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News for Toastmasters

New Competent Leader Manual

29 June 2010 - Copied from the Toastmasters International website:

Toastmasters International have updated the Competent Leader Manual and matrix.  With the new project completion record, you can view your current progress in all 10 projects at a glance.

The streamlined evaluations for each project make it easier for members to provide constructive feedback at a busy club meeting.

Members who are working in the previous version of Competent Leadership needn’t worry - the project requirements are the same, so completion of a project in either manual will give equal credit toward the CL award.

Read more information and view the new matrix on the Toastmasters International website. 

Christchurch Toastmaster Receives Award

An evening was held at the Kaiapoi Club to celebrate Fay Leonard’s achievement of Distinguished Toastmaster. This is the highest award a Toastmaster can achieve. Fay joined Kaiapoi Toastmasters in 2002 as a charter member and has taken eight years to achieve her goal. She is delighted by her achievement.

New Distinguished Toastmaster Fay Leonard with her award.
Fay Leonard (right) receives her Distinguished Toastmaster award
from Division Governor Penny Coffey (left).

Toastmasters are a world wide organisation dedicated in helping people achieve self confidence, communication and speaking skills. People can learn these skills in a caring and friendly environment.

Toastmaster receives Civic Award

Past District Governor Judith Bartlett DTM received a Civic Honours Award form the Hastings District Council in April 2010, for her contribution to teaching communication skills and building self confidence, particularly among youth.

Judith has been a Toastmaster for over 34 years.  She was the first woman District Governor in New Zealand. Her service includes helping to establish three new clubs and playing an active role in educating Toastmasters at all levels. She has coordinated more than 16 Youth Leadership Courses and coached many students who have gone on to win places in national and international contests.

Judith has also played an active role in debating, as a judge, organiser of workshops and coordinator of the Hawke's Bay Secondary Schools Debating Association. She has served on the New Zealand Speech Board and locally as President and Secretary of the Hawkes Bay Speech Teachers' Association.

In 2006, her contribution to promoting effective communication was recognised when the Speech Communication Association honoured her with the Meredith Caisley Award for promoting communication.  Judith continually submits original educational material to the Speech Teacher's Magazine and recently led the way in linking NCEA qualifications to those of Speech New Zealand thus benefiting students and teachers throughout New Zealand. She is one of only four people who have attained a Speech New Zealand Fellowship in Public Speaking.

Judith Bartlett with her award.

Photo above: Judith (centre) along with executive members of the
Magpie Toastmasters Club: Craig Robinson (secretary) and Gerda Codling (president)

 

WOW Toastmasters on Magnetic Island

You may have seen the home page item about Rita and Justin getting married on Magnetic Island.  Well, two other Toastmasters were present to witness the event: Dale Hartle DTM and Lynn Bushell.

Here's a photo showing the four Toastmasters, holding a copy of the May Toastmaster Magazine.

Four WOW Toastmasters on Magnetic Island.

From left: Dale Hartle, Justin Vincent, Rita Stirling-Vincent, Lynn Bushell

 

Got a great Toastmasters Photo?

Then submit it to The Travelling Toastmaster
a new photo gallery on the Toastmasters International website


Where in the world was your District Webmaster?

Following the wedding, your District Webmaster spent a few days touring northern Queensland in May/June 2010. 

Here are a few photos from my visit below:

Scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef - another tick on the Bucket List! 

Dale Hartle - scuba diving.

Inspecting the "Empress of Uraguay" - the world's biggest Amethyst Geode - The Empress of Uruguay on display at the Crystal Caves in Atherton.

Dale Hartle with the Empress of Uruguay.

At The Forts, on the top of Magnetic Island near Townsville, old WWII gun emplacements where they kept a lookout for an impending Japanese invasion.

Dale Hartle at the top of Magnetic Island.

At the top of the extinct Kalkani Crater near Undara.

Dale Hartle at the top of Kalkani crater.

Standing in the middle of the river at a beautiful waterful in the Atherton Tablelands.

Dale Hartle at the bottom of a waterfall.

Checking out an old telephone exchange which was still in use right up until 1972 at Milla Milla.

Dale Hartle tries out an old telephone exchange.


District Webmaster wins Supreme Award

District Webmaster Dale Hartle DTM has won the ALGIM Supreme Web Award for the Best New Zealand Council Website for 2010.

