Meeting Theme: School Is Out

School is out for most of the Top of Texas members!  Although I don't have any children beginning their summer break, I got to take a walk down memory lane as Jeff reminded us that most of the kids got out of school last week.  Shannon took us back to our school days as we gave impromptu speeches about our first (and second) jobs, our not-so-favorite summer time activities, and what we remembered most about our report cards.

Our first speaker, Ken, told us why D-Day was near and dear to him in his second speech titled "Seventy Years Ago."  He recounted a hunting trip with his family when he witnessed his dad's shotgun skills and learned that his dad was one of three Texans chosen to guard General MacArthur.  He also told us a story about white foxes and reminded us that when we lose the people who share history, we can lose history also.

Our second speaker of the meeting gave her tenth speech to finish up Competent Communication manual!  In "The Icebreaker Revisited," DeAnna challenged us to acknowledge and embrace our strengths, step out of our comfort zones, and take on accountability with pride!  She revisited her first speech and the feelings and thoughts she had as she started her Toastmasters journey two years ago.  Congratulations to you, DeAnna, on failing to quit!

I look forward to hearing more speeches from new and old Toastmasters during our summer breaks!

Lina Choun


Photo Credit: Libelul via Compfight cc

Top of Texas Elects New Officers

Top of Texas is a 6 month club. This means that twice per year the club considers and votes on the leadership team. In the Saturday May 31st meeting a quorum of members voted to affirm the slate of officers presented by the nominating committee.

Here are your officers for the terms starting in July 2014.

Jeff Wright will assume the responsibilities of Club President for this next term.  Jeff has served as the club Vice President of Public Relations for the last two terms.

Vice President of Education will be filled by DeAnna Wolf. DeAnna has done an outstanding job in the presidents role for the last two terms. As Immediate Past President she will chair the next terms nominating committee.

Sandra Price has served this club in an number of different roles and is one of the clubs six Distinguished Toastmasters. She will continue recruiting new members for a second term as our Vice President of Membership.

Lina Choun will be championing the Top of Texas website and blogging efforts as Vice President of Public Relations. Lina has most recently server as our club Secretary.

Eileen Pacheco is joining the slate of officers as our club Secretary. Eileen is one of our newer members and we are happy to see her take an active role in club leadership.

Anne Brown has done an outstanding job keeping us on the straight and narrow as Club Treasurer. She will continue to serve as our financial genius for the next term.

Ana Ortega is a long time member who has served in almost every club role. She will continue her second term as our Sargent at Arms. 

Please join me in welcoming and supporting these officers for the remainder of 2014.

Jeff Wright, CC

It's Always Fun to Celebrate at Top of Texas

Sandra, Class of '69, with her dad and brother.

"Celebration" permeated our Top of Texas meeting on Saturday morning. (And now you know what the Word of the Day was.)

Our newest member, Ken Dorsey, gave his Ice Breaker speech and shared his own personal Fort Worth Destiny. He has a fascinating story and I am looking forward to hearing more about his adventures.

Jodie Sanders gave her High Performance Leadership project "Presenting the Results" speech highlighting the highs and lows of her recent successful campaign for Lt. Governor Marketing, 2014-2015. She delivered her message with sincerity and emotion. Jodie gave our members the inside view of what it really means to run for a District Office.

Table Topics were quite entertaining. Ana Ortega gave us a demonstration of Chair Dancing. (It's nothing like pole dancing.) DeAnna Wolf shared stories of her recent Celebration at Joe T’s. Sandra Price reminisced about her High School Graduation rehearsal years and years and years ago, plus some inside information on how the students (and their parents) felt about their principal, the aptly named Mr. Snodgrass.

As always, we had a fun meeting while learning much!

Cindy Hinckley, DTM


Photo Credit: Swiped from Sandra Price's Facebook page

"Slow and Steady" Is Ana's Pace

Many of us are familiar with the tale of The Tortoise and the Hare. The hare, fast as lightning, thinks that he has the race in the bag over the slow tortoise. The tortoise, making slow but consistent progress, eventually wins the race. I think of myself as a tortoise - I'm not fast but I move forward in a consistent manner, and learn new things along the way.

Not too long ago I was at a class in my gym, and the goal this particular workout was to complete as many sets as possible in a set amount of time. We had a new hare in class who was speeding through the workout and pretty soon he was huffing and puffing trying to catch his breath. Me, the tortoise, progressed at my usual slow but consistent pace. And guess what?  Both the hare and I completed the same number of sets within the set time!

In my Toastmaster journey as well, I'm a tortoise - I may not speed through my speech projects or have ambitious goals to attain DTM within a short timeframe, but I am slowly moving forward and constantly improving. I'm also enjoying myself along the way - because learning should be fun!

The beauty of Toastmasters is that it's a self-paced program where you can go as slow or as fast as you like. I've been around Toastmasters long enough to see club members be like the hare and race through their first ten speeches and attain their CC award. But there are plenty of us tortoises, taking our time to attain our education goals. I personally think the tortoises have a better experience and tend to be in for the long haul.

Whether you choose to be a tortoise or a hare, Toastmasters will work for you - it's really all about you and how quickly you want to finish your journey. So, which are you? The tortoise or the hare?

