JediNickD's Epic Quest

[JediNickD]

A couple here (posts #10 and #12 on page 1 of this thread), a couple elsewhere I think (www.thoughts.com/JediNickD).  All of them in Word Doc form on my PC.

[JediNickD]

Toastmaster Speech:  "The Joys of Geocaching"

Manual:  The Entertaining Speaker

Lesson:  #2 Resources for Entertainment

 

 

Eureka!  I found it!  It’s been right there all along!

Toastmaster of the day, fellow Toastmasters, and guests: Have you ever been treasure hunting?  Perhaps, you did when you were kids, but not as an adult, right?  What if I told you that millions of adults hunt for treasure every day across the globe?  I’m not talking about archeologists and pirates either, just everyday people like you and me.  With the popularity of mobile devices with GPS, a fun free outdoor treasure hunting game called Geocaching has taken off with over 5 million Geocachers worldwide.    Players search for hidden containers, called geocaches, using a given GPS coordinate.  These geocaches come in all shapes and sizes, from ammo boxes to plastic Tupperware to film containers and many other forms.  Each geocache container has a log inside for a finder to sign as proof of their visit.  The container can also hold all sorts of loot from toys to special coins to track-able travel bugs, like this one.   I can see everyone is still skeptical about what Geocaching is.  Let me explain some of the great joys of Geocaching to get you interested in the game.

First, it is something that you can do almost anywhere.  It’s an international game with caches littered all over the globe.  I’m still relatively green to Geocaching, but I’ve found caches in my neighborhood, on my commute, when on TDY to New Jersey and Florida, on vacation in Virginia and California, and even discovered a couple while in Mexico.  Where ever you plan to travel, whether around the world or down the street, you can look up the area before your trip or you can use your smartphone when you get there. 

I found one down the street from my house with an interesting story.  I live in an area of Port Deposit known as Bainbridge.  The area is mostly residential housing and farmland with plenty of undeveloped wooded areas, or so I thought.  If not for a Geocache placed at the end of a paved road leading into some woods, then I never would have know that the wooded area was once the Bainbridge Naval Training Camp with buildings, housing, and roads.  The roads and some buildings are still there, but it is completely over grown.

Now, what is a good adventure without someone to share it?  I became good friends with a co-worker, George, as we bonded over Geocaching.  We have even had some adventures together.  One such adventure involved a cache called Metal Friends, which was in a common easy to find hiding place, magnetized to a guardrail, but the location was in a residential neighborhood with lots of walkers and joggers.  You don’t want people to see you finding it, because they could steal, break, or vandalize the cache.  High traffic areas mean you need to be super sneaky.  We had made an attempt to find it before, but came up empty.  On another night, George visited the cache by himself.

He takes a seat on the guardrail to assess his surroundings.  He looks at his watch a few times to make it look like he is waiting for someone. At 24' feet away according to his GPS, he starts to slide in the direction of the cache.  Then he is confronted by a man out for a walk with a toddler.

The man says, "Are you looking for something in the guardrail?â€
Uneasy, George replies, "Uh, um.  Maybe?"
The man, then says, "Oh.  Well, it is right over there.  I see people over here all the time.  What is this all about?"

George is forced to come clean telling the dad all about geocaching, which after the man and toddler move on.  George finally makes the grab, and while looking for a place to sign the log notepad, he finds a page with some writing on it: "Is this a game?  All us neighbors keep wondering if we should call the police!  Suspicious activity!"  Now, he is in a little bit of a panic.  He’s ready to just get out of there.  He’s putting the cache back when two women come out of the house right next to the cache.

One woman calls out, "Is that your car?"
George responds, "Yeah?"
The woman questions him again. "Is everything alright? Did you break down?"
George assures her, "Yes, I'm good, thank you very much, I was just leaving."

After telling me the story, I have to go make the find and see this note.  Sharing our Geocaching experiences has certainly brought George and me closer together as friends.

My favorite part about Geocaching is that it tests your brain.  Some caches are riddles which you have to solve using knowledge of an area, cryptography, or some other bizarre means.  Some hides are just really clever and force you to think.  There is one behind the Walmart outside the 715 gate, which took George and me numerous trips and hours of hunting.  We would have our phones out, wondering around, trying to zero in on the location.  There were only so many places to look, but we scavenged them repeatedly.  The cache description gave us a couple hints, but we were completely baffled by this one.  Finally, on a random visit to the site, I had an “ah ha!†moment making every hour worth it.  I won’t spoil it for you, but it really was staring us right in the face.   As I mentioned before, some caches are full of interesting and fun facts.  The two I discovered in Mexico taught me history of the Mayan temple El Castillo at Chichen-Itza and geology of a Cenote.

Geocaching is wonderful for three main reasons.  It can be done almost anywhere.  It gives you a unique experience that you would not have had if not for Geocaching.  Plus, it is tests your brain in a variety of ways. 

I hope all of you are now excited about Geocaching and ready to visit www.geocaching.com to sign up for free.  Download a free Geocaching app on your smartphone and make your first find today!

[JediNickD]

Toastmaster Speech: "Why Not Every Week?"

Manual: Technical Presentations

Lesson: #2 The Proposal

Date: 6/25/13

 

What is something you do every week without hesitation? 

How did you develop that habit? 

One last question before I delve into my speech, is Toastmasters a habit for you?

 

To help everyone make Toastmasters a priority in their lives, I’d like to propose weekly Toastmasters to each and every one of you.  We, as a club, meet bi-weekly, but unless you are a club officer or currently working on your next speech, then I’d wager that the week between meetings lack Toastmasters activities.  In order to make Toastmasters a priority, in order to make communication and leadership development a priority, you have to develop a Toastmasters habit and take small steps in your development.

 

Habits are routines of behavior that are repeated regularly and tend to occur subconsciously.  In the American Journal of Psychology, a habit “is a more or less fixed way of thinking, willing, or feeling acquired through previous repetition of a mental experience." Habitual behavior often goes unnoticed in persons exhibiting it, because a person does not need to engage in self-analysis when undertaking routine tasks.  Habituation is an extremely simple form of learning, in which an organism, after a period of exposure to a stimulus, stops responding to that stimulus in varied manners. Habits are sometimes compulsory.  The process by which new behaviors become automatic is habit formation.

 

As behaviors are repeated in a consistent context, there is an incremental increase in the link between the context and the action. This increases the automaticity of the behavior in that context. Features of an automatic behavior are efficiency, lack of awareness, unintentional, and uncontrollable.

 

In fact, the habit formation is a slow process.  Phillippa Lally, Cornelia van Jaarsveld, Henry Potts, and Jane Wardle researched how habits are formed by modeling habit formation in the real world.  The study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology in October 2010 found the average time for participants to reach the asymptote of automaticity was 66 days with a range of 18–254 days.  This is because only the initial repetition can cause a large increase in automaticity.  After that, each new repetition will generate less amount of automaticity.  This relationship continues until the behavior reaches its limit of automaticity.

 

From that data, one can assume that in order to develop a Toastmasters habit, one most expose themselves to Toastmasters for 66 days on average.  In 66 days, we would have four meetings.  If you attended each meeting participating with a prepared speech, meeting role, or a table topic speech, then you would have fulfilled those 66 days and be well on your way to making Toastmasters a habit in your life.  If you miss a meeting or put off participating, then your interest will fade.  The habit will either take longer to develop or will not develop at all.  You must immerse yourself in Toastmasters to make it a habit.

 

As the Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu said: “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.† Should that first step be a big leap or a small shuffle?  When you are working in a new habit or behavior, you should take small steps and ease into it, because the initial exposure to it will generate the largest amount of automaticity.  A small step allows for correction to a bad reaction.  A large leap could send you right out the door.

 

Picture your stress level as the surface tension of a pool.  A calm pool is a calm, confident you.  Ripples are stressors which zap your confidence, energy, and enthusiasm.  If you dive into Toastmasters head first, then you’ll create big ripples.  Some people can handle the big ripples and eventually they die down.  Other people are dissuaded by the big ripples and leave Toastmasters.  Anytime a person is put on the spot before they are ready, it causes big ripples for them.  An example, Jordan ________ joined the club last fall and immediately gave his Ice Breaker speech.  He never returned to a meeting.  Smaller steps, wading into the pool will cause small manageable ripples.  Arnold _______ has eased his way into Toastmasters since joining and is now a regular attendant. 

 

This is why it is common for new members and guests to take the meeting role of Timer as their first.  It is a simple job with a small speaking role allowing the Toastmaster to get their feet wet.  The first speech in the Competent Communicator manual is intended to be the same way.  The objective is simple.  The evaluation is straight forward.  The requirements are minimal.  Just get up there and talk about yourself.  The idea is to get the Toastmaster to take that first step towards improving their speaking skills.  Making that first step small and easy helps encourage the speaker.  It is motivating and momentum building. 

 

It is important that we take the same approach to our meetings.  Twice monthly meetings leave a large time gap between meetings, which give a Toastmaster plenty of time to lose any momentum they had from their last speech, role, or meeting in general.  A meeting every week would allow a Toastmaster to pile on experience and gain more momentum.   Of course, each member isn’t required to make every meeting, but having the meetings available to attend creates more opportunity.  Another option is for each Toastmaster to pursue improving their communication and leadership skills outside of the meeting.  Writing speeches and preparing for roles is one way.  What about meeting with other Toastmasters to talk about Toastmasters?  Or having a mentor to meet with each week?

 

My advances in Toastmasters, my improvements to my communication and leadership skills can all be attributed to immersing myself in Toastmasters.  Some of that was by choice, doing research, volunteering for roles and speeches, etc, but much of that was just being exposed to another dedicated Toastmaster.  Whether he knew it or not, whether he wanted to or not, DTM and PDG Oscar _____ has been a mentor to me.  I see him every day at work making it easy to discuss Toastmasters here or there.  It made it easy for me to attend two clubs, because Oscar always went.  Every interaction with Oscar is a small step on my developmental path to where I am now. 

 

By making Toastmasters weekly or even daily habit and taking small steps in your development, you will make communication and leadership development a habit and priority. 

Whether you are working on speeches, preparing for roles, being a club officer, attending weekly club meetings, or meeting with a mentor, everyone needs to immerse themselves in Toastmasters to make it a habit that sticks with you for life. 

[JediNickD]

Toastmasters Speech: "Protecting Yourself by Understanding Antennas"

Manual: Technical Presentations

Lesson: #3 The Non-Technical Audience

Date: 4/23/13

 

[1] Today, we live in a wireless world.  A little more than 10 years ago, the internet was really taking off turning our world into a digital one.  Smart-phones, touch-pads, and laptops have taken that digital world and made it mobile creating a wireless world. 

Toastmaster of the Day, fellow Toastmasters, and honorary guests…

Antennas are wonderful technology, which make our wireless world possible as they allow for communication and data transfer without the need of wires.  Think of the wire mess your internet router would be if you had to directly connect your desktop, laptop, touchpad, e-reader, cell phone, cable box, and gaming systems.  My router has 4 Ethernet ports, but I still manage to connect all these types of devices to the internet thanks to my wireless connection.  With all this wireless data transfer, it is important to understand how to keep your data safe from identity thieves and hackers looking to intercept it. 

[2] Today, I will explain how to keep your data safe by understanding the antennas used by your wireless devices.  I’ll cover Wifi and Bluetooth antennas.

[3] Starting off with Wi-Fi antennas, I’ll explain what it is, what types of antennas it uses, and how to use those antennas to protect yourself.

[4] Wi-Fi stands for “wireless fidelityâ€, which is simply a play on hi-fi or high fidelity which is a sound recording term.  Wi-Fi is a popular technology which allows electronic devices to exchange data wirelessly, without a physical connection.  Instead, the devices communicate with electromagnetic waves, called radio waves.  Electromagnetic waves travel through the air to transmit information much like I am using sound waves to transmit my words to your ears.  The wireless connection can be used for any number of data transfer applications, such as connecting to the internet, sharing pictures between smart-phones or computers, streaming music or video from a computer to a television, or just printing documents on your wireless printer.

