Knights Toast Open for Members

by Megan Hyde reprint from MKH: Life & Style Writing

Whether you have a specific event to prepare for, or want to feel confident when called upon to provide an impromptu few words, there is an opportunity to work with others of a similar mind state.  “Toastmasters International is a world leader in communication and leadership development.”  Toastmaster meetings serve as a chance to participate in more than a few trial runs at speaking among peers.  “A Toastmasters meeting is a learn-by-doing workshop in which participants hone their speaking and leadership skills in a no-pressure atmosphere.  Meeting participants also give impromptu talks on assigned topics, conduct meetings and develop skills related to timekeeping, grammar and parliamentary procedure.”

Knights Toast “is a newly forming Toastmasters Club located on UCF campus.”  Beginning this 
club just June 24, 2013, members meet on Monday nights and are looking to grow to become a bigger chartered group.  If you find yourself worried about how to go about joining a club like this, rest assured there is assistance  from the very beginning.  When a new member joins they are  not only provided a new member kit which “features a copy of the basic Communication and Leadership manual, general orientation materials and information regarding skill improvement in areas such as speech evaluation and the use of gestures,” but a mentor is also assigned to help guide the new member along the way.

This newly forming group of individuals each contributes to every assembly and are all working towards self- improvement while finding new opportunities to share their knowledge.   If you too have similar goals and would love to learn from others with similar ambitions, then mark your calendar to attend the next available meeting on an upcoming Monday evening.

Thresholds to Transformation

by David Barrett

Has your life ever been so tough that you couldn't even pick your head up? No matter how hard you try, it just won't lift up. This is an experience we have all had as infants. But as infants we are programmed to keep trying and trying through the frustration.  Eventually one day we lift and our head stays up; transformation, the world we see is now much larger.  Eventually this process repeats itself when we try to stand, over and over we get up and fall down, up and down…without ever making it; but one day we get a little higher, stumble, fortunately the ground was close, so we didn't have far to fall, but then one day success.  Seeing the world gave us the desire to move around, to crawl and walk, which brought similar frustrating but rewarding experiences.   These events transformed our lives and made the world even larger yet to see and explore!

David Barrett

Now imagine bringing our current worldly wisdom to our younger self to coach ourselves through this process of lifting our head, sitting up, crawling and walking.  Would you advise your younger self to not try because it is hard? Would you encourage yourself to wait till you understood better or had more experience? Would you give this advice to your children, or to anyone?  What advice are you giving yourself now? Does it contradict the answers you just gave to these questions?

Once when a fellow Toastmaster asked to postpone their speech, because they were not ready and fearful, I suggested they keep their scheduled time.  I offered for them to simply stand at the front of the room till their time was up, experience the fear, fall and learn to get up again.  They could read a book, tell a joke or simply explain how they feel at that moment.  It is these experiences that carry us across the thresholds in our lives.

Our world becomes larger at Toastmasters and we get better at speaking, listening, and thinking.
These are important skills for humans, as we are vulnerable to obstacles through distraction, reaction, fear, and emotion. In Toastmasters we create experiences that transform us to overcome these obstacles; we become more human with fulfilling and delightful lives.

It is important for us to stumble through this learning process so that we can grow and succeed.  This mimics our early lives as we went from a bundle of joy to a mobile toddler.  Our desire to have more fulfilling lives, understand others, influence and be influenced with appropriate discourse, gives us the courage to cross thresholds towards transformation.

Through these actions we create the events that transform our lives and provide us the platform for success.  Within Toastmasters we are dedicated to create a nurturing experience for you that guides you to that success; we are supportive, encouraging, helpful, nourishing, playful, and invested in your successes.

When my childhood friends picked sides for baseball, I was often the last one to be chosen. They said that while they liked me as a friend, no one would like me to be on their team if I couldn't hit the ball. So they gave me the Toastmasters experience. They devoted many hours to allowing me to practice hitting the ball. Many switched being the pitcher, but I just batted. My friends gave me constant encouragement and advice. I learned to hit the ball much better. Years later I played in the city baseball league. Guess who had the highest batting average in the entire city league. The Toastmasters experience was delivered to me by a bunch of fifth graders, and it helped me the rest of my life.

We all want you to succeed in a Toastmasters club, but know you may stumble and fall.  We will encourage you and give advice to help you with every step of your journey. We will cheer you across all the thresholds to your transformations.

Toastmasters Can Feed Your Appetite

by Cindy Schwarz

Sebastian Fellsmere Toastmasters meeting is the place to be. Members satiate their knowledge with speaking and leadership skills, while indulging their stomachs with a southern style burger, deep fried catfish or a bowl of swamp cabbage: it’s mind and body learning simultaneously. This north county Toastmasters Club meets at Marsh Landing Restaurant at 44 N. Broadway St. in Fellsmere.

The Toastmaster organization was founded by Dr. Ralph C. Smedley in Santa Anna, California in 1924. The club’s function is to help people learn effective techniques to better themselves with public speaking and leadership skills. Members can join at age 18 and remain for life. There isn’t any age limit.

