What is Communication?

he Introductions

What is communication? This was the theme for last night's meeting of the Seaway Toastmasters Club of Cornwall.

Each of us had the opportunity to stand up and share what communication means to us. I think for the most part people talked of how communication was not only about putting forth one's own ideas, but of the necessity to receive ideas. Full communication happens when there is a meeting of the minds and for some, a meeting of the spirit.

The Table Topics

Seaway Toastmasters tend to be very creative in how we conduct our table topics session and last night was no exception. Carole Anne brought with her a deck of meditation cards called Wisdom of the Crone These cards share messages of strength and knowledge from women between the ages of 50 and 100. These messages are designed to really give us pause for thought and teach us a better way to not only communicate with the world, but that in order to do that we have to know how to properly communicate with ourselves.

The way Carole Anne used the wisdom cards in her table topics session was to have each member come up to the lectern, blindly choose a card and then speak to the message that was on it.

One spoke of surrender, another of commitment and yet another about north; mine was mystery. I talked about how mystery and the unknown have always been something to fear for me and how I am just now, as I get close to 50 myself , learning to embrace mystery and the unknown. As I try to figure out what it is I'm here for and what I'm meant to do or give to the world, I'm starting to realize that it's not all about my control. I don't have to know what's on the next step before I take it; I just need to take it. It's not about knowing for sure all the time and second guessing my gut. I need to move boldly forward take what the world puts in front of me, and make something good out of it.

I was especially proud that my 13 year old grandson was there to see what we do at a Toastmasters meeting, and hopefully it inspired him to want to improve his own communication skills with himself and others.

Practice Table Topics at Home