BeGe's Toastmasters
October 2016 Newsletter

On our way to Distinguished…

Every Toastmasters club around the world works to achieve the same 10 goals. A club that achieves the goals is a sign of a healthy, lively, growing club. Clubs that achieve at least five goals and maintain a membership base are recognized by Toastmasters International as Distinguished. 
BeGes is doing remarkably well so far.

We have achieved 4 of the 10 goals.

Here are the 10 goals, and how we’re doing.

Goal 1: Two Competent Communicator (CC) awards. Halfway there: Joan achieved a CC.

Goal 2: Two more CCs

Goal 3: One Advanced Communicator award

Goal 4: One more Advanced Communicator award

Achieved Goal 5: One Leadership awards (Competent Leader (CL), Advanced Leader Bronze (ALB), Advanced Leader Silver (ALS), or Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM): Mary Morrison achieved ALB

Goal 6: One more CL, ALB ALS or DTM

Achieved Goal 7: 4 new members:  Chrissy Cooley, Janae Gillespie, Gwen Kohl, and Amy Musgrove

Achieved Goal 8: 4 more new members: Imani Owens-Bailey, Melissa Paz, Valerie Pettit, and Andrea Wynne

Goal 9: At least 4 officers trained, twice per year: six officers were trained in round 1

Achieved Goal 10: Officer list and dues submitted on time

What’s next? You might have noticed that 6 of the 10 goals are related to members’ educational achievements. Helping each other become more confident and competent at communication and leadership is the heart of our club.  Club officers are working to ensure members’ needs are being met.

Joan Newcomb activated our club website, giving us the opportunity to sign up online for meeting roles

Gwen Kohl stepped in as mentor chair to help Joan Newcomb assign mentors to new members

Janae Gillespie is producing a monthly newsletter to keep us in the loop about club events

Eric Heller is ordering name badges for all club members and name tags for guests

Mel West set a page on our website to allow us to collect dues using a credit/debit card, and he ensured Toastmasters International received our club dues on time 

Steve Garvin, Janae Gillespie, and Eric Heller stepped in to officer roles when vacancies occurred

Members are inviting and welcoming guests at meetings, and we’re all taking roles at club meetings. As you can see, it takes all of us to maintain a quality club. And we’re doing extraordinarily well. Thanks for all you’re doing!

Mary Morrison, BeGe's Club President
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Where do you go from here?

We are all in different places in our Toastmasters Journey. Some have just joined and are figuring out the Competent Communicator Manual. A number of us are working toward advanced manuals and thus Advanced Toastmasters Awards of one level or another. A few members are focused on reaching Distinguished Toastmaster. No matter our goal, we all need focus and action.

Focus, that thing that takes a wish or a want and concentrates your attention in a tighter area. A great example is working toward one of the advanced awards. There are the two five presentation requirements and the focus needs to be on some specifics. Which manuals are you going to use. Once the manuals are selected, what subjects are you going to use. When will you schedule to present? But wait, there’s more.

While all of these are necessary steps, there are also the additional requirements (High Performance Leadership, District Leadership Positions, etc.) By determining your focus for each area, you can start the action(s) necessary. It is often here, that many find the greatest challenge. However, this is where the growth, improvement and self confidence happen.
Where are you going from here? You joined Toasmasters to grow, to improve, and with that comes an expanded comfort zone. To become comfortable, you need to be uncomfortable for a while. Remember learning to ride a bike? The shaky starts, the falling down the lack of control? In time, it all became automatic and comfortable. Now, think back to what motivated you to come through the Toastmaster Door the first time. Was it something as simple as "I want to get over my fear of public speaking" or "I want to give better presentations at work, or school, or, or, or? The better you can define what you want to accomplish, the easier that it will be to focus and then take action to move toward it. While it might be easier to just take the projects as they come, you will seldom fully move toward your "goal" as you will with conscious focus on your why.

I joined Toastmasters 19 years ago with goal of improving my communication skills. Shortly after joining, I became aware of the Distinguished Toastmasters Award and I sort of, kind of, headed that way. I stumbled along, in that direction, for a number of years. Then one of the members of the club noted that three of us were very close to reaching DTM. He came to us and motivated us to FOCUS on reaching that level on the same day. We established the action steps that were needed to reach that goal at that time. All three of us accomplished much more production, in less time, than we had previously and succeeded. To my knowledge, it is the only time that three people in one club all reached DTM on the same day. Then the question is, now what?

