One Thing Leads to Another

Here’s to human ingenuity, music, and Rube Goldberg…

By the way, make sure to check out the Contest Calendar to see where the latest club and area contests will be! According to the Contest Rulebook, the purpose of contests is twofold:
A. To provide an opportunity for speakers to improve their speaking abilities and to recognize the best as encouragement to all.
B. To provide an opportunity to learn by observing the more proficient speakers who have benefited from their Toastmasters training.

Latest Chinook Winds Newsletter Vol 24 #18

Check out the latest newsletter from Chinook Toastmasters, which includes more information from their 50th Anniversary as well as the results of their recent club International Speech and Evaluation contests!

District 42 Privacy Policy

Recently, an inquiry came up on the comment board about the privacy policy with respect to member email information.  The question read:

As a current Toastmaster I have had a situation where my wife’s email address was added to a mailing list by another current member of another club without her permission. The information contained in the mailing list was questionable to say the least. Does Toastmasters international or the Calgary chapters have a policy that is accordance with FOIP and does it protect current members from having their personal information used to solicit business or promote an individual’s agenda?

To the best of my understanding, the email address and other contact information officially collected by Toastmasters International on the member registration forms is to only be used for official club business related to Toastmasters activities; thus, as you have pointed out, it is not acceptable for individuals to exploit the email address information of fellow members for non-Toastmasters related business. 

The official privacy statement of District 42 (which encompasses the three divisions of Calgary) can be viewed here: http://www.d42tm.org/index.php?option=com_weblinks&catid=124&Itemid=330  That statement itself, which was vetted by legal counsel, also makes reference to an explicit statement on the Toastmasters International website which reads about Membership and Mailing Lists:
Use of member contact information

• Toastmasters International and its members are dedicated to protecting members’ privacy.
• Contact information is used only for official business of the organization, and Toastmasters International does not sell or make available its mailing lists to anyone for solicitation or non-Toastmasters business.
• Use of names, postal or electronic addresses or telephone numbers of clubs or their members is prohibited for any purpose other than official Toastmasters business.
• This includes, but is not limited to, names obtained from Toastmasters World Headquarters or any other Toastmasters sources, such as district or other Toastmasters directories, the Toastmaster magazine, Web sites, or electronic servers.
• Acceptable uses include, but are not limited to, the mailing of club and district newsletters, meeting agendas and conference information.
• The following disclaimer should be included in all directories and Web sites: “The information in this _____ is for the sole use of Toastmasters members for Toastmasters business only. It is not to be used for solicitation and distribution of non-Toastmasters materials or information.”

As you can see, the Toastmasters International policy clearly states that access to the contact information of other members should not be abused or used for unsolicited advertising for personal businesses.  Members are advised to use bcc when exchanging emails directed to the whole club and to be judicious about sharing confidential contact information unnecessarily. 

I recommend speaking with the leadership of your club regarding this issue and perhaps bringing it up at the next business meeting to ensure that everyone is aware of the significance of the issue and the official TI policy on this matter.

Evaluation Workshop Tools

Come out of your shell... Evaluate to Motivate

Every spring, Toastmasters hold their International Speech and Evaluation contests.  Evaluation is a very important skill within the Toastmasters experience — the backbone of the program, you might say — and Christina Kruis from Fluor Communicators and MVP Advanced is a master.  She has conducted Youth Leadership Programs and Evaluation Workshops over the past few years and has agreed to share a few of the tools from her workshop here!

ABC OF EVALUATION – a list of adjectives must that are better than good

Evaluation chart of phrases (COD) 2009 – a list of phrases about common aspects of public speaking

Evaluate to Motivate chart of evaluation words – a handy form you can use when building your evaluation

Handy Evaluation Checklist – a checklist of useful things to point out during your evaluation

Here are some other useful Evaluation resources:

Build Your Skills with these Evaluation Resources

Evaluate to Motivate – Education Module – as presented by Ellen Arnestad at club, February 2005

Six Tips for Effective Evaluations – by Dena Harris, CTM,  from Toastmaster magazine Nov 2002

Ten Key Behaviors of Effective Evaluators – author unknown, source unknown! (if you know the source please let me know so they are properly referenced!  This doc was picked up at the CATS Evaluation Boot Camp)

How to Give Effective Speech Evaluations Consistently – by Sherrin Ross Ingram.  This American Toastmaster has a wealth of information specifically related to Toastmasters on her website at  http://www.sherrin.com/toastmasters.htm

Effective Evaluation Handout - prepared by Anthony Chim, DTM, from an educational session done

Better than Good? -a list of synonyms for Good and Excellent

Guide to Speech Evaluations - (author unknown) This resource provides some examples of things an evaluator could look out for during an evaluation using the “HSF Method” (What I heard, what I saw, what I felt).