In her daytime role as Website Manager for Porirua City Council, Dale manages the Council's external website www.pcc.govt.nz, intranet, and the Te Rauparaha Arena website www.terauparaha-arena.co.nz.

At the Association of Local Government Information Managers Web Symposium in Wellington on 4 May, Porirua City Council's website was named the Best Council Website, and received the Supreme Award.  A shocked Dale was presented with the award, and was requested to give a "thank you" speech.  Well, even though she is a Distinguished Toastmaster and quite used to talking, Dale was stunned into silence at the Awards Dinner because it was so unexpected!  However, the Chief Executive at Porirua is absolutely delighted, and gave Dale a big kiss and a hug.  Now Dale is waiting for the six-figure salary job offers to come rolling in!

Dale Hartle displays Supreme Web Award trophy.

District Webmaster Dale Hartle
with the ALGIM Supreme Award
for the best New Zealand Council website.


Single Sign-on System

Preparing for single sign-on at www.toastmasters.org.

The way members log in at www.toastmasters.org will change when the Toastmasters Web site is upgraded in July 2010.

Each member will need their own individual e-mail address updated in their profile at toastmasters.org. This e-mail address cannot be shared with another member.

Club and district officers will no longer be required to have a separate login to conduct club and district business. Your single member login will give you access to everything you need.

Members with a complete profile at www.toastmasters.org will be able to conduct business, purchase products at member-only prices and enjoy other online membership benefits. Those who share e-mail accounts with another member will not be able to log in to the Toastmasters Web site after June 30, 2010.

(posted on Toastmasters International website.)


WOW GOES TO WELLINGTON

In a world first, the WOW (Wairarapa on Weekends) Toastmasters Club 9964 decided to meet in Wellington, on a working self-propelled floating steam crane, the Hikitia.

The meeting venue was actually the crew cabin, just below the waterline, and we could hear the sea slapping and sloshing against the side of the ship, as we rocked and swayed with the tide.  We sat amongst the bolts and bulkheads, smell of oil and engines, lifejackets and fire extinguishers, ships clocks and portholes.  On the walls were stories, newspaper clippings and historic photos of the Hikitia in action.

Our theme for the meeting was ocean, nautical, maritime and our Table Topics master came up with some wonderful topics for the speakers, which resulted in some hilarious stories about pottering in rock pools as a child, rescuing a fisherman from rocks, being seasick on the Interislander Ferry, and yachting in Wellington Harbour.  Speakers also talked about their love of jetskiing, catching and cooking fresh blue cod, and fossicking on a stony beach at Haast.

One evaluator said that the speaker "had really nailed her colours to the mast today" while another threatened to make the evaluator "walk the plank" for giving such a poor introduction by forgetting to outline the speech objectives.

Following the meeting, the club members were given a tour of the ship, and lined up on the bridge for a photo with our club banner.

WOW Toastmasters on the bridge of the Hikitia.

You can find out more about the Hikitia on its own website http://hikitia.com/ or on wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikitia.


Toastmasters Otago has been running since 16 September 2008.

Ray Leckie and Leanne Ellis at the radio microphone.
Ray Leckie and Leanne Ellis at the microphone

During this period we have covered a range of topics, using material from the Competent Communicator Manual, the Competent Leadership programme, and the Toastmasters magazine.  We have had several guest speakers; ranging from new members, Club Presidents, the C1 Area Governor, Rob Hendry (one of the Founders of NZ Toastmasters) and Anna Campbell (the winner of the international contest 2005/2006 year).  We have also encouraged, and had members from various clubs being co-host, to gain radio experience and add that extra challenge for them.

Our aim is to promote Toastmasters and Toastmasters Clubs around our region, and to publicise the Toastmasters name in a non threatening way. 

Live radio is an excellent way to reach a large number of listeners, including prospective members for our clubs.

Hosted by Ray Leckie and Leanne Ellis

Listen every second Tuesday, from 12.30 to 1.00 pm.

Email toastmastersotago@hotmail.com for more information.


Te Radar with Peter Harington from Lake City Breakfast.Recently the Ngongotaha Lions Club held their second annual "Brewers and Lions Festival" as a fundraiser for the local hospice. The event is a combination of a brewing competition and a speaking competition.

The "liars" part is about telling an untrue story and convincing the judges and audience it is a true story, or a true story and convincing them it is not. Points are also awarded for humour and entertainment value.

