Boca Raton Toastmaster #3299

Area 44 Contests

2010-07-09T04:40:00.000-07:00

The Area 44 Humorous Speech & Evaluation Contests are scheduled for Friday night September 10th at 6 PM at the Boca Raton Community Center.

I am looking for a Contest Chair to organize this event. Please give me a call if you have any interest in helping.

Thank you.

John Schneyer
Area 44 Governor

4 Steps to Speak Better in Interviews

2010-06-02T09:05:00.000-07:00

This is my weekly VPE post.

Knowing some of our members joined us to work on speaking skills specifically to help them find a job and given the discussion we had last night about the Ah Counter using the bell, I was very pleased to find an e-mail from The Ladders in my mail box this morning.

This article gives some suggestions on sounding more professional in an interview by eliminating many of the filler words the Ah Counter brings to our attention. While it does not suggest a bell (most of the suggestions are done by the individual, not in a group setting), I thought you might find it valuable.

I personally prefer to have the Ah Counter using the bell when I am speaking in any context, prepared speech, table topics or meeting role. Hearing the bell helps me realize what I have done. Last night, the Ah Counter report listed me for 1 double start. I have no idea when I did it as I never heard the bell.

You can find this article on The Ladders site here: Career-Advice

I have copied it below for your convenience.

John Schneyer
Vice President Education

4 Steps to Speak Better in Interviews

Filler words like "um," "ahh," "so," "like" and "you know" can reduce your credibility as a speaker and hurt your chances in a job interview.

May 28, 2010

By Jayne Latz

Recently I attended a panel discussion with three speakers. One of the speakers was a well-spoken young woman, but she used “filler words” excessively and to her detriment. In her first two minutes speaking to the audience she used 10 filler words — most prolifically, “um.”

After the panel discussion I turned and asked the people sitting with me if they noticed the excessive use of the word "um." They responded, “Notice? I couldn't concentrate on a word she said. All I heard was ‘um.’ "

What are filler words? They’re tics of speech such as “um,” “ahh,” “so,” “like” and “you know” that we use to fill gaps and pauses in our speech. Most of use too many of them, and they can reduce your credibility as a speaker and hurt your chances in a job interview.

At Corporate Speech Solutions, we recommend speakers try to maintain a limit of two filler words in every two minutes of speech. Any more than that and you begin to sound less professional and less qualified.

During a job interview, you may be asked questions that you are not prepared to answer. Don’t fill your answer with excessive “um’s.” Even worse, be careful of “like” and “you know.” These speech patterns may stand between you and the job.

Filler words can dilute the message and make you sound timid. When you use them excessively, it makes you sound unsure of yourself and uncertain of your answer. You want the interviewer to see you as a confident executive and a subject-matter expert.

The key to reducing filler words is a relatively easy, four-step process. Like anything, it takes practice.

1. Awareness: Listen to yourself on tape during a telephone conversation and count the use of “uh,” “um,” “like” or “you know.” Remember, if they occur more frequently than two times in two minutes, you need to work on modifying the habit.

2. Recognize your patterns. I have noticed that many of my clients habitually start sentences with “um.” Others may use the word “and” as a connector instead of using a period. Still others have a tendency to add “you know?” at the end of a sentence as confirmation of what they said. Recognize your own personal pattern if you want to address it.

3. Anticipate that you are about to use a filler word! Once you are aware of your pattern, you will recognize when you are about to use a filler word in your speech.

4. Pause. Once you know it is coming, take a pause. We call it “strategic pausing.” Strategic pausing will give you the time to think of what you want to say, say it and move on without inserting the filler word. Strategic pausing does not just give you time to think; it adds impact to your message. Resist the urge to fill the time with a “filler” word and you will automatically sound more impressive.

Practice these techniques every day until the filler words are no longer a part of your working speech pattern. Remember not to use the filler words when leaving voice mail messages. Notice how and when others use filler words. Does it sound professional?

Learning to eliminate your filler words will enhance the effectiveness of your speech and the professionalism of your interviews.

Jayne Latz, M.A.,CCC-SLP, is president of Corporate Speek Solutions. She has been providing speech therapy in New York as a licensed speech-language pathologist for more than 20 years. For details on our Speech Improvement Training Programs email jayne@corporatespeechsolutions.com

The Empty Chair

2010-05-26T06:45:00.000-07:00

I think you will find this video of a Toastmasters International Speech contestant meaningful on several levels. Consider 'The Empty Chair' as it relates to your life and to your membership in Boca Raton Toastmasters.

John Schneyer
VPE

Evaluate to Motivate

2010-05-19T16:22:00.000-07:00

John Schneyer delivering 'Evaluate to Motivate' from the Successful Club Series

Click the black box to see the video

Would You Like to Break a World Record?

2010-05-19T14:42:00.000-07:00

Fellow Toastmasters, a unique opportunity has come our way. District 47 is organizing an attempt to set the world record for the longest, non-stop speekathon and we have been invited to be a part of the effort! Wouldn’t you like to hold a world record?

This will be a great way to publicize Toastmasters (hint, VPPR), sign-up new members (hint, VPM), gain experience in front of other audiences (hint, all members), etc.

Beginning Thursday 6/10 going through Sunday 6/13, we will be going for a target of 80 hours!

Here are some details:

We need to have someone speaking at all times during the attempt with no more than 30 seconds between speakers

All speeches must be at least 5 minutes long; that includes evaluations. Speeches can be longer than that, way longer if you want an can. This is a great opportunity to give some speeches from advanced manuals but, you don't have to do a manual speech. You could give a training class, seminar, sales pitch, etc.

While you can give the same speech more than once, you can not give it more than once every 4 hours.

All speeches have to be logged in our official log book - speaker name, speech title, time

All speeches will be recorded with video to document the attempt
2 timers with stop watches must be present at all times

We need volunteers - speakers, evaluators, organizers, coordinators, promotion, publicity, etc. We need shifts of independent witnesses who are neither participating in giving speeches at all nor are related to anyone involved.

What I want from you:

Let me know right away how much you will contribute to this effort. How many speeches, how long, how many hours you can sit as an audience member.

If you are going to speak, we ask that you also contribute your time in another capacity. Remember that we need to go round the clock so, expect to be speaking and working sometimes in the wee hours of the night and early morning.

I suggest that we break this down a little and see how many hours we as a club can commit to and then fill them any way we can. We will need to be able to jump in if something happens and a speaker cannot go on (think looong table topics).

I am personally ready to provide several hours of speaking on a range of topics that I teach.

More information will be coming out shortly but, time is short and I need to know who is interested. Get back to me right away.

John Schneyer
VPE

Successful Club Series- Setting the Stage for Success: Meeting Roles and Responsibilities

2010-05-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

John Schneyer delivering the Successful Club Series- Setting the Stage for Success: Meeting Roles and Responsibilities to the Boca Raton Toastmasters 5/4/2010.

Click the image below to watch the video.

From Toastmasters 5-4-2010

Filling Meeting Roles

2010-05-05T11:55:00.000-07:00

This is my weekly Vice President, Education post. You can find information on filling meetng roles on the Toastmasters International site here.

You are the Toastmaster for an upcoming meeting, how do you get the meeting roles filled? You expect everyone has joined because they buy into Toastmasters. They want to speak and lead and learn how to do both better. But does that mean they will volunteer? Does it mean they are available? Does it mean they communicate the same way you like to?

The answer to all three of these questions is often, No! As a Toastmaster, we all have to stretch from our comfort zones every once in a while. That applies to how we fill meeting roles as well.

Last night, Karen Novek approached everyone as they came into the meeting. She had a clipboard and roster for next week's meeting. She asked everyone to fill a role, gave choices, and information about the roles. Well done Karen! If you have ever felt overwhelmed by the number of e-mails you get looking to fill meeting roles, you will probably appreciate what Karen did last night. I expect I will get fewer e-mails this week as a result.

We seem sometimes to fall into the expectation that sending out an e-mail and having the roster available online should work all the time for everyone. We are a very diverse group in many ways. We come from different countries, speak different languages, and have different social norms. That's one of the big advantages I see from our club. It also means, we have to s-t-r-e-t-c-h sometimes in order to be effective.

If you send an e-mail and don't get a response, how about making a phone call? How about starting your planning early enough that you can get members to volunteer face-to-face at a meeting like Karen did last night?