I realized that as much as I had accomplished, I could learn more, develop more, and share more. My goal in Toastmasters is to continue to develop my communication and leadership skills and pass on as much of that as I possibly can to others. While that is a great goal, it is too general. To be able to develop a good focus, it needs to be boiled down to a more specific goal, one that fits the guidelines of a good focused goal. How about DTM? As you have no doubt heard, it needs to follow the “SMART” guidelines (Specific, Measured, Attainable, Time based). How does that fit in with DTM?

How about I will reach DTM (Specific), by December 2017 (Measurable) (Attainable) (Time Based). While that will cover the general goal, it now needs to be broken down into action steps. When will each speech be scheduled? When will the special projects be planned and scheduled. This gives me specific action steps that are time set, allowing me to move forward in a planned manner.
So, where do you go from here? That is for you to determine by your personal goals. The only thing stopping you is the planning necessary. Meet with your club leadership and determine how your goals can fit in with the clubs Distinguished Club Plans. You can determine “Where to go from here”.

By Bob Hays DTM
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Submitted By, Gwen Kohl

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Treasurer Tidbit

Beginning with the October dues, Toastmasters International dues will be increasing $9 for every 6 months period we pay dues and there will no longer be a grace period. If you don't pay your dues on time, Toastmasters International will not recognize you as a member. In order to ensure that all members are in good standing and dues are paid by October 1  (if you haven't paid please do as soon as possible), the treasurer will collect dues.

Mel West,  BeGe's Treasurer
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Area & Division Contest Results–

Speech Contest Results: All Areas | Alex Mayo, Webmaster

Results from Area Contests are trickling in to me and Division Contests will be happening soon! Check here for the latest results to see who will move on to the Division and District contests.

Tall Tales: First Place Results

Division A			Division D
Area 11	Richard Scholtz		Area 41	Don Everly Smith
Area 12	Benjamin Warner		Area 42	John Villesvik
Area 13	Heath Dickinson		Area 43	Marilyn Glasscock
Area 14	Shane Pettit		Area 44	Chuck Marlow
Division B			Division E
Area 21	Sandra Kolb		Area 51	Martin Miller
Area 22	Tom Leurquin		Area 52	Karl Reiche
Area 23	Michael Maddox		Area 53	Jacki Holzman
Area 24	Frank Grubaugh		Area 54	Raul Rovira
Division C			Division F
Area 31			Area 61	Burton Vanderbilt
Area 32	Misako Yoke		Area 62	Sean Baski
Area 33	Vicky Rockey		Area 63	Lucy Johnson
Area 34	Kat O'Kelly

Table Topics: First Place Results

Division A			Division D
Area 11	David Fenbert		Area 41	Don Everly Smith
Area 12	Benjamin Warner		Area 42	Greg Miller
Area 13	Alex Snaer		Area 43	Marilyn Glasscock
Area 14	Stuart Magoon		Area 44	Tyler Brunette
Division B			Division E
Area 21	Annie Sargent		Area 51	Frank Perez
Area 22	Robin Cordova		Area 52	Charlene Walker
Area 23	Elena Brenna		Area 53	Winston Burbank*
Area 24	Rebecca Reece		Area 54	Raul Rovira
Division C			Division F
Area 31			Area 61	Geoffrey Wyatt
Area 32	Donna Weaver		Area 62	Amy Whinston
Area 33	Nicole Smith		Area 63	Wanetta Ayers
Area 34	Cheryl Marks

*Winston Burbank is unable to attend Division E contest, Jacki Holzman will represent Area 53.
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Newsletter Submissions
Contribute to our Blog and Newsletter.  Submit stories, ideas,  articles, and experiences.  Send content to begestm@gmail.com
Content is needed for next's months newsletter.
Please Submit Content by October 30th
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OFFICER ROLES

Ever wonder what goes into making a Toastmasters Club run smoothly? The following are descriptions of the officer roles.

President "C.E.O." of this club, responsible for fulfilling the club's mission.
VP -Education Second ranking club officer, responsible for planning, organizing and directing a club program meeting members' educational needs.
VP – Membership Official Third ranking club officer, responsible for planning, organizing and directing a program ensuring member retention and growth.
VP – Public Relations Fourth ranking club officer, responsible for developing and directing publicity informing members and the public about Toastmasters International.
Secretary Official Fifth ranking club officer, is responsible for club records and correspondence.
Treasurer Official Officer Sixth ranking club officer, responsible for club financial policies, procedures and controls.
Sergeant at Arms Seventh ranking club officer, responsible for club property management, meeting room preparation and hospitality. The sergeant at arms chairs the social and reception committee.