[5] Wi-Fi just like a wired network requires a common access point called a router.  Pictured is a common router for both wired and wireless networks.  On the left is a Linksys brand router.  It uses a pair of dipole antennas. 

[6] Typically, a dipole antenna is two collinear wires, one positive, the other negative or ground.  The two on the Linksys router actually contains a hollow rod for the negative to allow the positive wire to pass through to the top.  All dipole antennas have a similar radiation pattern referred to as omni-directional.   The radiation pattern of an antenna refers to the direction in which the transmitted electromagnetic waves travel or the optimum directions the antennas will receive an electromagnetic wave.  Omni-directional means that its radiation pattern is circular around the antenna.  As we see in the 3D image, it looks like a donut.  The cross-sectional view shows it is more shaped like an infinity symbol or pretzel where the sides come together at the center of the antenna.  A directional antenna’s pattern would be like cutting a piece out of the donut, or cutting the pretzel in half.  Having an omni-directional radiation pattern allows the router to connect to devices from any direction.

[7] Here is a Belkin brand wireless router.  Notice anything different?  No antennas?  Ah, the antennas are internal.  Some models could have internal antennas shaped exactly like the Linksys external dipole antennas while others could utilize circuit board antennas where the metal wires of the antennas are printed on a circuit board.

 [8] This Belkin router has two antennas printed on its circuit board as we see here at the top of the board.  These printed antennas are sometimes dipole antennas, or to reduce the footprint of the antenna, folded dipole antennas.   They have the same type of radiation pattern, omni-directional.

[9] Connecting to your wireless router, you have all these types of devices.  Each one has some form of printed circuit board antenna, because they are the smallest and cheapest antennas available with an omni-directional radiation pattern.  On the right is a pair of dipoles for a laptop where the antennas are typically installed alongside the monitor.

[10] Again, here is the radiation pattern for both the routers and wireless devices, but how does this information help us protect ourselves?

[11] The two best ways to protect your Wi-Fi network, is to secure it with encryption and to make it physically out of reach.  Let me explain why a Wi-Fi network is a security issue.  For your home Wi-Fi network, identity thieves and hackers use a technique called War Driving, where they drive around neighborhoods searching for unprotected or vulnerable networks.  When they find one, they connect and penetrate your computers and devices to steal your sensitive information, such as stored login information for your online bank accounts.  If your network is encrypted with best commercially available encryption, known as WPA2 encryption, then it is protected, but not impenetrable.  Hackers have proven that it is only a matter of time before they break the encryption, forcing industry to develop new encryptions methods.  To prevent War Driving, it is best to ensure your network is out of reach, where the signal strength is diminished to nothing as it leaves your front yard.  Understanding the antennas of your Wi-Fi router, you can position it within your home to protect it.  First, find the best location.  The middle of your home is usually the best spot as it will reach all the extents of your home; however, if you have a big backyard, then you can position it toward the rear of your home to prevent it from reaching the street.  Next, position your antennas.  The Linksys router allows you to physically position the antennas.  Point the top or bottom of the antenna towards the street as that is where the antenna pattern is weakest.  Internal antennas will require you to experiment with positions, but you should be able to figure out the best orientation easily enough.  Once you’ve selected a position, take a Wi-Fi device to the street to see if you can connect. 

[13] Bluetooth is a wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks.  It allows mobile devices, laptops, and console video gaming systems to connect to head-sets, keyboards, mice, printers, wireless game controllers, and remote controls, which all seem harmless, but Bluetooth can be used to transfer any data or commands.

[14] The antennas used in Bluetooth are primarily Inverted F Antennas printed on a circuit board. 

[15] There are several different shapes to optimize performance at particular frequencies, but they all have the same basic inverted F shape with a radiating wire and connections to both positive and negative for a coupling effect. 

[16] Inverted F antennas are very similar to dipole antennas in their radiation pattern with an omni-directional pattern about the radiating wire of the Inverted F antenna.  The high frequency of the wireless technology and the low radiating power makes Bluetooth have a very limited range, usually around 10 meters (32.8 ft) on mobile phones, but laptops can reach up to 100 meters (328 ft) with more powerful transmitters.  Since they are omni-directional, inside those ranges Bluetooth devices are vulnerable to intrusion just like Wi-Fi networks are.

[17] Bluejacking is the sending of either a picture or a message from one user to an unsuspecting user through Bluetooth wireless technology.  Bluejacking does not involve the removal or alteration of any data from the device making it mostly harmless.  

Bluesnarfing is the unauthorized access of information from a wireless device through a Bluetooth connection.  This allows access to your calendar, contact list, emails and text messages.  On some phones, hackers can even copy pictures and private videos.

The best way to protect against these two hacks is to turn off your devices’ Bluetooth “discoverable†feature.  This feature allows other Bluetooth devices to easily find and connect to your device.  Turning the feature off makes your device invisible unless you know the device information and actively search for it.

[18] By following the helpful tips I explained today utilizing the antennas of the wireless technology to your advantage; you can protect yourself and your sensitive data from being compromised by identity thieves and hackers. 

Position your Wi-Fi router antennas to minimize the radiation outside your home, especially on the street.  In public areas where people can be close to you turn off your discoverable feature of your Bluetooth device. 

With the right implementation of your wireless devices and correctly using the antenna properties, you will stay safe in the wireless world.

[CombatBoot]

Sounds good! I was just wondering what you meant by: 

 

 

• World Travel
  • Europe
    • Greece (Collesium)
• Experiences
  • Collesium

 

 

I assume by Collesium you mean the Colloseum/Coliseum, which lies in Italy, not in Greece. Would be a shame if you went to the wrong country. 

Of course, Greece has its own beautiful structures, like the Parthenon.

[JediNickD]

Sounds good! I was just wondering what you meant by: 

 

 

• World Travel
  • Europe
    • Greece (Collesium)
• Experiences
  • Collesium

 

 

I assume by Collesium you mean the Colloseum/Coliseum, which lies in Italy, not in Greece. Would be a shame if you went to the wrong country. 

Of course, Greece has its own beautiful structures, like the Parthenon.

 

How embarrassing!  I meant to write the Parthenon under Greece.  The Rome and the Colosseum were two places I missed when visiting Italy oh so long ago.  Rome itself I didn't mind missing, but I'd really like to experience the Colosseum.  Thanks for catching my error!

[CombatBoot]

No problem 

 

If you ever go back to Italy, and Rome especially, I'd recommend also going to the Galleria Borghese - I went there last year when I was in Rome, and was completely entranced by the works of Bernini. It's absolutely beautiful, with the only downside being that I can't really appreciate any other sculptures, after having seen his works.

[JediNickD]

Toastmasters Speech: "Mentoring for Success"

Manual: The Successful Club Series

Lesson: Mentoring

Date: 8/06/13

 

 

 

[0] “The best teacher is not the one who knows most but the one who is most capable of reducing knowledge to that simple compound of the obvious and wonderful.â€
― H.L. Mencken
 

Toastmaster of the Day, fellow Toastmasters, and honorary guests, welcome to your Mentoring educational session.  We have a club full of experience looking to grow quickly over the year.  Through growth, we’ll be bringing in new, inexperienced Toastmasters who will need nurturing and guidance.  You, my friends, will be offering that nurturing and guidance through mentoring.  In this presentation, I’ll review what a mentor is, what their duties are, and what the benefits of mentoring to mentors and clubs, and what qualities make up a mentor.  Before I conclude, I’ll explain the Mentoring Steps followed by qualities of a mentee and the relationship.

 

[1] WHAT IS A MENTOR?

They are people we rely on for support, advice, and guidance. Reaching back to one of my first speeches, they are your Jedi Council.  Whether you are aware of their presence as a mentor in your life or not, they can be found everywhere. Think about your work. Was there someone who helped you get started in your career, offering advice and guidance, showing you how things worked and how to get things done? Consider your education. Was there a teacher who took a special interest in you and who had an especially positive influence on your life? We all can probably name a few people who have had a profound positive effect on our lives. The traits of a mentor are:

Takes a personal interest in and helps an inexperienced person (mentee)

Serves as a role model, coach, and confidante

Offers knowledge, insight, perspective, and wisdom useful to the mentee

Helps someone become successful and learns new skills themselves

 

My advances in Toastmasters, my improvements to my communication and leadership skills can all be attributed to casual conversations with another dedicated Toastmaster.  Whether he knew it or not, whether he wanted to or not, DTM and PDG Oscar Zalamia has been a mentor to me.  I see him every day at work making it easy to discuss Toastmasters here or there.  It made it easy for me to attend meetings, because Oscar always went.  Every interaction with Oscar is a small step on my developmental path to where I am now. 

[2] EASING THE TRANSITION

Most new members join a club because they have problems and/or needs that relate to speaking and leadership. Those very problems are likely going to be the ones which keep them from being successful in Toastmasters, keep them closed off and distant, eventually pushing them away.  A mentor can help a new member establish strong roots, shine their brightest and blossom. With the aid of a mentor, new members:

Learn the program. Mentors help new members become familiar with the CC and CL manuals, club meeting roles, and opportunities available through membership.

Learn club standards and customs. Mentors help new members learn about the club and its activities.

Develop confidence. Armed with the knowledge mentors provide, new members’ self-confidence increases.

Participate more. Mentors help new members become familiar with and enjoy the club and its members. As a result, new members become more involved in club activities.

Quickly learn speaking skills. Mentors familiarize new members with the resources available to them and coach them with their speeches, enabling the new members to advance faster.

[3] DEVELOPING SPECIAL SKILLS

Mentors are not only useful to new members. Some of the more experienced members in a club can benefit from having a mentor, too. Sometimes an experienced member’s skills can become dull.  

Perhaps you have been a member for several years and want to learn more about some particu­lar aspect of speaking – such as speech organization or humor. Another club member excels in your area of interest – this person could be your mentor and help you to further develop that special skill. Perhaps you have admired an officer’s ability to motivate and inspire members. Maybe the officer would be willing to help you learn these leadership skills. With a mentor’s guidance, more experienced members:

Further refine skills. A mentor can provide helpful feedback that will encourage the member to build upon and perhaps revitalize the skills they already possess.

Learn new skills. Existing members can always learn new skills.

[4] BENEFITS TO MENTORS

Those who serve as mentors to new or experienced members also reap rewards. They:

Learn from their mentees. Mentees often offer new information and perspectives.

I mentored our club VP of Membership, Donna Helmka through speeches 4, 5, and 6 of the Competent Communicator manual.  She taught me a whole new way to prepare and rehearse a speech.  Ever the perfectionist, I write out every word for my speeches, memorizing as much as possible, and using the entire written speech as my notes.  Whenever I speak differently from what I wrote, that fear of public speaking lurches back into my body.  Donna preferred a less structured speech writing style.  Write an outline and let your voice fill in the rest.  I used this approach in my last two speeches and it has worked tremendously for me.  Relying on notes less, speaking off the cuff, the nervous butterflies I once had have fluttered away, because I eliminated the perfectionist aspect of my speaking.

Remain productive. Mentors continue to make use of their own knowledge and skills.

Do something for others. Much can be said for the pleasure we receive from helping someone else. To do so is not only a confirmation of our own skills, but we also feel good about ourselves when we help someone achieve their goals.

Receive recognition. Mentors are respected and appreciated by fellow members for helping people. Of course, mentors also earn the gratitude of their mentees.

[5]  BENEFITS TO CLUBS

The club as a whole benefits, too. If we want the club to be full of active, involved, satisfied members, starting a mentor program will help. However, a successful mentor program requires each member to contribute. Members must be committed to helping new members and one another. Clubs that encourage members to mentor one another:

Have more members. Turnover is reduced because members quickly become involved in the club and develop friendships.  Also, to help turn more guests into members the VPM can mentor guests offering guidance with the program and club structure.

Have more satisfied members. Members continue to learn, grow, and enjoy the club experience.

Retain more members. When members are satisfied, they stay in their clubs longer.

[6] MENTOR QUALITIES

There are some important and essential characteristics mentors need to possess if they are to be effective. A good mentor is:

Available. You must have time to spend with a member – at least 15 minutes or more each week to help with speeches and answer questions. New members may require additional time until they become more familiar with the club and their role within it.