When you take a little time, it's not hard to get the responses you want. Our club always comes through one way or another.

Knowing how many roles available each week makes it easy to find one that fits your needs. Don't wait for an e-mail, phone call, or personal visit, sign-up today using our online roster. Click here to reserve your place for future meetings:

Online Roster

Have a great week!

John Schneyer
Vice President, Education

10 Tips on Using the Competent Leadership Program

2010-04-28T07:04:00.000-07:00

Fellow Toastmasters, this is my weekly Vice President of Education post.

We tend to focus on our prepared speeches and, sometimes, that means we neglect the value of working through the Competent Leadership (CL) manual.

By working through the CL projects, we have opportunities to learn and stretch our comfort zones. Each project focuses on different leadership aspects primarily through meeting roles but also some more involved work such as being a Contest Chair or running a Membership Drive.

Make no mistake about it though, this is not just a "checklist" of tasks to be crossed off in a race to complete the manual. It is a learning and development tool requiring careful consideration of each project.

Please see me or your mentor if you have any questions on using these projects to further your goals both within and outside Toastmasters.

You can find more information on the Competent Leadership program on the Toastmasters.org site by clicking here. I have copied the article below for your convenience.

John Schneyer, VPE

10 Tips on Using the CL Program

“My club found every part of the CL manual very useful. There's no doubt that it really serves its purpose of developing new leaders.”
-Voltaire R. Victoria, DTM

So, what’s the deal with the CL program?

The Competent Leadership (CL) manual gives you an opportunity to learn and practice leadership skills by serving in club roles. It will help you gain self-confidence and skills that will help you in many ways: academically, professionally and personally. The CL manual offers training in time management, organization, planning and critical thinking – all of which can be applied to everyday life.

Consider this: If the CL manual can help a club run more efficiently and successfully, and it can also help club members to improve their lives, why wouldn’t your club leaders pursue it? Sometimes, a little promotion from a fellow Toastmaster can help smooth the way. In case you’re finding it a little difficult to get the ball rolling with your VPE or other officers, here are ten quick tips from Toastmasters members that you can use to help promote the Competent Leadership manual:

1. At each club meeting, have one member assigned as the CL evaluator. By having an assigned evaluator, you ensure member progress in the CL manual.

2. Increase member awareness by requiring that members bring their Competent Leadership manuals to every club meeting.

3. Does your club have a sample copy of the Competent Leadership manual on display at every meeting? Keeping an extra copy on hand means you’ll have one available for guests to peruse or for new members to borrow.

4. Make sure that you recognize your members when they participate in the CL manual. Award a member with a ribbon when she’s halfway through and make an announcement when that person completes the manual. Let her know you appreciate the special care and preparation that she took with each meeting role.

5. Encourage the president and VPE of your club to promote the CL manual at each club meeting. Emphasize how the manual functions as a valuable learning tool – training each member on the different roles of the meeting and helping them build beneficial skills for the working world and daily life.

6. Place equal importance on the leadership and communication tracks in your club by including accreditations for both tracks in all correspondence, agendas and programs for your club.

7. Use the Competent Leadership Achievement Chart! Post it on the wall during meetings and keep it up-to-date. Draw attention to the successes listed on the chart.

8. For every speech a member gives, your club can request that he perform and receive evaluations on at least three meeting roles.

9. Does your club have a newsletter or Web site? Post a reminder to members to bring their manuals. Also, your club can post a congratulatory list of those who have completed the manual.

10. Ask each member who achieves the CL award to mentor a new member in the manual.

These tips will help make the CL manual a natural and easy part of your club’s meetings. When the CL manual is second nature to the members of your club, you’ll be pleasantly and easily learning leadership skills that help you everyday.

Successful Club Series - Mentoring

2010-04-22T07:21:00.001-07:00

John Schneyer presents Mentoring from the Successful Club Series

Part 1:

From Videos

Part 2:

From Videos

District 47 Spring Conference 2010

2010-04-21T12:39:00.001-07:00

Click here for a few pictures from this past weekend's Toastmasters District 47 Spring Conference and Contests.

John Schneyer

DSC00310
Originally uploaded by jjschneyer

Meeting Roles Guidelines Now on the Online Roster

2010-04-21T08:28:00.000-07:00

Fellow Toastmasters,

In the hope of making information on our meeting roles easier to find, I have added a tab to our online roster. The tab is "Meeting Roles Guidelines" and can be found at the bottom of the page right next to the "Weekly Agenda" tab.

You will find a list of our meeting roles and links or, where we don't have links, a brief explanation of the role.

You can find this information by clicking here.

In 2 weeks I will be giving a presentation from the Successful Club Series on Meeting Roles. Please take some time to familiarize yourself with all of our roles and, prepare in advance for any you are filling.

Give me a call with any questions and, as always, feel free to post comments below.

John Schneyer
Vice President, Education

The Magic of Mentoring

2010-04-14T05:50:00.000-07:00

This is my weekly VPE post.

I will be giving the Mentoring presentation from The Successful Club Series next week so thought it appropriate to include a link about mentoring from the Toastmasters site. Click here to prepare for the presentation and, check the author's name on The Magic of Mentoring portion of the link.

John Schneyer
Vice President, Education

Ignite your Audience with your Introduction

2010-04-05T08:35:00.001-07:00

Fellow Toastmasters,

My weekly VPE post is early this week because I found something I don't want to forget to share with you.

Craig Valentine is the World Champion of Speaking from 1999. You can find a lot of great information at this link:

http://www.craigvalentine.com/speech/articles.php

and you can sign-up for a tip from Craig each week for 52 weeks here: http://www.52speakingtips.com/

Today's topic is one of Craig's:

Ignite your Audience with your Introduction

Here is a traditional introduction speakers use:

Do yourself a favor and read the following paragraph out loud as if you are using it to introduce the next speaker for an event.

Our Next Speaker is the 1999 World Champion of Public Speaking. With more than 175,000 Toastmasters in 68 countries, and over 25,000 contestants, he came home with the first prize trophy and a significant amount of national and international recognition. In addition, our speaker is absolutely oblivious to the fact that we could care less what he has done and that we are much more interested in what we will be able to do after hearing him. Moreover, our speaker seems to have no idea that we are simply hoping for his autobiographical introduction to end so we can start clapping as if we are interested. Finally, he does not realize that we are beginning to say to ourselves, "His entire introduction is about him; therefore I bet his entire speech is about him also. Why did I even come here today?" So, with that said, please help me welcome to the stage, the person who would have the least effective introduction in history if it were not for the thousands of other presenters who have introductions just like his; the 1999 World Champion of Public Speaking, Craig Valentine.

What's Wrong with that Introduction?

Do you get the point? How similar is your introduction to my old one that you read above? Is it about you or is it about what your audience will get out of your speech? Everything you do should be about the audience, including your introduction.

Your introduction flavors your entire speech. You can use it to get the audience fired up and excited about what they are going to hear, or you can use it to boost yourself up in their eyes. You can use it to whet their appetite with the valuable tools they are sure to get from your presentation, or, again, you can use it to boost yourself up in their eyes. Here is one thing I know for sure; once I changed my introduction from me-focused to you-focused, I gave myself an extreme advantage before I even said one word.

5 Guideposts to Fire Up Your Audience with your Introduction

An effective introduction is the difference between starting off in a hole or on solid ground. Here are some nuts and bolts tools you can use in your introduction to get off to a great start with your very next speech. Do not go into your next speech without them.

1. Start it off about them. Make your very first sentence about them. Instead of starting off with "Our next speaker today is the 1999 World Champion…" start with something like the following:

There is a definite process for keeping your audiences on the edge of their seats. It is not easy to come by and it is not easy to use. However, once you master it, you WILL find doors opening for you that you never even knew existed.

You might have noticed there were 5 you (or your) words used in those two sentences. Make it you-focused first. Start with them not with yourself. How many you-related words are in your introduction? Count them and make sure there are many more you-related words than there are I-related words.

2. Make a promise. Let them know not only what they will get, but also what those tools will empower them to do and to receive. In the example above, I tell them they will get a process that empowers them to keep their audiences on the edge of their seats and rewards them with more open doors and opportunities. That is a pretty compelling promise. What compelling promise do you make with your introduction?