Ana Ortega, ACB, ALB


Photo Credit: Elsita (Elsa Mora) via Compfight cc

Simple, Obvious Plan for Success

I know you have only read the title, but before you lose focus, follow these steps:

1) Get a pen and paper and write down five goals. Any 5 will do for now. Be Aggressive.
            Ex/Travel to Chile, Run a Marathon, etc.
2) Take these longer term goals, and turn them into shorter term goals.
            Ex/Buy Plane Ticket to Chile, Run a Half Marathon, etc.
3) Cut these down even further, to active steps you can take TODAY.
            Ex/Research Trip Cost and Set Savings Plan, Buy Running Shoes, etc.

The key here is to actively progress at least one aspect every day. It could be something as simple as sending an email out to someone or making a phone call even.

Keep it all on one sheet of paper. Take one minute to review the list every morning to stay focused; do not lose track of what is important to you. Step outside of your comfort zone, but avoid doing things that will make you miserable. Is this something I really want and am willing to put in a little effort for each day? If not, replace the goal.

As you dive into one area you thought was interesting, you might discover a new passion for something else. Or if your goals remain the same, you will at least be one step closer to reaching them every day. And if you do not have an interest in improving yourself, you would not be reading a Toastmasters blog.

Joining Toastmasters was actually the beginning of an ultimate goal of mine of using public speaking as an effective tool for communication rather than as a tool that effectively makes me look like a moron. I am admittedly very far from where I want to be in this regard. However, with a plan to address this issue, I have complete confidence in myself.

Seriously, if you have not started jotting down some goals, do it. The hardest part is putting the pen to the paper. Once you have something to work with, you can go from there. Life is short – take control today.

Thomas Kelliher

Photo Credit: creepyed via Compfight cc

The Three Musketeers of Persuasive Speaking

In The Three Musketeers, Alexander Dumas give us the characters Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. With the motto "All for one, and one for all" they use the tip of a sword to foil plans of Cardinal Richelieu and  persuade allegiance to the French crown.

In modern times, using a sharp pointy object as a tool of persuasion is frowned upon heavily. We instead must rely on words to get across meaning and elicit response to our cause.

Fortunately Aristotle gave us another set of Three Musketeers to rely upon  when words are our only weapon - Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. In his discourse on rhetoric he tells us that there are three elements, or three musketeers to extend the analogy, in a persuasive speech. Like their French cousins, these three elements share the motto "All for one and one for all". Each of the three must be present to be effective.

Ethos
Ethos is a Greek word that essentially means 'character'. In your speech this is where you establish credibility, helping your audience understand who you are and why you have expertise on the topic. It is more than just listing credentials however. To be effective, Ethos should include narratives that highlight your experiences.

Pathos
Pathos is where the attention is shifted to the issues of your audience. This is an emotional appeal to the listener's higher instincts. This is where you identify with their issues, extending understanding and empathy.

Logos
Logos is your call to action. This phase of your speech should outline solutions and provide concrete actions to be taken by your audience. It capitalizes on the credibility you've established and upon the emotional connection made with the audience.

Call to Action

This is all very interesting, but 'yawn', so what?

Let's boil it down. Here is how to use these Three Musketeers in your next speech project. Each of the three elements should be structured like the list below.

1. Ethos -  I have character and experience with which you can identify.
2. Pathos - Because I have character and experience, I understand your issues and concerns.
3. Logos - Because I understand your issues and concerns, you can trust the solution I am providing.

You can also use this structure to analyze a speech.
1. Did the speaker establish credibility?
2. Did he/she make an effective emotional appeal?
3. Was there an appropriate and concrete call to action?

I would love your feedback on this idea. Is it useful to you? How do you think it can be applied for improving your Toastmasters learning experience?

Please use the comment section to let me know your thoughts.

Jeff Wright, CC

Creative Commons Photo Credit to chibichii via Flickr

Are We There Yet?

Vacation transportation in the olden days

This Saturday morning (May 17) was a lively one, with Ana Ortega leading the way with the theme “Summer Vacation.” Memorial Day is right around the corner, so everyone knows that summer is too! Ana has begun her planning for summer vacation and brought up a good point: travel agents are very convenient to have, but people would rather plan every detail on their own to save money.

Jeff, our sole speaker for the hour, used the fifth speech out of the Speaking to Inform manual, The Abstract Concept. The objective of this speech was to speak on an abstract concept or theory and explain the idea in a clear and interesting manner. Jeff’s speech, titled, “A Framework for Personal Knowledge Management,” went into detail of how we can capture and measure knowledge in the Information Age. He opened with an interesting question, “How do you know what you know?” Cindy noted that it was a challenging speech, and that Jeff explained the theory well.

Table Topics was fun, covering everyone’s summer experiences. Snippets include:

• Thomas's memorable vacation spot - Clear Lake in Michigan.
• Ken’s childhood experience - being stuck behind a logging truck, taking a shortcut around, then ending up behind the same logging truck.
• Aparna’s childhood experience - nagging her parents about the eternities that took place before arriving at their destination.
• My favorite summer treat - the Sonic menu.

It was a fun, clever meeting, and I look forward to seeing even more people in two weeks!

DeAnna Wolf


Photo Credit: DVS1mn via Compfight cc