Speaking and Listening: Toastmasters Experience

At last weekend's District 24 Toastmasters Conference, one of the guest speakers, Dr. Dilip Abayasekara, talked about the importance of the "two legs" of excellent Toastmasters club meetings: 1. Emotional Experience 2. Educational Progress This was an "ah-ha" moment for me because it perfectly captured what I love about Toastmasters:  I get to form real connections with my fellow club members as we support one another ("emotional experience") while also learning new things and improving my speaking and leadership skills ("educational progress").  These two "legs" reflect that we have both emotional  and educational  needs that Toastmasters can help fulfill. For those who are Toastmasters members, Dr. Dilip gave us two questions to ask after each meeting to make sure we are fulfilling both of those needs: 1. Do I feel emotionally enriched? 2. Am I learning and improving? If you find you cannot answer "yes" to both question...

 I wrote the title of this post a full week ago and was amused to see that between writing the title and finally writing the post, the exact same phrase was used in the exact same context in which I intended it. What is that context?  Planning a Toastmasters Division-level speech contest for two different Divisions as part of a single event.  A speech contest is quite an affair in and of itself, but double the contest means double the fun and potentially double the work.  Fortunately, I was far from alone in planning this event.  Double the contests also means double the pool of potential helpers, and the helpers were amazing! The biggest challenge for me in planning this event was giving up control and letting others do what they were meant to do.  If I had tried to do it all, it would have been far too much.  (Plus the guidelines of the contest make it so that I wasn't even allowed to "do it all.")  By dividing up tasks between a contest chair, ...

 Is there a "right" way or a "wrong" way to be a mentor?  I would say there are some pretty obvious "wrong" ways: Never talking to your protege == WRONG Not listening to your protege == WRONG Not showing any interest in your protege == WRONG Not answering questions while also not trying to find answers == WRONG Mentoring just to "check a box" == WRONG These "wrongs" are pretty obvious, by after reviewing the "Advanced Mentoring" project from Toastmasters, I realized there was a key thing I'm not  doing as a mentor that I really should, and that's getting feedback on how I'm doing . As with most things, I can't really know if I'm doing well or not unless I have some way to assess how I'm doing.  With being a mentor, that means checking with my protege from time to time on how our relationship is going.  Toastmasters provides some questions both for regular (suggested monthly) check-ins on the relationshi...

Yesterday I attended a Toastmasters workshop on "corporate clubs," meaning Toastmasters clubs that are fully supported and managed by a corporation.  The workshop, led by Pat Johnson, DTM, PIP, emphasized the importance of the corporation  partnering with Toastmasters in this effort.  Rather than simply "allowing" the club to exist, the decision-makers in the corporation actively work with the Toastmasters leaders to ensure the educational program provided by Toastmasters is effective at their corporation. This got me thinking about the difference between "allowing" something and actively partnering with others to make it successful.  If I think something is a good idea but I'm not really invested in it or I have higher priorities, I might "allow" someone else to work on it - I won't get in their way and I might even offer advice - but I won't be active in making it happen.  There is no "partnership" and no "ownership...

Every month, Toastmasters District 24 leaders (folks who help Toastmasters clubs in mostly Nebraska) get together for an educational session. This month was a special session presented in person by our Region Advisor (someone who assists several Districts) Jamie Pickering. The session was about self-motivation and self-leadership, including discovering the power you may already have without realizing it.  Though the session mostly covered things I had already considered, I thought it was worth drawing attention to the "five points of power" that Jamie discussed.  As Jamie stated, we are unlikely to have large amounts of all five points of power, but we certainly have at least some degree of some of them. The five points of power are: Knowledge - what you know Personal - interpersonal skills and vision Relationship - connections to others in power Task - control over resources or tasks Position - title or authority to make decisions In my job, I feel I have a lot of knowledg...

Rail Talkers invites you to their special event:  "Breadwinners' Tricks and Treats" on Saturday, October 21 at 1:30pm at the  Benson Branch of the Omaha Public Library, 6015 Binney St, Omaha, NE, 68104. Join us to tell a tale, share a reading, or simply be delighted by what others have to say! Those wishing to actively participate get up to 10(ish) minutes to read from the work(s) of others or tell a story of their own creation.  The theme of "Tricks and Treats" is meant to inspire you, though using the theme is not required. The event will have three categories, with a prize for the audience favorite in each category: 1. Readings (read a favorite short story, poem, or other work) 2. Compilations (combine excerpts from various works into a cohesive narrative or message) 3. Stories (tell an original story - real or imagined) Speakers also have the option to receive an evaluation for credit in Pathways!  The "Connect with Storytelling" and "Vocal Va...

 Today was "Dundee Day", an annual street festival in the neighborhood where one of my Toastmasters clubs meets.  As a part of the community, our club hosted a booth at the festival.  At the booth, many people (mostly kids) engaged with club members as we asked them to speak into a microphone and share their name along with a story, joke, or what they liked about Dundee Day.  In return, they got to pick a prize from our table. I saw a wide variety of reactions to this "ask" to speak up.  Some were excited to speak to speak; some needed encouragement before realizing it wasn't so scary; some outright declined the opportunity.  In all cases, though, we got to show people a taste of what Toastmasters is about:  giving people a platform to find their voice and helping them become better communicators in a positive and encouraging environment. When Toastmasters, or any organization, can go beyond our normal meetings and get out into the community, we can re...