3. Build your credibility but only with your relevant credentials – For example, I have a specific introduction for my teambuilding workshops. This specific introduction includes a piece that mentions how I won 3 consecutive East Coast Conference Championships and played in 2 NCAA March Madness tournaments as a college basketball player. Because this part of my history relates to teams, it belongs in this introduction on teambuilding.

However, as proud as I am about those basketball accomplishments, do you think they belong in my introduction if the speech is about presentation skills? If I was sitting in the audience and I heard the introducer say, "Our presentation coach today was also a college basketball player," I know I would be thinking, "Well, while he was dribbling up and down the court, was he giving speeches? If not, why do I care about his basketball past?" Only use the relevant information no matter how well-rounded you are. Even if you are extremely proud of something, if it does not fit, do not force it. Instead, leave it out. Is all the information in your introduction relevant to the subject at hand?

4. Use the introduction to set up something in your speech - For example, when I begin speaking, I often call back to my introduction by saying the following:"Do you know, that even with all those accolades, people still do not like me? Do you know why they do not like me?"

Then I go into a humorous story about why they do not like me, but it all is set up by the accolades (relevant ones) in my introduction. Find ways to make your introduction seamlessly feed into your speech. How do you currently tie your speech back into your introduction

5. Take everything about you and turn it into everything for them. If you do this, your audience will be ready and excited to receive your message. For example, instead of stating "Craig Valentine is the 1999 World Champion of Public Speaking" I could make that actually matter to them by saying, "The process you will pick up today helped our speaker become the 1999 World Champion and you can use it to become a speaker in high-demand." Do you get it? Turn everything about you into something for them. Doing this will get them fired up to hear your message. It tickles me now because when the introducer gets to the end up my introduction, he or she usually says, "Are you ready for the process?" At this point people actually begin yelling out, "Yes!" That is some great energy to walk into for a speech. Are you turning everything about you into everything for them?

Follow the 5 guideposts listed here and watch as your audience leans forward in their seats and anxiously awaits your presentation. That is how you ignite your audience with your introduction.

What's your opinion on Craig's suggestions? Please comment below.

John Schneyer

Vice President, Education

Weekly VPE Post - Meeting Roles

2010-04-03T18:05:00.001-07:00

Fellow Toastmasters, this is my weekly Vice President, Education post.

I think it's great to have a club with such diversity and am happy to see we have continued to bring in new members.

Based on some questions asked about meeting roles at the end of this week's meeting and my observation of how some roles were handled the past few weeks, I offer the following:

Please check the guidelines for the role you are filling in advance so you can do research and prepare properly. Links are included below. If you have questions about your role after reading the guidelines, please call your mentor, the Toastmaster of the Meeting, the General Evaluator, or the Vice President, Education. We will be happy to help you.

When you are giving the Inspiration:
Give an inspirational story, quote, anecdote, or idea that is a maximum of one
minute. It should be directed toward personal growth and, if possible, the
theme of the meeting.

When you are giving the Small Tip:

The purpose of the Small Tip is to give a brief educational tip on a particular subject related to public speaking or meeting protocol. It can be original material created by the speaker or a restatement of material from another source. If another source is used, the other source should be credited. The Small Tip should be a maximum of three minutes.

We seem to have been getting a little lax in both timing and content for the Small Tip in particular. Both the Small Tip and Inspiration are speaking roles that require some planning and rehearsal. Please make sure your topics conform to the guidelines.

Here are links to information on our meeting roles. All can be found at the club website: http://www.bocaratontoastmasters.org/

Sample Meeting Agenda
Meeting Guidelines & Protocol
Inspiration Guidelines
Small Tip Guidelines
Toastmaster Guidelines
Toastmaster Preparation Guidelines
Timer Guidelines
Ah Counter Guidelines
Grammarian Guidelines
Table Topic Guidelines
Speaker Guidelines
General Evaluator Guidelines
Evaluator Guidelines
Meeting Minutes Template

Please offer any comments below. Thanks to all for making our meetings increasingly valuable.

Thank you,
John Schneyer
Vice President, Education

The Unexpected Benefits of Toastmasters

2010-04-03T11:25:00.000-07:00

John Schneyer delivering Speech #5 from the Technical Presentations manual. This video is in 2 parts as it exceeds YouTube's 10 minute time limit.

Part 1

Part 2

District 47 Conference and Contests April 16-18

2010-03-25T13:14:00.001-07:00

Today is the last day to register at the regular rate! It goes up $15 tomorrow!!

Our district (47) is holding it's Spring Conference & Contests in Fort Lauderdale beginning Friday evening, 4/16 and closing Sunday 4/18.

This is a great opportunity to hear great speakers, attend valuable workshops, and network with fellow Toastmasters.

You will get to hear 2007 World Champion of Speaking, Vikas Jhingran, deliver the keynote address and, drum roll please, our own Nina Potter will compete in the International Speech Contest Saturday evening!!!

Having the conference and contest right in our backyard makes it a convenient and affordable way to get more out of Toastmasters.

Please, follow this link, and register today. You will be pleased.

While registering, also consider taking out an ad for your business or yourself. They are very affordable and will get you into the program read and brought home by every attendee.

John Schneyer
VP, Education

10 Tips on Using the CL Program

2010-03-17T19:31:00.000-07:00

This is my weekly VP, Education post. What do you think? Please let us all know by commenting below. You can also view this on the Toastmasters International site by clicking here.

John Schneyer, CC, CL

So, what’s the deal with the CL program?

The Competent Leadership (CL) manual gives you an opportunity to learn and practice leadership skills by serving in club roles. It will help you gain self-confidence and skills that will help you in many ways: academically, professionally and personally. The CL manual offers training in time management, organization, planning and critical thinking – all of which can be applied to everyday life.

Consider this: If the CL manual can help a club run more efficiently and successfully, and it can also help club members to improve their lives, why wouldn’t your club leaders pursue it? Sometimes, a little promotion from a fellow Toastmaster can help smooth the way. In case you’re finding it a little difficult to get the ball rolling with your VPE or other officers, here are ten quick tips from Toastmasters members that you can use to help promote the Competent Leadership manual:

1. At each club meeting, have one member assigned as the CL evaluator. By having an assigned evaluator, you ensure member progress in the CL manual.

2. Increase member awareness by requiring that members bring their Competent Leadership manuals to every club meeting.

3. Does your club have a sample copy of the Competent Leadership manual on display at every meeting? Keeping an extra copy on hand means you’ll have one available for guests to peruse or for new members to borrow.

4. Make sure that you recognize your members when they participate in the CL manual. Award a member with a ribbon when she’s halfway through and make an announcement when that person completes the manual. Let her know you appreciate the special care and preparation that she took with each meeting role.

5. Encourage the president and VPE of your club to promote the CL manual at each club meeting. Emphasize how the manual functions as a valuable learning tool – training each member on the different roles of the meeting and helping them build beneficial skills for the working world and daily life.

6. Place equal importance on the leadership and communication tracks in your club by including accreditations for both tracks in all correspondence, agendas and programs for your club.

7. Use the Competent Leadership Achievement Chart! Post it on the wall during meetings and keep it up-to-date. Draw attention to the successes listed on the chart.

8. For every speech a member gives, your club can request that he perform and receive evaluations on at least three meeting roles.

9. Does your club have a newsletter or Web site? Post a reminder to members to bring their manuals. Also, your club can post a congratulatory list of those who have completed the manual.

10. Ask each member who achieves the CL award to mentor a new member in the manual.

These tips will help make the CL manual a natural and easy part of your club’s meetings. When the CL manual is second nature to the members of your club, you’ll be pleasantly and easily learning leadership skills that help you everyday.

John Schneyer - Figuring Out What to Work On

2010-03-17T19:20:00.000-07:00

John Schneyer delivering Speech 3 from the Technical Presentations Advanced Manual, The Nontechnical Audience.

From Toastmasters

Competent Leadership Evaluator

2010-03-11T19:29:00.000-08:00

Fellow Toastmasters,

We have decided to create a new meeting role, Competent Leadership Evaluator, to help facilitate progress towards our members achieving Competent Leadership status. I will fill this role at our next meeting and it will be available for you to perform at future meetings.

It will work like this:

Signup to be the Competent Leadership Evaluator

Remind fellow Toastmasters to bring their Competent Leadership Manuals to our meetings

At the meeting, gather CL manuals from the Toastmasters who are filling the roles highlighted in green below who still need those roles to complete CL projects

Observe their performance at the meeting and write your feedback in their manuals

Return the manuals at the end of the meeting

This is a listening and evaluating opportunity that does not require you to deliver an oral report. You will learn more about the positions by performing this role and will provide a valuable service to your fellow Toastmasters.

