Banquet Night - June 24 2010

Another year has come to an end for the Seaway Toastmasters Club of Cornwall.  We held our banquet dinner this past Thursday at the Best Western Parkway Inn here in Cornwall.  The theme was A Celebration of Quality, and 17 people were in attendance which, compared to last year at our 50th anniversary, made it more of an intimate gathering.

Our master of ceremonies, Teri Kingston DTM, led the evening in a format that was a little bit different to our typical agenda.  Chris Semchuk chaired a very interesting table topics session which allowed several of us to talk about why it is our dream to be various objects.  While the voting was forgone, in my opinion I believe Carole Anne's dream to be a television was the most entertaining.  We also heard Chantal Finn Losier tell us why it is her dream to be a diary, Joey Losier dreamed of being a dog, and I, Kimberley Thompson let everyone know why it was my dream to be a garden.

After the table topics, Teri gave recognition to the outgoing executive, and after that, Past President, Harry Kingston DTM formally installed the new executive team.  The Seaway Toastmasters Club is and has been for the last little while going through a period of transition and it was a very emotional time for us as we looked back as well as looked to the future.  Harry says, "It's time to pass the torch to a new Seaway dynamic," and we are all proud to finish the year as a distinguished club.

Our Keynote speaker was Superintendent Doug Anthony of the  RCMP.  Doug joined Toastmasters in 2009 and is the Charter President of the RCMP Leadership Excellence Toastmaster Club.  Doug had also studied the Dale Carnegie course and spoke highly of Toastmasters and how what he learned in just one year with Toastmasters was above and beyond the more than 1'800$ Carnegie course.  Doug said that while Dale Carnegie's course taught him how to speak to people, Toastmasters taught him how to talk with people.

Harry, who will be the new VP Education for the RCMP Leadership Excellence Toastmaster Club, won't be returning to The Seaway Toastmasters Club next year.  Neither will a few others of us, but the club may see us "come home" as Harry puts it sometime in the near future.   We remembered in particular John Anderson who had to leave the club for health reasons, and we wish him well and hope to see him again soon.  John will be remembered as one of the best Sergeant at Arms the Seaway Toastmasters ever had.  No matter how early members arrived for a meeting, John had everything ready to go.  We miss you John.


Four Seaway Toastmasters Annual Recognition Awards were presented Thursday night.  Our new President, Denise Paquette won the Seaway Spirit of Success award.  This award is given to the member (new or senior) who has made presentations of a significant number enough to demonstrate their commitment to getting ahead in the Toastmasters program.

The Bell Canada Spirit of Success award went to Vincent Foy.  This trophy goes to the member who best exemplifies the ideal Toastmaster profile.  The executive makes this award to any member who sets an example considered good enough for others in the club to aspire to.

Harry Kingston was awarded the Loeb Toastmaster of the Year trophy which is awarded to the member who has done the most to promote Toastmasters outside the club.  The executive makes this award to:

• a more senior Toastmaster
• a member who has reported that they have made any type of presentation (Toastmaster related or not) to audiences outside of the club
• If there are tow or more potential recipients, the executive looks at the qualifications and achievements of both potential winners.

And to my surprise, I (Kimberley Thompson) won the Wes Millar Toastmaster of the year award.  This trophy is awarded to the member who has done the most to promote Toastmasters inside the club.  The executive makes this award to any member who makes presentations or statements to promote Toastmasters.

Our incoming President Denise Paquette's vision for the future is to "turn people on to Toastmasters"  It was Denise's father who was the charter President of The Seaway Toastmasters Club 51 years ago, and Denise paid homage to him as well as the more senior members such as Harry Kingston and Earle DePass for carrying the torch and maintaining the club's tradition of commitment to quality and excellence. 

So as we wrap up 2009 / 2010, here's to an exciting 2010 / 2011 season of The Seaway Toastmasters Club of Cornwall.

We look forward to seeing you when we reconvene in September.

Your outgoing VP Public Relations


Practice Table Topics at Home

Election Night - May 25 2010

13 members were in attendance for our club officer elections.  All but one post was filled, but more on that later.

The word of the night provided by Francis, one of our newest members was

ur·bane/ɜrˈbeɪn/ Show Spelle[ur-beyn]

–adjective

1.

having the polish and suavity regarded as characteristic of sophisticated social life in major cities: an urbane manner.

2.

reflecting elegance, sophistication, etc., esp. in expression: He maintained an urbane tone in his letters.

---

Origin:
1525–35;  (< MF urbain ) < L urbānus  ( see urban;  for difference in stress and second syllable cf. human, humane)

—Related forms

ur·bane·ly, adverb

ur·bane·ness, noun

un·ur·bane, adjective

un·ur·bane·ly, adverb

—Can be confused:  urban, urbane .

