October 2018 Newsletter - District 35 Toastmasters

Home » All Posts » October 2018 Newsletter

Fall is here! And so is the latest edition of your District 35 Newsletter. Here are the contents:

Winter TLI: Saturday, December 1, 2018

Madison TLI- December 1, 2018 at Monona Terrace

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN FOR TOASTMASTERS LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE (TLI)

Winter TLI is open to all club officers and members.

Please register here: District 35 Winter Toastmasters Leadership Institute 2018-2019

Cost: $20.00 per person (includes lunch). Don’t miss out on this TLI. We have awesome educational sessions scheduled that will help in your personal and professional growth. We are fortunate to have as our keynote speaker:

Eldonna Lewis Fernandez, ACS, ALB, Accredited Speaker, who will be teaching us the art of negotiation in her presentation Think like a Negotiator. We are also excited about Farzana Chauhan, our Region Advisor conducting a session on “Leading Together.” The day will be filled with additional great sessions led by people in our district, including: Pathways, Effective Communication – Advance Speaking Tips for Engaging Your Audience, and Marketing Techniques to Grow Membership. Mark your calendar for Saturday, December 1, 2018 at Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, 1 John Nolen Drive, Madison, WI 53703.

Registration begins at 8:30 AM with Educational Sessions from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM.

Do you need a ride from Milwaukee to Madison for the event? We have chartered a bus with a capacity of 40 passengers. Cost for the bus is $25 round trip. The bus will depart Downtown Milwaukee (McKinley Marina) at about 7:15 AM and Goerkes Corners at 7:45 AM and arrive in Madison at approximate 8:45 AM. Planned departure is 4:30 PM, arriving back at Goerkes Corners at 5:30 PM and Downtown Milwaukee at 6:00 PM. You can sign up and pay for the bus when you register for the event on Eventbrite.

Come learn and have fun with your fellow Toastmasters at our Winter TLI. Can’t wait to see you there! Register today!

Kamal Irani, member Cream City Communicators

STEPPING OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE

Five years ago I was living in sunny, warm (mostly hot which I loved!), resort-like Phoenix, AZ. One lovely spring day my husband dropped a bombshell. He had decided to interview for a job at a world famous research center in his field of transfusion medicine – the Blood Center of Wisconsin. I asked him which city that was in. He said timidly, “Milwaukee.” I looked at him with a stunned expression and retorted, “Milwaukee – that dark and horrible place!!!” Based on my cousin’s experience while visiting Milwaukee, she had painted a picture in my mind of grey skies, rusty bridges, and feet of snow for most of the year. I was saddened and dismayed to leave the warm desert climate and my wonderful friends in Phoenix. It was extremely difficult to even think of my husband, my two teenagers, and I making this move, especially since I was resistant to change and so comfy where I was.

I started reading books and magazines to help keep me positive and motivated during this time of change. In my reading I learned something that I had not paid attention to for a long time – I learned about the “Law of Intentionality.” I realized that over the past 15 years, I had let complacency take hold of my life and had lost focus on improvement – I was settling for good enough. I became intentional about finding ways to make a significant change in this world. I found a new business opportunity that would allow me to empower women in India by being a mentor, coach, speaker, and trainer.

To assist me in reaching this goal of significantly improving the lives of women in India, I had to “intentionally” improve my speaking skills. Years ago I had heard about Toastmasters from my neighbor and had noticed how positively it had influenced her communication and motivation at work. I decided to google Toastmasters in Milwaukee and was instantly impressed by the Cream City Communicators’ thorough, detailed, and user-friendly website. This began my wonderful journey of learning, sharing, and growing with my fellow Toastmasters. During the past year, I have earned my Triple Crown and am so appreciative to have been invited to present Youth Leadership presentations throughout the city. I am so grateful, thankful, and honored to be a member of Cream City Communicators in Milwaukee, the beautiful lake city of Summerfest, Friendly People, Fish Fry, Beer, and Good Times!

Ed Thelen, District 35 Director

KEEP BUSY IN DISTRICT 35 THIS FALL!

