October 2017 Newsletter - District 35 Toastmasters

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Gift of growth for Gift of Gab
Go for YOUR gold!
Here we grow!
Friday Pie Day
Pathways rolls out in other districts; D35 looks forward to our turn
Speechcraft in the District and in the club
Fall Conference Fun
It takes incentives!
Division contests to begin
Area contests wrap up

Corporate club comes back from the edge

Gift of growth for Gift of Gab

When Jennifer Strand returned to active participation in the Gift of Gab club in August 2016, the club was down to 2 active officers and were holding meetings only once a month due to lack of participation. Things looked bleak for the continued existence of the club. Gift of Gab is a corporate club at W. W. Grainger in Janesville. The few remaining members did not want to give up on Toastmasters and felt strongly about the value the club could bring to the members and the company.They began a series of promotions. In February, at an internal fair, 43 employees stopped by and expressed an interest in getting more information. Follow up with the employees, and their managers provided an opportunity to sell the benefits of Toastmasters and resulted in new members.In April, a career development booth attracted another 29 interested employees with similar results.

Jennifer has attended manager luncheons to solicit their support. Many employees have jobs which require them to be on the phone most of the day. Taking a “break” to improve their communication and leadership skills hasn’t been an easy sell.Recently, they invited all past Toastmasters and newly interested team members to a luncheon. Approximately 20 people come to this event. The club asked for feedback from past members. They explained recent club changes and how joining or rejoining could help their professional growth and development.The drive to continue to understand barriers that prevent people from being members is a key.Since the luncheon, at least 6 potential members indicated that they want to visit the club a few more times before committing.Currently, all officer roles are filled. Even though they lack experience, they are eager and willing to learn and run a successful club.”I have loved all the networking with everyone in the Janesville Grainger building. I have met many people and have become a point of contact to them which not only has help with the Toastmasters side but has also help with team members knowing who to contact with specific Credit questions,” said Jennifer. “I have also really enjoyed seeing my officers and myself through this process become more confident. We have had a few events where I have asked them to step up and they have been phenomenal! With all of us being new to our roles and without training we have been growing through the process which is making us all well rounded because we are all learning from each other. Their confidence and ability to speak about a club they truly have interest in and are great examples of how hard work does pay off!”Gift of Gab currently has 15 paid members, up from a base 13 in July and 9 last year. Three members are expected to complete their Competent Communicator (CC) awards this year, an achievement that has only happened once in the club’s six year history.

While it hasn’t been easy, Jennifer and Gift of Gab have shown what persistence and a good plan can achieve.

Keith Cumiskey, DTM ✉
District Director

Go for YOUR gold!

One concern I’ve heard from members is that with Pathways coming in the not-too-distant future, there is no point in moving forward in the current educational program (especially if you are not going to achieve your Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) award).

I disagree; there are many benefits to gain by continuing within the current educational program until you move to Pathways.

The current program has dozens of competencies that you develop by completing your Competent Communicator, your Competent Leader, or any Advanced Communication or Advanced Leadership award. Will you hone some new presentation skills by completing an advanced manual? Will you be able to better facilitate groups by serving as Club President, as Toastmaster or by organizing a speech contest? Could your basic speaking skills use improving? You will find the answers to all of these questions to be “yes”. All of these skills can be improved in the current program.

Also, you will keep any current designation you achieve in Toastmasters for as long as you are a Toastmaster. So if you are a “CC, CL” or “ACS, ALB” you have that forever. These designations will be a testament to the hard work and self-improvement you have already undertaken.

After winning the 1,500 meter title in the 1976 Summer Olympics in a very slow time, New Zealander John Walker was asked by a reporter if he was disappointed in not setting a world record in the Olympic final. He responded, “Every record set in Montreal will eventually be broken and forgotten. The gold medal is the thing they can never take away from you.” I encourage you to think of your continued achievement in the current educational program as your personal “gold medal” and the future achievements in Pathways as your “world record” to be broken in the future.

Here we grow!

District 35 has completed paperwork for two new clubs!

Salesmasters in the ABDF region and Marion University in Fond du Lac have each garnered over 20 charter members and their paperwork is being sent to Toastmasters International to make it official!

Just like how clubs want to bring in more members to share the fun of learning communications and leadership skills, on the District level, building more clubs brings in more people to share Toastmasters growth and networking — so new clubs are a goal every year.

