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.
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:
Establish a connection between you and the deceased - Let the audience know how you knew one another
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.
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.
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.
End on a positive.
Don't:
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.
Wing it - knowing your material makes for a smooth delivery
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.
Purge yourself - A funeral is not the place for family therapy
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."
Visit dictionary.com for more information and to hear the pronunciation of indelible.
Thank you Chantal for supplying this information
And now on with the meeting
Present: Chantal Finn-Losier, Joey Losier, Malcolm Robertson, Gian Paulo Bastienello, Earle DePass, Carole Anne Levac, Denise Paquette, Harry Kingston, Teri Kingston, Carole Rainville, Francis Rounding, Ian Cowan.
Regrets: John Anderson, Vince Foy, Theresa Taylor, Chris Semchuk, Kimberley Thompson and Brigitte Walker.
The main highlight of the evening was to welcome back Joey Losier and Chantal Finn-Losier as returning active members. In his usual energetic style, Joey Losier was our acting S@A; he opened the meeting and handed it over to President Harry Kingston to start things off.
Theme: "What inspires you?" - Club President Harry Kingston opened up the meeting with a great question based on the theme. As usual the answers around the table were rich, in depth and at times profound. Gian Paulo Bastienello's 102 year old father, with his personal motto "don't get upset" was the one that stood out in a great life lesson to us all.
We welcomed two new members to the club. Carole Rainville and Francis Rounding are our newest members.
A new membership list will be circulated shortly with their contact information.
Toastmaster for the evening, Chantal Finn-Losier then took over the meeting with her usual thorough, professional and warm presence at the lectern for an exciting evening of speeches and evaluations. Then, Malcolm Roberson led us through Table Topics all based on the various senses that inspire is in the spring. Ian Cowan gave the evening's best answer with his very detailed and descriptive story of the sounds of spring (peeper frogs and rain on tin roofs).
Teri Kingston gave a 15 minute educational session on speech writing tips using the storyboard technique that is favoured by former World Champion of Public Speaking, Randy J. Harvey. She also thanked the members for helping her succeed at the Division A contest for the International Speech contest.
Joey Losier was the speaker for the evening with a great speech called "Travel Smart", full of tips to prevent travellers from getting their pockets picked when travelling. Full of touches of humour and great use of props, it was evaluated by Earle DePass with his usual standard of excellence.
General Evaluator Harry Kingston led the second half of the meeting.
Special mention goes to frequent guest and almost member Ben Cowan for succinct and thoughtful closing comments.
Business session: President Harry Kingston presented the following items for discussion/decision/information.
1) Acknowledgement of the efforts of VP PR Kimberley Thompson and the many "hits", press releases and overall visibility of Seaway Toastmasters on the intranet and in the local papers. Applause was immediate and warm.
2) Notified the club that John Anderson is stepping down as S@A and member in general for the time being. One of the reasons mentioned was prioritizing his activities due to health issues. Harry asked that members consider sending John notes of encouragement from time to time.
Harry also acknowledged all the hard work that John has done this year, setting up the room for each meeting, helping with the special events and generally supporting the club however he could with excellence of attitude and spirit. He will be missed!
3) Good news to pass along. Teri Kingston won the Division A speech contest and will represent Seaway at the District 61 conference in Montebello on April 30, May 1 and 2nd. She will also represent Division D in Table Topics on Sunday
4) All members were reminded of the Club Awards dinner meeting to be held on June 23, 2010. (Details will follow).
5) The President announced appointment of a new Club Nominating committee responsible for club officer elections. They will present the nominating committee report to the club on May 11 with elections to be held on May 25th.
6) Treasurer's report: All club dues have been paid and the club finances are in order.
7) The dinner and tour of Parliament Hill was discussed with a date to be confirmed at a later meeting.
The meeting ended on a sad note as, during the requests for guest comments, member Earle DePass stood up to say that he is stepping down from the club for the time being. We will miss Earle's knowledge and experience.
Our next Club meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 27th
A full house and a full agenda set the stage for our March 23 meeting. The theme was "Weclcome to Our Home". Each member was asked to bring a guest, and we were fortunate enough to see 7 new faces around the table. We also gained one new member! Welcome Roseanne.
The word of the night was: fick·le/ˈfɪkəl/[fik-uhl]Show IPA
–adjective adj. Characterized by erratic changeableness or instability, especially with regard to affections or attachments; capricious.
[Middle English fikel, from Old English ficol, deceitful.] fick'le·ness n., fick'ly adv.