Patient. People learn at varying speeds, and some need more guidance than others. You should be willing to provide whatever it takes to help the mentee.

Sensitive. Tact and diplomacy are vital. As a mentor, always be careful to say and do things that will motivate and encourage the mentee. Be loyal and take care not to betray the mentees’ confidences.

Respectful. Everyone is different. A mentor respects the differences between himself, the mentee, and others.

Flexible. Not everything happens according to plan. You must adapt to various situations and accept that mentees may make decisions you do not agree with.

Supportive. Show your pride in your club and what it has done – and can do – for members.

Knowledgeable. Before you can help someone else, you must be familiar with the club, its operations, the educational program, and even the Toastmasters International organization itself. You should have completed several manual speeches, served in most meeting roles, and developed enough personal speaking skills to be of help to the mentee.

Confident. You need to be self-assured and friendly.

A good listener. A mentor must listen carefully. Simply listening without taking on the other person’s problem, can be of great help to the mentee. Just by listening, you can enable the mentee to articulate the problem and sort things out.

Concern for others. You must genuinely care about other people and truly want to help them.

[7] THE MENTORING STEPS

The First Meeting

The mentor’s duties will vary, depending on whether their mentees are new members or existing members. Provide information over several meetings or several months, so that you do not over­whelm the mentee. Once the new member has been assigned a mentor, at the first meeting the mentor should:

1. Sit with the new member. Explain the various parts of the meeting, such as the business session, Table Topics,™ prepared speeches, and evaluations as they happen, and answer ques­tions the mentee may have.

2. Orient the new member to club customs and procedures. If your club has special awards or events or other special activities or procedures, explain those to a mentee. Help the mentee become comfortable and a part of the club in any way you can.

3. Explain how to sign up. Ask the vice president education to schedule the mentee’s Ice Breaker speech as soon as possible, and then encourage the mentee to serve on a club com­mittee. Also advise the mentee regarding what to do and whom to contact about signing up for meeting roles and whom to contact if he or she is scheduled to fill a meeting role but is unable to attend the meeting.

4. Help with the Ice Breaker. Many experienced Toastmasters still consider the first speech to be the most difficult. This is because new members are not only uncomfortable speak­ing before a group, but they also are speaking before relative strangers. Your assistance can help the mentee overcome fears and get off to a good start. Discuss speech ideas with the mentee and offer suggestions for organization, if necessary. Listen to the mentee practice the speech and offer feedback.

[8] The Next Meeting

The next meeting, a mentor should:

1. Make mentees aware of resources. If your club has a library, show it to the mentee. Point out the material in the Toastmaster magazine. Also, discuss district conferences. Explain the roles of club officers and the information they can provide.

2. Provide positive feedback. The first few weeks of membership are critical. Mentees must feel they are already benefiting from the Toastmasters experience. Compliment them on their progress.

3. Explain responsibilities. Membership requires more than just giving speeches and receiving evaluations. It also means a commitment to helping the club and its members.

4. Help with speeches and other assignments. As you work with mentees on their speeches, be sure to help them use their evaluation feedback to improve their next speech, and then offer your own feedback. When mentees are assigned other meeting roles, explain the roles and offer tips for fulfilling them.

[9] Over Time

Eventually, mentors should also do the following:

1. Tell how you have benefited. Share your own goals and aspirations with the mentees and how you have benefited from the Toastmasters program. You are proof that they can achieve their own goals.

2. Invite the mentee to other events. Toastmasters’ speech contests, conferences, and other clubs’ meetings all offer mentees the opportunity to extend their learning and participation.

3. Acknowledge progress. Ask for time during a club meeting to mention your mentee and his or her progress. Such recognition shows that the club cares about the mentee’s progress and motivates the mentee to continue.

4. Explain officers’ duties. Describe how the mentee can develop leadership skills by serving as a club officer. Help the mentee select a club office in which to serve and discuss when the mentee would serve. Be sure these goals are reasonable.

5. Explain speech contests. Discuss the purpose of speech contests, the types of contests conducted by the club and how some contests progress to area, division, district, and International levels. Help mentees assess their readiness to participate in contests.

6. Describe the Toastmasters organization. Acquaint the mentee with the Toastmasters International structure, including the area, division, district, and International levels, and the purpose of each. Help the mentee understand how the organization works, the mentee’s role in the organization, and the leadership opportunities available beyond the club.

[10] QUALITIES OF MENTEES

If a mentor/mentee relationship is to be successful, mentees have responsibilities and obligations as well. To receive maximum benefit from the relationship, mentees should be:

1. Eager to learn. Mentees must be willing to take on new challenges.

2. Receptive. Mentees must be open to feedback, viewing it as an opportunity to improve themselves.

3. Open to new ideas. Mentees should be willing to see things from other perspectives.

4. Loyal. Mentees do not violate confidences or trust.

5. Grateful. Mentees appreciate the help their mentors are giving.

[11] A FINITE RELATIONSHIP

While a mentor/mentee relationship does require some time and commitment, the relationship does not last forever – nor should it. The purpose of mentoring is to teach the mentee to think and act independently and successfully. Once mentees have developed to the point where they are functioning effectively on their own, mentors’ services are no longer needed. Most likely, the mentor/mentee relationship turns into a strong, warm friendship. Mentors can find new mentees to help, and former mentees have the skills and knowledge to become mentors themselves.

[12] CONCLUSION

Whom can you help learn new speaking or leadership skills? Who may be able to help you learn new speaking and leadership skills? A mentor/mentee relationship provides many opportunities, offers many challenges, and has many rewards. Experience them for yourself. Benefit from the skills of a mentor – then become a mentor and share those benefits with others.

[JediNickD]

Toastmasters Speech: "Mentoring for Success: Part 2"
Manual: Technical Presentations
Lesson: Enhancing a Technical Talk with the Internet
Date: 8/13/13
 
 

Opening:  “The best teacher is not the one who knows most but the one who is most capable of reducing knowledge to that simple compound of the obvious and wonderful.â€
― H.L. Mencken

 

Toastmaster of the Day, fellow Toastmasters, and honorary guests, welcome to your Mentoring educational session.  We have a club full of experience which has grown quickly over the past few months.  We have 7 Toastmasters yet to complete their Ice Breaker, two members just completed their Ice Breaker today, and three more Toastmasters on speech 2 or 3 of the Competent Communicator manual.  All twelve of these members are in need nurturing and guidance to assist in furthering their communication and leadership skills.  Our more experienced members will be offering that nurturing and guidance through mentoring.  My speech today is a follow up of the Mentoring speech from the Successful Club Series, which I delivered last week at the Ft Monmouth Toastmasters club meeting.  For your benefit, I posted all the related material on the APG Toastmasters forum I created to supplement this speech and generate discussion around the subject of mentoring.  I do hope everyone will visit and sign up for the forum to view and discuss the material.

 

Lead:  As the club’s Vice President of Education it is my duty to organize and run a Mentoring Program providing mentors to new and experienced members of the club.  I’ve already begun setting up mentor relationships among the club.  I’m happy to report our club has a lot of interest in the Mentoring Program as I have 6 mentors with 6 mentees.  For those of you yet involved and those involved who are unsure what they may have signed up for, I’ll review what a mentor is, who benefits from mentoring and how, and how effective mentoring can be. 

 

First Main Point:  What is a Mentor?

Sub points:  Who examples, my example, traits

Mentors are people we rely on for support, advice, and guidance. Reaching back to one of my first speeches, they are your Jedi Council.  Whether you are aware of their presence as a mentor in your life or not, they can be found everywhere. Think about your work. Was there someone who helped you get started in your career, offering advice and guidance, showing you how things worked and how to get things done? Consider your education. Was there a teacher who took a special interest in you and who had an especially positive influence on your life? We all can probably name a few people who have had a profound positive effect on our lives.

My advances in Toastmasters, my improvements to my communication and leadership skills can all be attributed to casual conversations with another dedicated Toastmaster.  Whether he knew it or not, whether he wanted to or not, DTM and PDG Oscar Zalamia has been a mentor to me.  I see him every day at work making it easy to discuss Toastmasters here or there.  It made it easy for me to attend meetings, because Oscar always went.  Every interaction with Oscar is a small step on my developmental path to where I am now.

The traits of a mentor a someone who:

• Takes a personal interest in and helps an inexperienced person (mentee)
• Serves as a role model, coach, and confidante
• Offers knowledge, insight, perspective, and wisdom useful to the mentee
• Helps someone become successful and learns new skills themselves

A mentor with these traits will take their mentee to whatever destination for which together they aim.

 

Second Main Point:  Who Benefits?

Sub points:  Mentee benefits, Mentor benefits, Club benefits

Most new members join a club because they have problems that relate to speaking and leadership. Those very problems are likely going to be the ones which keep them from being successful in Toastmasters, keep them closed off and distant, eventually pushing them away.  A mentor can help a new member establish strong roots, shine their brightest and blossom.

With the aid of a mentor, new members can learn the program the right way.  Most new members focus on the Competent Communicator manual going through it page by page.  They don’t realize what a resource that book is until they reach the fifth or so speech and start getting curious about the rest of the book.  Also, new members tend to store the Competent Leadership manual for later without knowing what it is.  There is absolutely no reason why an inexperienced member cannot work both books simultaneously.  Part of one of the Leadership lessons is to take a role as a prepared speaker!  Other parts are serving as those introductorily meeting roles of timer and ah-counter.  It is just as easy to get started in the Competent Leadership manual as it is with the Competent Communicator manual.

Mentors can help their mentees develop confidence. Armed with the knowledge mentors provide, new members’ self-confidence gradually increases.  The mentor also gives the mentee positive feedback, acknowledging and praising successes while quelling any failures with the positive lessons learned in defeat.

A member with a mentor will participate more as the mentor will motivate and encourage them.  With more participation and being aware of resources available, members can more quickly learn and develop speaking and leadership skills.  Members with mentors will develop a habit for Toastmasters, a habit for improving communication and leadership skills, and a habit in succeeding.

Moreover, mentors are rewarded in their mentor/mentee relationship.  They learn from their mentees as they get to experience new perspectives and approaches.

I mentored the Fort Monmouth club VP of Membership, Donna Helmka through speeches 4, 5, and 6 of the Competent Communicator manual.  She taught me a whole new way to prepare and rehearse a speech.  Ever the perfectionist, I write out every word for my speeches, memorizing as much as possible, and using the entire written speech as my notes.  Whenever I speak differently from what I wrote, that fear of public speaking lurches back into my body.  Donna preferred a less structured speech writing style.  Write an outline and let your voice fill in the rest.  I used this approach in my last two speeches and it has worked tremendously for me.  Relying on notes less, speaking off the cuff, the nervous butterflies I once had have fluttered away, because I eliminated the perfectionist aspect of my speaking.

Remain productive. Mentors continue to make use of their own knowledge and skills.

Do something for others. Much can be said for the pleasure we receive from helping someone else. To do so is not only a confirmation of our own skills, but we also feel good about ourselves when we help someone achieve their goals.

Receive recognition. Mentors are respected and appreciated by fellow members for helping people. Of course, mentors also earn the gratitude of their mentees.

With all these great benefits, the club themselves are rewarded with being able to retain more members as the membership is more satisfied with their Toastmasters experience.  Turnover is reduced because members quickly become involved in the club and develop friendships.

 

Third Main Point:  How effective is mentoring?

Sub points:  Rattle off statistics

Doing some research I compiled a list of statistics from various sources and studies regarding mentoring.  I published the list on the APG Toastmasters Forum with the sources of each.  Please feel free to check up on these on your own and add to the discussion on the forum as you feel necessary.  Some are relevant to a Toastmasters Mentoring Program, then some not so much, but the statistical results are still very convincing that being mentored is a positive step in any aspect of life.

