Fellow Buffalo Toastmasters,
We had a successful meeting on Wednesday, May 18, 2011. Thanks to everyone for participating. Even though the theme was “Off the Beaten Path”, the meeting proved to be on the “right track”. I had the pleasure of being the GE, or General Evaluator.
The meeting was called to order by President Pamela Gould. Pamela provided a quick overview of any updates, including introducing the Word(s) – which I forgot to write down for this blog. Ray Hebert, the Toastmaster, helped to guide the meeting forward.
Jokemaster Linda Knudson knocked it out of the park with a very cute joke about a dead rabbit and “hare” spray. Get it? Rabbit…hare…hair..?
RJ Kern delivered speech # 10 with passion and energy. Congratulations RJ! Walter presented his “Don’t Be Shy: Speak Up from the Middle” with finesse and confidence. Nicely done!
Table topics were well orchestrated by Brian VanKeuren. Ray and Caroline provided thoughtful, meaningful, and useful evaluations to RJ and Walter.
The timer report was provided by Linda Knudson. Overall, we stayed within most time limit recommendations.
The meeting concluded with Toastmaster Ray Hebert sharing some thoughts with the fellow BTMers.
And thank you to Caroline Armstrong for switching roles with me at the very last second to assist me with the completion of my CL manual.
Overall – a very good meeting. Some laughs, some serious moments, and lots of mutual respect.
Regards,
Paul
VP Public Relations
Friday, May 20, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
VP of Education Musings...Kinda, And Uh, So.
Buffalo TM,
As I sat down to lunch today with 2 fellow TMers (R.J. and Brian), Brian specifically pointed out that I used "kinda" quite a few times during my role as TM. I appreciate this feedback even after a meeting. I find that when I am TM I re-run the meeting back through my mind to try to spot opportunities for improvement. I'm appreciative that Brian pointed this out because like all of you I want to improve and sometimes the meeting does not always provide enough time to understand where one can improve. Also, Brian was not my evaluator and the GE can only spot so many areas of improvement. Thank you Brian for point this out after the fact.
In addition; I started to contemplate the speeches I've given as well as experienced lately. I have lost sight of some of the basics (elimination of filler words and good introductions and closings). I have fallen into the trap lately of hastily preparing speeches and not focusing on the introductions and conclusions and not having practiced my speech at least 2 -3 times prior to giving it. I trip and stumble and use filler words. I wonder if perhaps some of you may be in the same boat?
Just some thoughts to consider for your next speech. And I ask that you as fellow Buffalo TMers point out opportunities for your fellow TMers even after the fact so that we can continually improve and challenge one another moving forward!
Regards,
Ray Hebert
VP of Education
As I sat down to lunch today with 2 fellow TMers (R.J. and Brian), Brian specifically pointed out that I used "kinda" quite a few times during my role as TM. I appreciate this feedback even after a meeting. I find that when I am TM I re-run the meeting back through my mind to try to spot opportunities for improvement. I'm appreciative that Brian pointed this out because like all of you I want to improve and sometimes the meeting does not always provide enough time to understand where one can improve. Also, Brian was not my evaluator and the GE can only spot so many areas of improvement. Thank you Brian for point this out after the fact.
In addition; I started to contemplate the speeches I've given as well as experienced lately. I have lost sight of some of the basics (elimination of filler words and good introductions and closings). I have fallen into the trap lately of hastily preparing speeches and not focusing on the introductions and conclusions and not having practiced my speech at least 2 -3 times prior to giving it. I trip and stumble and use filler words. I wonder if perhaps some of you may be in the same boat?
Just some thoughts to consider for your next speech. And I ask that you as fellow Buffalo TMers point out opportunities for your fellow TMers even after the fact so that we can continually improve and challenge one another moving forward!
Regards,
Ray Hebert
VP of Education
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
The May 4th Buffalo Meeting -- A Paragon
Ray Hebert asked me to post a blog entry about the fantastic meeting (some attendees might even call it a Paragon of a meeting) on May 4th. I had to admit that I am a virgin (when it comes to blogging), but he supplied me with instructions so I couldn't get out of it ;-)
I had the pleasure of being the General Evaluator at the meeting which was hosted by a first-time Toastmaster -- Paul Murphy. He did what all great Toastmasters do by communicating with the members who had meeting roles before the meeting to make sure we had coverage. Three fantastic speakers presented information that made us all laugh and think. Paul did a great job during the meeting by keeping it on time and providing fun tidbits about leadership. Our evaluations were filled with humor, ideas for improvement, and lots of praise.
The table topics were hosted by the Toastmaster and were tied to the theme of "Leadership" for the meeting. It was great for all the members and our guests to hear about the various ways that Toastmasters has aided folks in developing their leadership skills. I was able to complete my "new" Competent Leadership manual by serving as the GE for this meeting....which also helped support the theme of Leadership.
And just a plug for the CL manual......it is EASY to complete. Just bring your manual (just look for it at the bottom of a pile in your house ;-) to the meetings and when you serve a meeting role, ask another member to fill out the written evaluation portion. I didn't even realize until a month ago how close I was to completing the required roles. When I took the time to see how many roles were required for each project (hint: it's not ALL of them), it was a surprise to me that I only had two more meeting roles to complete the manual. I had already completed the "old" CL, so it wasn't really a goal for me to complete the "new" CL, but why not? I was able to help the club with a Distinguished Club Program Goal for Buffalo this year, which was a pleasure. Don't be afraid to start bringing your manual to a meeting...that's all it takes!!
As a final plug, please consider being a leader for our Buffalo herd in the coming year. It is a great opportunity to develop leadership skills, have fun, and improve your connection to our great club! Contact Walter (wweinig@golder.com) if you want to discuss the opportunities in more detail!
See you at the next meeting and maybe you can claim to be a virgin too!!
I had the pleasure of being the General Evaluator at the meeting which was hosted by a first-time Toastmaster -- Paul Murphy. He did what all great Toastmasters do by communicating with the members who had meeting roles before the meeting to make sure we had coverage. Three fantastic speakers presented information that made us all laugh and think. Paul did a great job during the meeting by keeping it on time and providing fun tidbits about leadership. Our evaluations were filled with humor, ideas for improvement, and lots of praise.
The table topics were hosted by the Toastmaster and were tied to the theme of "Leadership" for the meeting. It was great for all the members and our guests to hear about the various ways that Toastmasters has aided folks in developing their leadership skills. I was able to complete my "new" Competent Leadership manual by serving as the GE for this meeting....which also helped support the theme of Leadership.
And just a plug for the CL manual......it is EASY to complete. Just bring your manual (just look for it at the bottom of a pile in your house ;-) to the meetings and when you serve a meeting role, ask another member to fill out the written evaluation portion. I didn't even realize until a month ago how close I was to completing the required roles. When I took the time to see how many roles were required for each project (hint: it's not ALL of them), it was a surprise to me that I only had two more meeting roles to complete the manual. I had already completed the "old" CL, so it wasn't really a goal for me to complete the "new" CL, but why not? I was able to help the club with a Distinguished Club Program Goal for Buffalo this year, which was a pleasure. Don't be afraid to start bringing your manual to a meeting...that's all it takes!!
As a final plug, please consider being a leader for our Buffalo herd in the coming year. It is a great opportunity to develop leadership skills, have fun, and improve your connection to our great club! Contact Walter (wweinig@golder.com) if you want to discuss the opportunities in more detail!
See you at the next meeting and maybe you can claim to be a virgin too!!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)