1. likely to change, esp. due to caprice, irresolution, or instability; casually changeable: fickle weather.
2. not constant or loyal in affections: a fickle lover.
Origin: bef. 1000; ME fikel, OE ficol deceitful, akin to fācen treachery, fician to deceive, gefic deception
—Related forms
fick·le·ness, noun
un·fick·le, adjective
Visit dictionary.com for more information and to hear the pronunciation of fickle
The Table Topics: Led by our resident auctioneer Theresa Taylor, 7 participants took to the lectern to speak on various topics centred around our home theme. John told us what he thinks of when he thinks of home.Earle spoke about the home his family lived in when he was younger and how the town was not like it used to be. Brigitte shared some traditions she started in her home and remembered some that her mother had when she was young. Ven talked about food from his ancestral home, and our soldier, Chris told us how he would respond to children reading him a welcome home poem after returning home from a tour of duty. Our church minister, Malcolm let us know his point of view on the prodigal son who returns home. And Harry, our club President told us what the line from our national anthem, "Our home and native land" means to him. All of our speakers did an excellent job of engaging the audience with their "homey" thoughts and the result was a 3 - way tie for best table topics. Congratulations to Brigitte, Harry and Earle. Practice Table Topics at Home
The Speakers: We had a full speakers showcase; three speakers in total, two of which were PowerPoint presentations including mine. I was up first and gave the audience a tour of our newly developed website. Unfortunately, I went over time and got the bell. It's funny how when I looked at my speech on paper I thought, "how will I even make it to 5 minutes?" Then, once I started practicing it, I realized it needed quite a bit of editing to keep to the time limit.
Denise Paquette, who took the best speaker ribbon, followed with a presentation on square foot gardening. Denise is a great speaker with a relaxed and laid back delivery style that makes it so easy to listen to her. And what a fascinating topic. I had a garden last year, and I extended it for this coming season because I felt I needed more space. Well apparently, the concept of square foot gardening is getting higher yields with less space. I was surprised to learn that 80% of a traditional garden is what we walk on and grows nothing! Some of the benefits Denise pointed out were: we can save water, there's less weeds, yields are five times the harvest of a traditional garden layout and it's less work. Apparently, the book Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew is a great resource. I'm definitely going to look into adapting my plot to this new way of gardening. Or I guess not so new. Denise made it look so easy. And this from a woman who claims she hates gardening, weeding, bugs and dirt. :-)
Our final speaker for the evening was Teri Kingston DTM. Teri renamed her Music as Medicine speech The Rhythm of Life and reworked some of the content in preparation for the area contest which was held in Morrisburg on Sunday March 28 2010. In the end Teri decided on a brand new speech and won the contest with it. Congratulations Teri.
I have a new video camera, hopefully we will be able to post some video footage at the next meeting.
Our guest blogger is John Anderson. John is the Sargeant at Arms for the Seaway Toastmasters Club of Cornwall. This was John's first time as Toastmaster for the evening and from all accounts he did a great job. Bravo John!
The word of the night was: im·bro·glio /ɪmˈbroʊlyoʊ/ Show Spelled[im-brohl-yoh] Visit dictionary.com to hear the pronunciation of this word
1.a misunderstanding, disagreement, etc., of a complicated or bitter nature, as between persons or nations.
2.an intricate and perplexing state of affairs; a complicated or difficult situation.
3.a confused heap.
Also, embroglio.
Origin:
1740–50; < It, deriv. of imbrogliare to embroil
I was not able to go the meeting, but John's summary helped me to feel like I was part of it.
Thanks John.
Your VPPR
The meeting last Tuesday March 9 2010 turned out to be really good. It started at 3.30 in the afternoon when I went to the Armories to do my setup as is my wont on a Toastmasters meeting night. I have struck up a really good relationship with the Security Commissioner and he opens all the doors for me upstairs. Therefore, imagine my surprise to find the room where we normally have our meeting to be full of tables and chairs from the Sgts’ mess next door; they had been removed from there so that the floors could be refinished. Well there was no way we could have our meeting there and I made an "executive decision" to setup in the officers lounge next door. It turned out that this was a great idea as it created quite an intimate atmosphere for the twelve members and two guests who showed up.
This was to be my first time as toastmaster. Earlier, I had sent out a pleading email for help in pulling a good meeting together. Chris was first in as Grammarian and in the next couple of days Carole Anne had come aboard as table topics master. When she called and agreed to do this, I had that gut feeling that a really good meeting was shaping up and trust me it really did.