• After 18 months with mentors, an evaluation of a set of children revealed the studied boys and girls were (1):
  • 46 % less likely to use illegal drugs
  • 27% less likely to use alcohol
  • 37% less likely to skip class
  • 53% less likely to skip school
  • 33% less likely to hit someone
• California Mentor Foundation surveyed 124 mentor programs with 36,251 mentors and 57,659 mentees. The survey showed that (1):
• 98% stayed in school
• 85% did not use drugs
• 98% deterred from teen pregnancy
• 98% did not join a gang

Now for the career oriented stats. Sun Microsystems compared the career progress of approximately 1,000 employees over a 5-year period and here’s what they found (4,5):

• Both mentors and mentees were approximately 20% more likely to get a raise than people who did not participate in the mentoring program.
• 25% of mentees and 28% of mentors received a raise – versus only 5% of managers who were not mentors.
• Employees who received mentoring were promoted FIVE times more often than people who didn’t have mentors.
• Mentors were SIX times more likely to have been promoted to a bigger job.

Studies have proven mentoring to be an effective and efficient tool for developing good skills and habits.  Our club mentoring program will be no different.

 

Fourth Main Point:  Answer any discussion points from forum.

 

Summary:  Now that everyone here is more familiar with what a mentor is, how everyone can benefit from mentoring, and has an idea of how effective mentoring can be I believe there is no better time to go forward with a Mentoring Program for the club, but I need everyone’s help. 

Conclusion:   Visit the APG Toastmasters Forum to discuss the topic of mentoring further.  Contact me as VPE to request a mentor or mentee from the club.  Support your fellow Toastmaster.  Find the support you need to get your Toastmasters career in gear.  There is no limit to your level of achievement when you have a cheering section. 

[JediNickD]

Toastmasters Speech:  "Get Your Hands Dirty"

Manual:  The Entertaining Speaker

Lesson:  #3 Make Them Laugh

Date:  7/2/2013

 

 

Outline – Get Your Hands Dirty

Opening:  “Like most things, you can keep yourself pretty clean if you try, but the people who are really good at it and really love it are usually up to their arms in it.†– Mike Rowe, Dirty Jobs

Does anyone here do their own auto maintenance? 

Since I learned to drive, I have always done my own maintenance.  I not only enjoy working on cars, but I found that by doing something difficult that I could test my limits and find out who I am. 

Lead:   Through three experiences of getting my hands dirty with three different cars, I learned proper auto maintenance and I discovered me.

First Main Point:  Mercury Cougar Oil Change; I like to chase perfection

Sub points:  My first car was a 1986 Mercury Cougar, 11 years old and over 100 thousand miles.  And I drove it often: school, sports, work, and fun.  My dad gave me the responsibility of checking and changing the oil.  We had done plenty of oil changes and other maintenance together, but this would be the first I’d do by myself.  The steps were easy: drain the oil, remove and replace the filter, and add new oil. 

 

The last oil change on my current car was clean as a whistle; the first one on my Cougar was a sweaty, oily, and bloody mess.

 

[tell story from memory]

 

Through a few years of doing oil changes on my own, I discovered all the obstacles and found solutions perfecting the job.  I learned that practice makes perfect.  I learned that I like perfect. 

 

Second Main Point:  Other Cars and Lessons

Sub points:  Every car and repair taught me something different or uncovered another facet of who I am. 

Through rebuilding the carburetor on my 1971 Chevy Monte Carlo, I learned my photographic memory and ability to solve puzzles is top notch, but I can’t always rely on them if I am going to be timely and efficient.  I need to take proper notes, label parts, and document processes so I can repeat the steps tomorrow or 3 years from now.

Through replacing the brake calipers on my 1992 Chevy Camaro, I discovered I do not see the big picture.  I did not realize that leaving my car on a jack for multiple days endangered people as it could fall on say a kid trying to get a ball out from under my car or more likely a drunken college student stumbling back to their dorm.

Through replacing the rotors on my 2003 Dodge Dakota, I discovered that I’m not very good at asking for help.  I didn’t have the right tools to remove them as heat had seared them in place.  Instead, I happily wasted the day pounding away on the rotor to get them off until my arms were too exhausted to lift, all while my neighbor down the street had the right tool to get them off in a couple swings.

 

Summary:  I learned a lot about cars from getting my hands dirty working on them, but I also learned a lot about me.  Through all three experiences, I uncovered a skill, which today I consider my greatest asset in the workplace; my ability to learn something new quickly and efficiently to the point where I can teach it to someone else.  If not for getting my hands dirty in with cars, then I may never have figured it out.  And as I mentioned in my speech, I also discovered that I like to chase perfection, I would do anything for a friend who would do anything for me, and that I don’t always see the big picture.

Conclusion:   Firsthand experience with any task is priceless.  Find something you are passionate about.  Push your limits in that area and discover yourself.  Go get your hands dirty!

[JediNickD]

Toastmaster Speech:  "Happy as a Black Hole"

Manual:  The Entertaining Speaker

Lesson:  #4 The Dramatic Speech

Date:  7/16/2013

 

 

Happy as a Black Hole - Outline

Opening: 

“You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.â€

–A.A. Milne

My cocker spaniel Blackie might not have acted very brave, being afraid of cats, ducks, house flies, and even his shadow.  He might not have been very smart either; barking at his reflection, stepping in his own excretions, and forgetting he just ate. 

Lead:  However, he was certainly stronger than anyone could imagine.

 

First Main Point:  Eyes

Sub points:  Sarah vet, regular client, owner dies, we adopt, eye drops and cleaning make his vision improve

 

Second Main Point:  ACL tears

Sub points:  Stairs, 7 years old, high energy low stamina, too much exercise and he is a lump on a log the rest of the day, 2 years later we notice he’s got a small limp when going up and down the stairs, vet says he tore right ACL about a month ago, stunned we elect to fix it with surgery,    

 

Third Main Point:  Ears

 

Sub points: 

 

Fourth Main Point:  Pancreas

 

Sub-points: 

 

Summary:  Through multiple injuries and surgeries, through daily pain and discomfort, Blackie kept his tail wagging all the way to that last day.

Conclusion:   His strength showed me that no matter how much pain or suffering that you are experiencing, as long as there is still life in you, you can help someone else smile.

[JediNickD]

Humorous Speech Contest - 9/17/2013

Humorously Speaking Advanced Manual

Lesson #1:  Warm Up the Audience

 

“Do Stuff that Scares Youâ€

(inspired by my 5-year old daughter and Steve Kamb's article "Why You Need To Do Stuff that Scares you")

 

“BOO!†“Ahh!  You scared the stuffing out of me!† My 5 year-old daughter has come up with plenty of other inserts for the phase, such as one exclaimed during dinner, “Ahh!  You scared the meatballs out of me!â€

 

Contest Master, Toastmaster of the Day, fellow Toastmasters, and honorary guests, do you do things that scare you?  Are you a thrill seeker riding roller coasters or other amusement park rides?  How about sky-diving or bungee jumping?   These are great thrills and adrenaline rushes.  What about going on haunted house tours, visiting cemeteries in the middle of the night, or paying a visit to your in-laws?  Horror gives us a chill in our spine with a great rush when it is over.  What about things which scare you in your day to day life?  I can guess that public speaking scares the waffles out of just about everyone in this room, but that is why we are here. 

 

I’ve learned through Toastmasters that to get over a fear, you must embrace it.  Meeting it head on is the only way to conquer it.  I’ve also learned that doing things that scare the jellyfish out of you is a good thing.  Every time your heart beats out of your chest from fear, it’s a great reminder that you’re alive.

How do you give yourself these reminders?  It certainly doesn’t need to be anything extravagant.  It just needs to be something that takes you or your body out of your comfort zone, which is completely different for everybody.  It could be:

 

• Trying new food
• Asking somebody out on a date
• Going to the gym to work out
• Saying hi to a complete stranger

• Cold-calling a new business opportunity
• Interviewing for a job
• Going places by yourself
• Raising your hand in class

All these things can be just as thrilling as a death defying stunt if you have a fear of them.  None of them are life threatening, but all have potential for embarrassment, which is where that fear lies. 

 

How many of you have done this?  You are driving your car and a great song is on the radio.  You are singing along, maybe you are dancing.  Then, a car comes up next to you.  You freeze from embarrassment.  Maybe they saw you?  Maybe the window was down and they heard you?  Maybe they are laughing at you!  How embarrassing.  Do you know what I do?  I just keep singing and having a good time.  Sure, I can be embarrassed by my off-key singing, but why would I let that steal my fun?  If this was a movie, then they would be singing along! 

 

Be brave.  Do not let fear keep you from experiencing life.  Check your pulse and do stuff that scares the blueberries out of you. 

 

Or you may regret it.  Recently, I read about the 10-Year Rule over on the Art of Manliness, a fun and inspiring website. Simply stated, the rule tells you to live life as such:

 

“Whenever you are presented with a choice, ask yourself which option you would prefer to have taken in ten years.â€

 

I’d guess 95% of the time, yourself ten years from now will look back and be happy that you took a chance, challenged a fear, and did something that scared the cookies out of you.

 

My biggest regrets are all in public speaking.  When I was 12 years old in 8^th grade, we had an assignment to memorize a poem and recite it from memory in front of a camera.  I choose a beautiful and odd poem by Edgar Allen Poe as I always enjoyed his writing style.  Memorizing the poem was easy, but as soon as I was in front of the class and camera, my mind was blank.  After standing there frozen for what felt like an eternity with my blood boiling, sweat flowing like a river in every crevice of my skin, and my stomach turning like a propeller, the teacher got my attention to start.  I rattled off the first few lines, got stuck on a word, and threw up on my shoes.  Then, I lost a few more cookies as I ran out the door.  I regret not learning from that awful experience.  I regret not finding help and support with public speaking sooner.  Twenty years later, here I am finally correcting that mistake.

 

Think about the person you want to be 10 years from now.  Regrets are depressing and discouraging.  Eliminate regret by doing stuff that scares the food right out of you and all over the floor.  You want to be looking back at all the fun you had, the great things you accomplished, and how you changed over the years. 

 

I say you should remind yourself that you are a living breathing human!  Live your life with no regrets!  Do stuff that scares the apple juice out of you!  But, hopefully it does not end up running down your leg. 

 

[JediNickD]

Speaking to Inform Toastmasters International Advanced Manual

Lesson #2: Resources for Informing

 

"Set Your GPS for Success"

 

Opening:  GPS is a life saver.  It will point you in the right direction and get you to your destination.  But what it is?  How does it work?  Can someone tell me what GPS stands for?

 

Lead:  Good guess, but not what I am looking for.  GPS stands for “Goal, Plan, and Steps.† Create a goal, make a plan, and take the steps to accomplish it.  I like to think of success as going up a stair case.  Setting a goal is the first step.  Having a plan in place to achieve the goal is the second step.  The rest of the steps are the blood, sweat, and tears of effort to accomplish it.

 

The 2013 Denver Broncos football team set the NFL single season scoring record this season with 606 points.  Their quarterback, Peyton Manning, set two single season passing records with 55 touchdown passes and 5,477 passing yards.  How did they get there?  They start with one overall goal, win the Super Bowl.  They set small goals to get there with goals for each week, each practice, each game, and even each play.  On each play, the offensive football team reviews the situation: what down is it, how many yards to go, how far to the end zone, how far to field goal range, how much time is left… They call a play with a particular yardage goal for it to accomplish getting them a first down, closer to a first down, and so on.  Pass or fail, they huddle up and come right back out with a new goal and new play.

 

In Toastmasters, our goal achieving process is no different.  We start with a big goal.  Become a better speaker or leader.  Then we establish the small steps to get there: the Toastmaster manuals.  Each project from a manual is like a play from a football playbook.  They have a particular goal to achieve and whether you pass or fail, you get to come right back with a new lesson.  There is something missing though to make them SMART goals.

SMART goal setting is technique Paul J. Meyer describes in his book Attitude is Everything.  Paul lays out goal characteristics needed for you to be able to make them a priority and achieve them.

 

Specific, Measureable, Action-Oriented, Realistic, Time-bound 

 

Each manual lesson is specific in the lesson you are learning, measureable in your success by whether you did the speech or not, action-oriented in that you have to write and give the speech yourself, realistic as none of them are overly difficult for the level they are intended for, but they are missing the time-bound element.  You, the Toastmaster, must provide that.  I’ll do a speech a month, five speeches a year… Whatever it is, you have to set it.  

