Mabel joined Toastmasters in July, but she isn’t a typical First-Timer. She has attended multiple contests before, but always as a guest. As a mother of a young daughter, Mabel had not felt like she could join a club herself before this year, although she has come to District 84 Conferences as a guest to support her Toastmaster-member
husband, Michael.
She says that her prior conferences were each a ‘beautiful experience’, but that as a guest she couldn’t participate fully in all the conferences had to offer actual Toastmasters members.
This year, several factors converged that changed Mabel’s status from ‘Guest’ to ‘Member’. Her husband, Michael, helped charter a new Toastmaster’s Club, which needed a couple of people more to reach charter strength. Always interested in joining a club, ‘You Talkin’ to Me?’ seemed the perfect fit.
“It was close to home, it needed help to make its numbers, Michael was a club mentor, and my daughter, at four, is now old enough to understand that I have has to go to my Toastmasters meeting on Thursday evenings,” Mabel explained. Mabel joined ‘You Talkin’ to Me?’ in July, and has already given three speeches.
When asked what was different about being a ‘First-Timer’ rather than a Guest, Mabel’s enthusiasm was evident. She talked about meeting fellow Toastmasters and learning from them through sharing stories and experiences.
She absolutely loved the educational sessions she attended, including David Loyd’s ‘Fixing Your Fractured Fairy Tales’, Linda Desheuteurs’ ‘Unleash Your Speech Magic’, and Karl Righter’s ‘The Magic of Bombproof Humor’. She was in the front row for the 7:30am ‘First Timer’s Conclave’. “Early mornings are no problem for me,” Mabel
says. “I am a Morning Person.”
She believes it is important to get involved, and learn as much as she can now that she is a Toastmaster. She wants to get as much out of her experience as possible. That’s why she participated so energetically in the First-Timers’ ‘Three Levels of Enchantment’ competition, not only completing all three levels of the program, but finding five of the ten secret scrolls that were held by selected DTMs at the Conference.
When asked how she felt about winning the contest, she laughed. She says she told her husband, “If I win the contest, forget about the fact that we’re together. Let me feel the way I am! You know that I am a social extrovert. I’m a little crazy. I’m going to scream and enjoy it!”
She kept her word! When she was named the winner, she ran screaming with excitement all the way from the back of the ballroom to the head table to collect her prize, and then all the way back to her table. Mable was ‘Enthusiasm’ personified.
She says that while she always enjoyed the conferences, this one was different. Now that she has the club experience, she understands far better what is involved in the speech contests. She’s anxious to try competing herself, already making plans to participate in the Table Topics Contest at her club this spring.
She says she finds herself tuning into people’s crutch sounds and words. “It’s amazing how you get aware, when in the past you didn’t pay any attention.”
As for future conferences, Mabel is making plans to attend the Spring Conference in Lake Mary. She is already working on her Science-Fiction themed costume for Friday night.
She recommends that every Toastmaster go to a Conference. “Then you’ll really know what Toastmasters is all about. Going beyond the club, hearing other people’s stories, growing, seeing other people grow – it’s just an amazing experience! You grow, too. It’s fun, entertaining, and educational. It has it all! I recommend it highly; it’s an everlasting experience.”
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