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

Toastmasters Taking HOPE to The Prisons

by Donald Thompson, CC

At Liberty County’s Correctional Institution annex in Quincy, Florida, a team of toastmasters lead by Chuck Rabaut, DTM participates in a demonstration Toastmasters meeting. The theme for the day is “HOPE.” The toastmasters along with institutional staff make the journey through fences, locked gates, and razor wire to the Chapel. Traveling through the iron jungle; “hope” isn’t the first thing on the sojourners mind. It is evident from inmate body language and other verbal and nonverbal communication “hope” is recessed in the minds of those whose stay is more permanent. However, hope isn’t so recessed that an observer doesn’t notice the distinct need for programming within the fences, locked gates, and razor wire that institute “hope.”

Toastmaster’s Gavel Clubs are becoming a catalyst for “hope.” The inspirational ingredients of a Gavel Club meeting promote confidence, self-esteem, self-worth, and leadership. Thus, Gavel Clubs and Toastmaster volunteers become instruments of “hope.” 

Quincy Gavel Club

One such agent of hope is Chuck Rabaut, DTM. Chuck leads the effort to establish Gavel Clubs in Northwest Florida. His promotion and leadership has led to 3 active Gavel Clubs in Wakulla Correctional Institution, and one each at Calhoun, Liberty Quincy, and Jefferson Correctional facilities, as well as an all female Toastmasters club in the Gadsden Correctional Institution.

Mr. Rabaut noted that “prisoners, like anyone desiring to enhance their future, need to do all they can to improve their skills in the areas of communication and leadership.” He believes that Toastmasters provides these opportunities for growth. When asked what inmates receive from participating in Gavel Clubs? Chuck noted, “Inmates are particularly prone to suffer from lack of confidence and low self-esteem, which are some of the same reasons we became Toastmasters.

Hope radiates from each Gavel Club meeting as change is embraced. At the Calhoun Correctional Institution’s Gavel Club meeting on April 1st, the forty plus inmates formed the Radiant Phoenix Gavel Club. The name heralds the inmate’s declaration of hope as they are raised out of the ashes of despair, low self-esteem and lack of confidence.

When asked what is motivating this pursuit, Mr. Rabaut revealed, “The return on investment to you and I is a reduced recidivism rate! That means the knowledge, skills, and abilities gained by these inmates will be put into practice when they return to become contributing citizens.”  He further stated, “WE ALL BENEFIT.”

We may not all be able to personally participate in the Gavel Clubs. However, we can facilitate “hope” through alternative means, such as providing monetary support or donating educational or leadership manuals and recycled Toastmasters magazines. Gaveliers receive copies of the Toastmaster Magazine as a part of the continuing education process. Like Toastmasters members, they utilize the magazines to reinforce what they have learned during their meetings.

Mr. Rabaut spends countless hours encouraging Toastmaster Club involvement and seeking funding from individuals and local Toastmaster Clubs. These tasks are imperative to the success of each Gavel Club. Of course, the success of these clubs would not be attained without the help of team members like Riley Smith, who also devotes his time to this effort.

Speaker Spotlight: Ron “Mel” Melvin, DTM

by Esther Lenssen, ACB

Ronald E. Melvin, DTM, also known as "Mystic Mel", is a humorous speaker who combines his presentations and workshops with entertaining magic. In his speeches he tells unique stories that encompass life coaching, inspiration and humor. Mel has been a Toastmaster since 1992 and his public speaking experience spans more than 30 years.

Ron Melvin, DTM

Last year, Mel was one of the nine finalists of the Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking, which was held in Orlando, FL, in August. In April 2013, Mel joined Area 44 Governor Gene Kowalski, ACG, ALB, and EduSpeakers' VP Education Lynn Kruse, ACB, ALB, at Goliath Radio 1380 AM to promote the Division D International Speech and Table Topics Contest on the “Via Report” with host Roland Via. Here are a few of the questions Roland asked and Mel's answers:

Roland Via: Did you think, when you first joined Toastmasters, that you'd be there [at the finals of the Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking]?

Mel: I always wanted to be there. To say that I'd get there... It is always a struggle.

Roland Via: Yeah, the desire is one thing, the ability to do it another.

Mel: I knew I could do it. It's just getting there... It's taken a lot of time, it's not an easy task to do. It takes a lot of time, a lot of effort and you have to get a lot of support from the other Toastmasters.

Roland Via: And that's one of the reasons that Toastmasters is so successful. It's not a “me” group, it's a “we” group more than anything else. Would that be correct?

Mel: I'd say that you're absolutely right with that. We in Toastmasters want everyone to succeed. That's the whole idea. Each club was started by people like the new people who walk in the door each week. They're there to show that they did it, and now we can help you do that.

Roland Via: That makes all the sense in the world. So you had to work long and hard on that, but Toastmasters gives you the tools, the ability and the training to move yourself along. As long as you have that master ingredient—and that's the desire to want to do it.