 

But setting SMART goals isn’t the only step.  Do you think the Denver Broncos set their goals and expect to land in the Super Bowl?  Absolutely not!  They make a plan to achieve their overall goal.  That plan may have sub-goals to achieve, such as win so many games, beat these specific opponents, and so on.  Each week, they enter the game with a plan on how to defeat their opponents.  Again, Toastmasters is no different.  After setting your goals, you need to develop a plan to achieve them.

 

A plan outlines the necessary activities, the resources to be allocated, and how the work will be divided.  It gives structure, guidance, and direction to everyone involved in achieving the goal.  A plan ensures the object will be achieved efficiently and effectively.  Planning is important for several reasons. 

 

It reinforces goals by putting goals in the forefront.  It allows you to think more future-oriented looking beyond the present to project what will happen in the future.  Planning enables you to coordinate decisions. Decisions should not be made without considering their effects on the future.  It ensures efficient use of resources.  Without planning, resources are often overused or wasted, putting a strain on deadlines and stress levels.  

Establishing a plan to achieve your goals will develop the steps necessary to reach success, but if the step is longer than your stride, then you could be in for a tumble.  You can adjust your goals and plans to have sub-goals and sub-plans to make the steps shorter and more manageable, but the distance to the top, the amount of effort needed to reach success does not change.  Effort doesn’t come easy though.  There are always plenty of obstacles to sink your motivation and drowned your efforts. 

I got this little motivational speech from a friend a while back when talking about self-motivation in sports:

The true competition is YOURSELF,
Your biggest challenge isn't someone else;
It's the ache in your lungs, and the burning in your legs and the voice inside that yells, "CAN'T"
BUT YOU DON'T LISTEN, you just push HARDER and then you hear the voice whisper... "CAN"
And you discover that the person you thought you were, is no match for the one you REALLY ARE.

 

It is the person you THINK YOU ARE which drags you down.  It the person you ACTUALLY ARE which drives you to new heights.

The only way to succeed is to KNOW YOU CAN.  Motivation is all about being confident in yourself while understanding what drives you and what sinks you.

For me, my motivation is easily sunk when someone else messes with my task.  I leave a half-completed project one day, and then when I come back it is in disarray.  I don't want to waste time cleaning up someone else's mess or finding all the pieces that someone else put away, so I leave it for another time.  To defeat this, I usually incorporate another organizing task into it to tell myself I'm not just fixing someone else’s mess, but I am also reorganizing the inventory more logically or something like that.

Reading is one of my best drivers.  When I want to do something new, I read as much as I can about it to enhance my desire to do it.  Next thing I know, I can't stop thinking about doing it.

 

Summary:  Success is like a stair case.  Goal setting and planning are the first few stairs with effort the rest of the way to the top.  To get there, one must find ways to maintain a high level of effort through self-motivating.

 

Conclusion:   Setting SMART goals, utilizing the five steps of planning and self-motivating are the keys to achieving results.  Set your GPS for success.  If you do it right, then you could find yourself in record books, just not the same ones as Peyton Manning and the 2013 Denver Broncos.

[JediNickD]

Toastmasters Speech: “Become a Leading Scorerâ€

Manual: The Leadership Excellence Series

Lesson: Goal Setting and Planning

Date: 1/14/2014

GPS is a life saver.  It will point you in the right direction and get you to your destination.  But what it is?  How does it work?  Can someone tell me what GPS stands for?

Good guess, but not what I am looking for.  GPS stands for “Goal, Plan, and Steps.† Create a goal, make a plan, and take the steps to accomplish it.  Who here regularly sets goals for themselves?  What are they?

 

I like to think of success as going up a stair case.  Setting a goal is the first step towards completing the amazing.  Having a plan in place to achieve the goal is the second step.  The rest of the steps are the blood, sweat, and tears of effort to accomplish it.

 

 

 

 

The 2013 Denver Broncos set the single season scoring record this season with 606 points.  Their quarterback, Peyton Manning, set two single season passing records with 55 touchdown passes and 5,477 passing yards.  How did they get there?  They start with one goal, win the Super Bowl.  They set small goals to get there starting in the off-season assembling their roster, taking it each week, each game, and each play at a time.  On any given play, the offensive football team reviews the situation: what down is it, how many yards to go, how far to the end zone, how far to field goal range, how much time is left… They call a play with a particular yardage goal for it to accomplish getting them a first down, closer to a first down, and so on.  Pass or fail, they huddle up and come right back out with a new goal and new play.

 

In Toastmasters, our goal achieving process is no different.  We start with a big goal.  Become a better speaker or leader.  Then we establish the small steps to get there: the Toastmaster manuals.  Each project from a manual is like a play from a football playbook.  They have a particular goal to achieve and whether you pass or fail, you get to come right back with a new lesson.  There is something missing though to make them SMART goals.

 

SMART goal setting is technique Paul J. Meyer describes in his book Attitude is Everything.  Paul lays out the characteristics your goals need to contain for you to be able to make them a priority and achieve them.

 

Specific, Measureable, Action-Oriented, Realistic, Time-bound 

 

Each Toastmasters manual lesson is specific in the lesson you are learning, measureable in your success by whether you did the speech or not, action-oriented in that you have to write and give the speech yourself, realistic as none of them are overly difficult for the level they are intended for, but they are missing the time-bound element.  You, the Toastmaster, must provide that.  I’ll do a speech a month, five speeches a year, or three speeches before the end of 2013… Whatever it is, you have to set it.  

 

SMART Goal criteria can be applied to any goal setting, whether Toastmasters, work, or personal.  Use the criteria to create goals for success.

 

But setting SMART goals isn’t the only step.  Do you think the Denver Broncos set their goals and expect to land in the Super Bowl?  Absolutely not!  They make a plan to achieve their overall goal.  That plan may have sub-goals to achieve, such as win so many games, beat these specific opponents, and so on.  Each week, they enter the game with a plan on how to defeat their opponents.  Again, Toastmasters is no different.  After setting goals, you need to develop a plan to achieve them, such as what steps will you need to take to finish your CC by the end of the Toastmasters year in June?

 

A plan outlines the necessary activities, the resources to be allocated, and how the work will be divided.  It gives structure, guidance, and direction to everyone involved in achieving the goal.  A plan ensures the object will be achieved efficiently and effectively.  Planning is important for several reasons:   

 

It reinforces goals by putting goals in the forefront.  It allows you to think more future-oriented looking beyond the present to project what will happen in the future.  Planning enables you to coordinate decisions. Decisions should not be made without considering their effects on the future.  It ensures efficient use of resources. Without planning, resources are often overused or wasted, putting a strain on deadlines and stress levels.  

 

Once goals are determined, the planning process can be broken down into five easy steps.

1. Establish strategies. Identify how you will achieve the goal. List the specific steps that must be taken to move toward the goal.

Example: If a club president’s goal is to be a Distinguished Club, he or she should list the specific steps the club must take if it were to achieve this goal by using the Distinguished Club Program.

 

2. Set a timetable. Priorities and scheduling are critical to planning. Make a list of tasks according to their priority and establish specific deadlines for their completion.

 

Example: A club should establish a deadline for meeting the CC goal.

 

3. Assign responsibilities. Delegate tasks to the team, matching the task to the person best suited for it. The success of a team depends on all members fulfilling their responsibilities. Be sure that each team member commits to completing his or her assigned duties.

 

Example: The president assigns the task of having two members earn CC awards this year to the vice president education. In turn, the vice president education identifies two members who are close to completing the Competent Communication manual and persuades them to finish their manuals by the deadline. Then, he or she schedules these members to speak so they can meet the deadline.

 

4. Anticipate obstacles. Good leaders think about potential problems.

 

Example: The vice president education realizes one of the potential CC applicants will be out of town for several meetings, so he schedules the member to speak only at meetings the member will be able to attend.

 

5. Modify the plan as necessary. Even leaders with the most vivid imaginations cannot possibly imagine all of the challenges and problems that may occur as a team strive to achieve its goals. Leaders must be flexible and change plans as needed.

 

Example: If the vice president education realizes one of the individuals trying to achieve their CC award will not achieve it in time then he or she looks to the rest of the club members, who may be close to achieving the CC award, to fulfill that goal.

Establishing a plan to achieve your goals will develop the steps necessary to reach success, but if the step is longer than your stride, then you could be in for a tumble.  You can adjust your goals and plans to have sub-goals and sub-plans to make the steps shorter and more manageable, but the distance to the top, the amount of effort needed to reach success does not change.  Effort doesn’t come easy though.  There are always plenty of obstacles to sink your motivation and drowned your efforts. 

 

Win the Battle Within with self-motivating

 

I got this little motivational speech from a friend a while back when talking about self-motivation in sports:

The true competition is YOURSELF,
Your biggest challenge isn't someone else;
It's the ache in your lungs, and the burning in your legs and the voice inside that yells, "CAN'T"
BUT YOU DON'T LISTEN, you just push HARDER and then you hear the voice whisper... "CAN"
And you discover that the person you thought you were, is no match for the one you REALLY ARE.

It is the person you THINK YOU ARE which drags you down.  It the person you ACTUALLY ARE which drives you to new heights.

Let me say it another way:  Our true self does not change with our perception, but our perception of our self can keep us from achieving heights which our true self can reach.

 

Before challenging an opponent, you must first challenge YOURSELF to extend the challenge and prepare for it. Before or during a challenge with an opponent, fear and doubt might keep you from competing at your full potential. You must challenge YOURSELF first to overcome the fear and doubt to compete at your full potential.

The only way to succeed is to KNOW YOU CAN.  In the original 1984 film "The Karate Kid", Mr. Miyagi proclaims competing against others does not matter, as the battle within you is much more important to win.  Motivation is a battle within you.  But what are the sides and how do you win?  In my experience, motivation is all about knowing what drives you and what sinks you, and then adjusting your perception to "block" the sinking aspects and "highlight" the driving ones. 

 

For me, my motivation is easily sunk when someone else messes with my task.  I leave a half-completed project one day, and then when I come back it is in disarray.  I don't want to waste time cleaning up someone else's mess or finding all the pieces that someone else put away, so I leave it for another day.  To defeat this, I usually need to incorporate another organizing task into it to tell myself I'm not just fixing something someone else did, but I am also doing this other task too.

 

Reading is one of my best drivers.  When I want to do something new, I read as much as I can about it to enhance my desire to do it.  Next thing I know, I can't stop thinking about doing it.

 

Success is like a stair case.  Goal setting and planning are the first few stairs with effort the rest of the way to the top.  Find ways to maintain a high level of effort through self-motivating.

 

SMART goal setting and the five steps of planning are the keys to achieving results and to making an individual a leading scorer in whatever area you wish to succeed.  If you do it right, then you could find yourself in record books, just not the same ones as Peyton Manning and the 2013 Denver Broncos.

[JediNickD]

SMART Goals

SMART is actually an acronym Paul J. Meyer describes in Attitude is Everything. Paul lays out the characteristics your goals need to contain for you to be able to make them a priority and achieve them.

 

S

The ‘S’ stands for “Specific†stressing the need for a specific goal over a more general one. This means the goal is clear and unambiguous; without vagaries and platitudes. To make goals specific, they must explain exactly what is expected and why is it important.

A specific goal will usually answer the five "W" questions:
• What: What do I want to accomplish?
• Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.
• Who: Who is involved?
• Where: Identify a location.
• Which: Identify requirements and constraints.

 

M

The ‘M’ stands for “Measurable†stressing the need for concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of the goal. The thought behind this is that if a goal is not measurable, it is not possible to know whether you are making progress toward a successful completion. Measuring progress is supposed to help you stay on track, reach target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs it on to continued effort required to reach the ultimate goal.

A measurable goal will usually answer questions such as:
• How much?
• How many?
• How will I know when it is accomplished?

 

A

The ‘A’ stands for “Attainable†which stresses the importance of creating goals which are not overwhelming. While an attainable goal may challenge you in order to achieve it, the goal must not be extreme. That is, the goals are not out of reach, as these may be considered hopeless or meaningless. When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them.

