Tips From A Radio Host

by Esther Lenssen, SunTalker Editor

Roland Via is a host at Ormond Beach-based radio station Goliath Radio 1380 AM. His show, the “Via Report”, airs Mondays through Fridays from 2 to 4:15 pm and Saturdays from 7 to 10 am. He gave Area 44 Governor Gene Kowalski, Assistant Area 44 Governor Christine Langley, and EduSpeakers' VP Education Lynn Kruse a few tips on how to promote Toastmasters International on local radio.

Roland Via's website - rolandvia.com - announcing
"E. Kowalski + Toastmasters District 84"

Roland, what advice could you give to Toastmasters who would love to promote their clubs and events on local radio?
Roland Via: The best way for Toastmasters to get radio coverage is to submit a PSA (Public Service Announcement)*. Submit your PSA to any station you would like to broadcast your message. Also ask to see if there is a show you could be a guest on to promote Toastmasters and the event.

Toastmasters International offers our clubs a selection of PSAs we can use. What if we would like to specifically announce a certain local event?
Roland Via: In that case, call the station and ask for the station’s Public Information Assistant PIA). You can create your own PSA at the station under the PIA’s guidance. Make sure to have your script ready in advance. The message should be about 20 to 50 seconds in length so the station can add their aprox. 10-second tag. Ask the studio to put your recorded message on a CD for you. That way you'll be able to submit your PSA to any station, not just the one that you made the recording at.

What advice would you give us for live, on-air events?
Roland Via: Schedule to be on the show a week in advance of the event. If you announce the event too close to the event, it doesn't allow people to plan ahead. Then, as the event gets closer, call in during an “open mike” session and remind the audience that the event is coming.

Thanks a lot, Roland, for your tips!

More information on PSAs and Toastmasters International resources:

*What is a PSA?
A Public Service Announcement is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge. PSAs usually promote programs, activities or services provided by governments or non-profit organizations. For many non-profit organizations, PSAs are an important way to promote their messages via the media, as many of them do not have large media budgets to cover the costs of air time or ad space.

Where does Toastmasters International provide PSAs which I could use to promote our organization in my area?
Toastmasters International currently offers five audio PSA files in the Media Center on toastmasters.org. Under “Multimedia”, you'll find the “Audio and Video Gallery”, or simply click on this link: http://mediacenter.toastmasters.org/videos

The MP3 files titled “Brick Wall,” “Education,” “Success,” “Live Your Dreams,” and “Fear of Speaking” are from 25 to 28 seconds long. They cover different topics and target groups. You can view the scripts in the “PSA scripts” PDF file. The MP3s can be downloaded from the site and forwarded to your local radio station. The announcements promote Toastmasters International and invite the public to find a local club at toastmasters.org.

For TV or online media, you will also find a video PSA, which you can view online and download as FLV or MOV files.

Don’t Waste an Opportunity!

by Christine Duez, CC - Winter Haven Toastmasters

What does your club do when the calendar presents you with an extra week. Winter Haven Toastmasters 2104 decided to make the most of the occasion! We have a Speakathon and can accommodate up to eight speakers that night. It is a great opportunity for members to get in one extra speech toward their goals.

When we first discussed this exciting possibility, our VPE, Richard Hoar, ACB, ALB, wanted members to have an oral evaluation, but the time constraints of the meeting were a challenge. He came up with a great idea that we would like to present to all Toastmaster Clubs.

During those wonderful third meetings, we have the Thought and Pledge, a few opening remarks from our President and then begin a "Speakathon." Each speaker’s introduction includes the goals of the speech they are presenting. After their speech, the Toastmaster/Table Topics Master reads one of the speech goals and calls on a member of the club to give an impromptu evaluation. This gives the speaker meaningful feedback and the evaluator gains experience in extemporaneous speaking. After the speeches are concluded, we call for the General Evaluator and the Timer reports.

We conclude with any upcoming events and then adjourn. These meetings are usually done at the same time as a regular meeting. It requires the Toastmaster/Table Topics Master to do a bit more preparation, but it’s always worth the effort.

Richard Hoar, ACB
Winter Haven Toastmasters

Richard Hoar, was the Toastmaster/Table Topics Master for our first "Speakathon." We had seven speakers that evening, a General Evaluator, and a timer. The new format ran smoothly. Everyone was paying close attention when the goals of the speech were read since they might be called upon to give an evaluation. Most of the members were free to give a speech or an evaluation. The two, third Tuesdays we had during the winter season has helped two of our members complete a manual and helped the club earn points towards the Distinguished President Award. If you can get access to your meeting room on those special third meeting nights, try having a "Speakathon." It is great fun and helps everyone with their goals.

Area 44 Live On Air

by Esther Lenssen, SunTalker Editor

Friday, March 8, 2013 was the day for Area 44 Governor Gene Kowalski, Assistant Area 44 Governor Christine Langley, and fellow Area 44 Toastmaster Lynn Kruse—the day they promoted Toastmasters International and their Area 44 International Speech and Table Topics Contest live on radio. They were invited to Goliath Radio 1380 AM. The Ormond Beach-based radio station offered them the opportunity to talk with host Roland Via on the “Via Report” at 2:30 pm.