Mel: Yes, and when you have the desire, along with that has to come the desire to get support from others. You can't do this alone. Speaking is not only you; you can speak to a wall and be very good...

Roland Via [interrupts]: I know, I do that every day between 2 and 4 o' clock.

Mel [laughs]

Roland Via [laughs]: I talk to a lot of walls... Sometimes I laugh at myself...

Mel [laughs]: But you know, the other part is... who's receiving it. If you can get other people to understand and receive and feel the emotions that you're putting into your speech—that makes it a good speech.

Roland Via: But what makes it a good speech is this—when you put the emotions and everything into it, people can tell when you're connecting with yourself, and that's a rare commodity sometimes. Whenever we look at politicians, for instance, and we're looking at their campaign speeches, sometimes their body language and the emphasis they put on words are probably more important than anything else. And here I am on radio moving my hands... But that does make a difference, right?

Mel: It does make a difference, but I'm going to tell you a secret about speaking. It is when you can make the receiver feel what you want. You see, I can feel anything, but if I can't transfer that to you—and that's what you were saying—it's not a feeling that you feel. And that's what I want to do. I want you to feel any emotion that I'm trying to share.

Roland Via: How do you get the listener to feel?

Mel: By telling them a story that they can relate to. You don't want to tell them a fully detailed story, because now they're trying to think of what you're feeling. Give them enough that they can feel from their own experience what it was like. […] For example, remember the time that you were scared when you were going down the street and all of a sudden a car veered off the street and onto the sidewalk. What was that like? That's what I'm trying to do. I don't want you to see exactly what I see, but what you see that makes you feel that way. I'm trying to steal your emotions, bring them up.

I was one of the listeners who called in to ask Mel questions live on the show. After I asked him for his advice about how to overcome any potential fears of taking part in a speaking contest and why he participated, Roland Via added the following question:

Roland Via: Do you encourage the failure points, where you say, “I cannot learn how to do it right until I'm doing it wrong and understand that I'm still alive, I'm still breathing and people are still smiling and listening to me?”

Mel: No...

Roland Via [interrupts, surprised]: No?

Mel: ...there's no failure. Every failure is a learning element. You learn not to do it that way. It's not a failure. You just say, “Oops, that didn't work, let me try this one over here.” I don't like to use [the word] “failure”. That's a long story. At Toastmasters I talk about how I was raised in a family as the failure. Therefore Toastmasters has been a way for me to build up my own confidence, because I'm a shy person in my own way. I don't feel that I'm up to the standards of other people. But let's get back to this contest...

Roland Via [interrupts]: He's wrong by the way, everybody, he's dead wrong, but nonetheless [laughs], if you feel that way, Mel, okay, you can feel that way...

Mel [laughs]: When you're in your own club, your club loves you and they don't want to do anything to stop you from coming back again. But are you growing? [...] Where I learned the most was when I took my speech for the contest and went to other clubs and they beat me over the head. Sometimes I went home almost in tears. How could they hate that speech? How could they find that wrong? But I took it and I said, “Wait a minute. If they're feeling that way, that means if I go to a contest, somebody else is going to feel that way. How do I change it?” And I kept getting better at it that way. So go to the contests. Compete. Take the things that you find that don't work, rewrite them. You'll make it.

40 years ago this month, everything changed!

by Karl Righter, DTM - District 47 Governor, '73 - '74

Vicki Wood - District 47's first female Area Governor
appointed by District Governor Karl Righter, DTM
in 1973

1973, the year I was elected District 47 Governor, was a significant year in our district’s history.

At the time, District 47 comprised the entire state of Florida, except for the panhandle, and contained 100 Toastmasters clubs. There were only four divisions (north, south, east, and west), and each division took turns hosting a district conference. That’s right, there were four conferences a year in those days! Our newsletter, The Sunshiner, was printed monthly and mailed to every member in the District. A directory of each club’s meeting information and officers was compiled, printed, and updated each term.

There were some historic milestones that year! First, the organization’s bylaws were changed to welcome women into Toastmasters, ushering in a period of explosive growth internationally. As District Governor, I had the privilege of appointing the first female Area Governor, Vicki Wood of Ft. Lauderdale. She was a pilot and flew some of us to the International Convention in Houston that August! The father of our recent District 84 Governor, Scott Hoehn, DTM, was one of my Area Governors in the Southern Division that year.

Additionally, 1973 was the year that the Bahamas became part of District 47, making us an international district! The Bahamian National Anthem was thus sung at every district conference thereafter along with our own. That year also saw the introduction of the Distinguished Toastmaster designation (DTM). Past District 47 Governor John Bowman (‘70-’71)  earned the very first DTM, certificate #1. A few months later, when I received mine, there were already 50 DTMs internationally!

During the second six months of my term, Toastmasters International began celebrating its 50th anniversary. District 47 was only 18 years old at the time.

It’s hard to believe 40 years have passed since that special year. It was an honor to be a part of it.