An attainable goal will usually answer the question:
• How can the goal be accomplished?

 

R

The ‘R’ stands for “Relevant†stressing the importance of choosing goals that matter. A bank manager's goal to "Make 50 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by 2:00pm" may be specific, measurable, attainable, and time-bound, but lacks relevance. Many times you will need support to accomplish a goal: resources, a champion voice, someone to knock down obstacles. Goals that are relevant to your boss, your team, your organization will receive that needed support.
Relevant goals (when met) drive the team, department, and organization forward. A goal that supports or is in alignment with other goals would be considered a relevant goal.

A relevant goal can answer yes to these questions:
• Is this the right time and place?
• Does this match our other efforts/needs?
 

T

The ‘T’ stands for “Time-bound†stressing the importance of grounding goals within a time frame, giving them a target date. A commitment to a deadline helps a team focus their efforts on completion of the goal on or before the due date. This part of the SMART goal criteria is intended to prevent goals from being overtaken by the day-to-day crises that invariably arise in an organization. A time-bound goal is intended to establish a sense of urgency.

A time-bound goal will usually answer the questions:
• When?
• What can I do six months from now?
• What can I do six weeks from now?

 

 

FIVE STEPS TO PLANNING

 

1. Establish strategies.  Identify how you will achieve the goal. List the specific steps that must be taken to move toward the goal.
   
   Example: If a club president’s goal is to be a Distinguished Club, he or she should list the specific steps the club must take if it were to achieve this goal by using the Distinguished Club Program.
    
2. Set a timetable. Priorities and scheduling are critical to planning. Make a list of tasks according to their priority and establish specific deadlines for their completion.
   
   Example: A club should establish a deadline for meeting the CC goal.

 

1. Assign responsibilities. Delegate tasks to the team, matching the task to the person best suited for it. The success of a team depends on all members fulfilling their responsibilities. Be sure that each team member commits to completing his or her assigned duties.
   
   Example: The president assigns the task of having two members earn CC awards this year to the vice president education. In turn, the vice president education identifies two members who are close to completing the Competent Communication manual and persuades them to finish their manuals by the deadline. Then, he or she schedules these members to speak so they can meet the deadline.

 

1. Anticipate obstacles. Good leaders think about potential problems.
   
   Example: The vice president education realizes one of the potential CC applicants will be out of town for several meetings, so he schedules the member to speak only at meetings the member will be able to attend.
    
2. Modify the plan as necessary. Even leaders with the most vivid imaginations cannot possibly imagine all of the challenges and problems that may occur as a team strive to achieve its goals. Leaders must be flexible and change plans as needed.
   
   Example: If the vice president education realizes one of the individuals trying to achieve their CC award will not achieve it in time then he or she looks to the rest of the club members, who may be close to achieving the CC award, to fulfill that goal.

 

 

 

Self-Motivating:  Win the Battle Within

 

The true competition is YOURSELF,

Your biggest challenge isn't someone else;

It's the ache in your lungs, and the burning in your legs and the voice inside that yells, "CAN'T"

BUT YOU DON'T LISTEN, you just push HARDER and then you hear the voice whisper... "CAN"

And you discover that the person you thought you were, is no match for the one you REALLY ARE.

 

It is the person you THINK YOU ARE which drags you down.  It the person you ACTUALLY ARE which drives you to new heights.

Let me say it another way:  Our true self does not change with our perception, but our perception of our self can keep us from achieving heights which our true self can reach.

Before challenging an opponent, you must first challenge YOURSELF to extend the challenge and prepare for it. Before or during a challenge with an opponent, fear and doubt might keep you from competing at your full potential. You must challenge YOURSELF first to overcome the fear and doubt to compete at your full potential.

The only way to succeed is to KNOW YOU CAN.  From "The Karate Kid", Mr. Miyagi proclaims competing against others does not matter, as the battle within you is much more important to win.  Motivation is a battle within you.  But what are the sides and how do you win?  In my experience, motivation is all about knowing what drives you and what sinks you, and then adjusting your perception to "block" the sinking aspects and "highlight" the driving ones. 

[JediNickD]

Speaking to Inform Toastmasters International Advanced Manual

Lesson #3: The Demonstration Speech

Title: â€œGet Fit Anywhereâ€

 

Opening:  Are you interested in changing the way you look?  Do you want to lose weight, build muscle, or tone your body?  How do you think you can do these things?
 

Diet and exercise are certainly the methods to achieving any fitness goal with diet being the larger factor.  But I don’t want to talk about changing your diet, because everyone processes food differently.  My diet plan may work for me, but there is no guarantee it will work for you.  Exercise, on the other hand, is pretty universal.  Most exercises burn the same amount of calories for whoever is doing them.  The difficulty of an exercise can easily be increased or decreased to fit the individual.  But I know what you all are thinking… I have to go to the gym to exercise.  Gyms are costly, time consuming, intimidating. 
 

It is a common misconception that you have to go a gym to work out and get fit.  You do not need any of the equipment in a gym to work out.  With body-weight exercises you do not need dumbbells, barbells, weight machines, treadmills, or elliptical machines.  You just need about 30 minutes and the knowledge of how to leverage your own body weight.
 
Lead:  In my speech, I plan to demonstrate exactly how you can get fit anywhere using simple body-weight exercises.
 
First Main Point:  Full Body Stretch
Sub points:  Basic, Yoga poses, 15 seconds each
Start with stretching.
 
Second Main Point:  Warm Up
Sub points:  Jumping Jacks (15-20), Burpees (5-10), Walking, Jogging, dynamic stretching
To get the blood flowing and elevate your heart rate for maximum calorie burn, you need to do an intense warm up.
1 minute is all you need
 
Third Main Point:  Basic Workout
Sub points:  Squats, Push Ups, Lunges, Rows (pull ups), Planking
Your actual workout doesn’t need to be extravagant, but it needs to be full body. 
For either the body weight squats or lunges, if you can’t do them properly yet, it’s okay to put your hand on a support to keep your balance.
For the body weight squats, think of it like sitting back into a chair. If you can sit down onto a chair, and then stand immediately right back up without having to lean forward, you are in balance.
For the lunges, keep your eyes ahead and your upper body completely vertical. I had a slight bend at times in the video due to trying to exercise and explain at the same time.
There a couple different ways to do rows.  The most difficult is a pull up, because you are lifting all of your body weight.  You can decrease the weight by lowering the bar and inclining your body.  The edge of a table is a good substitute.  For easier rows, you can also lift something.  Use whatever is heavy enough for you.  Just find something that is challenging to lift 10 times in a row. 
 
Fourth Main Point:  Cool Down Stretch
Sub points:  Repeat your full body stretch and concentrate on sore areas
 
Summary:  To summarize, you do not need fancy weight lifting equipment to get in a good exercise.  You just need to know how to leverage your body as a weight.  Remember to stretch and warm up first.  Keep the workout simple, yet intense.  Squats, pushups, lunges, rows, and planking are your basics.  You can do these exercises at any time and any location to gain strength and get fit. 
 
Conclusion:   With this body-weight workout, you don’t have any excuses.  Stop putting off changing the way you look!   Get started today, when you get home, back to your office, or even right here after the meeting!

[JediNickD]

Speaking to Inform

Toastmasters International Advanced Manual

Lesson #5: The Abstract Concept

Outline – "Orbital Speed"

 

Opening:  “Space… the final frontier…† That phrase is the opening of the title sequence for Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation.  Technology inches closer and closer to that which is used among the Star Trek franchises.  Touch screens and handheld devices are the most recent advances towards such technology.  But space travel will always be a difficult problem for humans.  And that problem actually has nothing to do with traveling through space. 

 

Lead:  It is getting there that is the problem.  To help explain this problem, I plan to use the works of XKCD web comic author, Randall Munroe.  He has a web comic series title “What If†where readers submit bizarre scientific questions to him.  Apparently, a lot of readers do not completely grasp the concept of outer space and planetary motion, as he demonstrated in one of his articles.

 

First Main Point:  Space is in motion

 

Sub points:  Orbits, Inertia

 

Second Main Point:  Launching takes a lot of fuel

 

Sub points:  Weight versus Energy

 

Third Main Point:  Orbital Speed is fast

 

Sub points:  International Space Station and “I’m Gonna Beâ€

 

Summary:  Space travel will always be a difficult problem for us, because getting there is not an easy task.  Everything in space is in motion and relative to us space is really fast.  It takes a lot of fuel to get to space, because you have to get the fuel to space too.

 

Conclusion:   Next time you watch a movie involving space travel, think of the International Space Station streaking across the sky going 1000 miles in just three and half minutes.

[JediNickD]

Moments of Truth

Toastmasters Better Club Series

 

 

[1] INTRODUCTION:

Does anyone know the Toastmasters Club Mission Statement?  

A club’s most important goals are member service and personal satisfaction. In order to keep members active and recruit new members, clubs must provide courteous, attentive, and capable service to every member and guest.

[2]  MOMENT OF TRUTH

When anyone comes in contact with any aspect of Toastmasters, the person forms an impression based on his or her experience at that particular time. Clubs must remain cognizant of these crucial, decisive times and ensure that every experience with Toastmasters is a positive one.

[3] There are six critical moments of truth in which clubs have an opportunity to create positive impressions. The six critical Toastmasters moments of truth are:

1. First Impressions
2. Membership Orientation
3. Fellowship, Variety, and Communication
4. Program Planning and Meeting Organization
5. Membership Strength
6. Achievement Recognition

 

Use the following standards for each moment of truth to offer quality service for each contact point.

[4] 1. First Impressions

• Greet each guest at the door, which is inheritly the job of the SGT-at-Arms, who is also in charge of setting up the meeting space and leading the meeting.  The SGT-at-Arms needs to arrive extra early to be able to do all these things and be able to greet guests at the door.   
• Give each guest a name tag. Name tags are not terribly important, but they sure are effective when the Table Topics Master is calling on random guests.  Don’t forget to have every guest to sign a guest book to get their contact information.
• Set up a professional-looking meeting room.  Club banner, American flag hung properly, lecturn setup, and the Word of the Day displayed or distributed.  Also, the meeting agenda needs to look professional and be distributed.
• Ensure the meeting location is conveniently located, accessible, and the meeting room is clearly marked. There is a sign outside the stairwell indicating “Meeting Roomâ€, but a Toastmasters sign like the one I bring is much better for first time arrivals.
• Encourage guests to participate in the meeting.  Timer and Ah-Counter are easy roles for a guest.  You can also ask them to volunteer for Table Topics.  At the end of the meeting, ask them to comment on their experience.
• Invite guests to join the club on the day they visit.  Hand them a new member or guest packet with a membership application and Ice Breaker handout. 

[5] 2. Membership Orientation

• Induct new members formally and provide a membership pin, name tag and manuals.  You can have a couple spare manuals on hand to issue or have their new manuals shipped to an officer.  A little ceremony will make new members feel welcome.
• Assign a mentor for one-on-one assistance.  A mentor gives the new member someone to help with their first few speeches and meeting roles while encouraging them to attend and participate in every meeting.
• Discuss how the educational program helps develop speaking and leadership skills.  Modules like this one are available for members to present and introduce the educational programs all the way through DTM.
• Survey all new members’ learning needs.  The Mentor Survey is perfect for figuring out what your members need, but simply asking them what their objectives and goals are would be enough to get them pointed in the right direction.
• Assign a speaking role for the new member as soon as possible.  Get them involved from the start.  Don’t let the rookies sit on the sidelines.  Experience is the best teacher.
• Continue to make new members feel welcome and encourage their participation in meetings with follow ups from the VPE, VPM, and their mentor. 