I encourage you to consider filling this role as you would any other.

Please call me with any questions.

THEME	GO GREEN
	3/16/2010
Toastmaster *	Kasia Nowak
Inspiration	Barry Rinehart
TABLE Topic Master *	Carlos Cabrera
The Small Tip	Vanessa North

Speaker #1 *	Flavia Finnegan
Speaker #2 *	John Schneyer 10-12 minutes
Speaker #3 *	Bea Solya
Speaker #4 *	Michele Guarino
BACK-UP SPEAKER	Jeff Tockman

Gen. Evaluator *	Russell Foster
Evaluator #1 *	Stephen Marinaccio
Evaluator #2 *	Marshall Isaacson
Evaluator #3 *	Bob Geller
Evaluator #4 *	Walter Bald
Minutes
Supporters
Competent Leadership Evaluator	John Schneyer
Timer *	Daniel Escalante
Ah Counter *	David Paltanavich
Grammarian *	Matt Bloomfield
Body Lang. Master	Jeff Tockman
Inquisitor	Terrence Bazley
Greeter
Camera Coordinator	Roseane Houck
Food Master

Can Not Attend	R Singer
(Signed-Out)	M Novek

John Schneyer - I've got the whole world, well, a little piece of it, in my hands

2010-03-10T14:55:00.000-08:00

John Schneyer presenting Project 3 from the Advanced Manual, The Entertaining Speaker

Infuse Your Club with Vitamin C... Creativity!

2010-03-10T14:44:00.000-08:00

This is my weekly Vice President, Education post.

Last night was an excellent example of being creative as the Weekly Toastmaster. Barry Rinehart took the meeting theme and turned it into a fun, exciting meeting while remaining true to the Toastmaster mission.

I went to the Toastmasters International site and found this article that may give us ideas for future meetings. I have copied it below and you can find it by clicking here.

Please add you comments by using the link below.

John Schneyer

Over time, many clubs fall into the doldrums. It’s possible for meetings to become a bit stale, for members to lapse into a routine pattern each week. Sometimes it’s a result of the sameness of the room, identical meeting formats, or the absence of enough new members to infuse your club with new energy. Over the years I’ve watched clubs succumb to lethargy. Yet the remedy is as easy as a little dose of vitamin C:Creativity.

Administer this vitamin to your club once every four to six weeks, and you’ll see its life force return stronger than ever. Paula Tunison, DTM, past International Director and three-time District 55 Governor, agrees. “Toastmasters is like a love affair. Everything is exciting at first and then, if you’re not careful, it can become dull and routine. Changing your meetings helps to keep it exciting.”

Here are some of the many ways you can introduce freshness, fun and vitality into your meetings:

• A different room layout. Many times we accept the room layout as a given: the placement of the lectern, chairs and tables. For a change of pace, try reversing the location of the lectern before the next meeting. If possible, put it at the opposite end and feel the difference. Other variations: If your lectern is at the narrow end of a long table, try placing it in front of the wide side. Or consider removing the table and holding the meeting in a circle or semi-circle, a chevron or some other configuration of chairs. Remember, environment informs experience. Add flowers, a scent or some fun decorations for further effect. Create a new environment and the experience will surely feel fresh and exciting.

• A joint meeting with another club. Find one that meets nearby at the same time. You can host them for one meeting, and they can reciprocate another time. It’s exciting to entertain guests who already know the Toastmasters traditions. The extra people and energy from this joint meeting doubles your fun!

• A grab bag meeting. Designate your next meeting as a grab bag where, upon the arrival of members, all meeting roles are drawn from a bag filled with slips of paper. Use a fill-in-the-blanks agenda, or a flipchart or whiteboard where you write in the roles chosen from the bag. Any member may end up as Toastmaster, speaker or evaluator. The drama adds a layer of excitement as even the “prepared” speeches feel like Table Topics.

• Theme meeting. Turn a normal meeting into a special event! Recently one club in the United States held an Academy Awards meeting where the Toastmaster wore a tuxedo, the Table Topics were related to movies and the winners gave acceptance speeches! Another club honored the American baseball season with a meeting in which each member assumed a baseball-related role, the Toastmaster became the manager, the General Evaluator became the head umpire, speakers became batters and the Topicsmaster became the pitcher. Members fielded topics. If your club tries this, you can dress the part as well!

Other themes may relate to topical holidays or current events of a local, regional or national nature. Celebrate the Cherry Blossom Festival in Japan, Independence Day in your country or even a club, district or company anniversary.

• Costume parties. These types of theme meetings are especially stimulating. You can wear masks and costumes for Halloween, caps and gowns at graduation time, or go green for St. Patrick’s Day. Adornments abound depending upon the theme for your party.

• A time machine. Your costume party or theme meeting can be tied to a historical period. At this meeting people dress like a past generation: platform boots and silk shirts with wide lapels for the ’70s, bobby socks and leather jackets for the ’50s, or even the Gatsby look from the roaring ’20s. You’ll find a new energy comes with such wardrobes. Or go back further: the Renaissance era, Roman or Greek empires or even the Stone Age. Perhaps you’d rather fast forward to the year 2058 or 3008? When the time comes, come in character.

In addition to dressing for a particular epoch, use related language, phrases and speech topics. Methinks you speaketh the King’s English fits in your Elizabethan era. For the Roaring Twenties, your closing thought may end with “twenty three skidoo.” And your Table Topics and speeches can relate to the themes of the era as well.

• Go Hollywood! Themes abound from the world of motion pictures. Whether you take your inspiration from Hollywood, India’s Bollywood or the movies of Hong Kong, you’ll find wonderful ideas from films as diverse as The Matrix, the Harry Potter series, Jodhaa Akbar, Ratatouille or The Forbidden Kingdom.

• A progressive story. The Topicsmaster begins the fun and it’s continued by all the members. Collectively, you will tell a story designated by the Topicsmaster. This requires listening skills, creativity and quick thinking to complete. Each member contributes a sentence or two in the co-creation of a new story.

“Toastmasters is like a love-affair. Everything is exciting at first and then,
if you’re not careful, it can become dull and routine. Changing your
meetings helps to keep it exciting.”
– Paula Tunison

• A debate. Your Table Topics can have two participants arguing alternate sides of an issue. Or plan a debate with numerous “candidates” for a fictitious election to involve as many members as possible. Another alternative: You can ask Table Topics respondents to argue both sides of an issue. Decorating a table with politically themed bunting is optional.

We The People, a club in Reno, Nevada, allows a Table Topic responder to rebut the previous participant’s topic as a debate activity. This builds listening skills and persuasive skills and also challenges listeners to think more, as divergent points of view are posed in the successive responses.

Even the prepared speeches for such meetings can take on a campaign tone, tackling issues and vying for the hearts, minds and votes of club members.

• A television newscast brings the world of journalism to your club. Your Sergeant at Arms can give the countdown until you go live and also be the “voiceover” that introduces the newscast. Your Toastmaster of the day is the anchor, with Table Topics and General Evaluator as your Sports and Weather co-anchors. Speakers become field correspondents with reports, etc. You can even turn some roles into commercials.

• A speech marathon! Help your members earn their educational awards as you dedicate an entire meeting just to prepared speeches. For clubs with a lot of members and the constraints of a one-hour meeting time, this periodic pumped-up housekeeping event helps more members speak and shortens the wait time between speeches. It’s educational for audience members to see multiple speeches in rapid succession. These popular events can be staged at a regular club meeting or scheduled in addition to your regular meeting time and place.

• A reverse meeting. Once a year, say on April Fool’s Day, you begin with the closing thought, hear speech evaluations before the speeches, and generally reverse the order of your entire meeting. Once in a blue moon this fun variation of the usual meeting format is refreshing and fun. Give it a try!

• The mute button. In this meeting it’s all done without sound. You can mouth the words to your speech or topic, but focus on communicating with facial expressions and gesticulations – use body language. A less ambitious version: Turn Table Topics into charades.

• Every day is a holiday somewhere. There are event calendars such as Chase’s Calendar of Events that provide fascinating and timely themes you can build meetings around. For example: Sept. 24 is National Punctuation Day (www.NationalPunctuationDay.com) in the USA. For that week’s meeting, ask members to discuss punctuation used in their speaking. Many holidays have their own Web sites to help you understand their origins, meaning and intent.

