Presidential Brief for October, 2017

BeGes President’s Newsletter October 2017

Progress Not Perfection

Hello, BeGes!

My topic this month "Progress Not Perfection" in no way contradicts the wonderful advanced club "Pursuing Perfection". If anything, it may actually be in agreement!

When we first join Toastmasters, it's not uncommon to feel a bit overwhelmed. Speaking in public might be terrifying. Tackling any role, whether Ah Crutch, Grammarian, or Timer, might feel daunting. Everyone else in the club seems so much more competent than we feel we are.

It's helpful to realize that, even though we have contests, we're not really in competition with anyone else. We are each individual, and our growth path with Toastmasters is unique, even if we're following along the structures laid our in our Competent Communicator and our Competent Leader manuals. It may be suggested to give your Icebreaker Speech within the first month that you've joined, and to try to do a speech every 6 to 8 weeks, but everyone has their own pace, and their own style of learning.

Toastmasters provides a lot of support, from speech evaluation to mentorship, but you're ultimately in charge of measuring your progress. There's no assumptions that you'll be performing in an International Speech Contest in a year or raking in six figures as a professional speaker... unless *you* want to do those things!

We can easily get paralyzed by our own expectations. If you remember "progress not perfection", you can focus on the next speech, the next project, and not be frozen with fear of failing.

People join an advanced club (which may only meet monthly, in addition to their regular weekly club meeting) when they have completed the Competent Communicator manual and want to take their skills to the next level. But *pursuing* perfection does not imply that you're *attaining* it. No one, not even a winner of an International Speech Contest, hits an end point with working on their abilities. 

However, it is noticeable how quickly people improve when they join Toastmasters. They may stutter and even burst into tears during their first Icebreaker speech. That initial nervousness does wear off, and within a short time they're effortlessly leaping up to respond to Table Topic questions.

~Joan Newcomb, BeGes President 2017-2018

Welcome to our new Vice President of Education: Mary Morrison!

Mary is our immediate past president and has graciously stepped into the vacant VP of E position. Go to her for any questions you may have with working your way through your manuals. VPE Committee member Raylene Ewing is working on the Mentorship program, go to her if you haven't been assigned a mentor yet, or if you have questions about working with your mentor (or mentee).

Want to help get the word out about BeGes on Social Media? Our VP of Public Relations, Steve Garvin, could use a Committee Member to post to our several Social Media accounts! This task takes probably less than an hour a week and can be prescheduled on our Hootsuite or Buffer accounts.

Our Next Officers Meeting: Friday, October 20th 1pm (after our regular meeting)

All members are invited to our Officers Meeting, you can learn about what happens 'behind the scenes' to make our club run smoothly and successfully!

Presidential Brief for September

BeGes President’s Newsletter September 2017

The summer is over, it's time to get back to world. We've been on vacation and other aspects of life may have come up that's kept us from coming to our BeGes meetings.  

It's common, at this time, to question whether to keep going to Toastmasters. Maybe we're forgotten how much fun they are. Maybe we have gained skill from answering enough Table Topics questions to think we don't need to do any more speeches.

We've attained our initial goal of overcoming of discomfort with speaking in public, so why renew our dues?  Here's the thing -

There's levels of mastery and leadership to strive for, that we didn't even know when starting at BeGes. Toastmasters is so much more than just speeches.  There are great things to learn going through the Competent Leadership Manual - you get credit for every role you sign up for from Timer to Toastmaster. 

There's a great article on Leadership in the September TM magazine, "Leadership, It's Not About You" which clearly illustrates what you learn at Toastmasters beyond just speaking contributes to your success in all aspects of your life!

Joan Newcomb

BeGes President 2017-2018

Next Officer's Meeting
Friday, September 29th 1pm. All members are welcome, come check out what happens behind the scenes and beyond the meetings that help to create our group!

What Storms Are You Facing

Toastmaster: Mario Lorenz

Mario Lorenz led this week's theme "What storms are you facing?" He had in mind all the many storms the country has been encountering recently.

We all face storms in life. The theme was somber. The mood was light, though. Many laughs throughout the meeting.

View from the Skybox

Joan Newcomb with Eric Heller

Joan Marjorie Newcomb was our first speaker. She led Eric Heller through a practice discovery session. (Joan is a transformational coach.)