Christine Langley, Lynn Kruse and Gene Kowalski

Gene Kowalski, ACG, ALB, had been on radio before, announcing the Area 44 Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contest in the fall. Christine Langley, ACB, ALB, VP Education at Toastmasters On The Halifax in Holly Hill, and Lynn Kruse, ACB, ALB, VP Education at EduSpeakers in Daytona Beach, were the Area 44 Contest Master and Contest Chair and radio newbies. Roland Via started by asking Gene to explain what Toastmasters is. Then he wanted to know from Christine and Lynn why they got involved with Toastmasters. But he also went into contest details: “What can you win?,” “What's on a rating sheet?,” “It says here in your program that there is one minute of silence between speakers. Does that mean there's no applause?”

Our Toastmasters sounded very knowledgeable, comfortable and at ease. Gene knew all the Toastmasters International statistics; Lynn and Christine have great radio voices; and on top of that, Christine managed to “smile through the radio”. Other Toastmasters called in and added their perspectives.

In the following interview, Gene, Christine and Lynn are sharing their experiences about their radio appearance:

Lynn, Gene, and Chris "on the air"

Congratulations, guys, you just promoted your Area 44 International Speech and Table Topics Contest on local radio, on Goliath Radio 1380 AM with Roland Via. How exciting was that?
Lynn: It was a great experience! Last year I attended publicity workshops in Philadelphia and New York. This was a wonderful opportunity to put some of that knowledge to use for an organization that contributes greatly to the American way of life.

Christine: I had that “I’m feeling nervous but I’m trying to ignore it” feeling in my gut beforehand, but it turned into an “I don’t know if I can speak without my voice shaking” feeling by the time our mikes were turned on. I really didn’t expect to be overcome with that much nervousness. However, by the end of the show, I was feeling much more relaxed. It was like it is when you take on a new Toastmasters leadership position. At first you wonder what you got yourself into and then, when you finally feel like you know what you're doing, your time is up! But, all this in 30 minutes.

Radio host Roland Via - Goliath Radio 1380 AM

I know you're all experienced Toastmasters, but I assume that you're not invited to radio talk shows every day. Were you a little nervous, and if so, what did you do to overcome that nervousness?
Christine: When my nerves were trying to overtake me, I tried to shift my attention to Roland and his questions instead of focusing on how I was feeling. It also helped that when he asked questions that I knew I couldn’t answer, I could just point toward Gene and Lynn. Shifting my attention away from my nerves was really easy when the calls came in because I had to listen really hard without the visual cues of a person in the room. That part was fun for me because that’s where it turned to a conversation rather than an interview. That’s the main takeaway for me—make it a conversation and just have fun.

How did you prepare for the show?
Christine: I spent some time preparing notes beforehand—that’s how I put my thoughts together. I put together notes about my years in Toastmasters, what Toastmasters is all about, who joins Toastmasters and why, and the benefits of participating in a Toastmasters Contest. I also looked at the station’s website and looked up Roland’s website as well. That really helped, I think.

I really enjoyed meeting Roland. I think he did a great job asking us questions and making us feel welcome and comfortable. He also spent some time afterwards giving us tips for radio exposure in the future. I would definitely go back and do this again!

Lynn: I reviewed some of what I had learned about being on radio shows and made mental notes of the most important facts about Toastmasters that I think the public should know.

Gene: I prepared as I would prepare for any speech. I research my topics with the end result being to have fun. Coordinate among the participants. Lynn, Christine and I met before the interview to agree on areas of discussion, gather facts and ideas. Working together as a cohesive unit is essential.

Gene, how did you manage to get air time at this local radio station?
Gene: Goliath Radio has three shows that host local groups—Big Talk with Big John, Roland Via’s Report, and Paul Carpenella’s Mid-Day Volusia. This was our second appearance on the Via Report. We also appeared one week prior to our September 2012 Humorous Speech and Evaluation contest. Barbara Kincade, a two time Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM), helped us coordinate with the radio station to have this awesome opportunity to talk candidly on live radio about Toastmasters. Barbara is a dedicated Toastmaster always willing to help others improve.

How has your participation in the radio show benefited your club, your event or Toastmasters International in general?
Lynn: We didn't get an immediate influx of attendees at our Area Contest, but the District Contest in the same venue on Saturday, April 13th at 10:30 am may benefit if it is also promoted. Better communication benefits families, neighborhoods and nations. To maintain our democracy, we need more and better leaders. As the public realizes that Toastmasters promotes growth in both areas, all of our clubs will grow. We may even have more than 900 new clubs!

How has it benefited you personally?
Lynn: The radio show benefited me personally by giving me some real life experience to go with the other learning I have been doing.

Christine: It was definitely a growing experience for me and I learned a lot—about handling myself in this kind of situation and about the medium. This is not an experience that I would have ever pursued on my own, so I am very grateful that Gene asked me to participate. Also, next week I am scheduled to be video interviewed while in Las Vegas at a convention for a cloud-based software product that I use at work. The lessons that I learned from my experience on the radio today will definitely help me provide a better interview next week: relax, focus on the questions rather than my nerves, make it a conversation, and enjoy myself.