• Tall tales are terrific. Once in a blue moon, or every April 4 in the U.S. (“Tell A Lie” day), you can dedicate a meeting to embellishment, aggrandizement and bald-faced lies. Everyone can get into the act. Your speech introductions, speech contents, Table Topics and more can play fast and loose with the truth. Make outlandish claims, issue representations of gigantic proportions and pull each other’s legs for comedic effect. Then, just to confuse your audience, throw a bald-faced truth into the middle and see if they detect it! Make Pinocchio proud.

During Table Topics, play True or Lie. For some, this is easy. For others, less so!

Vote after each topic response on whether it was the truth or a lie. Alternately, confuse people with your version of truthiness – things that a person claims to know intuitively or “from the gut” without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination or facts.

If you’re troubled by fostering lies in a Toastmasters meeting, rest assured that each April 30th you can honor National Honesty Day with a meeting dedicated to truth – which is often stranger than fiction!

Veteran Toastmaster Yew Kam Keong, Ph.D. (Dr. YKK) of Australia’s Deloitte at the Barrington club explains why we should deviate from our regular program formats from time to time: “These meeting ideas are effective because they contain the essential elements of creativity: spontaneity, humor, playfulness and doing the unexpected. Toastmasters meetings will never be the same again. They will be even more fun...and with fun comes humongous learning!”

Dr. YKK, also known as the Chief Mind Unzipper, is an international creativity speaker, consultant and best-selling author (You Are Creative – Let Your Creativity Bloom). In his 22 years as a Toastmaster, Dr. YKK has spoken to Toastmasters clubs in 10 countries and inspired creativity in countless people. His Web site, www.mindbloom.net, contains many tools for clubs and members.

Whether you employ these or other ideas to spruce up your meetings, that extra shot of Vitamin C will breathe new life into proceedings. While you never want to eschew the educational value of meetings, such variations on our traditional formats will add a new dimension to your Toastmasters training and keep everyone fresh. Any time you apply creativity to your meetings, the results will yield fun, energy and new perspectives. Ready...set...create!

Craig Harrison, DTM, founder of LaughLovers club in Oakland, California, is a professional keynote speaker, trainer and principal of Expressions Of Excellence! For more resources, visit www.ExpressionsOfExcellence.com.

Toastmasters Going Greener

2010-03-04T07:36:00.000-08:00

Fellow Toastmasters,

Our club is trying to go a little greener and save some money. Here's how you can help.

Instead of paying to have ballots printed (you know, those little slips of paper we use to vote for Best Speaker, Best Evaluator, and Best Table Topics Speaker), we have decided to reuse paper that would have been thrown away or recycled as our ballots.

All you have to do is take a piece of paper you would have normally recycled and cut it into strips. An 8.5 x 11 piece of paper makes a dozen ballots if you cut it in half the long way and then into fairly equal strips.

Don't worry if there is something printed on one side, we'll just use the blank side. Potential sources of this paper are:

any drafts or mistakes from your office or home (assuming no confidential information is on them)
handouts you may receive at a seminar that you no longer need
our own meeting programs

I'm sure you can come up with other sources if you give it a little thought.

By doing this, you will help the club save money and become a little greener.

What suggestions do you have? Comment below.

John Schneyer
VPE

10 Biggest Public Speaking Mistakes

2010-03-03T18:58:00.000-08:00

This is my weekly Vice President, Education post copied directly from the International Toastmasters site

Top executives often fall flat on their faces as speakers.

How come intelligent, business-savvy people end up boring their audiences? They fail to recognize that public speaking is an acquired skill that improves with practice and honest feedback. Speaking for 20 minutes before the right group of people can do more for your career than spending a year behind a desk!

Rob Sherman, an attorney and public speaker in Columbus, Ohio, says in an article in the Toastmaster magazine to avoid these mistakes:

Starting with a whimper. Don’t start with “Thank you for that kind introduction.” Start with a bang! Give the audience a startling statistic, an interesting quote, a news headline – something powerful that will get their attention immediately.
Attempting to imitate other speakers. Authenticity is lost when you aren’t yourself.
Failing to “work” the room. Your audience wants to meet you. If you don’t take time to mingle before the presentation, you lose an opportunity to enhance your credibility with your listeners.
Failing to use relaxation techniques. Do whatever it takes – listening to music, breathing deeply, shrugging your shoulders – to relieve nervous tension.
Reading a speech word for word. This will put the audience to sleep. Instead use a “keyword” outline: Look at the keyword to prompt your thoughts. Look into the eyes of the audience, then speak.
Using someone else’s stories. It’s okay to use brief quotes from other sources, but to connect with the audience, you must illustrate your most profound thoughts from your own life experiences. If you think you don’t have any interesting stories to tell, you are not looking hard enough.
Speaking without passion. The more passionate you are about your topic, the more likely your audience will act on your suggestions.
Ending a speech with questions and answers. Instead, tell the audience that you will take questions and then say, “We will move to our closing point.” After the Q and A, tell a story that ties in with your main theme, or summarize your key points. Conclude with a quote or call to action.
Failing to prepare. Your reputation is at stake every time you face an audience – so rehearse well enough to ensure you’ll leave a good impression!
Failing to recognize that speaking is an acquired skill. Effective executives learn how to present in the same way they learn to use other tools to operate their businesses.

Do you have other suggestions for this list? Add comments through the link below.

John Schneyer - Kids Say the Darndest Things

2010-02-25T19:17:00.000-08:00

John Schneyer delivers speech #2 from the Entertaining Speaker advanced manual.

When You Are (or want to be) the Speaker

2010-02-24T06:35:00.000-08:00

This is my weekly Vice President, Education post.

Our meeting last night, while successful, highlighted an opportunity for improvement.

We had 4 prepared speeches on the schedule. Each of the 4 speakers had confirmed with our Toastmaster for the evening that they would be delivering their speeches.

At the start of the meeting, we realized that 2 of our confirmed speakers were not present and our Toastmaster for the evening, Karen Novek, had not been notified by either of them.

Karen did a great job covering for this by allowing everyone an opportunity to introduce themselves and giving a 30 second spot for any members who did not have a speaking role during the meeting. Table Topics Master, Jeff Tockman, came prepared with plenty of topics to give more members a chance to speak.

How could this have been improved?

1) The two missing speakers could have called Karen to say they weren't going to be able to speak as soon as they knew. Ideally, they would have reached out to the backup speaker (we did have one listed on the online roster) and told Karen they had arranged for another speaker. Even if they hadn't arranged for another speaker, they would have given Karen the opportunity to find another speaker. By the way, if you need to cancel, call the Toastmaster, don't just send an e-mail, especially if it's the day of the meeting. Some of us can not check our e-mails all day.

2) Sometimes, life happens. Emergencies pop up and it doesn't occur to us to call someone as we are dealing with the emergency. I don't know what happened in the lives of our two missing speakers last night and, quite frankly, it's none of my business. I just hope they are ok.

Lets look at this from the flip side of the issue. Had our backup speaker arrived at the meeting prepared to speak, had other speakers been prepared, someone could have jumped in at the last minute to deliver a speech. We are a speaking club after all.

Karen did a great job but shouldn't have been in the position to cover for two missing speakers.

If you are scheduled to speak, plan on speaking. If things come up, make a phone call or two in order to find a replacement. Let the Toastmaster of the evening know what's going on so they can work with you. It's a team sport, we work together and support each other. Open speaking slots don't come back once the meeting ends. They are lost forever. Give someone else the opportunity to speak.

If you sign up to be a backup speaker, assume you ARE speaking. Come prepared to speak. If you don't get to, at least you have your next speech prepared.

Do not sign up to be a backup speaker unless you intend to come prepared to speak.

I've been told by some of our more senior members that advanced speakers should show up at each meeting with a speech in their pocket. I think that may be a good idea.

What do you think about what I have just posted? Please comment below.

Have a great week. Best of luck to Nina Potter at the Division contest this Saturday morning. Come out to support her.

John Schneyer
Vice President, Education

Body Language Myths

2010-02-17T08:14:00.001-08:00

This is my weekly Vice President, Education post. I found an interesting article about Body Language on the Toastmasters web site. You can view it here.

