Today, I had the pleasure and privilege of evaluating the most “real” Ice Breaker I have ever heard. Any one who knows me even an iota knows that I love critiquing speech #1 – not because I am necessarily a harsh critic (although I am!) but more so because I enjoy giving useful feedback to those who are solid speakers from the get go. However, today left me nearly speechless. Never, in my almost two years of Toastmasters, have I heard someone introduce themselves with such brutal honesty, integrity, and conviction. I was humbled and honoured by the experience of praising them to the club! How often at Toastmasters do we strive to be both real people and eloquent speakers? Sadly, I would say less often than not.
In celebration of a relatively new provincial holiday in Ontario, I have been denied my Monday HNTM / SRTM meetings. It was actually nice having the day off – no mad dashing around from city to city; simple relaxation. However, I suspect that I chatted at my significant other enough to make up for it 
You can take the lady away from Toastmasters, but you can’t take TM out of the lady!
Organizing a contest is challenging when:
- You don’t have enough competitors
- You don’t have enough volunteers
Despite my initial fears, the Royal City International Speech / Evaluation contest was a success.
With some gentle prodding, contestants stepped forward. With some gentle bribing persuading, I was able to recruit an adequate number of volunteers to fill the roles required for a successful contest. Speaking comes easy to me, but I have been less likely to volunteer for organization roles that require a large degree of delegating. It was an excellent experience and I’m looking forward to taking on larger roles in the future… Area Governor, for example.
I enjoy speech competitions. However, with my pending appointment as Area 62 Governor (*knock on wood*) I am now ineligible to compete in any contests for the next 1.5 years. Disappointing, yes, however there is so much opportunity within the Toastmasters spectrum that there will always be something to keep me stimulated. This coming week, for example, I will be Chief Judge for one contest and the Chairperson for another. These roles are, admittedly, slightly out of my comfort zone – especially chairing an entire contest – however, this is one of the reasons I joined Toastmasters in the first place. A gentle nudge from one’s place of comfort is often all it takes, before opportunities are unveiled and accepted in places they were not previously.
Over. I am not planning on delivering any speeches for awhile.
This past weekend, I attended Toastmasters District 86 Training (Club Officer + Workshops) in Mississauga. What I took from the experience was (in terms of goal setting):
- Have a vision
- Make a commitment
- Orchestrate the experience
After a very enjoyable RCTM meeting last Thursday, I decided to become a member. I think 3 Toastmasters clubs is definitely my capping point, but I look forward to occasionally visiting other clubs as a guest.
Unfortunately I missed my High Noon meeting in Cambridge today due to the weather. The Guelph meeting in the evening was very enjoyable, and I have continued with my habit of fairly (but brutally) evaluating Icebreaker speeches, yet leaving the speaker with a positive and uplifting end note. I feel like I am talking about wine appreciation… a fine hint/nose of pepper, smoke, cherry and leather!
It was wonderful to get back to all of my regularly scheduled meetings today
As we are currently entrenched in the holidays, we have a week off of our standard Toastmasters meetings. I find I really enjoy kick-starting my week with a few meetings, and I am missing them today. I’m greatly looking forward to our first meetings of 2010.
