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

A Walk Down Memory Lane

With contest season drawing to a close this coming weekend at the District 25 conference, attendance was back up at our weekly meeting this past Saturday! Not only did we have a guest, we also gained a new member.

Shannon, the meeting's Toastmaster, chose High School Bands for the theme.  She took us all back to our high school days with most of us reminiscing about the instruments we played when we were younger.

Jodie gave a speech from the Speeches by Management manual.  She told us about the three new District 25 Toastmasters clubs that formed this past month!  A question and answer session followed her speech.  We all learned a little more about what goes into forming a brand new Toastmasters club.

During Table Topics, Aparna asked quite a variety of questions.  Judy demonstrated the drill team's walk that influenced her to try out for the drill team instead of playing an instrument.  Richard, our guest, told us about the instruments he dreamed about being able to play.  I gave my thoughts on what kids learn from being in a band.  Dan closed out the Table Topics portion of the meeting by telling us about the pride and joy he feels from his son's journey as a piano player.

It was a lively meeting and I'm looking forward to finishing out the year with this great group of Toasmasters!

Lina Choun, TM

Photo Credit: DaveWilsonPhotography via Compfight cc

It is so easy to say no, but it is much more interesting to say yes!

Recently I was going through the mail and putting a list together of things I had to do over the next couple of days. One of those things was to pack for a conference I have this weekend. I thought of the laundry and how many dresses, slacks and heels I had to pull from the closet. All of this planning was hanging over me and I thought to myself, "Ugh, do I want to go to this conference."

It would be easy to say no so I didn’t have to go through the laundry, wash, dry, pack, gather my toiletries, drive to San Antonio and be away from my husband and my normal routine. All of the preparation is daunting. Having to get out of your normal routine, and putting yourself in a strange place with new people can be overwhelming to some.

As I continued sifting through my thoughts and the mail I looked down at the newest Toastmaster magazine. The front page showed an audience at a Toastmasters conference. The headline read “Breaking the Ice Since 1924, Celebrating Toastmasters’ 90th anniversary.” My mind flooded back to the past 10 years of Toastmasters conferences I have attended, competed in, planned, packed for and returned from. I learned from the best speakers and leaders in the district and I had a chance to know my Toastmaster friends on a deeper level. I developed a huge network of friends and colleagues that shared my interest in public speaking. Each conference was like a homecoming where I could reconnect with Toastmaster friends that were outside of my usual network.

Toastmasters have been gathering for 90 years to educate and connect us in the area of public speaking. When you say yes to opportunities you invest in yourself to have experiences that you would not have just hanging around your normal environment. While it is easy to say no, it is much more interesting to say yes. The next opportunity to expand your experience and network in Toastmasters is at the District 25 Conference on November 14th and 15th at the DFW Marriott Solana.

Judy Perez

Lessons Learned from a Scrambled Agenda

Top of Texas meetings are always fun and exciting. Last Saturday was no exception.  We played a fun game call "Scramble the Agenda" where the object was to rearrange as many agenda items as possible.  Seriously, it was nice to see how adaptable we are to change when things don't work out exactly as planned before a meeting.

One of the "on the fly" agenda items added was a round robin evaluation.  Lina had the opportunity to practice her speech evaluation skills before the upcoming division contest.  After that evaluation, we all were able to provide her with praise for a job well done and with suggestions for improvement.  I am sure Lina will represent Top of Texas well at the November 1st Division A Contest.

There were several lessons learned I took from the meeting.

Be Flexible - While we always have assigned roles going into a meeting, these are subject to last minute change.  Be willing to step out and take on a role that you weren't prepared to fill.  Sometimes the best learning opportunities arise from unplanned events.

Be Prepared - Have a speech in your back pocket that can be delivered spur of the moment. This could even be a half-baked speech that needs further work. Practicing in front of a live audience is a great way to get feedback that makes your speech stronger.

Be There - It can be hard to get up on Saturday mornings.  Life happens and absences are necessary.  But Top of Texas is an ingredient that always enhances my weekend much like a fine wine enhances a meal.

Jeff Wright, ACB, ALB

Photo Credit: vincen-t via Compfight cc

Mentorship and Competition!

Saturday’s meeting was small but very productive! With all the excitement later that day at the Area 14 contest, we had a club meeting that was short in attendance but rich in content.

Our toastmaster of the day, Jodie Sanders, did an excellent job in encouraging member Jennifer Jones to give her impromptu, practice, Icebreaker speech. We learned about Jennifer’s early life then we provided feedback so that when Jennifer gives her Icebreaker speech the next time, she will do even better. If you missed Jennifer’s Icebreaker speech, stay tuned because you still have a chance to hear it.

At the same time, Lina used the meeting as practice for that afternoon’s Speech Evaluation contest. We gave her tips on what she could do to improve her evaluation technique and guess what? Lina incorporated those changes and went on to win the Speech Evaluation contest that afternoon and now she will be representing Area 12 in the Division A contest in November! Way to go Lina!

We managed to fill the entire hour of the meeting with excellent content, practice, and feedback. Kudos to Jodie for helping to mentor both Lina and Jennifer! There was only one casualty: the yellow-jacket wasp that made its way to the meeting… unfortunately he met his quick demise during our meeting.

Ana Ortega,  ACB, ACL