What do you think about this? The message I took away is the same my friend Kristen has given me, be yourself. Use what strengths you have to give your strongest presentation.

I'd like to hear from you. Please comment on this post.

John Schneyer, VPE

Should You Say "Thank You" or Apologize When You Give a Speech?

2010-02-10T13:58:00.000-08:00

This is my weekly Vice President, Education post.

Last night I noticed one of our speakers caught themselves saying "Thank You" at the end of their speech. I read their reaction as they knew they made a mistake in doing so. But did they? How about apologizing?

Click this link to read a good article on the Toastmasters web site regarding saying "Thank You" and apologizing to an audience.

I agree with the writer. I believe you speak and behave according to the situation. What is appropriate under one set of circumstances may be inappropriate under another.

Consider what you find in the article and decide what you want to do when you are speaking. Remember, it's your speech and you are the one who has to live with the consequences, good or bad, of your words and actions.

What's your opinion? Feel free to comment here, I'd like to hear from you.

John Schneyer

John Schneyer - Finding Your Match - Speech #1 Entertaining Speaker Advanced Manual

2010-02-10T13:36:00.000-08:00

VPE Weekly Spot 2-3-2010

2010-02-03T08:36:00.000-08:00

I am John Schneyer, your Vice President of Education (VPE). I have decided to do a weekly posting here on our blog focusing on an education, leadership, or club topic.

This week's topic is for all members, not just new members.

Bring both your Speech Manual and your Leadership Manual to all meetings.

Speeches given at our club come from a project in one of the official Toastmaster Speech Manuals. To get credit and, more importantly, a valuable evaluation, you need to have your speech manual with you. Go over the speech project requirements with your evaluator before the meeting starts (you could do this days before the meeting if you want to) and discuss what you would like the evaluator to focus on, if anything, outside the speech objectives.

After the meeting, get your manual back from your evaluator, discuss anything they may have said or written in your manual to make sure you are clear.

See the Vice President of Education (or another officer in the VPE's absence) and have them sign-off in the back of your manual. Once all the projects in the manual are done, see the VPE again to gain appropriate recognition and advancement.

Leadership - Many meeting roles satisfy projects in the Competent Leadership Manual. To get proper credit and feedback, you need to bring your manual.

Step 1 - Use the manual to decide which meeting role you will perform. Sign up for the role by going to our online roster here
Step 2 - Read up on the role requirements in the manual and at http://www.bocaratontoastmasters.org/ (scroll down, it's near the bottom)
Step 3 - When you arrive at the meeting, ask another Toastmaster to evaluate your performance in the role you are performing and give them the manual opened to the appropriate project page.
Step 4 - perform your role
Step 5 - retrieve your manual after the meeting and ask for feedback. Read the comments and make sure you understand them.
Step 6 - after completing all the requirements for a project, see the VPE to have the project signed off.
Step 7 - after completing all the projects, the VPE will submit the paperwork so you receive recognition

Note: You may go through the Competent Leadership Manual in any order that works for you. You go through the Competent Communicator and other speech manual in sequential order.

Discuss your objectives and progress regularly with your Mentor. If you do not have a mentor or if you can offer your services as a mentor, please let me know.

-John

John Schneyer's 2010 International Speech Contest

2010-02-01T14:41:00.001-08:00

This is the video of John Schneyer's 2nd place speech in the Boca Raton Toastmasters International Speech Contest.

Visitor Night

2009-12-08T07:55:00.000-08:00

Boca Raton Toastmasters is having a Visitor Night tonight, Tuesday 12/8/09. All are welcome to see what Toastmasters is all about.

Club members - please invite your colleagues, friends, and family who may benefit from all Toastmasters has to offer.

Elizabeth Rando's Winning Evaluation Speech at Area Contest

2009-09-12T09:11:00.001-07:00

First, here is the test speech Elizabeth had to evaluate:

Now that you have seen the "test" speech, see how your evaluation would compare with Elizabeth's winning evaluation:

Area Contest Evaluation Awards

2009-09-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

James Meringolo Area Contest Humorous Speech

2009-09-12T09:08:00.000-07:00

Karen Novek addressing Area Contest

2009-09-12T09:07:00.000-07:00

John Schneyer Speech #9 - Going Greener

2009-09-09T07:15:00.001-07:00

John Schneyer Speech #8 - Cost Cutting Through Problem Prevention

2009-08-27T13:57:00.000-07:00

John Schneyer's Speech #8, Cost Cutting Through Problem Prevention

Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contests Pictures

2009-08-19T13:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to pictures from our Humorous Speech & Evaluation Contest 8/11/09. Thanks to Ken Hirsch for taking the pictures.

John Schneyer Speech 5 - Learning from Mistakes

2009-07-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

Here is a copy of John Schneyer's Speech 5 - Learning from Mistakes

Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contests

2009-07-28T14:27:00.000-07:00

Would you help out a friend in need?

Would you do something a little different and possibly uncomfortable if it helped you and your friends learn and grow?

Would you read the rest of this and let me know how you will help me if I promise you a piece of chocolate?

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above, then you are just who I am looking for (and if you answered ‘no’, call me and let me know what I have to do to get a ‘yes’ out of you).

Please read and get back to me.

BOCA RATON TOASTMASTERS CLUB 3299

HUMOROUS SPEECH AND

EVALUATION CONTEST

TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2009

All eligible members in good standing are encouraged to participate

HUMOROUS SPEECH CONTEST … QUALIFICATIONS
• Member in good standing with club #3299 (active member)
• Each contestant must present an original five to seven minute speech
• Speech must have a theme, not just a monologue or a series of jokes
• Material must be substantially original

EVALUATION CONTEST … QUALIFICATIONS
• All members in good standing club #3299 (active members)

In addition to speakers we will need:
• Two Timers
• Three Ballot Counters
• Chief Judge
• Five Qualified Judges, you know who you are
• A Tie Breaking Judge
• Sergeant at Arms
• Assistant Sergeant at Arms
• A Speaker to give a prepared speech for the Evaluation Contest

This is a great opportunity to have fun and test your speaking and evaluation skills.

Please e-mail or call me to let me know what role you will be filling for these contests (see above) even if you have already told someone else you will be participating.

Regards,

John Schneyer
President
Boca Consultants, Inc.
www.BocaConsultants.com
561.459.4814

Special Event

2009-07-23T08:54:00.000-07:00

At the the Broward Advanced Toastmasters Club on Thursday, July 23rd in Coral Springs. 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM, the Immediate Past District Governor Antionette Fox will be visiting. She is on vacation but will come visit Broward Advanced!

Please come out and take the opportunity to applaud her for the fantastic job she did as District Governor last year.

There will also be a presentation from special guest Steven Harwood from the Gelfand Club giving his speech on "How to Master a Foreign Language"

Looking forward to a fun meeting!

So You Wanna Speak

2009-07-07T11:11:00.001-07:00

Last week, Toastmaster Rando shared with us some valuable tips to help each of us have a speaking opportunity during meetings. Here is just a partial list.

Be a backup speaker (have a speech ready)
Speak at another club
Volunteer for a meeting role
Be an evaluator
Call the Toastmaster and ask to speak
Give your Icebreaker (these speeches are given priority)
Ask to be a Table Topics speaker
Speak outside the club where another TM is in attendance

Post a comment and add your suggestion on how we can all have a better chance at speaking and reaching our goals.

Congratulations Barry Rinehart

2009-06-30T06:16:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Toastmaster Barry Rinehart on his third place win at the Toastmaster International Regional competition in Greensboro, NC last weekend. Barry's wins at the local, division and area competitions earned him the right and honor to compete at this elite level. We look forward to Barry sharing his experiences with our club.

The Rule of Three

2009-06-25T13:43:00.000-07:00

During last weekend's Toastmaster Leadership Training, I heard about the "Rule of Three" and how it can improve your speeches. Click here to read an excellent article from Andrew Dlugan. Andrew is an award-winning speaker and his web site is entitled "Six Minutes."

As we’ve learned in the earlier articles, there’s something magical about words, phrases, or sentences that come in sets of three. Three-element sets are found in many cultural areas, including religion.

The title "Six Minutes" refers to the average length of a Toastmaster speech (5-7 minutes). You will find many helpful tips and useful information on his site.

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PowerPoint is NOT Your Speech

2009-06-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

Click here to read a great article by Bert Decker explaining that your PowerPoint (or Keynote for Mac users) should not be the focus of your presentation. However, the article points out that visuals are important because most learning comes from seeing and observing. What the article stresses is striking the correct balance between you, your speech and the visuals.

