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Friday 20 November 2015

Club officers: time to refresh your knowledge!


December is a time for celebration. Time to recognise the successes of the old year - and time to prepare for a new one.

In Toastmasters, December is halfway through the year and a great time to take stock. How is your club doing? Are you making progress on your goals? How's your membership level? What new things could you try come January?

For club officers, the December-February period brings an opportunity to refresh your knowledge. When you first took office in July, you attended club leader training and learned about your role, leadership, and the wider world of Toastmasters. Now that you've had some time to apply that knowledge in your clubs, we invite you to come together again and debrief. What's going well? What needs tweaking? What are other clubs doing that you might try?

Attending club leader training this round will complete your club's training requirements for the year. By getting at least four officers trained in July and at least four in December-February, your club receives recognition under the Distinguished Club Program, Toastmasters International's standard for a successful club.

To make it extra easy for your club officers to get trained this round, we're offering two sessions of club leader training before Christmas (more will be offered in the new year). They are:

Upper Chamber, Toi Poneke
61 Abel Smith Street
Parking available on Abel Smith Street (metered till 6pm).

Wellington Girl's College library
8 Murphy Street
Some parking is available along the driveway off Murphy Street - the library itself is at the end of the driveway.

As well as club officers, please invite anyone who is thinking about becoming a club officer in the future. This session will give them a chance to learn more about the roles and what it means to serve as an officer and help a club achieve success.

See you at a club leader training soon!

Monday 16 November 2015

All the news from Blenheim

Did you know that holding a pen in your mouth can improve your mood?

That was just one of the tidbits of information that were on offer at District conference in Blenheim. On the first weekend in November, just over 300 Toastmasters from all around the country gathered at Marlborough Convention Centre for a weekend of learning, networking, and fun.

The conference organisers had a fantastic schedule ready for us, with keynotes and educational workshops from all over the spectrum of communication and leadership. In the space of two short days, attendees learned about telling their stories in speeches, improving memory, mastering Table Topics, coming across as a leader, and even how to take control of their lives and be more productive. That tip about the pen? That was thanks to trainer Roydon Gibbs, who shared the insight that forcing your face to make a smiling shape can trick your brain into feeling happier - and a pen in the mouth is one way to do that!

Contests are the centrepiece of a District conference. The Table Topics contest on Saturday, and Humorous contest on Sunday, were both won by speakers from Division C (Otago/Southland). Table Topics champion Christine Livingstone spoke with passion and humour on the benefits of recognising diversity through public holidays. Humorous champion Bruce Caughey had the audience in stitches with his cautionary tale of what happens if you let a your tin of condensed milk boil dry.

Table Topics Winners - 3rd - Peter Scholtens, 1st Christine Livingstone, and 2nd Stephen Budai.
Photo credit: District 72 website
Division E contestants placed in both contests, with Peter Scholtens (Statistically Speaking) placing third in Table Topics, and Ella Kahu (Island Bay) coming third in Humorous. Congratulations, Peter and Ella!

At the business meeting on Saturday afternoon, club representatives had the opportunity to ask questions about the District's budget and financial performance, as well as the work going on to build new clubs and support members in achieving their educational goals. A change to the District Procedures for budgeting got everyone engaged in the debate, and the meeting finished almost exactly on time. (Minutes for the business meeting will be available on the District website in due course.)

The Saturday night dinner was great fun for all, with plenty of dancing and some new friendships being formed. The dinner theme of "Colour your world" gave everyone inspiration for their outfits, with some turning up in brightly coloured wigs or clown costumes, while others stuck with colourful dresses and suits - there were even a few fascinators left over from the Melbourne Cup.

As the conference wrapped up on Sunday afternoon, delegates spilled out of the Convention Centre into a blindingly hot Marlborough day. The Blenheim town square was full of stalls selling ice cream and other treats, and many people stopped off there on their way to the airport - where an impromptu Toastmasters meeting was held in the terminal, complete with a CC 6 speech, evaluation and Table Topics! Toastmasters never pass up a speaking opportunity!

Blenheim Toastmaster Conference 2015 attendees
L-R: Simon Lin, Rob Barton-Howes, Gael Price, Mike McKee, Kai Chan - admiring the scenery en route from the airport to the convention. 

Tuesday 10 November 2015

Presenting the pick and mix workshop

Pick and mix fruit selection

8 wholesome nutrition rich educationals to grow happy healthy clubs



We all like being part of a vibrant, creative, forward-thinking active club.  It's stimulating for new and more experienced members alike. And the healthier the club is, the more prosperous and happy it is. New members come along. Experienced members enjoy mentoring them while continuing to develop and learn new skills themselves. But how do we get to that nurturing place, or keep it? The answer is simple. Come along to find out!

How to make your club successful - a smorgasbord 



Four experienced Toastmasters; John Lulich, Diane Isherwood, Neville Isherwood, and Amanda Hillock, will give you the opportunity to pick and mix from the following presentations:

1) Finding New Members for your Club
2) Evaluate to motivate
3) Creating Best Club Climate
4) Meeting Roles and Responsibilities
5) Mentoring
6) Keeping the Commitment
7) How to be a Distinguished Club
8)The Toastmasters Educational Program

Each module will run for 15 minutes (12 minutes presentation and 3 minutes Q&A). There will be two rooms, and two presentations running simultaneously. You choose which you want to attend.

The nitty-gritty details to note are:
  • Date: 28/11/2015 
  • Time: 1:15pm-3:00pm 
  • Venue: Anvil House, Level 1,138/140 Wakefield Street, Te Aro, Wellington
  • Entry: gold coin koha
     

Who should come along?


Club Committee members and interested club members from Areas E and J. We look forward to see you there. Bring your questions, bring your experience and let's learn together.

Download the flier


Click the link to download the flier to share with your club members: Happy Healthy Clubs

Queries


Please contact the organiser Kai Chan. Email: kaiychan@yahoo.com or Mobile: 02102601763