Time to be Fascinating - UM Masters Meeting October 02, 2013

Thank you to Bev for a wonderful meeting! “Time to be Fascinating” was our theme and we went around the room during introductions and shared what we found to be fascinating.

Word of the day was ABSORB and I really liked Ashley’s description.  She encouraged us to use the word in our introductions which paired quite nicely with Fascinating as what fascinates us we find absorbing as well!

Randy’s second speech was very well done, his audience remained captivated as he shared how he deals with his OFT disorder. His somber beginning quickly turned to humour as he explained that OFT actually stands for Obsessive Fascination with Technology..hey there’s that Fascinating word again.

Charith escorted us through an energetic Table Topics and asked Myself J and Pegah to explain what we would do if our government shut down for a year! We both had fun with this challenging question and spoke about it for approximately 2 minutes each. Yay us!

Nicole was our General Evaluator and completed her daunting task of evaluating everyone that was not yet evaluated in a positive, thorough manner. Congratulations to Nicole for providing  growth points too!

While Dianne was announcing that next Wednesday is our Humour Speech Contest she cajoled Randy to possibly enter his speech….we didn’t hear a definite no, so it’s probably a yes??

We’ll find out next Wednesday, October 9^th when we meet again in room 111 St. John’s College.

Until then have a wonderful week and remember to spend some time outside, enjoy our beautiful fall foliage……. as it really is FASCINATING!

UMMasters Meeting September 25th, 2013

Our Toastmaster Charith opened the meeting with humour, a great strength of Charith.  He was quick to incorporate  and made the meeting theme word as   
the word of the day "Attitude".   Dinish did his ice breaker speech where he introduced himself in a dynamite way, revealing that he does not know if his name
is really who he is, but since his parents named him Dinish, then he must be Dinish and that he started out as a small molecule in a large world.  He  demonstrated
many strong points as a speaker, he was fluent, smooth flow and with humour.   The Table Topics Session reflected the meeting theme, it was effective and full of humour.
Table Topics participant Cathy was given the challenging question, "How would she compare attitude to a flat tire".  Cathy was quick and to the point with her reply.  

We had 3 guests at the meeting and both had positive comments about the meeting.  Another meeting with all members full of excitement to be present.  

 Blog by June LaRonde


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 Catherine Plouffe at Catharine.Plouffe@umanitoba.ca

UM Masters Meeting - September 18th, 2013

Another great meeting today. Toastmaster Dianne opened with enthusiasm and gave a  detailed explanation of the word of the day "Support" based on  her experience a couple of days before.  Roles and clapping were explained for the benefit of guests.  We were fortunate to have 2 guests at the meeting.  Nicole as grammarian  demonstrated her good listening skill by giving a thorough  report on the word of the day - Initiate.   Zenon for the first time  took up the role of Table Topics Evaluator and did an awesome job  by giving  TT master Randy and participants a great evaluation, using the sandwich method.  

The highlight of the meeting  went to Danielle with a power point presentation on wolfs and deers in different  areas in Manitoba. Bev evaluated Danielle's speech with vigor and vitality, she made great reference to the overall charts displayed with specific points to grow and suggestions for improvement.

Horah for members of UMMasters for another wonderful meeting.

Blog by June LaRonde


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 Catherine Plouffe at Catharine.Plouffe@umanitoba.ca

UM Masters Toastmasters meeting -September 4, 2013

Congratulations to Nicole for stepping into the role of Toastmaster for the first time.  Nicole lead the meeting with confidence, style and humour.  

We are so proud of Nicole as we watch her grow by leaps and bounds with steadfastness. Nicole did an exceptional job in her role.   Speakers Irina and Teagan kept  members on their toes as  they gave 2  wonderful speeches.  Irina talked about her culture before coming to Canada and, Teagan as usual took his audience to another level as he explained a well researched experiment on the seven deadly sins in order from strongest to weakest as they affect us.   His handout helped to better understand the process.  

Both June and Dianne used the sandwich method in evaluating the speeches giving  lots of positive feedback and points to grow.  General Evaluator Charith was right on target  as he gave an overall evaluation of the meeting with the gold star going to Nicole.  Thanks to those members who stepped in  and volunteered for roles that needed to be filled.

Overall it was  a great meeting.

Blog  by June LaRonde 
Sept 4/2013

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 Catherine Plouffe at Catharine.Plouffe@umanitoba.ca

UM Masters Meeting - 14th Aug 2013

Summer fun was the theme for this week’s UM Masters Toastmaster meeting.  June started off the meeting with her usual energy and enthusiasm, encouraging all of us to share our summer fun experiences throughout the meeting.  Bev was our grammarian for the day and introduced us to the word fervid which means intensely enthusiastic or passionate.  Using this word took our meeting up a notch as we all became fervid about using the word of the day.  With the addition of some great humor by Teegan, we were off to an excellent start to the meeting. 

We were treated to a different type of meeting today because instead of having prepared speeches, the rest of the speaking portion of the meeting was devoted to table topics.  Dianne Winser was the Table Topics Master and she proposed Alphabet Soup for the table topics.  As a group, we created a story by each member contributing one or two sentences.  The trick was that we each had to start our sentence with a specific letter of the alphabet.  Using alphabet soup as a table topics technique not only challenged us to think on our feet but it also gave everyone more than one chance to speak during the meeting. 

The meeting wrapped up with our reports and a round table evaluation.  Then the meeting was adjourned with the encouragement to go out and create more summer fun! 

Blogged by Deb





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 Catherine Plouffe at Catharine.Plouffe@umanitoba.ca

UM Masters Meeting - August 7th, 2013

Summer meetings are fun and this was what we had at this week’s meeting with Friends of UM Masters.   The low attendance did not hamper the spirits of those who attended.

Our guess David enjoyed the meeting and promised to return to experience a meeting with a full house and Table Topics Session.  We had  2 very enjoyable speeches. 

Teagan set his imagination wild with a farfetched  cartoon story. Iriina gave her Ice Breaker with her life story from childhood to adulthood.  A very emotional and descriptive scene from one phase to the next with a much happy ending.    Irina  stood tall and was calm in her delivery.   Kudos to both Teagan and Irina for a job well done.

Toastmaster Charith   did an excellent job in running a smooth meeting with only 4 members.  Congratulations to Charith for standing tall and using humor to bridge the gaps and keep the meeting afloat very nicely.

It was a great meeting.

Blog by June LaRonde

Practice Makes Perfect - UM Masters Meeting on July 31st, 2013

From the time I walked into my first meeting a few years back to just this past one, the support and fun atmosphere I felt from the members has never wavered.  Their genuine care in helping members grow into better speakers, including myself has been done in degrees I would not have achieved on my own. 

Today, Bev as our toastmaster has shared with us the key.  She reminded us that in order to achieve something, it often entails the well known saying, “Practice Makes Perfect.”  During the introductions, people talked about practicing patience with children and pets, practicing their favourite hobbies and practicing to speak in toastmasters. 

Following the introductions, we had to speeches to listen to today.  It started with a very special guest Jenny Gates on her speech on “Nothing”.  It was an inspirational story which we all hope she has a chance to share with everyone on the next contest stage.

Dianne also gave a speech on “Be Open to Opportunity” encouraging us to expand our horizons and say yes to a new opportunity. 

Everything tied up so neatly with the theme of the day, and it was a wonderful theme for me to take away as I myself head out to a new opportunity.  The success in the things you do, the goals we set up for ourselves, all can be reached when we practice.

Blogged by Tiffany