During the abbreviated session, Joan helped us all look on the playing field of life from the deluxe seats in the skybox.

Navigationally Challenged

Mary Morrison

Mary Morrison was our second speaker. She confessed to be navigationally challenged. While recounting her experiences of being lost, she helped us see to take courage and press forward.

Another great meeting where we found direction through life and through the streets.

 Select Distinguished Club 

On another note, we received our ribbon recognizing BeGe's as a Select Distinguished Club.

Join our Toastmaster's club 

Every Friday at noon. 1101 S Fawcett, Tacoma. You'll be sure to have a great time.

Presidential Brief For August

BeGes President’s Newsletter August 2017

Hello, BeGes!

I came across the following quote on Richard Branson's Twitter feed:

It made me think of our brave band of Toastmasters. Every Friday a handful of us fill the required roles, Toastmaster, Grammarian, Ah Crutch Counter, Timer, Table Topics Masters, Speakers, Evaluators, General Evaluators, but the meeting wouldn't be complete without guests and members who don't have roles (but can be called upon for Table Topics). The more people there are, the more fun and laughter there is!

But our meeting wouldn't happen without our Officers, who contribute behind the scenes - our Sergeant At Arms, who ensures the room is set up for us, our Treasurer who manages receiving dues and our expenditures, our Secretary who maintains our records and roster, our Vice President of Public Relations, who gets the word out into the community that we're here, our Vice President of Membership, who helps transform our guests into members, our Vice President of Education, who oversees the schedule, contests, and members progress, and the President who gets to open the meeting and bang the gavel!!

BeGes wouldn't exist without members, and our meetings wouldn't happen without people showing up. Every one of you contributes to our wonderful group simply by your unique presence.

Speech Contest

This Friday, August 11th, is our Humorous Speech Contest! Let our Contest Chair, Raylene, know if you'd like to compete, or help in any way.

OFFICERS MEETING

Friday 8/19, 1pm (after our regular Toastmasters meeting)

Come to our Officers Meeting! All club members are invited.

We’ll be hearing from each Officer their successes and challenges, (those who can’t attend please email a brief report), and looking at our Club Success Plan checklist!

Officers Training
If you missed the scheduled trainings, there will be a makeup one on Monday, August 21st from 5:30-9pm at the Auburn KCLS Library, 1102 Auburn Way S., Auburn, WA 98002. It's strongly recommended for officers (and our club gets points on our success plan if you go)! They provide invaluable info for club officers, and all members are welcome to attend. Register here: http://d32tli-auburn2.eventbrite.com

VP of PR needs a Social Media coordinator

Our VP of PR, Steve Garvin, could use someone enthusiastic about Social Media to tweet, post, share, and organize! Let him know if you're the one to do it!

VP of Membership needs a backup!
Our VP of Membership, Jing, could use a backup to support members on the Fridays she can't be there! Let her know if you're the one to do it!

VP of Education needs support!Our VP of Education stepped down due to work commitments, and her team members are shouldering all the tasks. It's a big job! If you'd like to lighten their load, let us know!

Have any questions, concerns? Let me know ~ my inbox is always open!

Joan

BeGes Prez 7/2017-6/2018

Presidential Brief for July

BeGes President’s Newsletter July 2017

Hello, BeGes!

I wanted to share my vision of the club, and hope that you will join me in creating your own.

Goals and actions are very cut and dried without a vision to lead towards.

VISION

My vision of the club is for us to keep growing in membership as well as supporting our current members with their personal goals for Toastmasters. I'd like to see all our members feel more involved in creating this club - which you can do by volunteering on a committee or helping out in some way.

Also, most importantly, to continue maintaining and developing our unique BeGes 'personality', which is why I think we all joined this club in the first place. There is space here for each of us to be our own unique self, whether that’s someone who just wants to feel comfortable talking in public or to go further including developing leadership skills and participating in Toastmasters beyond our club. We have room for quirky renegades, shy but feisty wallflowers, science nerds, grammar geeks, modern mystics, and ______________ [fill in the blank with your own description]!

OFFICERS MEETING

Next Friday 7/21st, 1pm (after our regular Toastmasters meeting)

Come to the first Officers Meeting! All club members are invited.

