February 2007 Newsletter

Dear Lexington Toastmasters,
In middle of vacation preparations, I want to be certain to leave you with the February newsletter! Michael and I decided a few months ago that February would be ideal to visit Arizona! It just seems the coldest month of the year, and yes, it surely is right now, so going somewhere warm was very appealing! We are leaving for Arizona early Tuesday, however in the Grand Canyon last week the temperature was 1 degree!! Phoenix and Tucson are much warmer, so I guess I will need to pack the whole closet!!

From various past speeches I have learned from your experience in visiting the Grand Canyon and what it meant to you! This is my first time and I will be thinking of you all.

Below are a few things that might be of interest and yes, we continue with a bunch of firsts. We want to make sure that you are challenged, but with a dose of fun!! Kumiko Suzuki is planning another party for May 12th or 19th! If you would like to offer your house and put up 50-60 people, please give her a call.


We are forming a group of Toastmasters to work on Succession Plan after finishing the first ten speeches. The different tracks, communicator and leadership, are a little confusing and we want to design a venue for an optimal speech build up. If you are interested in working with this group, please let me know.

International Speech Contest
Thursday, March 8, 2007

Lexington Toastmasters Club is holding our very own International Speech Contest! This one leads all the way up to the crowning of the "World Champion of Public Speaking" which is awarded to the final winner at the annual international conference which is held each year in August.

So, how about you? We want you to consider this worthwhile experience, remember the contest aspect adds a whole other dimension to public speaking. We are looking for about 6 contestants with an original speech of 5-7 minutes. Call or email Duncan Stewart at
f.duncan.stewart@gmail.com today to save your spot, remember, you don’t even have to be funny in this one!

We will use a similar format to the humorous contest, blocking off the entire meeting to allow up to 6 contestants. Every attendee will be a judge (if you are late however, you may not vote and will be disqualified from any judging) and all evaluations will be done privately after the meeting. If you would like to be a timer or counter, kindly let Duncan know at f.duncan.stewart@gmail.com.

Lexington Toastmasters Club OPEN HOUSE
Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Guest Speaker: Bo Bennett
This event will be a little different from the past ones! We will have an “Open House” and publicize it in the local papers inviting the public to attend. Bo Bennett has already kindly accepted the invitation. He is truly an inspirational and professional speaker and you will enjoy listening to him and learn. You might want t o check him out at his two websites:
http://www.yeartosuccess.com/ and http://www.bellado.org/ . The rest of the meeting will be a modified Toastmasters meeting with an educational twist. We will explain the purpose of each section of the meeting. Put this date on your calendar! You will not want to miss this exciting event!

Educational Bits:
Linda Coyne agreed to write up step-by-step guidelines in how to properly manage Table Topics. Please read them carefully. Thank you Linda for providing us with these useful tidbits for our newsletter.

Six Points in How to Do Table Topics!

1) Have the timer explain the cards.


2) Be brief - the objective is to get as many people up there to talk as possible


3) Don't ask for volunteers - this prevents members from having true TT learning experience. (The idea is to get experience trying to sound cogent and lucid when you're put on the spot, and if you volunteer, you're not put on the spot. You have a story to tell, one you may have told several times before.)


4) Announce the topic before choosing the speaker - this gives all listeners a little bit of TT learning experience, because we're all sitting there (or should be!) trying to think of what we'll say if we're called on. If the speaker is identified first, we all shut down.


5) Choose speakers who are not speaking that day, if possible those you know haven't spoken recently. For myself, I prefer to give members rather than guests this opportunity, but if you choose to call on guests, be sure they've had a chance to see a couple members do it first.


6) Shake hands with each person. Keep the podium covered.


Snow Day Policy:

The snow policy for the Lexington Toastmasters Club is that we will not meet on days when the Lexington Public Schools are closed due to snow. To find out if the Lexington Schools are closed, you may try one of three options:
Go to the
Town of Lexington website and click on Public Schools in the left column. The resulting page should indicate whether schools are closed due to snow.
Call the Lexington Schools at 781-861-2580. This number should have recorded information about school closings.
Check your local TV station, 4, 5 or 7, which will announce school closings on snow days.

Calendar:

Thursday, Mar 8 12noon – 1:00pm International Speech contest

Saturday, May 12th/19th Evening Toastmasters Party Social

Tuesday, May 22 7:00pm – 9:00pm Open House

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