.

 There's CC's and CL's and DTMs, and ACBs, and on and on and on and to speak the lango you'll  need to tango with the tongue of the Toastmaster.   

But  S-L-O-W  D-O-W-N ... it's not really all that bad....if you're just starting out, you do need to add vitamin C to your Toastmaster diet, as C stands for "competent" and "communicator" making you a Competent Communicator (or CC) once you've completed your first 10 speeches.  Let's start here!

Competent Communicator = CC and consists of 10 speeches which are:

1. Speech 1: The Ice Breaker — The first speech of the Toastmasters program is about introducing yourself to your peers, providing a benchmark for your current skill level, and standing and speaking without falling over.
2. Speech 2: Organize Your Speech — Introduces the basic concepts of organizing a speech around a speech outline.
3. Speech 3: Get to the Point — Clearly state your speech goal, and make sure that every element of your speech focuses on that goal.
4. Speech 4: How to Say It — Examines word choice, sentence structure, and rhetorical devices.
5. Speech 5: Your Body Speaks — Shows how to complement words with posture, stance, gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact.
6. Speech 6: Vocal Variety — Guides you to add life to your voice with variations in pitch, pace, power, and pauses.
7. Speech 7: Research Your Topic — Addresses the importance of backing up your arguments with evidence, and touches on the types of evidence to use.
8. Speech 8: Get Comfortable With Visual Aids — Examines the use of slides, transparencies, flip charts, whiteboards, or props.
9. Speech 9: Persuade With Power — Discusses audience analysis and the different forms of persuasion available to a speaker.
10. Speech 10: Inspire Your Audience — The last of ten speeches, this project challenges the speaker to draw all their skills together to deliver a powerful inspirational message.

When you join Toastmasters, you are given a Competent Communication manual like THIS

 ...but Toastmasters is not just about overcoming your fear of speaking, improving your speaking, and building confidence.  It also builds leaders through it's Competent Leadership program.  Because leadership skills are so important and coincide with the ability to express yourself professionally, the other half of Toastmasters consists of improving your leadership skills.   The Competent Leader or CL can be worked and earned together with the CC program and both manuals are provided when a new Toastmaster member joins.   Like the CC's 10 speeches, the CL consists of 10 projects to help grow leadership skills giving you the opportunity to complete these while serving in various club meeting roles.   See the Competent Leadership manual HERE

Want to learn more?  Come join TOTTs (That's an acronym for our club Top of Texas Toastmasters) as we'd love to have you at our next meeting.   

You can visit our Web Page HERE

Come see us!

Time for Those 2016 Resolutions

As another year trucks in and another runs out…let’s analyze things:

This time last year the Dallas Cowboys were on a roll, and we knew if they didn’t win it all, that THIS YEAR (2015) would be THEIR year to go all the way!

Hmm – how’d that work out for us?

And last year, we knew going into 2015 we all felt uneasy about the economy … and going into 2016 it seems like Déjà vu.
But I think I did OK on my resolutions for last year :-)    I am of the breed that actually really writes them down, and really tries to stay after them beyond February.  I haven’t had that bikini / swimsuit one on my list for several years, it’s easier to just stay clear of watering holes.   But I did make some resolutions to continue the journey toward acquiring my DTM (a Distinguished Toastmaster Title) and so far looking at last year, I believe I’ve stayed on course!  So what’s in store for you this year?    

I asked a few fellow Top of Texas Members what their commitments were for 2016, and I’ve got to say that after hearing others chime in with their resolutions, I’m going to have to adopt some of them as mine too.  For instance…Marcus wants to pay off some debt and get back in the gym.  

For me, the gym is a debt…I mean, I don’t even know what the gym hours are.  Pretty bad.  I think I got my gym membership after guilt over a brownie bottom pie.  But OK! … This year I’m with Marcus!…the gym will make my list!

If we start going to the gym, just maybe when we give our speeches, people will be so overcome with our super hero physique, they won’t notice our “ums” and "ahs".  But then that’s what Toastmasters is for; and because one of my resolutions is to become a better leader and speaker, I want to up the ante and vow to end 2016 with my Advanced Leader Silver and Advanced Communicator Silver!  (OK, I’ve done it now, it’s in writing for all to see).  But I’m serious!  Toastmasters is such a great opportunity for all of us to improve, I just need to take advantage of it.  I hope we all do!

One of the best tips someone shared with me a few years ago was that in life, we should always work hard at recognizing and overcoming Parkinson’s Law.   I’ve found this to be a great tool for Toastmasters when you are trying to settle down to write that speech!   Parkinson’s Law states that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”  It’s really just a nice way to coin that favorite word we all know - procrastination.     Think about it – how many hours (and I mean LOTS of HOURS) have you spent in your life PREPARING to study, and deciding instead to clean a drawer that has been dirty since the Roman conquest just so you don’t have to sit down and study for that test, read that book, or write that paper?   It’s Parkinson’s Law that gives power to resolutions!   Really!   We have resolutions because we all suffer from procrastination … oops, I mean Parkinson’s Law. 

A good friend of mine showed me a trick.  If you need to finish up something you’re working on, rather than daydreaming or doing any of a 101 things you shouldn’t be doing that wastes time; (i.e. Facebook, email, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google, Groupon, MeetUp, eBay, texting, Spotify, Amazon, Rhapsody, Kindle, Pandora, Instagram, ESPN, Tumblr, IHeartRadio, Pinterest, Fox News, Fandango, MSN, Yahoo, YouTube, Nook, Periscope, WhatsApp, SnapChat, Netflix, Hulu, Vine, Kik, Craigslist, OfferUp, Etsy, Fitbit, E*Trade, Drudge Report, Audible, WebEx, Apple App Store, KickStart, OneDrive, iCloud, Dropbox or just that good ole’ fashioned phone call) …that instead, work to grow conscience about what you ARE doing with your time!!!   

Take notice of what's going on and recognize that you’re EXPANDING the time you have to instead fill-up the time so that you will finish what you need to be doing just in time to meet the deadline!   That's just BAD BAD BAD!   Stop wasting time, and knock it out ahead of time!   How you ask?  Simple.  Unplug your laptop and work from your battery only. 

You now have given yourself a window of approximately 3 hours to finish your work, and you can’t waste time with those 101 things because if you do, your battery will go dead before you finish!  Try and finish it before the battery dies, and remember to save often.  Hey, it works for me!   In the words of Timothy Leary (well sort of) “Turn on, Tune In, Plug Out”  I promise you will work faster and get things done!     

OK, so if that's as radical to you as Mr. Leary was,  then just do a 5 min (no longer) surge thru the house to get the drink ready, the pen, paper, and PC ready..then  hide the social devices in the next room to charge, turn off the TV, the radio, put the dog outside, take the phone off the hook, and sit down and start without anything to distract you.  If you have kids, tell them you are not to be disturbed or feedings and allowances will cease to exist. Well, maybe that's a little harsh, but make sure they get the point that knocking politely doesn't apply here.  Starting is usually the hardest thing for most of us.  Set a goal to finish by a certain time that pushes you and don't give yourself any time off for good behavior.  Just stay with it and knock it out!

  

Perhaps we need to make 2016 the year of getting things done.  Our country needs it, and we all need it in our lives more than ever with so many apps and devices to distract us.   I hope all your resolutions come true, and who knows – maybe I’ll run into you at the gym.   If not, I’ll see you at Toastmasters.

Happy New Year!

Ken Dorsey, CC