This will be our first meeting of all newly installed officers.

The agenda’s still being finalized, in general we’ll be discussing how to best implement our club’s vision (also known as a Club Success Plan) preparations needed for our upcoming Speech Contests, hearing reports from each Officer (those who can’t attend please email a brief report), a new way of tracking our goals, and assigning proxy for our vote at the International Conference (see below).

Speech Contest

A head's up that our new VP of Education, Chrissy Cooley, is organizing a Speech Contest and an Evaluators Contest on August 4th (and maybe August 11th if there's enough interested contestants). Let her know if you'd like to compete, or help in any way!

Officers Training
If you missed the scheduled trainings, there will be a makeup one in August! It's strongly recommended for officers (and our club gets points on our success plan if you go)! They provide invaluable info for club officers, and all members are welcome to attend.

Voting at the Toastmasters International Conference in Vancouver, August 26th

We as a club have an important vote to cast during the Annual Business Meeting at the Toastmasters International Convention. Clubs will vote to elect international officers and directors to the 2017–2018 Board of Directors as well as vote on Proposals A through G: Amendments to the Bylaws of Toastmasters International and the Club Constitution for Clubs of Toastmasters International (review the candidates and proposed amendments). We can assign our Mike Marion, our District Director, to vote for us as proxy (but we need to let him know ASAP).

VP of PR needs a Social Media coordinator

Our VP of PR, Steve Garvin, could use someone enthusiastic about Social Media to tweet, post, share, and organize! Let him know if you're the one to do it!

Sgt At Arms needs a backup, and festivities scheduler

Our trusty Sergeant At Arms, Eric Heller, could use a backup to set up the room on days he can't be there. Let him know if you'd like to do this!

Have any questions, concerns? Let me know ~ my inbox is always open!

Joan

BeGes Prez 7/2017-6/2018

March 2017 Newsletter

5 nonverbal communication cues all
great speakers have mastered

By, Steven Benna

While there is no question that what you say matters, studies suggest the words you use make up just 7% of the impact you have.The remaining 93% is split between your body language and tone.
That's why it's imperative to master the nonverbal cues you send. And since a presenter has only about 60 seconds to hook the audience, it's important to get them right from the start.
We spoke with Darlene Price, president of Well Said, Inc., and author of "Well Said!," about mastering the art of nonverbal communication. Scroll down to see her tips.

Control your facial expressions.
Oftentimes, we have no idea what our faces are communicating. "Because our facial expressions are closely tied to emotion, they are often involuntary and unconscious," Price says.
Letting our emotions get the best of us can negatively affect the impression we give, whether it's a presentation or a one-on-one conversation. To avoid a misunderstanding, hold a slight smile, nod occasionally, and make sure you show interest, she advises.

Concentrate on the tone of your voice.

Price cites the common phrase: "It's not what you said; it's how you said it." If someone has ever said this to you, they are referring to your paralanguage, or tone, she says.
"Separate from the actual words used, these nonverbal elements of your voice include voice tone, pacing, pausing, volume, inflection, pitch, and articulation," Price says. Recording a few of your conversations can be a good way to identify the emotions your tone communicates, she says.

Maintain strong eye contact for more than a brief second.

The importance of maintaining eye contact can't be overstated.
Simply glancing at members of the audience is known as the "eye-dart," Price says, and it "conveys insecurity, anxiety, or evasion." The key is to maintain direct eye contact for at least two seconds before moving to the next person, she says.
To read the whole article checkout BusinessInsider.com
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Contest Winners

~*Congratulations Amy and Joan*~

Amy won the BeGe's Evaluation Speech Contest  & Joan won the BeGe's International Speech Contest.

February 17th Joan Chaired the Evaluation Contest when  Jing and Amy Evaluated a Speech given by Imani.

February 24th Janae Chaired the International Contest where Joan and Mario each gave a 5-7 minute speech on  topic of their choosing.

Amy and Joan will advance to compete in the Division A Speech Contest at the end of March!

Go and show your support!! 
Tuesday, March 28 at 6:00pm
University Place Library, 3609 Market Pl W #100, University Place, WA 98466, USA (map)

Amy Musgrove (R), BeGe's Evaluations Speech Contest Winner and Joan Newcomb (L), Evaulation  Speech Contest Chair

Joan Newcomb, BeGe's International Speech Contest Winner


Thank you to all of our Contest contributors for  helping our contests run smoothly.