—Synonyms
1.  suave, cosmopolitan.

visit dictionary.com for more information and to hear the pronunciation of urbane 

Teri Kingston led the table topics session in a very unique way.  Each participant was presented with a sentence that had to be used at least three times during his or her speech.  Once at the opening, at least once throughout and once at the close.  It proved to be quite challenging, and it will be some feat to top a table topics session like that one, but we were treated to some very interesting stories.  Joey used his phrase, "It turned out better than I thought" a total of seven times as he recounted the story of doing  roof repairs on his home, followed closely by yours truly who used the phrase, " The darn thing just kept popping out." six times to victory as best table topic.  More on that later.

Mackie was our only speaker for the night.  His speech, a eulogy, titled A Celebration was an educational for which all members participated in evaluating.  Mack continued his educational with the dos and don'ts of delivering a eulogy.

As Toastmasters, we may be called on by the people close to us to speak at important occasions like funerals, and we want to be sure that we handle it with dignity, offering respect to deceased and his friends and family.


Do:

1. Establish a connection between you and the deceased - Let the audience know how you knew one another
2. Separate yourself emotionally - Although it is an emotional time, try to maintain your composure.  It's difficult to get your message across if you are falling apart during delivery.
3. Use props only if appropriate - If Aunt Josephine loved to knit and you can use that as a metaphor for her life, then a ball of yarn and some knitting needles would make an appropriate visual.
4. Wrap it up by going back to your opening - E.g. Opening "A page turned this week in the history of the Third Concession. Even though it has been more than 10 years since Bud and Anne left the 'big white house on the corner' for a retirement home in the 'big city' of Lancaster. . ." Close "A page has turned in the history of the Third Concession this week - Buddy's page.  A man we can all be proud of knowing and will all miss.
5. End on a positive.

Don't:

1. Use off colour stories and jokes - Even if everyone knows it, this isn't the time to talk about how uncle Joe really enjoyed visiting the red light district.
2. Wing it - knowing your material makes for a smooth delivery
3. Apologize for your speaking - Now is not the time to turn the focus on yourself by commenting on how you're not good at or used to making speeches.
4. Purge yourself - A funeral is not the place for family therapy
5. Read word for word from your speech - Just tell your stories.  You want your remembrance to be natural

If you find you have to give someone's eulogy, by following these tips and of course practicing with your fellow Toastmasters, you should be able to do it with ease.  Thanks Mackie for a great educational.


Following Mac's educational, we went on to elect our new executive for the 2010 / 2011 year.  As I said earlier, we filled all but one post.    Our new executive is as follows:

Position	Outgoing	Elect
President	Harry Kingston	Denise Paquette
VP Education	Chris Semchuk	Carole Anne Levac
VP Membership	Ian Cowan	Joey Losier
VP Public Relations	Kimberley Thompson	Vacant
Treasurer	Vincent Foy	Francis Rounding
Secretary	Brigitte Walker	Malcolm Robertson
Sgt – at – Arms	John Anderson	Vincent Foy

I have decided to take a break from Toastmasters, but given that I am the outgoing VP Public Relations, I will still be on hand to update the blog and website if needed.

So, the winning table topic:

The Darn Thing Just Keeps Popping Out.

The darn thing just keeps popping out.  Let's go back about 30 years.  My daughter was only a few months old and became ill.  I had to monitor her temperature with one of those old fashioned, shake down thermometers.  When I put it in her mouth, the darn thing just keeps popping out.  I tried putting it under her armpit, but the darn thing just keeps popping out.  So, I finally took her to the doctor and explained, when I try to take her temperature in the mouth the darn thing just keeps popping out.  When I try to do it under the arm, the darn thing just keeps popping out.

So, the doctor says to me, "I'm going to show you how we in the 'profession' do it."  He took off her diaper, flipped her over onto her belly, shook down the thermometer and in it went (Just south of the equator).  Then, he removed it, handed it to me and told me to go ahead.  As I tried to make my approach, I could feel my knees go weak and my eyes roll back in my head; I thought the darn things would just pop out.  I lost my grip on the thermometer and the darn thing just popped out of my hand and hit the floor.  Sterilizing the thermometer the doctor had me try again.  I made it.  I don't know what my daughter was doing with her muscles though, 'cause the darn thing just popped out.

The doctor said, "Look, you've gotta do it until you can get a reading."

I held my hands up and said, "No!  I'm not doing it anymore, because the darn thing just keeps popping out."

'Til next time.

Practice Table Topics at Home