[6] 3. Fellowship, Variety, and Communication

• Members greet guests and make them feel welcome.  I mentioned the SGT-at-Arms at the door.  Other members who the guest sits with need to introduce themselves and offer explanations of things.  Others should wait until after the meeting to introduce themselves, so that you don’t overwhelm them with too many new names.
• The vice president education (VPE) regularly plans enjoyable, dynamic educational programs with exciting, thought-provoking themes. Take advantage of holidays and such.  Pi Day is personal favorite.  Decorations are not necessary to pull off a theme.  An image on the agenda, a themed invocation or joke to lead off the meeting, and tying in Table Topics will make any theme successful.
• The club enjoys regularly scheduled social events.  Do the members meet up outside of Toastmasters meetings?  Holiday parties or summer outdoor events are typical events clubs organize.  Depending on your members, you could do any number of things.
• Encourage club members to participate in area, district, and International events.  Your club VPE and President are in charge of notifying membership of these events.
• Promote and encourage inter-club events.  If there is another club nearby with similar meeting time, then you could try a Joint Club Contest, Open House, or other social events.
• Issue a club newsletter regularly and maintain a website.  The club website is a great resource for members to communicate and get information.  A club newsletter reaches out to those who might have missed something.  Publishing one quarterly keeps members, former members, and even guests in the loop. 

[7] 4. Program Planning and Meeting Organization

• Publicize the program and agenda in advance.  The VPE should have the next meeting planned to announce at the current meeting.  Date, location, and possible theme are a must.  The agenda does not necessarily need to be filled out two weeks in advance, but if you have speaking roles already filled, then announce them to encourage members to attend.
• Ensure all members know their responsibilities for each meeting and are prepared to carry out all assignments.
• All speaking and leadership projects are manual projects. Don’t let someone do a role without getting credit for it.  The VPE needs to push the CL manual for meeting roles. 
• Begin and end meetings on time.  If you need to delay the start of the meeting for any reason, then you can open the meeting with an immediate short recess.  If the meeting or a particular speaker is running long, then signal them to wrap it up and move on.  The Timer and VPE should be keeping track of the timing of the meeting.
• Feature creative Table Topicsâ„¢ and exciting theme meetings.
• Base positive, helpful evaluations upon project objectives and speakers’ learning goals.  Evaluators need to take note of the speakers objectives, which are in the speaker’s manual, but the evaluator can also ask the speaker for specifics to watch for.

[8] 5. Membership Strength – The first four points here complete themselves easily enough if you are performing well in the 5 other Moment of Truth areas as they tie into those other areas.

• Maintain a minimum of 20 or more members.
• Work to retain members.
• Actively promote your club in the community or within the sponsoring organization.
• Continually plan varied and exciting club meetings.
• Recognize Toastmasters who sponsor new members.
• Participate regularly in membership-building programs.  Anytime you can praise a member or the club, then you should.  These are both great opportunities for praising.

[9] 6. Achievement Recognition - Speaking of praising, you need to recognize your member’s achievements, big and small.

• Send award applications to World Headquarters or apply for awards online immediately when members complete educational requirements.
• Maintain and post member progress charts at every meeting.
• Formally recognize member achievements with a presentation.  For an Ice Breaker speech, a standing ovation is customary.  Ice Breaker gum is also a nice touch.  For other awards, the club can present pins, mugs, pens per the award and have a District Dignitary present it if possible.
• Speaking of them, if they attend your meeting recognize and welcome club, district, and International leaders at the start of the meeting.  
• Publicize member and club achievements by sending an announcement through email and newsletter.  
• Use the Distinguished Club Program (DCP) for planning and recognition.  If someone completes an award that helps earn a point or higher Distinguished honor, recognize it and those who also helped.

 

[10] Does Your Club Meet Standards? 

[11] CONCLUSION

Conduct a “Moments of Truth†evaluation at least once per year to ensure the club is taking advantage of every opportunity to make a good impression when an individual comes in contact with any aspect of Toastmasters. Remember the old maxim; you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

[JediNickD]

"What Should I Talk About?"

Toastmasters Better Speaker Series

Selecting Your Topic

 

Opening:   Does anyone find speech writing difficult?  Is it coming up with a topic that is hard or is it finding a way to fill 5-7 minutes that you struggle with? 

Lead:  Either way, I plan to lay out some helpful ideas to get you brainstorming and writing speeches.

 

First Main Point:  Consult two main sources

Sub points:  Personal Experience, Reference Material

 

 

Second Main Point:  You can’t get inspired if you are not subconsciously thinking about it.

Sub points:  When you do get inspired, write it down so you don’t forget.

 

 

Third Main Point:  Narrow your selection

Sub points:  Audience, Occasion, Abilities, Specific

 

 

Summary:  It does not matter what keeps you from writing your next speech.  Speech topics are everywhere, you just need to know where to look and be ready when inspiration strikes.  After you have an idea, you need to narrow it down so you can fill your time allotment. 

 

Conclusion:   Once you have chosen a subject of personal interest that fits your audience, the occasion, and your own speaking abilities, you will have written yourself a fine speech… now you just have to give it!

[JediNickD]

"Together We Can Do It!"

Speaking to Inform Advanced Manual

Lesson #4 A Fact-Finding Report

 

Opening:  Does anyone know what the job of the Club Coach is? 

I’m here to help the club get back on track.  I’ll assist with membership, education, and administration.  Toastmasters International provides a helpful points system to measure the club’s success in those areas, the Distinguished Club Program.  Does everyone know the goals for this program? 

That same program is used to measure my success in assisting you.  My job is deemed complete by the District when the club achieves Distinguished Club status. 

Lead:  As part of my preparation for this role, I did a little research into the club to better understand the clubs success and failure.  We’ll start with where you’ve been, then where we are, and finally where we are going.

First Main Point:  Toastmasters International website has records dating back to the 2004-2005 year, so my historical research stops there.  Has anyone here been with the club that long?  How about more than 5 years?  2 years? 

Sub points:  Anyway, what I found over this 10 year period is that the Bel Air Toastmasters club is no stranger to earning these points and awards.  In 2006, you earned President’s Distinguished achieving all 10 goals.  You earned Select Distinguished in 2008 and earned enough points for the distinction in 2005 and 2007, but did not qualify due to membership.  In 2011, you earned you most recent award, which was Distinguished Club with 5 points.  Again in 2009, you had the points for Distinguished, but did not qualify.  The Bel Air Toastmasters club has a strong history of achievement, but appears to struggle with membership retention and recruitment. 

Second Main Point:  In the last couple years, the struggles go beyond membership and stretch into education and administration.  Between the beginning of the 2011-2012 Toastmasters year and today, the club has had one member earn an educational award.  There could be many reasons for this, but they don’t really matter.  I’m here to help turn that number around.

Sub points:  Together, we’ll unearth members who are procrastinating work on their manuals and push them to finish them.  We’ll utilize old agendas to help members complete their Competent Leader Award.  We’ll find new members who are motivated and push them to complete their manuals in record time.  It just takes some motivation and drive.

Third Main Point:  So how do we get this motivation and drive?  How do we get to this successful future?  It starts in each and every one of you.  Remind yourself why you joined.  Look at what Toastmasters can do for you.  Picture yourself 10 years from now being more than happy to have put in the work achieving your Toastmasters goals and improving your communication and leadership skills to enhance your career, social life, and more!

Sub points:  Lisa Thompson, the LTG of Marketing, developed what she calls the 10-10-10 plan for club coaches to follow.  In the plan, she lays out 10 areas each club coach is to bring to their club to help them improve. 

• People can’t join your club if they don’t know it exists.
• People won’t join if they don’t get a good first impression.
• Members won’t stay if their needs aren’t being met.

 

Summary:  In essence, the club needs 4 points and a net growth of 6 members by June 30^th.  You’ll earn two of them just by getting the net growth of 6 members.  The other two are education goals.  The club has a rich history of achievement.  Don’t let those former members down by letting the club fall into obscurity.  It is here, because it benefits its members, but the members have to do the work. 

Conclusion:   We have eight meetings left in the Toastmasters year.  Together, we can do it.

[JediNickD]

“Do Stuff that Scares Youâ€

Area Speech Contest -  Second Place

Storytelling Advanced Manual

Lesson #3 The Moral

 

Contest Master, Toastmaster of the Day, fellow Toastmasters, and honorary guests, do you do things that scare you?  Are you a thrill seeker riding roller coasters or other amusement park rides?  How about sky-diving or bungee jumping?   These are great thrills and adrenaline rushes.  What about touring a haunted house, jaunting through a cemetery in the middle of the night, or paying a visit to your in-laws?  Horror gives us a chill in our spine with a great rush when it is over.  What about things which scare you in your day to day life?  I can guess that public speaking can be or has been a terrifying experience for just about everyone in this room, but that is why we do Toastmasters. 

I’ve learned through Toastmasters that to get over a fear, you must embrace it.  Meeting it head on is the only way to conquer it.  I’ve also learned that doing things that scare the cheese out of you is a good thing.  Every time your heart beats out of your chest from fear, it’s a great reminder that you’re alive.

How do you give yourself these reminders?  It certainly doesn’t need to be anything extravagant.  It just needs to be something that takes you or your body out of your comfort zone, which is completely different for everybody.  It could be:

 

• Trying new food
• Asking somebody out on a date
• Going to the gym to work out
• Saying hi to a complete stranger

• Cold-calling a new business opportunity
• Interviewing for a job
• Going places by yourself
• Raising your hand in class

All these things can be just as thrilling as a death defying stunt if you have a fear of them.  None of them are life threatening, but all have potential for embarrassment, which is where that fear lies. 

Be brave!  Do not let fear of embarrassment keep you from experiencing life.  Check your pulse and do something absolutely frightening! 

Or you may regret it.  The Art of Manliness is a fun and inspirational website.  About a year ago, they wrote about living by a 10-Year Rule.  Simply stated, the rule tells you to live life as such:

“Whenever you are presented with a choice, ask yourself which option you would prefer to have taken in ten years.â€

I’d guess 95% of the time, yourself ten years from now will look back and be happy that you took a chance, challenged a fear, and did something that scared the cookies out of you.

My biggest regrets are all in public speaking.  I have always been a bit shy and uncomfortable in social situations, but being in the spotlight I acted like a vampire.  In elementary school, the teachers could not get me to perform anything in front of any audience.  We had plays and musicals.  I was always a stage hand or lighting guy.  I expected to get through life without ever being the center of attention.

When I was 12 years old in 8^th grade, we had an assignment to memorize a poem and recite it from memory in front of a camera.  It was graded, so I had little choice in participating.  I did get to choose the poem.  I choose “To One in Paradise†by Edgar Allen Poe as I always enjoyed his abnormal writing style.  Memorizing the poem was easy, even with the archaic vocabulary and tormented grammar. 

But as soon as I was in front of the class and camera, my mind was blank.  After standing there frozen for what felt like an eternity with my blood boiling, sweat flowing like a river in every crevice of my skin, and my stomach turning like a propeller, the teacher got my attention to start.  I rattled off the first few lines, got stuck on a word, and threw up on my shoes.  Then, I lost a few more cookies as I ran out the door.  I regret not learning from that awful experience.  I regret not finding help and support with public speaking sooner.  Twenty years later, here I am finally correcting that mistake.

Think about the person you want to be 10 years from now.  Regrets are depressing and discouraging.  Eliminate regret by doing stuff that scares the food right out of you and all over the floor.  You want to be looking back at all the fun you had, the great things you accomplished, and how you changed over the years. 

I say you should remind yourself that you are a living breathing human!  Live your life with no regrets!  Do stuff that scares the apple juice out of you!  But, hopefully it does not end up running down your leg. 

[JediNickD]

“Life Lessons from Mr. Miyagiâ€

 

“Wax on.  Wax off.†

Toastmaster of the Day, fellow Toastmasters, and welcome guests, the Karate Kid released in 1984 is a story about two characters.  The first is a teenage boy named Daniel who moves clear across the country from New Jersey to California.  In his new school, Daniel has trouble making friends being bullied by a group of kids from the same karate dojo, the Cobra Kais.  The second character is a handyman martial arts master named Mr. Miyagi who agrees to teach Karate to Daniel.  While teaching Karate, Miyagi demonstrates that there is more to the martial art than fighting.  He taught Daniel three concepts for better living: perception, commitment, and balance.

When Miyagi agrees to teach Daniel Karate, he agrees with one stipulation, what he says, Daniel does, no questions.  The first day of training, Miyagi has Daniel wax about six cars.  The next day, Daniel has to sand all of the wooden walkways at Miyagi’s house.  He follows that up with painting the fence and the house.  Daniel is frustrated at the end of the fourth day as his muscles are sore and he has learned zero Karate. 

