JIm K Toastmasters Saint John

This is an excellent video from San Luis Obispo Toastmasters club in California http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPVuBIKbbpM&feature=youtube

Saint John Toastmasters Monday December 2 2013 Tonight we had ten of our members present and no guests.   I had prepared and delivered a speech on the topic of dealing with conflict directly when it is apparent.   In the speech I told two stories about conflict from my personal experience, and then provided a model people can use to manage conflict with someone else, or between two team members.   The skill exercised during the speech was using vocal variety and my evaluator provided feedback on how I could have varied my pace, and added pauses to let some points resonate with the audience.  Excellent suggestions. Our impromptu speaking practice was on the theme of Christmas practices and experiences.  Pretty easy for people to relate to and speak off the cuff about for two minutes, and most people hit the range of one minute and thirty seconds to two minutes. We meet again on December 9th and then again on December 16th, likely at a restaurant and not at ...

At the Oct 28, 2013 meeting of Saint John Toastmasters we had two speeches, one from the advanced manual on humorously speaking, and one from the first communication manual.   We often refer to that first manual as the ‘basic manual.’    Coincidentally both speeches were about animals.     Each speech provides an opportunity to exercise a skill, and the speaker chooses the topic, and prepares and delivers a speech to exercise that skill.     Our first speaker Jeff was working on organizational techniques and he told us about how he preferred dogs, but married a cat lover, and has come to build a better relationship with the family cat.    A pleasant, entertaining seven minute speech, well and simply organized.      Our second speaker Jennifer told us about her former fear of dogs, and how she learned to adapt when her fourteen year old son wanted a puppy, and only a puppy, for his birthday.  ...

At Harbourside Toastmasters #1843 today we had one speech from Pierre Urier-Cattoire, an MBA student from France who has been in the city for one  year.    Pierre is a member at Saint John Toastmasters #1479 and like me visited Harbourside over the summer.   He completed his tenth speaking project which makes him eligible for the Competent Communicator (CC) award.    After ten speeches from the CC manual a Toastmaster is eligible for this recognition.  The learning plan with the tenth speech is to inspire, motivate and capture the feelings of the audience.   Pierre spoke about his perspective as a short-term visitor of positives in Saint John and some things we can do to evolve further.    Not surprisingly Pierre had a very Eurpoean viewpoint towards quality of life.   I agree with his perspective on desiring to see more activity, more stores open later etc. I led the Table Topics session in which people have to address a questio...

I attended two Toastmaster meetings this week.    On Monday at Saint John Toastmasters we had four speeches covering topics such as the power of habits (and habitual reactions when we think we're actually making decisions), the nature of Information Technology projects, ideas on working effectively in committees, and a view to microfinance projects.  These projects enabled the speakers to practice skills such as speech organization, research, and vocal variety.   Each speaking assignment has us develop and deliver a speech to exercise a skill - the topic is our choice. Saint John Toastmasters is nearing our summer break with one or two meetings remaining until we resume after Labour Day. http://saintjohn.toastmastersclubs.org/ I also visited Harbourside Toastmasters on Wednesday.  This group continues throughout the summer.    At this meeting I led the Table Topics session, the impromptu speaking session, and I had a series of questions about Ca...

At our most recent Saint John Toastmaster meeting we had table topics about Canada.  What made this most interesting was the mix of members in the room, including MBA students from France, India and Saudi Arabia, one member who moved to Canada from Poland, and several members who have lived in other countries.   As well several members have been born and raised in Canada and have not ventured far. The discussion explored our self-perceptions and perceptions of those who are not native Canadians. Topics centered on themes of health, violence, strength of communities, patriotism, and other areas. As summer nears and the club winds down meetings until Labour Day, we had only one speech. The speech can be viewed here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRDTuHFrqXc Pierre delivered a very good speech.  However at Toastmasters speakers and evaluators are always looking for ways in which the message can be improved.    Pierre's feedback included suggestions...

At this years Toastmasters International Convention in Cincinnati, New York Times best selling author Susan Cain will be presented with the Golden Gavel award.   Each year Toastmasters recognizes an outstanding communicator and leader.    This years recipient also happens to be a Toastmaster - this is usually not the case.   More information on the author and past recipients are available at the link below. http://www.toastmasters.org/Members/2013InternationalConvention/GoldenGavelAward.aspx She credits Toastmasters with enabling her to deliver this TED talk - not everyone's ambition but it's great we helped this introverted author. http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts.html

We heard an interesting speech today at Harbourside Toastmasters club (http://harbourside.toastmastersclubs.org/) Member Alain Bilodeau was working on a project requiring him to incorporate props to enhance his message.   He's become interested in overall health so he spoke about the health benefits of lemons. It seemed surprisingly easy to come up with seven minutes of material. The speech focused on health benefits such as reducing cholesterol, and perhaps combating and preventing cancer.    And the topic made it easy to use a lemon as a prop.  He incorporated a flip chart as well. This was a good example of how we can take a simple topic that is familiar to us, and deliver some new information to an audience, while exercising the skill that the Toastmasters project requires. The entire speech was based on three points.  An easy and pertinent five to seven minutes.

I'm starting this blog to write about my Toastmasters experience in Saint John. Toastmasters International is an amazing organization that enables people to develop their communication and leadership skills in friendly, supportive environments.     I currently serve as Second Vice-President for the organization and I'm interested to enable more awareness and knowledge of what we do and how we enable people to develop their skills. I'm a member of Saint John Toastmasters club #1479 but a frequent visitor to Harbourside Toastmasters club #1843.    Harbourside Toastmasters meets every Wednesday from 12:15-1:15 in the Brunswick Square office tower.     Today I attended and was impressed with the Table Topic led by  +Joanna Boniecka-Grzelak  .    Table Topics are impromptu speaking opportunities where someone introduces a theme, a conversation, and invites members to answer a question related to the theme.   Joanna is taking an free...