With the changes to our Toastmasters calendar this year, with no District Fall Conference and corresponding speech contests, it may seem like an easy, breezy time in Toastmasters right now. However, I challenge and encourage all clubs to take advantage of the lack of scheduled District events and spend time to strengthen your clubs by taking the following steps:

Step up public relations (PR) efforts and make sure your social media is up to date. Are the last pictures on your Facebook page/website from two years ago? Have you changed locations and your MeetUp does not reflect this change? With it still being relatively early in the Toastmasters year, it is the perfect time to do a “PR tune-up” and make sure everything looks fresh and up to date. An additional activity to do is to research some potential places/companies that might be good targets for membership for your Toastmasters club and see if you can advertise Toastmasters in those locations. In addition, finding ways to be active in community events will allow you to spread the word of Toastmasters to others.

Make efforts to increase membership. Fall is a great time to coordinate an Open House (Guest Night) that has a specific focus on obtaining new members. These can be fun events if they are planned out well in advance with at least a few members leading the charge. This might be a good time to have a guest speaker that can also provide some good PR for your club after the event. I’ve always felt the best way to get more non-Toastmasters to become Toastmasters is word of mouth. Therefore, anytime is a great time to invite someone you know to a club meeting and join Toastmasters. It might be easier to do this now that school has been in session for just over a month and people are settled into school year routines. Even if the guest is not interested in joining at this time, by spending a few minutes chatting after the meeting, you can determine some other individuals to reach out to as guests for a future meeting.

Plan those speeches out to get your educational awards. With no District events on the calendar, this is the perfect time to lay out your speeches for the remainder of the year so that you (hopefully) are not cramming to get two or three speeches done in June to earn the next level educational award. As part of the District leadership, this also helps the Area Directors with their visit reports and us as a Trio to determine which clubs are trending toward being Distinguished Clubs so we can provide additional encouragement and support to those clubs.

The 2018-2019 Toastmasters year is just over a quarter of the year complete. June will be here before we know it. Taking advantage of the newly rescheduled time frame by working on some items this fall will pay dividends when things pick up with our December 1, 2018 District 35 TLI and the corresponding make-up sessions and speech contests that will be coming up throughout 2019. Cheers!

Rozaline Janci, District 35 Program Quality Director

TOASTMASTERS BASEBALL LEAGUE

Last year was football. This year it is baseball. Does your club have what it takes to dominate the District 35 Toastmasters Baseball League? Earn amazing rewards throughout the year as the club achieves more and more bases. The club with the most points “earned through acquiring bases” as of June 30, 2019 will be our District 35 World Series Champion.

TBL – Toastmasters Baseball League

Member earns a CC—1 base∗
Member earns an Advanced Communicator—2 bases∗
Member earns a CL, ALB, or ALS Leadership Award—1 base∗

Member earns a DTM (either education program) — 1 home run – 4 bases
New Member Joins Club (new, reinstated, or dual)—1 base∗
4 or more Officers trained at division officer training (twice per year) – 1 base
Member attends District 35 TLI in Madison on December 1, 2018 —1 base

Member attends District 35 Spring Convention —1 base
Open House is run by club (max 3 per year)—1 base per open house plus additional 2 bases for every member that joins on the date of open house.
5 DCP goals obtained by December 31– 3 home runs (=12 bases) or
5 DCP goals obtained by March 31– 2 home runs (=8 bases)
5 or more members raid another club—1 base ♦⊗
Run Speechcraft— 1 home run (= 4 bases) ♦

TI Rule -Speechcraft workshops presented in the club require 5-10 participants. You can easily accommodate more participants in a workshop presented outside the club.

Member earns Pathways Level 1—1 base
Member earns Pathways Level 2—1 base
Member earns Pathways Level 3—1 base
Member earns Pathways Level 4—2 bases
Member earns Pathways Level 5—1 home run (=4 bases)

Every 4 bases earned equals one point

Every home run is 1 point (= 4 bases)

3 ways to get a home run: Run a Speechcraft, earn your DTM (in either educational program), completion of all five levels in any path.

∗ For these goals, clubs with 12 or fewer members earn an additional base.
♦ For these goals, e-mail a picture and date of Speechcraft or raided club banner and club officer to TBL@District35.org to obtain credit.
⊗ Can only raid one club one time and bases can only be gained starting October 1, 2018.

Kris Pool, District 35 Club Growth Director

MOMENTS OF TRUTH

Time sure does fly fast as an adult, especially when you must prioritize home, work, Toastmasters, and a multitude of other activities. I can’t believe it’s October already. Over three months of the Toastmasters year is under our belt. And it’s time to reevaluate the steps we’ve taken so far this year in our clubs and put into actions plans to continue making positive improvements.