In addition, check out these other evaluation-related resources from Toastmasters magazine:

The 3 Rs of Evaluating: Review, Reward and Respond - Evaluations are the life blood of Toastmasters meetings. Here’s how to do them right.

What? A Standing Ovation for an Evaluation? - Thoughts on giving an exceptional evaluation.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - How speech evaluations can help – or hurt.

Assessing Your Evaluations - Maximize the help, and minimize the hurt.

For the Novice: Do You Dread Receiving an Evaluation? - Don’t be offended. It’s only an opinion!

3 Points to Keep Your Evaluation on Target - In Toastmasters, the three noble gatekeepers have evolved.

‘If Only I’d Said…’: Mastering the Art of Self-Evaluation - Thoughtless self-criticism can be every bit as damaging to a speaker as a poor public evaluation – sometimes even more so.

Be sure to check out the Club, Area and Division Contests using the Contest Calendar to see some of the best Evaluators in Action!

Tags added to 85 Stories

Enter the Cloud

Tags have been added to each of the 39 stories posted so far to the 85 Stories project.  This allows us to use a Tag Cloud to help identify key words, phrases and themes that emerge from the stories collected thus far.  The big themes?  Confidence, Opportunity, Speaking to People, Leadership, Support, Ability to Deliver a Talk… and so many more!

Be sure to check out the 85 Stories project here!  If your club is interested in hosting a session, be sure to contact the webmaster and arrange to have your session recorded so it can be added to the site!  You can see which clubs have arranged sessions already by visiting the About page on the 85 Stories site.

One other notable addition to the site: the About page now has some information about the History of Toastmasters, including a podcast from Greg Gazin about the evolution of the organization over the past 85 years.

Open House – Speak Easy at IBM

Speak Easy Open House at IBM 227 11 Ave SW

The Calgary Speak Easy club will be holding an open house on March 10 at 12pm at the IBM Center (227 11ave SW).  For more information, check out their Toastmasters International page here.

Chartered in Feb 2007, this dynamic young club will be hosting this open house to provide guests with an opportunity to learn more about Toastmasters in a comfortable and inviting setting.  For more information, call 403 539 3100 or email the club here.

Toasting Tips

Sumana Barua from Heritage Go-Getters has prepared a short summary on how to give a proper Toast!  Click here for more.

You can also read more about toasts in the Prairie Horizons and a recent Toastmasters magazine article.

Heritage Go-Getters meets on Monday afternoons at 5:15 in the 260N Heritage Room at 8500 Macleod Trail SE.

Joint Meetings!

Igniting Spirits - Miracles & Igniters

Miracles and Igniters Toastmasters both meet on Tuesday evenings, so it is rare for members of the two clubs to have a chance to meet up.  That’s why they two clubs have had a tradition of scheduling a joint meeting on a regular basis so they can trade ideas and inspiration!  You can read, hear and see images from the special event on the Igniters website.

Consider planning a joint meeting to reach out and connect with another club that may meet at the same time as your club!

Edmonton Toastmasters – Youth Leadership

Toast of Edmonton Blog

Karen Tober and Patricia Nelson in Edmonton are doing a fantastic job promoting Toastmaster Youth Leadership in Edmonton.  Check out the resource site that they have put together  on the Toast of Edmonton site.

In addition, the Toast of Edmonton site has a useful list of links regarding public speaking and a Speaker’s Bookshelf feature.

They also have a link to some Youth Leadership resource materials from South County Toastmasters, including a wealth of forms and resources that could be used for running a YLP or Speechcraft.  These were prepared by Jim Salih, DTM, and include nametags, syllabus, forms and much more!

6 Minutes – Toastmasters Testimonials

The Six Minutes blog provides  public speaking and presentation skills tips, analysis, insights, and strategies to help people discover how they can become more effective speakers and communicators.  They are a community of speakers of all experience levels who come together to learn, share, and grow in their understanding of public speaking.

In October 2009, in celebration of the 85th Anniversary of Toastmasters International, they collected some testimonials from their members.  You can read the article here.

They also have plenty of resources on speechwriting, delivery techniques, visual aids and many other topics relevant to Toastmasters or people interested in developing their skills.  Be sure to check it out!

On a related note, be sure to check out the 85 Stories site for stories from local Toastmasters about their experiences!