He compliments Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple (pictured above) on being able to use his energy and enthusiasm to captivate an audience's attention. He especially likes that Job's will put up a blank slide to bring attention back to the presentation. Click here for an analysis of how to present like Steve Jobs.

Upcoming Contests - Save The Dates

2009-06-21T18:10:00.000-07:00

Great news! Humorous Speech and Evaluation contests will be this fall. These will be some important, interesting and entertaining contests that I encourage all of our Toastmasters to participate in.

The Area 44 contest will be held Friday, September 11, 2009 at the Boca Raton Community Center. Palmetto Park Road and Crawford Blvd.

The Division D will be held on Friday, October 2, 2009. Location TBD.

Keep watching this blog and the main web site for further details and developments.

TLI Training 6/20/09

2009-06-21T14:08:00.000-07:00

From Toastmasters TLI Training

Here is a link to some pictures from yesterday's training session.

TO ALL TOASTMASTER FATHER'S

2009-06-21T10:30:00.001-07:00

Happy Father’s Day.

Kind regards, Patricia

Patricia Anne Martinez

District 47 Secretary Elect
Boca Raton Toastmasters, President
District 47 Fall Conference Chair
ToastmastersD47.org

Tips From Toastmasters

2009-06-18T12:29:00.000-07:00

Be sure to check out the Toastmasters International site for some terrific information about our organization. The site has information for free to the public and special sections for members and officers. While you are there, be sure to look at the Tips & Techniques section for great information on how to make your next speech or evaluation even better.

Don't forget this valuable resource!

John Schneyer - Speech #3 Cost Effective Problem Solving

2009-06-17T07:19:00.000-07:00

This is John Schneyer's third speech titled "Cost Effective Problem Solving"

Visit Toastmaster Clubs

2009-06-12T11:02:00.000-07:00

I did something today that I recommend to all other Toastmasters - visit another Toastmaster club to see how other people run meetings. I spent lunchtime visiting a the Bill Gove Golden Gavel Toastmasters Club that meets every Friday from noon - 1PM. Because of the one hour time limit the agenda ran at a much different pace then our club. I found the afternoon club was full of the same kind of friendly and supportive people that make up our club. It is also a great way to meet new people with similar interests. Maybe you already have a friend or know somebody in another club. Ask that person if you can come and visit. If you travel, seek out TM clubs where you will be staying. And if you find that the club you visit does something great or innovative, bring it back to our club so perhaps we could incorporate it into what we do to make our club even better.

Your TM Goals

2009-06-11T10:24:00.000-07:00

What goals do you want to achieve with Toastmasters? Are you looking to conquer your fear of public speaking or do you want to practice your presentation techniques in a friendly and supportive environment? Whatever your goal, I encourage you to work with the club officers and members so we can help you reach it. Even if you are an experienced TM, I hope that you share your goals and let the group provide support in any way we can.

Toastmaster Leadership Institute

2009-06-08T06:48:00.000-07:00

Fellow Toastmasters,

The local TLI training session will take place on Saturday, June 20, 2009 at the BankAtlantic Corporate Center, 2100 W. Cypress Creek Road, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33309.

Please be sure to sign up for the TLI event. All officers are required to attend training and it will move our club forward in the first step to becoming a distinguished club. We can sign up as individuals or as a group. This training is open to all Toastmasters.

Please do not hesitate to sign up as an individual. Click here.

Thanks,

Walter Bald, President Elect

Save Your TM Magazines

2009-06-01T11:00:00.001-07:00

Do you just throw your old Toastmaster magazine away after you read it? Is there a way we could use these old issues to increase membership and awareness in our club? Here are some suggestions I read about:

Put a sticker over the address part with your club info and distribute (with permission) to doctor's offices, dentists, car repair waiting rooms, etc.
Give them to someone helping to build a new club.
Insert club information, pamphlets, and an application form and hand them out to the potential members at meetings.
Leave them on tables wherever you eat lunch.

Any other suggestions?

Job Fair Today

2009-05-28T07:20:00.000-07:00

From WPTV Channel 5

WEST PALM BEACH, FL--A job fair is scheduled to be held Thursday in West Palm Beach. It will take place at the Marriott Hotel at 1001 Okeechobee Boulevard from 10 am until 2 pm. Organizers expect as many as 1,200 people to attend. They urge job seekers to dress well and bring resumes. They are also encouraged to pre-register online at www.jobnewspalmbeach.com.

Positions available range from management openings to hourly retail jobs.

Companies Attending:

Aflac
Sales & Marketing

Avon Products Inc

BLOG Updates

2009-05-27T14:26:00.001-07:00

Just an update to let you know some of the addition we have made to the blog site. Now when a new post is added to the blog you will receive a notification email. This is will help remind you to check the blog when important and interesting information is added.

Also, there is a new poll on the site and I encourage you to vote. This poll asks if you would be willing to share the video of your prepared speech by posting it on the blog. If the votes come back yes, we will discuss with the club how exactly that will be accomplished. Your vote can influence how the club implements future changes in technology and operations.

You can also leave comments by just clicking the comment link below any message. We want to hear from you!

John Schneyer - Speech #2 Cost Effective Networking

2009-05-27T05:57:00.000-07:00

John Schneyer's Speech #2 - Cost Effective Networking

Compare this video to the two videos below. This one was recorded on my Flip digital camera (basic model, not HD), transferred to my laptop, uploaded to YouTube and then embedded on the blog.

The two videos below were recorded on the club's mini-DVD camera, loaded to my laptop, converted to iPod format, uploaded to YouTube and then embedded on the blog.

I embedded all three videos in the same size so you can compare the sound and image quality.

John Schneyer - Ice Breaker Evaluation

2009-05-26T10:46:00.000-07:00

Walter Bald's evaluation of John Schneyer's Ice Breaker

John Schneyer - Ice Breaker - Ask Me Why

2009-05-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

John Schneyer's Ice Breaker - Ask Me Why

Sunset Networking Cruise - Don't Miss The Boat

2009-05-23T11:18:00.000-07:00

Hi Toastmasters,

The sunset cruise event will be on Thursday June 4th after work. Info below. Please email me at marshall05@comcast.net or call 561-395-2587 if you would like to attend & how many in your party. I will try to get a better price, but it will be no more than $20 per person. I will need to let them know how many will be going from our toastmasters group. It is easier to join another group since it is all set up & includes some food. I went a couple of months ago and I had a great time. The cruise is very relaxing.

My best,

Marshall Isaacson

President & chairman of events.

To see details from the cruise web site Click Here

Emailing the Club

2009-05-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

Tim Adler, our VP of Public Relations and resident web guru, has implemented a better way of sending email messages to all of the Boca Raton Toastmaster #3299 members using just one simple address. The next time you want to send a message to all of the club members, just address your message to bocaraton@freetoasthost.ws and it will automatically be sent to all of the people on the membership roster. No need to copy and paste all of those addresses into the “To:” section of your email. Using this address will also help prevent missed email addresses and reduce the dreaded scourge of the internet, SPAM.

There is also an email address that will go to the officers of Boca Raton Toastmasters #3299. If you send your message to bocaraton-officers@freetoasthost.ws, your message will be sent to all of the current officers of the organization. Quick, easy and a lot easier to remember.

Please make sure that you have logged into your member account at http://bocaraton.freetoasthost.ws/ and brought your information up-to-date. The only way to insure that you stay current with the club is to make sure your profile contact information is correct.

New Articles

2009-05-21T12:56:00.000-07:00

Toastmaster Florence Ferreira was gracious enough to provide PDF copies of two of her articles published in Toastmaster Magazine. Go to the Boca Raton Toastmasters web site to read these interesting and informative articles. Just look for the articles section on the left-hand navigation bar.

Public Speaking Tip

2009-05-21T07:46:00.000-07:00

Here is a video I found on YouTube which gives some good tips on public speaking. Enjoy.

June 30th Pot Luck Event

2009-05-20T06:48:00.000-07:00

Note: The following is not intended as an offer to speak at the meeting. It is intended to get members to participate and bring food and supplies to the event.

Imagine, if you will, an evening filled with fun, surprises, good food, and drink, as diverse as the members of our club.

Now imagine your role in making this happen.