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Treasurer's Tidbits

In order for our club to achieve the goal of submitting dues on  time, we ask all members to make sure payments are received on or before March 24, 2017

Dues for returning member -$60.00.

There are two options to pay your dues
1) You can pay via PayPal at http://beges.toastmastersclubs.org/dues.html
2)You can hand deliver your check to Mel West at our club meetings -- the last meeting to hand in the check would be March 24, 2016.

If you do not plan on renewing your membership, or if you know that your payment will
be late, please contact Mel.

Mel West,  BeGe's Treasurer

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Talk Up Toastmasters
Program Dates: NOW – March 31
Deadline is at the end of the month- Have you brought a guest?? 

Toastmasters love to connect, so take advantage of it. The "Talk Up Toastmasters" membership program is the chance to encourage members to invite guests to a meeting where they can learn about Toastmasters' many benefits.

If we add five new, dual or reinstated members with a join date between February 1 and March 31, we'll receive a special "Talk up Toastmasters" ribbon.

Click here for fliers you can hang around your office!

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BeGe's Club Updates

Eric received Competent Communicator and Advanced Communicator Bronze awards

Joan received a Competent Communicator award

Mary  received an Advanced Leader Bronze.

CONGRATS 

 

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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 April 2nd 
April Focus-  Connecting with the Audience  

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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.

February 2017 Newsletter

The Toastmaster Whisperer
The best evaluators know which comments should be shared privately.
By Craig Harrison, DTM

Horse Whisperer: A trainer who builds trust and rapport with a horse to elicit the best performance possible

Toastmaster Whisperer: The speech evaluator who emphasizes private coaching and feedback, and encourages dialogue to supplement a public speech evaluation

Have you ever given a speech and been stung by a public comment made by your official evaluator a few minutes later? It first happened to me when, after my fourth speech, my evaluator loudly announced to the club that I had a nervous twitch with my right shoulder that occurred 11 times in my five-to-seven-minute speech. Was it accurate? Yes. Was he right to make me aware of it? Yes. Did he have to do it publicly? No! I would have preferred him to pull me aside afterward and let me know privately, or write his observation in a private note or on my evaluation form.

By being publicly “outed,” I felt shame. I was embarrassed and humiliated. Furthermore, I became fearful of ever speaking at that club again. Thankfully, my mentor at another club interceded when I told her about this experience. She gave me the courage and encouragement to speak again at my home club. Yet 22 years later I still remember the sting of that public remark.

The Public-Private Distinction

The role of speech evaluator is vital to the development of members giving prepared speeches. And the evaluation component of Toastmasters will be even stronger in the Pathways learning experience, which launches this year. In Pathways, evaluators will use guidelines that are more expansive and rigorous than in the current education program.

Yet not all feedback from an evaluator is best delivered publicly during a meeting’s two-to-three-minute evaluation slot. Some conversations are best held privately, after the speaker has processed his or her presentation and gained some perspective.

To read the whole article checkout Toastmasters Magazine January 2017.

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BeGe's Upcoming Contest

• February  17th Evaluation Contest 
  • Contact Joan Newcomb VP of Education to register!
• February 24th International Speech Contest  
  • Contact Janae Gillespie VP of Public Relations to register!

Click here to access the complete Toastmasters International Speech Contest Rulebook

KEEP A LOOK OUT FOR THE CONTEST FLYERS

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Talk Up Toastmasters
Program Dates: February 1 – March 31

Toastmasters love to connect, so take advantage of it. The "Talk Up Toastmasters" membership program is the chance to encourage members to invite guests to a meeting where they can learn about Toastmasters' many benefits.

If we add five new, dual or reinstated members with a join date between February 1 and March 31, we'll receive a special "Talk up Toastmasters" ribbon.

Click here for fliers you can hang around your office!

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BeGe's Club Updates

Eric received Competent Communicator and Advanced Communicator Bronze awards

Joan received a Competent Communicator award

Mary  received an Advanced Leader Bronze.

CONGRATS 

 

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 February 26th
March Focus-  Gestures: Your Body Speaks 

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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 (needed) 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
.