I would like to thank all the clubs and members that submitted their membership renewals on time. Our members that are the backbone of our organization. In addition to our current members, we need new members to bring a unique, fresh perspective to our club.

Increased membership is one area in which most clubs are struggling. But what can we do to increase our membership? Several of the officer training sessions I attended this summer suggested clubs conduct the Moments of Truth module from The Successful Club series to find out how current members and guests feel about the club and use that as a starting point for where improvements can be made with the club.

Have you taken time to review the Moments of Truth yet?

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Guests greeted warmly and introduced to officers and members
Guest book and name tags provided
Professionally arranged meeting room
Convenient meeting location
Guests invited to address the club
Guests invited to join

MEMBERSHIP ORIENTATION

Formal induction, including presentation of membership pin and manuals
Assignment of mentor
Education programs and recognition system discussed
Learning needs assessed
Speaking role(s) assigned
Member involved in all aspects of club activities

FELLOWSHIP, VARIETY, AND COMMUNICATION

Guests greeted warmly and made welcome
Enjoyable, and educational meetings planned
Regularly scheduled social events
Members participate in area, district, and International events
Inter-club events encouraged
Club newsletter / website / social media published and updated regularly

PROGRAM PLANNING AND MEETING ORGANIZATION

Program and agenda publicized in advance
Members know program responsibilities and are prepared to carry out all assignments
All projects are manual projects
Meetings begin and end on time
Creative Table Topics™ and activities
Positive and helpful evaluations

MEMBERSHIP STRENGTH

Club has 20 or more members
Members are retained
Promotion of club in the community or within its organization
Club programs varied and exciting
Toastmasters sponsoring new members recognized
Regular membership-building programs

ACHIEVEMENT RECOGNITION

Award applications immediately submitted to World Headquarters
Progress charts displayed and maintained
Member achievements formally recognized with ceremony
Club, district, and International leaders recognized
Club and member achievements publicized
DCP is used for planning and recognition

If you answered “NO” to any of the above statements, that means your club has an area or two for improvement. If you’re not gaining new members, ask yourself why? What kind of impression are you making on a prospective member? Do they sign in and sit in the corner by themselves the rest of the meeting? Do you have a designated member to sit with the guest, review the information in their guest packet, and help explain the meeting as it moves along? Do you follow-up with the guest and actually ask them to join?

Once a guest is a member, how do you continue to build a relationship with them? Is a new member orientation conducted? One-on-one training for Pathways? A mentor assigned? Are they encouraged to sign up for their icebreaker or functionary roles? Do you know their goals and why they joined your club? Reach out and make the personal connection with your new members.

And don’t forget about your seasoned members. Are they encouraged to challenge themselves by participating in Pathways? Have you helped them determine what their goals are for the year and how you can help them to achieve those goals? Do you offer social outings and events, so you can have fun in an informal setting?

There are so many different opportunities to gain membership, but it may take some work. I encourage all our members to invite and bring along a guest to your next club meeting. What do you have to lose? What do you have to gain?

HUGS!

DISTRICT 35 TOASTMASTERS AMBASSADOR PROGRAM

Also, if you haven’t already seen the posts, the new and improved Club Ambassador Program has launched for 2018-2019! The new name is Toastmasters Ambassador Program.

Previously, a member had to attend three club meetings of which they were not a member, attend one Area event, attend one Division event, and attend one District event to receive a Club Ambassador pin.

This year, we are offering a tiered incentive. Attend any combination of club meetings (of which you are not a member), Area, Division, or District events and then fill out the Toastmasters Ambassador form. Area events include a contest or Area Council meting; same for Division events. District events include TLI sessions and the Spring Convention. Yes, the program officially runs to the end of April and the Spring Convention is in May. But if you are registered by April 30, 2019 for the Spring Convention, you can submit the form and receive credit.

Members who attend 3-5 events will receive a blue ribbon; attend 6-10 events to receive a red ribbon; attend 11-15 events to receive a silver ribbon; and if you attend 16 or more events, you will receive a gold ribbon. The member that attends the most events will receive a certificate for District 35 Toastmaster Ambassador of the Year.

Start planning to attend the different events now. Who knows what you’ll learn and who you’ll meet along the way.

Please contact Kris Pool, DTM with questions about this program at Kris.Pool.DTM@gmail.com.

^{<– pssst… hidden letter… make note of it… check out next 4 newsletters too… to spell secret word}

About

Resources

Events

Connect