Fellow Toastmasters,

I'm John Schneyer, your Event Master for our June 30th Pot Luck Night. Please put on your thinking hats and come up with something you would be proud to bring to our club. Switch roles and put on your chef hats (or shopping hats as the case may be) and show us what you can do. Don't hold back or get stage freight ( 3 deep breaths, hold, and slowly release and you'll be fine).

Treat this like your Ice Breaker and you'll be fine.

Executive Summary:

For this project, you will introduce your food choices to your fellow club members and give them some insights into your skills and background. Practice preparing and eating your food and strive to make it tasty and safe. You may use recipes during your preparation and napkins if you wish during your eating. Read the entire recipe before preparing any food.

Objectives:

To begin preparing food for an audience
To discover food preparation skills you already have and skills that need some attention
To begin eating before an audience
To discover eating skills you already have and skills that need some attention

Time: 60-90 minutes

We are looking for:

Appetizers
Salads
Desserts
Beverages (soda, water, iced tea, cider)
Ice
Set up (napkins, plates, cups, table cloth, utensils)
Clean up (baggies, paper towels, sponges, small bottle of all purpose cleaner)

My suggestion is to let us all know what you will be bringing by commenting to this post.
You should also send an e-mail to John.Schneyer@BocaConsultants.com letting me know so I can track everything.

Lectern or Not

2009-05-20T05:57:00.000-07:00

I was intrigued at last week's Evaluators Workshop by the discussion around using the lectern while delivering a speech. The next day I went through my materials and did not find reference to proper use. I searched the Toastmasters International website and didn't find much there either. I checked the Toastmasters group on LinkedIn and found varying opinions.

What do the members of Boca Raton Toastmasters think about this issue? As a new member, I have the sense that most of you think it is important to get out from behind the lectern as soon as possible. That's what came across to me.

Please provide your input so I may learn.

Thank you.
John Schneyer

You Are Invited

2009-05-20T05:50:00.001-07:00

On May 23, 2009, Exor Galleries invites the public to the opening of its Purvis Young exhibition. Exor will host a cocktail reception from 7 to 9 PM. For more details call the gallery or visit its web site.

EXOR Galleries, LLC

Royal Palm Place 291 Via Naranjas, Suite 45A

Boca Raton, Florida 33432

p: 561 361 7474

Click here to RSVP.

Comments or questions? Please email us at info@exorgalleries.com

Board Meeting

2009-05-19T19:34:00.000-07:00

May 20, 2009 - 6:30 PM - There will be a board meeting at Romano's Macaroni Grill at NW Executive Ctr. Dr.Boca Raton, FL 33431 - 561-997-5492. Click Here for a map to the location. All members of Boca Raton Toastmasters Club 3299 are invited to atttend.

How Tweet It Is

2009-05-19T06:29:00.000-07:00

From Wikipedia - Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users' updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length which are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have subscribed to them (known as followers). Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow anybody to access them. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, Short Message Service (SMS) or external applications.

Are you using Twitter? If you are, post your link in the comments section so we can follow you too!

Bloggers Wanted

2009-05-18T13:31:00.000-07:00

Calling all Boca Raton Toastmasters. If you want to contribute posts to this site, just let me know and you can start adding to the dialog.

Are you Linked In?

2009-05-15T06:44:00.001-07:00

Are you a member of Linked In the social networking site for professionals? The site allows people to connect with other professionals locally and as well as all over the world. Once you have joined, you just fill out the personal and career information and choose what information you would like to share in your profile. You can also find groups of people with related interests. Toastmasters International has a group and so does Boca Raton Toastmasters. Let me know what you think.

Word of the Day

2009-05-11T09:48:00.001-07:00

Are you the Grammarian for this week's meeting? If you are, you might want to check this blog daily to see the "Word of the Day." Just look on the right-hand column of the site to get the "Word of the Day" from The Free Dictionary. If you have a word that you really like to hear or read, send it to me and we will start a list of "Member's Favorite Word."

You Know You Are A Toastmaster When...

2009-05-08T08:37:00.000-07:00

You know you are a Toastmaster when you hear someone say "Ah," "Um," or "Ya Know" while speaking, and a bell rings in the back of your mind. Share with us when you knew you were a Toastmaster. Send an email or add a comment below.

New Polling Feature

2009-05-07T12:23:00.001-07:00

We have added a polling feature to this blog. Take a look at the right-hand column and you will see our first poll question. We can use this feature to ask our members how they feel about making changes in the club. If you have any ideas for a poll, let me know.

New Officers

2009-05-06T06:40:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the following members who were elected officers of the Club for the term July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010:

Walter Bald President

John Jacobson Vice President Education

Anthony Wilcher Vice President Membership

Tim Adler Vice President Public Relations

Carl Sanderson Secretary

Stephen Marinaccio Treasurer

Eduardo Cardenas Sergeant at Arms

James Meringolo Deputy Sergeant at Arms

Cynthia McGuire Mentor Chair

Congratulations also go to Chris McGuire and John J. Schneyer, Jr. who gave their Ice Breakers.

Elections

2009-05-05T08:34:00.000-07:00

Boca Raton Toastmasters,

"The reason we have such a great club is that we've been blessed with some spectacular people serving as officers!"

TONIGHT...Tuesday, May 5, 2009 at 7:00p.m. Boca Raton Toastmasters' Club 3299 will hold 2009/2010 club officer elections.

Fellow Toastmasters...YOUR ATTENDANCE TO THIS IMPORTANT MEETING IS NEEDED!

Thank you to all of you in advance for your willingness to serve.

ALL NOMINEES SHOULD BE PREPARED TO GIVE A ONE MINUTE CAMPAIGN SPEECH.

By serving as an officer you will capitalize on the wonderful opportunities Toastmasters will offer you. "Plus, there's a unique joy that comes about only from serving others. " If you want to GROW in CONFIDENCE, EXPERIENCE, and as a LEADER . . . step out of your comfort zone and move forward to new and exciting heights.

Thank you for your participation.

TOASTMASTERS DISTRICT 47 CONFERENCE WINNERS

2009-05-04T06:40:00.000-07:00

DRUM ROLL PLEASE…..

Here are some of the Winners of the District 47 Spring Conference:

Table Topics Winner: Barry Rinehart

International Speech Contest Winner: Barry Rinehart

Congratulations, Barry, for an exemplary presentation!!

Barry will go on to compete at the 2009 Region VIII Conference, June 25 – 27, to be held at the Embassy Suites in Greensboro, N.C.

The 2009 International convention will be August 12 - 15 in the MGM Grand at Foxwoods Resort Casino.

Officer Elections:

Division D Governor: Karen Novek

District 47 Secretary: Patricia Martinez

District 47 Spring Conference

2009-05-01T06:41:00.000-07:00

I hope that everyone is enjoying the District 47 Spring Conference this weekend in Tampa. I'm sure you will learn a lot, but more importantly you will have a great time with all of our fellow Toastmasters. Bring back lots of pics!

MIT Public Speaking Tips

2009-04-30T06:48:00.000-07:00

The MIT Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) web site has some great tips on public speaking. It was written for incoming freshman, but contains useful information for any speaker. There is information from initial preparation of the speech to what to do on the day you present. Click here to view the site.

PowerPoint Tips

2009-04-29T11:34:00.000-07:00

Here is a helpful tips on the "Dos and Don'ts of PowerPoint."

Suggestion Box

2009-04-29T08:36:00.000-07:00

If you have any suggestions that you think might make our club better, please leave a comment and let the club know.

Evaluation Workshop

2009-04-28T09:41:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, May 12, 2009, Tom Newbery, ATM will present a special Evaluation Workshop. Tom is an experienced evaluator with great tips on how you can be better at the evaluation process. He will cover:

What is an Evaluation ?
What must I do to be Good at it ?
What tools do I have ?
What is the Evaluation process ?
What’s in it for me ?
How do I use the Tools ?
Is the a “Guide”?
Practical Tips !
Evaluation Habits

Don't miss this special event!

For more information about Boca Raton Toastmasters, visit our main web site.

Fear of Public Speaking

2009-04-25T18:06:00.000-07:00

Conquer your fear of public speaking through Toastmasters.

Find out more at our web site!

Hello World

2009-04-25T17:50:00.001-07:00

This is the brand new blog for the Boca Raton Toastmasters Club 3229. We look forward to posting information about our club and its members.

Find out more at our web site!