Bringing in the New Year

The end of year is fast approaching, and with that it’s time to start thinking about those New Year’s Resolutions. Last year, I made good on a few including joining Toastmasters. At the time of my resolution last year, I had not been to a Toastmasters meeting. However, shortly after the first of the year, I kept my commitment alive and found a neat link online that provided all the information on clubs from around my area: Toastmasters Find-a-Club. I spent some time on the site, and then made a simple spreadsheet from the information I collected so that I could see what clubs offered the times and the days that worked best for me. I also paid attention to anything the clubs might specialize in. I tried a few before visiting and then joining the Top of Texas Toastmasters Club.

I’d recommend to anyone who’s on the fence about joining, to just go and visit some clubs. In addition, be sure to visit the Toastmasters International website. Remember also that you can usually visit a club anytime. Once you join, it’s helpful to observe and watch others, and pick up on different techniques, however subtle they may be.

Fall 2014 Humorous Speech Club Contest winners
Ken Dorsey and Regina Clay.

I understand now that Toastmasters is what you decide to make it. The opportunities are definitely there. The group at Top of Texas that I chose to spend my Saturday mornings with is gracious, encouraging, and fun to be with, and not afraid to offer up some good tips and critiques to help you improve.



For me, Toastmasters has been one of the best resolutions I’ve made good on! I got involved, and managed to earn my Competent Communicator certification this past year. By participating heavily, I have opened enough doors to peer in and see just how much I have to learn, and how much is offered.

I’ll need to figure out what my Toastmaster resolutions and goals are for this coming year very shortly. And let’s face it, bringing in the New Year is always one of the prime times we have in life to toast!

Submitted By
Ken Dorsey

Aparna's Youth Leadership Experience

A couple of months ago, I got an opportunity to be the Youth Leadership Coordinator for Extraordinary Toastmasters At East Fort Worth Montessori Academy. I took the opportunity because this is one of the goals I needed towards my DTM. I was apprehensive and excited at the same time. After carefully planning out the schedule with the President of Extraordinary Toastmasters, the leadership club commenced on September 15th.

There were 5 students in total, ranging from grade 3 through grade 5. They were pretty enthusiastic from the start, and we worked as a team. The best part of Toastmasters Youth Leadership program is the wonderful manuals they provide to the coordinator and the students. They are very similar to our speech manuals with an objective to keep in mind. There were two officer elections and the students carried out the roles of President, Vice President, Secretary, SAA and Historian.

I saw a gradual improvement in their confidence and readiness to give speeches. They had a blast during Table Topics. Somehow, Table Topics was never intimidating to them, and they became experts at it. The finale was the speech contest at the end of 10 weeks. The students prepared hard, and in the presence of their family and friends, 4 students competed at the contest and did a fabulous job.

It was a very rewarding experience for me, especially when some of them mentioned that it made a difference in their life and that they are more confident in giving presentations. A fulfilling and exciting journey, I would never hesitate to do it again. Seeing a child beaming with confidence at the end of the training is definitely worth it.

I would like to thank Sandra Price for guiding me in this endeavor, and encouraging me throughout these 10 weeks.

Submitted By
Aparna Valluri

Communication Skills Overlap Personal as well as Professional

This past year I managed to get my Ham Radio Operators License (I’m now officially KD5DFW). I also attended some interesting courses and became a member of the SkyWarn team so I can now (as officially as I can see to make it) have an excuse to chase tornadoes should I ever get the urge to do so.  I also joined FISTS to help preserve Morse Code and I’ve participated with online learning and contests. Finally, I took some courses and joined CoCoRaHS (with a name like that who can resist), and now participate with Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow reporting via my backyard. There are so many interesting things available to us these days! 

However, the one thing I also did this past year that I must mention as the headline of my memberships is that I finally attended and joined a Toastmasters Club. I procrastinated over taking the initiative to do this for 20 years, primarily because I wasn’t sure how to, and I didn’t offer up the time to learn how. Yes, I am kicking myself I didn’t do it sooner. 

If you enjoy learning and improving your knowledge and skills, you really need to check out Toastmasters. The opportunities are many and they are what you make them. Those I’ve met through Toastmasters are involved just like me in that they are enthusiastic about succeeding with improvement and helping others improve. If you are concerned about speaking, know that the pressure to speak is what you make it. You join Toastmasters to learn and improve and the club provides the perfect outlet for you to do just that! No pressure to speak and everyone wants to help you feel comfortable. 

Of all the skills I can think of, being able to speak and articulate your thoughts well has to be at the top because communication is not only a key to success in business, it is also imperative to be able to communicate within a relationship. I’m quite sure that many relationships suffer because of the inability, fear, or avoidance of communication. We often think of communication as key to being able to climb the corporate ladder, but I’d take it a step further up that rickety ladder and state that we must recognize that communication is also key to life and your relationships as well. I hope that if you are considering Toastmasters, that part of your consideration takes into account the strong benefit it can have in your life, not just in business.  

And when it comes to learning to speak well, consider this personal motto: “There is no finish line”.

Submitted By
Ken Dorsey









Photo Credits:KN6KS via Compfight cc and Sandra Price

Candy Canes, Mistletoe, Christmas Pickles

The theme for our first December meeting was "December Traditions." As the Toastmaster for the day, I researched a few December traditions to share with the group throughout the meeting.

• Sticks of sugar shaped like a shepherd's crook was used by a choirmaster in the 1670s to quiet the younger children during long services. These became what we know today as the candy cane.
• Mistletoe is a parasitic plant. In the 1800s, couples would kiss under the mistletoe, plucking a berry after each kiss. Once all the berries were gone, the kissing stopped.
• The Christmas pickle ornament is hidden in the Christmas tree.  The first child to find the ornament on Christmas morning gets an extra present.

Our first speaker of the day was Richard, a member of Toastmasters for only a few weeks!  He presented his Ice Breaker speech from the Competent Communication manual. He opened up to us about one of his weaknesses, told us about his family, and shared his interest in being a lifelong learner. Ken, our second speaker, presented Project #3 from the Storytelling manual. We learned about a few interesting methods he used to teach classic stories to this sons. One of the adventures they went on included taking a trip to a fish farm when they read Moby-Dick.

Jeff tried out a new method for Table Topics this week which I thought was very successful!  Instead of posing a question, he used word association and allowed us to take our answers down our own paths. We took one to two minutes to present our thoughts on Santa Claus, Black Friday, Christmas Movies, and Holiday Foods. Is this the start to a new Top of Texas tradition?!

Submitted By
Lina Choun