Salesmasters is a specialty/advanced club focusing on sales skills, closing the deal and using communication skills and pursuasion to improve customer activity. Tom McFarlin, DTM, worked with District support to plan demo and organization meetings to get this club chartered.

Marion University’s new club is in the Eastern Division; Eastern Division Director Gina Glover and Scott Dell worked with college administration and District 35 team members to develop this club and complete charter paperwork. Students can maximize Toastmasters experience because they’re learning these skills early in their professional development — bringing leadership, public speaking and teambuilding skills to early job opportunities gives a one-two punch in personal promotability!

If you know of a corporation, organization or location that might be a good fit for a Toastmasters Club, please contact Rozaline.janci@gmail.com or your Division Director to bring this opportunity to the District’s attention.

You don’t have to create a club on your own; Rozaline and her team are eager to help.

Congratulations to Rozaline Janci, DTM, Club Growth Director, and her supportive team for helping District 35 reach growth goals!

Friday Pie Day

Late in the 2016-2017 Toastmaster year – I put out a challenge to the Trio – Keith Cumiskey (Program Quality Director, Ed Thelen (Club Growth Director) and I as the District Director. If District 35 reached the Distinguished District Status – would we all be willing to take a whipped cream pie in the face at the Fall Conference?

Well of course – we all said YES.

On Friday, November 3, 2017 – the evening before the Fall Conference at the Crowne Plaza in Madison – Keith, Ed and I will each take a pie in the face to celebrate this awesome event for the District. You may be wondering – who gets to actually toss the pies? We’ll have an auction – with all proceeds raised going to the Smedley Fund at Toastmasters.

For more information on the Ralph C. Smedley Fund – Click Here

Stay tuned for more details!

Pathways rolls out in other districts; D35 looks forward to our turn

Education is the critical component for every Toastmaster in all 17,000 club meetings across 144 countries. Our club is where we come to develop and practice communication and leadership skills. This safe, supportive, and encouraging environment allows us to work on our skills using projects and assignments that enable us to practice and build real–world skills in a variety of disciplines. We learn at our own pace, using a proven curriculum that was built on guiding principles that have been in place since Toastmasters was founded in 1924:

Experiential learning – By giving speeches and fulfilling leadership roles, we practice and improve.
Peer feedback – Grow and improve through honest and supportive peer evaluation.
Mentoring – Experienced mentors encourage, guide and support us in toward our goals, and help to achieve more than we thought possible.
Self-paced program – Develop skills at our own pace and comfort level.

These educational components provide us abundant opportunities to learn. When Pathways launches, we’ll have nearly 300 competencies to explore with options to study online.

Pathways began its pilot rollout early in 2017 and continued in September with the launch of Region 2. Pathways is now available to members in another 1,100 Toastmasters clubs in Hawaii and the western United States.

Region 6 (Michigan and Northern Ohio) and Region 7 (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Northern West Virginia, and Pennsylvania) are scheduled to roll out Pathways at the end of October. Recruitment has begun for Pathways Guides* in Regions 10 and 12 in anticipation of an early December launch.

District 35 (Wisconsin and Upper Michigan) will launch Pathways with Region 5, expected sometime in 2018. View map of District and Region alignment. One goal we must meet to successfully launch is to schedule and visit a minimum of 70% of our District’s clubs. During the visits, Pathways Guides will conduct a presentation explaining the navigation of Pathways and also deliver a Club Kit. Scheduling plans will be announced when we learn our exact launch timeframe.

What can your club do now to help District 35 prepare for a successful launch?

Ensure that every member of your club knows how to log onto toastmasters.org to access their personal profile. (World Headquarters reports that fewer than 20% of all members have ever logged in.)

Invite members to view a Pathways video to help them build their understanding of this exciting new educational program.

Next month’s Pathways article: Pathways Guides and Ambassador

Speechcraft in the District and in the club

Several months ago, Julia McIntosh, a former Toastmaster member from Cream City Communicators, asked if we could conduct a Speechcraft at her business location. After a few months of internal promotion, we began the first of the six week sessions on August 1. Nine students participated in prepared speeches, table topics, evaluations and assumed meeting roles.

Speechcraft is the quickest means by which future Toastmasters can jump right into the process of improving their speaking skills and an effective means by which a club can build its membership or a new club chartering.