“It’s an organization where you can take a job that you don’t know in order to learn how to do it without getting fired,” said Ron Parpart, a former District 84 Governor and a past District Evaluation Champion.

According to Ron, there are three types of people who ordinarily join Toastmasters: people terrified of public speaking, those who are already good speakers and want to hone their abilities, and people whom English is a second language.

Pim Love, DTM

For Pim Love, English was a second language. Joining was a necessity. Originally from Thailand, Pim works at Rockwell-Collins in Melbourne, Florida.  Her supervisor insisted she join Toastmasters to improve her English. It was 1983 and Pim made $3.60/hour as an assembler.

Advancing at the company was not an option for Pim. She would have to learn to speak English more fluently. At Toastmasters, Pim learned proper English by speaking in front of people. She learned leadership skills, too. Today Pim, a former college dropout, returned to college because of her confident English, has a B.A. degree, and has advanced six times at Rockwell-Collins.

For anyone not certain about joining Toastmasters, Ron Parpart has some pertinent advice.

“Go visit two or three clubs before you decide. You’ll find one that fits,” said Ron.

And that’s the message Pim wants to get out about Toastmasters. Join, improve your English, learn to dispel the fright demons, and meet new friends. The atmosphere at the Sebastian Fellsmere club is one of camaraderie and good will. Each club has a certain environment —theirs is homey, inviting. A language barrier need not deter anyone.

Current Sebastian Fellsmere club members include a Home Depot greeter, a Goodwill employee, a photographer, several retirees, and even a female sailboat captain. Diversity is key to inviting people from all walks of life, all stages of their careers. Anytime is a grand time to join. Speaking better, leading better has no time limits.

Toastmaster members learn their skills by continually practicing them. At each meeting there is “Table Topics” where members are put on the spot and ad-lib a story. Table Topics experience is great for job interviewing and thinking on your feet.

Other times the speech topic is known well in advance and members rehearse and practice beforehand.  The first speech a new member gives is his or her “Ice Breaker” which is about them, their story. Time limits are attached to each story. New members learn to time others as well.

Speaking skills are also honed by feedback. Members evaluate and give positive, reinforcing feedback. Leadership skills are learned by volunteering for cabinet posts and club duties. The variety of speeches and leadership posts is conducive to continuous learning and improvement.  Skills learned are always in demand.

National club dues are $36 every six months. There are no local club dues. The Sebastian Fellsmere club holds an auction twice yearly. Items sold include those presents anyone wants to re-gift, gently used “antiques” and any number of “priceless artifacts”. Members bid on each item and the highest bidder buys the item. 

Money generated from these auctions goes to purchase trophies for winners of speaking and leadership contests. In 2008, Pim Love won the Toastmasters District International Speech Competition. Competing against nearly 1,000 contestants, Pim won with her, “Why did the Chicken Cross the Road” speech. It’s available to view on YouTube.

Toastmaster members can go on to national prominence. National level winners are oftentimes in- demand speakers who garner extraordinary speaking salaries. Toastmaster skills can open up some very diverse avenues.

Formally, the Sebastian Fellsmere Toastmasters Club met at the North County Library. In 2010, they relocated their meetings to Marsh Landing in Fellsmere, Florida. They meet the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m.

An open letter to D84 from Monty Ray

Monty Ray Davidson, ACG

by Monty Ray Davidson, ACG

----My District 84  Family,

First off --Thank you to everyone!  Your words, thoughts, and energy were all there with me in Ohio!

The events of the Convention are still decompressing within me.
  But here’s what you need to know:

IT WAS AMAZING!!!
You all have to go to least one International Convention in the course of your TMI journey.

This was one stellar affair!  Everyone at the Convention were very kind, professional and supportive.  I got to connect with TMI members from all over the planet. (One lady from Japan gave me these cool little origami book marks for my daughter.)  Things like that I’ll never forget.-J

Cincinnati is a beautiful town. If you’ve never been, you simply have to go.  It’s a city steeped in rich history and great food.  (Outside of my Mom’s Meatloaf, the best I’ve ever had.)  Things like that I’ll never forget.-J

Now we get to it.
  How was it to compete in the Semi Finals?

AMAZING!
90 of the best speakers on the planet in one big room, then they broke us up into 9 groups of 10.   Tremendous talent represented there.
 At the end of Thursday, 9 of us were left.

Friday after the Finalist de-brief I holed up in my hotel room and just ran my Finals speech Sticks To You, over and over again.  Taking occasional breaks to walk to streets of Cincinnati, eat, and watch Bones episodes on TNT.

Saturday,  I know many of you were watching (Thank you April!)  When we went live around the world @ 8:30am.

9 people representing Dubai, New Zealand, Bulgaria, South Africa, and the U.S. 

9 people, 9 phenomenal stories.

The 8 contestants I was up there on stage with will forever have my admiration for being in the moment and the incredible journey that led them to that morning at the Duke Energy Center.

I did my Bug Bunny impression before the entire planet!

AMAZING!-J