Harry, our President, was slated in to give an outline of how the upcoming meeting for March 23rd was going to be really special because we were on a mission to get the word out about Seaway Toastmasters as the place to become a member if public speaking was one of a person’s life objectives. Each member of Seaway Toastmasters has been asked to bring a guest to this upcoming meeting. I am really looking forward to this one.
Denise came in as an evaluator. She asked to be the ballot counter, but I did something incorrectly on TurboBase and she came out as an evaluator. It really is amazing where mistakes can sometimes take you. That was all pre meeting. From my point of view things were hopping right from the get go.
Vincent who was scheduled to give his #10 CC Speech was forced to withdraw as work commitments connected to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver had imposed on his preparation time. This was where the members of Seaway Toastmasters rallied. Mac Robertson stepped up to the plate and gave a brilliant speech about a very sweet tiny lady he had met in Africa. This lady had started from a very poor and humbled background but ended up being revered within and out of her community for her unflinching service to her people. But I am ahead of myself. I must tell you that Carole Anne is an outstanding table topics Master, and used an improv style to conduct the session by using clues from the audience to dictate the questions; this and Mac's speech really pulled the meeting together. Vince was not left out in the cold as we asked him to give us an insider’s view of the Olympics from a security view point. This could have been a speech in its own right because he left us with a feeling of pride that we were Canadians and that we had shown the world not only our unity as a people, but that we could pull off a feat like the winter Olympics flawlessly regardless of some media sniping from the sidelines.
Harry put us all on notice that our next meeting was vital and if each member were able to do their bit by bringing a guest this may well prove to be the tonic that our club needs at this time in her life cycle.
Our delightful Terri Kingston wrapped it all up beautifully as our General Evaluator for the evening. Terri is a master with the velvet glove when she is fulfilling her role as an evaluator. She always leaves the recipient of her comments feeling inspired and motivated to do well. Young Isaiah was great in the role of Ah Counter and Brigitte as timekeeper did not miss a beat. Chris as Grammarian came up with a word of the day that was a real tongue twister and Ian as ballot counter showed that he would probably make a very good judge! Denise of course was not to be left out of this fast paced enjoyable meeting. She did an excellent evaluation on Mac's speech, and I know that in years to come she will be glad I made the "mistake" I did. all in all a great meeting that enlightened me as a toastmaster and I look forward to the next one.
Coverage of our Feb 9 meeting is presented by our guest blogger, Carole Anne Levac.
Hello Everyone!
The 2010 Olympics arrived at Seaway Toastmasters on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010. 6 Members competed in what proved to be a delightful evening of firsts! 3 Evaluators completed their first Evaluations in Style - in a team format no less. Ian Cowan led the Table Topics with a wealth of information about the Olympics and being such an elite group - we almost ALL got to participate! *Smile* Malcolm Robertson anchored the team Acting as Past President - Toastmaster when I was speaking on the program AND as General Evaluator. He was brilliant! Isaiah acted as our timer - I know he's still a guest - but to me he's starting to feel like part of the family and I told him so. Our guest - Vicky Lefebvre left after hearing 95% of the meeting but seemed to have enjoyed herself!
For those of you who missed it - we'll hope to catch up with you at the next meeting. It will be on Tuesday, February 23, 2010. The International Speech Contest - but I'll let Earle DePass your contest chair fill you in more.
I'm not certain if I can make it that night - I'll be turning 47 and I'm not sure what the Universe has planned for me! But I'll catch up to you at some point - be one year wiser and a Reiki Master. *Smile*
See you soon!
Blessed Be!
Carole Anne
Carole Anne was one of two great speakers that night and shared the best speaker ribbon for her excellent delivery of her speech entitled Reina Plante. This was the story of her maternal grandmother and and all that she endured to take care of her family during a time when no matter what the hardship or tragedy, you just did what you had to do. With a family that included 16 children, Reina managed to be caregiver, run a corner store, and make all of the children's clothes among other things. As Carole Anne said in her speech, "They don't make them like her anymore."
Our co winner, Denise Paquette's speech was informative and empowering. Denise shared with us through research and personal experience the dangers of oral cancer if left undetected and untreated and what we can do to take control of our own health. We learned that a simple, painless and inexpensive screening can be done by our dentists to find out if we are at risk. We can also help the oral cancer foundation win 250'000$ to "help lower the death rate from oral cancer" Make sure you do both!
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.
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These cards share messages of strength and knowledge from women between the ages of 50 and 10