A Speechcraft meeting is structured and run like a condensed Toastmasters meeting with short educational topics during the meeting and time for coaching at the conclusion of each meeting. Speechcraft’s short duration appeals to people with busy lives who want to improve their speaking skills but don’t want to make a long term commitment (yet).

Speechcraft students learn public speaking and evaluation skills in a safe, supportive environment and derive many of the benefits we as Toastmasters are already familiar with but may have taken for granted.

The Speechcraft sessions were coached by Keith Cumiskey, DTM, Cindy Laatsch, DTM, Janet O’Rourke, ACB, ALS, Buonnong Khamphoumy and Mark Ruedinger, ACB, CL.

The American Society for Quality (ASQ), with headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a knowledge-based global community of quality professionals, with nearly 80,000 members dedicated to promoting and advancing quality tools, principles, and practices in their workplaces and communities.

Sentry Toastmasters in Central Division started their Speechcraft in September.

Sunburst Toatmasters in Division F will facilitate a speechcraft starting in October at Mount Pleasant Village Hall; please contact the club to volunteer or enroll.

If your club is interested in conducting Speechcraft, please contact your Area or Division Director for more information or go to https://www.toastmasters.org/education/speechcraft.

Fall Conference Fun

Stay tuned to the D35 Facebook and Web site to keep up with news and announcements — more information is forthcoming about educational sessions, keynote speaker Aaron Beverly and Friday night fun. Educational sessions include real-life information you can use on nonverbal communication and parliamentary procedure; markeplace displays on leadership, programs and club culture will inspire members and clubs with new ideas.

If you missed it, check out Cindy’s article on a great fundraiser and celebration of our Distinguished year!

Friday and Saturday evening rooms are still available at the Crown Plaza in Madison; the special room rate has been extended until October 11. Get your club registered, get your individual members registered, and have a great weekend of inspiration, networking and Toastmasters core values! RISE Up on Saturday, November 4!

For more information please contact either Conference Chair Angela Graham or Program Quality Director Ed Thelen.

It takes incentives!

Congratulations to Expressions Toastmasters, Rasmussen Toastmasters and Waukesha Toastmasters for your superlative membership growth reflected by your Finish Line incentive results! Check with the incentives page on the D35 website for up-to-the-minute opportunities to garner Toastmasters gift certificates, gift cards and bragging rights! Did you get your Club Success Plan in? Many of these programs run the full Toastmasters year, and some are awarded at the Spring Convention. While those dates feel a long way off, get your plans together. Membership drives, PR programs, active web sites — they’re all up for kudos!

Next Stop: Division Contests

The final area contests will be held October 1, leaving only Division Contests between the District’s top humorous speakers and the prize of being the Funniest Toastmaster in Wisconsin and the UP. Cheer your club, area and division members along as they perfect their timing, tone and nonverbal delivery! Volunteer to help with contests — without volunteers they don’t happen. And check out other divisions — you never know what you’ll learn from watching new speakers.

This is a summary, but check the D35 web site for most accurate, up to date information and additional data — addresses, admission fee, schedule of briefings, etc.

Div	Date/time	Location
F	10/7 – 9:30	Harley-Davidson University, MIlwaukee
B	10/7 – 11:30	Harley-Davidson University, Milwaukee
W	10/7 – 9:30	Sacred Heart Hospital, Eau Claire
N	10/7 – 2:30	Portage County Public Library, Stevens Point
E	10/14 – 1:30	Brown County Library/Weyers-Hilliard, Green Bay
A	10/14 – 9:30	Medical College, Wauwatosa
C	10/21 – 10:00	McFarland Public Library, McFarland
D	10/21 – 10:45	Shorewood Village Center, Shorewood

Area Contests Completed!

Here is a selection of some contests we’ve celebrated over the past month — Congratulations to all contestants, and thank you to all volunteers that made these possible! Contact your Area and Division Directors to volunteer for the next round of contests![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery interval=”3″ images=”266,267,268,269,270,271,272,273,274,275,276,277,278,279,280,281,282″ img_size=”large”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Thank you!

I wanted to thank all the contributors and Toastmasters who shared their photos, events and information with the Newsletter — sometimes through social media, sometimes right up until deadline! I want to bring information to all members and celebrate accompishments — thanks for your help! If you hear about something you want to share with the district, please contact me at tflynn_d35@yahoo.com — I’d love to give it some publicity![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]