Human instinct is to believe what we see.  Daniel sees himself being used for manual labor.  When confronted, Miyagi tells Daniel, “not everything is as seems.† Miyagi had Daniel do each chore with a specific technique while focusing on his breathing.  The chores built Daniel’s muscles.  The techniques were each a Karate blocking technique.  When Miyagi demonstrates what he was teaching, Daniel is dumbfounded.  He completely missed the lesson because he had preconceived notions of what the chores were.

Humans will interpret what we think we see and what we expect to see, because of preconceived notions. 

 

After Miyagi asks Daniel to do an exercise, Daniel says, “I’ll give it a shot.† Miyagi, not happy with Daniel’s mentality, takes him aside and explains “Man walk on road. Walk left side, safe. Walk right side, safe. Walk down middle, sooner or later, get squished just like grape. Here, Karate same thing. You karate do "yes," or karate do "no." You karate do "guess so," just like grape.† What Miyagi is telling Daniel is that Karate is not something you try.  It is not an odd looking potato salad that your friend brought to your Super Bowl party.  Karate is something which you need to commit fully to.  It is something you do. 

Life should be lived in a similar manner.  It is fine to sample parts of life, but if you want to succeed in an area, then you have to commit to it. 

 

After Daniel learns to block, his next lesson is to learn to balance his body.  Daniel is eager to learn to punch, but to quell Daniel’s eagerness; Miyagi dispatches this wisdom, “Better learn balance. Balance is key.  Balance good, karate good.  Everything good.  Balance bad, better pack up, go home.† Later, Miyagi helps Daniel see the bigger picture by saying, “Remember lesson about balance?  Lesson not just karate only.  Lesson for whole life.  Whole life have a balance.  Everything be better.â€

Balance is the key for everyday living.  For diet, you have your balanced breakfast and three square meals a day.  Your workday and home life needs to be balanced to keep your employer and family happy.  Your body needs to be balanced to stay upright.  Your bodyweight needs to be balanced to avoid back problems.

 

Even your participation in Toastmasters should have a balance.  There are several different roles, each with their own specific lessons.  Prepared speeches teach you how to prepare and formulate a speech.  Table Topics teaches you to think on your feet.  Speech evaluator teaches you to give encouraging feedback.  To get the full benefits from Toastmasters you need to experience each role.  Your Toastmasters experience needs to have a balance.  Your whole life needs to have a balance.

Mr. Miyagi was not only an excellent Karate instructor, but a life coach for Daniel.  He taught Daniel that everything is not always as it seems, commitment is the road to success, and balance is the key for everything in life.  Please take these three lessons with you when you leave here today. 

And in memory of the actor who portrayed Mr Miyagi, the late Pat Morita.  BANZIA!

[JediNickD]

"Three Keys to Success"         

 

   [1] Toastmaster of the Day, fellow Toastmasters, and honorary guests, do you stockpile anything?    Stamps, coins, action figures, sports memorabilia. 

How about something that is more than a hobby?  Maybe you collect notes for a book you want to write or blog you been meaning to start.  Maybe collect research for diet or exercise plans.  Maybe you stockpile information on schools or jobs you want to pursue.  Maybe you’re a Toastmaster researching a speech topic.

            [2] How about underpants?  Does anyone here stockpile underpants?  I’m not talking about buying an obscene amount of underwear either.  I’m talking about other people’s underpants.  Nobody?  I guess we do not have any Underpants Gnomes here.  How many of you have heard of the Underpants Gnomes?  For those that haven’t, let me introduce them.  [3] These Gnomes live in the quiet, mountain town of South Park, Colorado.  They sneak into people’s houses in the middle of the night and steal their underpants, but they do so with a plan in mind.  [4] They have a three phase business plan to lead them to success.  The first phase is to “collect underpants†and the third phase is where they profit, but they have no clue what phase two is or how to get there.  Now, a savvy person can break anything up into a multiple phases or parts, but three is the magic number as it gives you easy to remember parts:

 

A beginning, middle, and end.

An opening, body, and conclusion.

Prepared speeches, table topics, and evaluations. 

The good, the bad, and the ugly. 

 

The plan which the Underpants Gnomes are using is more similar to a three phase plan laid out at eHow.com by contributor Wendel Clark for Strategic Marketing, which can be applied to just about any facet of life.

            [5.1] Phase 1 is the research, development, and planning phase.  This is where you collect underpants.  You explore your subject and stockpile all the resources you can get your hands on.  If your plan is to lose weight or get in shape, then you could be reading diet or fitness books.  If you are preparing to write or give a Toastmaster’s speech, then you could be jotting down speech ideas or researching a subject for main points and references.

            [5.2] Phase 3 is the production and continuation phase.  This is where you profit.  You’ve achieved your goal and produced a product which you want to continue to maintain.  You’ve reached a healthy lifestyle goal and now you need to maintain it.  You’ve completed your Toastmaster’s speech and wish to retain the lessons you have learned.

            [5.3] Phase 2 is the implementation and execution phase.  This is where the work gets done.  Start eating healthy.  Get to the gym… or make a gym at home.  Start writing and rehearsing your Toastmasters speech.  Implement your research and execute your plan.

Successful people dominate Phase 2, because Phase 2 is about taking that dream you pined over in Phase 1 and turning it into a reality.  My objective today is to explain to you how to dominate Phase 2 and find success with three key principles: take a leap of faith, learn through failure, and never give up.  Together, these principles are unstoppable.

            [7] In the movie, Inception, the character Saito says, “Don't you want to take a leap of faith? Or become an old man, filled with regret, waiting to die alone!† Now, that is a bit over the top for our subject today, but the sentiment is there.  Do we want to wonder what might have been?  Or do we want to test our limits? 

            I had been a Toastmaster just six months when I entered my first speech contest.  I’d only completed 3 speeches at that point.  I had not completed my training or my research.  I wasn’t ready.  I just leapt in.  Why?  I didn’t do it because I’m a competitive person or thought I could be the best, both of which are in my nature.  I did it for the experience.  The competition forced me to prepare for a speech in ways I hadn’t done before, because I am competitive and I believe I can do anything with the right tools.  I wanted to win.  Through the experience, I learned what it takes to win.  It was the push I needed to get through the rest of the Competent Communicator manual and continue to drive towards Distinguished Toastmaster.    

By taking a leap of faith, you are putting aside the fact that you do not have 100% knowledge required, but you understand that you’ll pick it up as you go, learning from experience.  You might see a leap of faith as a big risk.  Phase 1 is about minimizing the risk by obtaining knowledge, but if you understand risk management, then you know that risk can never fully be eliminated.  There will always be unforeseen circumstances. Take a leap of faith with an understanding that some things have to be learned through experience.

            [8] The trouble with learning through experience is that it requires you to fail.  In Batman Begins, Alfred Pennyworth tells Bruce Wayne, “Why do we fall down?  To pick ourselves back up.† Nobody learns anything on an easy successful path.  All the greatest of anything have had a hard life and earned their success through many failures and defeats, because the lessons learned from failure are the ones which stick with you.  There is an emotional attachment to that experience and a desire not to repeat it.  Napoleon Hill was an American author who was one of the earliest producers of personal-success literature.  He once said, “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed on an equal or greater benefit.† Failure is the best learning tool at your disposal.  

Take the simple task of learning to ride a bike.  You crash and burn a bunch of times while you learn to balance your body.  All you need is the resolve to get back up and try again, which leads us to the third principle.

            [9] Be a Goonie, because Goonies never say die.  Whatever obstacle a Goonie encounters, they find a way over it, around it, or through it.  They use all the tricks up their sleeve, too.  There will be crushing failures in phase two.  Your motivation and confidence will be squashed.  You cannot quit if you wish to reach phase three.  Instead, take a hint from Wiley Coyote.  After getting flattened like a pancake, go back to the drawing board and come back ready to make your next big blunder!  I believe Jason Nesmith of Galaxy Quest said it best: “Never give up.  Never surrender.† There will be times when you feel dejected, heartbroken, or lost.  You just need to remember Fievel Mousekewitz from An American Tail:  “Never say ‘Never’.† Never say never to your goals… your hopes… your dreams.

            [10] By taking a leap of faith, learning through failure, and never giving up, anyone can dominate Phase 2 of whatever plans they have and find success.  Now, I implore you!  Stop collecting underpants!  Take on the risk of Phase 2 and get on track to Phase 3… Profit!

[JediNickD]

"Mentoring for Success"

 

Do you need a mentor? 

From the newest to the most experienced member, everyone needs a mentor.

This club, the Bel Air Toastmasters, has grown quickly over the past few months with an influx of new members who can easily be intimidated about getting up in front of the crowd or lost at where to start or confused as to what comes next.  Mentors can help. 

 

The club’s Vice President of Education is charged with running a Mentoring Program providing mentors to new and experienced members of the club.  I bet you are asking yourself, “Why do I need a mentor?  How helpful can a mentor be?â€

Having a mentor can be extremely effective.  Sun Microsystems compared the career progress of approximately 1,000 employees over a 5-year period and here’s what they found (4,5):

• 25% of mentees and 28% of mentors received a raise – versus only 5% of managers who were not mentors.
• Employees who received mentoring were promoted FIVE times more often than people who didn’t have mentors.
• Mentors were SIX times more likely to have been promoted to a bigger job.

I’d rather tell you who mentoring has benefitted me personally than fill my whole speech with statistics.  If you’d like more, then visit the APG Toastmasters Forum at apgtoastmasters.freeforums.net, where I have posted the statistics with references to studies.  Those studies have proven mentoring to be an effective and efficient tool for developing good skills and habits.  Your club mentoring program is no different. 

 

Mentors are people we rely on for support, advice, and guidance. I imagine we can all name a few people who have had a profound positive effect on our lives.

 

My advances in Toastmasters, my improvements to my communication and leadership skills can all be attributed to encouragement and guidance from another dedicated Toastmaster, DTM and PDG Oscar Zalamia.  He not only convinced me to join, but early on in my membership, Oscar taught me the value of stage time by dragging me to weekly meetings and recommending me for open roles.  Through my overexposure to Toastmasters, I’ve been able to freeze my fears, cool my nerves, and chill my anxiety. 

 

Coincidently, mentors are rewarded just as much in their mentor/mentee relationship.  They get an opportunity to practice and demonstrate their knowledge and skills while doing something beneficial for another person.  Mentors also learn from their mentees as they get to experience new perspectives and approaches.

 

I mentored Donna Helmka through speeches 4, 5, and 6 of the Competent Communicator manual.  Through the experience, I learned from her a whole new way to prepare and rehearse a speech.  Ever the perfectionist, I would write out every word for my speeches, memorizing as much as possible, and using the entire written speech as my notes.  Whenever I would speak differently from what I wrote, that fear of public speaking would lurch back into my body.  Donna prefers a less structured speech writing style: write an outline and let your voice fill in the rest.  I have been using this approach in many of my speeches and it has worked tremendously for me.  Relying on notes less, speaking off the cuff, the nervous butterflies I once had have fluttered away, because I eliminated the perfectionist aspect of my speaking.

 

If you are interested in being a mentor or mentee, and you should be because you want to get a raise, a promotion, better communication skills, better leadership skills, please fill out the Mentoring Survey that I have distributed and turn it in to Joe.  He’ll play match maker and find suitable mentors for each person requesting one.  Everyone needs mentors, from the newest member to the most experienced.  Support your fellow Toastmaster.  Find the support you need to get your Toastmasters career in gear.  There is no limit to your level of achievement when you have a cheering section.  Do you need a mentor?

[JediNickD]

While on travel in Florida, I visited two Toastmasters clubs.  Each had similar members and customs, but compared to my local clubs, there were some differences.  Some differences I thought were very effective and we should implement the ideas.  A couple differences I mentioned to the clubs I visited that I thought were less effective and explained my reasoning and suggestions for improving.  I may not excel at public speaking (evident but my fumbling through table topics in my visits), but I can certainly help others do it through my leadership and mentoring skills.