A look into a Winnipeg Toastmasters Class

It was another exciting meeting at UM Toastmasters this week.  The word of the day given by Matt was ‘procrastinate’ which is definitely a word I can describe myself for doing all the time.   

Our humourist for the day was Charith, and instead of the standard quick joke, he delivered a full on stand up act describing the woes of the English language at the airport.  “Why do they keep telling me to get on a plane when I would be much more comfortable in a plane, it is less windy there.”  Charith showed great observations into how funny and contradictory English can be at times when we speak.  

After many laughs, Bev provided the group with a very informative speech on how to use the stage we are given in the form of a timeline.  She described to us that we can move across a stage as a form of visual transitioning through the past, present and future and even demonstrated the impact it provides in a speech.  Even if we don’t have room to walk around, Bev told us a simple hand wave to the right side, in front or left side of us can also direct our focus and association to the past, present and future.   

After Bev’s speech was first timer Table Topics Master Trevi who did a great job in using the meeting theme of ‘watershed’ and asked the members of the meeting what we thought of public and private information.  

The meeting went by in a flash today but for good reasons.  Today was also the day we voted for our new executive.  A great round of congratulations and applause to our new executive team for the upcoming year!   

I myself truly enjoyed the role of Sergeant at Arms this year and had lots of fun trying to come up with new ways of opening and closing the meetings.  

A final shout out as well to our two newest members who joined today and last Wednesday, a warm welcome to our club from me to you. 

If you are interested dropping by and visiting our club, we meet Wednesdays from 12:05 – 12:55.  We have currently “moved house” for the summer to room 125 St. John’s in the University of Manitoba but please do drop by and see what our members are up to next week.

If you're in Winnipeg and interested in sitting in on a club meeting to see if Toastmasters is right for you , please feel free to contact Dianne Winser at dianne_winser@umanitoba.ca, phone 204-256-7550.

Toastmasters – the proven way to grow your communication and leadership skills. 

Toastmasters in Winnipeg Challenge Obstacles

What a wonderful meeting we had today – February 22nd, 2012.  We had 10 members and 1 guest in attendance.  Our Toastmaster Deb chose the theme Creating Challenge and she shared with us how she challenges her clients to enter into the 100 day Challenge where you pick something you will do everyday for 100 days. 

Our speaker Selena was working on her fifth speech in the Competent Communicator manual.  The objectives of this speech were focused our body language and using effective gestures.  The title of Selena’s speech was “Why I came to Canada”. Selena is originally from England and it was fascinating to hear what enticed her to come over to Canada.  Apparently she came for the snow in the winter and the excitement of canoeing in the wilderness of Canada in the summer.

Julia led us in an intriguing session of Table Topics where Andrea shared what the color green in her mood ring meant.  Tom did an excellent job of explaining all about the color burnt charcoal, relating it to a winter fishing expedition.

I found the quote on the bottom of the agenda to be interesting.  It read:  “Most people rust out due to lack of challenge.  Few people rust out due to overuse – unknown”.

The gold star was awarded by June our General Evaluation.  Selena was the recipient this week. 

Toastmasters – the proven way to grow your communication and leadership skills. 

If you would like to take part in a UM Masters meeting, we’re located in Winnipeg at the University of Manitoba. Our meetings are held every Wednesday from 12:05 –12:50 PM in Room 111 at St. John’s College (which is part of the University of Manitoba).

If you're in Winnipeg and interested in sitting in on a club meeting to see if Toastmasters is right for you , please feel free to contact Dianne Winser at dianne_winser@umanitoba.ca, phone 204-256-7550.

A Winnipeg Toastmasters Club and Remembrance Day

Our meeting this week  in our WInnipeg Toastmasters club, UM Masters, was an innovative hit thanks to creative ways to master roles starting with Jessica as Toastmaster for her first time. She spoke confidently throughout her role. Her chosen theme of “Animal Companions” prompted pet experiences shared by each member and most welcomed guests. We could all relate to animal companions. Tom shared a most memorable literary experience during his travels in Swahili which helped him choose a name for his family pet. They chose Jambo Piki-Piki which translates into English as Hello Motorcycle. Who would have known? Thanks Tom.

Our enthusiastic speaker of the day Cathy P. once again astounded us with humor to convey the importance of fulfilling Toastmaster Role Projects. She described Competent Communication as the Soup and Competent Leadership as the Sandwich which make a complete wholesome lunch. Leadership without clear communication means “No soup for you”. She encouraged us to challenge our projects to progress through the steps to confident leadership. “While you have your soup remember to take a bite of your sandwich.”

Table Topics Master of the day Dianne creatively prepared notes ahead of the meet listing five unrelated words to challenge the Table Topics Speaker of the day, Mari-Ann. In response Mari-Ann successfully crafted a masterfully expressive speech on the fly including both as animal companion theme and “Remembrance” word of the day.

Bev’s speech evaluation for Cathy P. noted Cathy’s clever ending “Now that you’ve all has lunch how about dessert?” It left us with thoughts of food. After all we meet at lunch. Bev finished her evaluation ingeniously phrasing “Sharing food gives us something to dig into.”

This week’s meeting was well presented, creative and intuitive. Our Grammarian of the day, June, left everyone in our Winnipeg Toastmasters club, UM Masters, with one last thought about “Remembrance”. November 11 is Remembrance Day and “Lest we forget”.

Try Toastmasters – the proven way to grow your communication and leadership skills.

If you would like to take part in a UM Masters meeting, we’re located in Winnipeg at the University of Manitoba. Our meetings are held every Wednesday from 12:05 –12:50 PM in Room 111 at St. John’s College (which is part of the University of Manitoba).

If you're in Winnipeg and interested in sitting in on a club meeting to see if Toastmasters is right for you, please feel free to contact Tiffany Lui at  tpylui@hotmail.com