The organizers wanted to raise the standard of the contest this year so they encouraged members of the local Rotorua toastmasters clubs to enter. An experienced local toastmaster, Jeff Timmins of Lake City Breakfast Toastmasters Club, was also appointed to the judging panel.

The Chief Judge was one of New Zealand's top comedians, Te Radar.

Third prize of $100 was taken out by Jamie Gordon from Lake City Breakfast Toastmasters Club with her "Superwoman" story she won the Rotorua inter club Tall Tales Competition last year.

First prize of $300 was taken out by Peter Harington from Lake City Breakfast, Arawa and Geyser Gourmet Toastmasters clubs. Peter fooled the audience with a convincing and amusing tale of how as a blind man he flew a plane home after the pilot became unconscious, and made it sound plausible!!. Peter’s humour will be remembered to many toastmasters from when he competed in the District Humourous Speech Contest in Dunedin last year with his speech "Blind Men make Great Lovers".

Peter said, "I have competed for lots of trophies before, but competing for cash was a whole new experience." It just goes to show the opportunities that open up when Toastmasters take on new challenges.

On Friday 20th February 2009, about 40 people (Toastmasters and their families) from all over Taranaki met at a New Plymouth restaurant to celebrate Arun Chaudhari being awarded Toastmaster Of The Year Award for District 72. It was a memorable night, where Toastmasters from Areas B1 and B2 shared camaraderie and had a relaxed and enjoyable evening.

The event was organised by Nga Manu Reo Toastmasters and there were prizes for Table Topics presenters – wouldn't you expect that when Toastmasters meet! Denis McLeod was the Table Topics Master. Darren Hulton (President of Nga Manu Reo) presented Arun and his family with gifts, acknowledging their contribution to Toastmasters. Many Toastmasters from different took the opportunity to toast Arun, while his daughter Nikita roasted him! Andrea Leadbetter and TGM Design put together a most professional looking programme.

The dinner was delicious and the event evoked a lot of interest from people sitting at other tables in the restaurant! No form 400s were filled out, although invitations to club meetings were handed out!

Nga Manu Reo Toastmasters.

Nga Manu Reo Toastmasters: From L to R
Denis McLeod, Leanne Morrow, Darren Hulton, Jeanine Mathews, Arun Chaudhari, Tua Luke, Ruth Proffit, Andrea Leadbetter, Smitha Nathen, Stewart Kidd, Colin Jackson and Richard Turnhout.

Toastmaster of the Year Award Recipient and friends.

Yay! The TM of the Year award is in Taranaki.
Happy faces of some Taranaki TMs and their families.


South African magazine has article about Toastmasters

Ama Kiwi is a magazine that goes out to the South African community in Auckland. The majority of readers appear to be on Auckland's North Shore, and circulation is slowly spreading into other areas.

A recent issue had an article about Toastmasters which you can download and read.


Distinguished Toastmaster Trish Gray from Upper Hutt has launched her new book "Role Reversal", her true story of travels around the Middle East, with her children as the tour guides.  A great Summer read.

View full details on this one page poster, and to purchase a copy, contact Trish on (04) 971 4941 or email gray.zone@paradise.net.nz


Workshop Speakers from the May 2008 Convention have provided the following resources for attendees and club members:

Heroes and Champions - a list of people you can invite to your meetings as guest speakers (by Colin Perfect DTM R.I.P.) (2 page pdf).  Download the powerpoint slide show used in the workshop - you can use it in your club!

Spice Up your Speech - a presentation by Rob Julian (powerpoint file)

How to use the Spice Up your Speech resource:

Here is a shortened version which can be downloaded as a PowerPoint presentation, of simply run off on transparencies. At a pinch you could just write up the headings on Flip chart Paper or a whiteboard and go over each of the figures of speech with the club.

THEN – give everyone five minutes to make up a speech starting with 'I knew I was in trouble when -------' and using each of the figures of speech. It does not have to be serious, or even make sense. "I knew I was in trouble when the blue and red lights flashed in by rear view mirror like demented fireflies. I gunned the motor which howled in furious rage as I sped away. I would show those guys how a real man drove, I would show them what a souped up motor could do, I would show them how a man behaved who couldn't afford a traffic fine"  --- and so on.

It was quite amazing, as a representative of each Division got up at the workshop, how their speeches were indeed ‘Spiced up’. And humorous. For all of them, the audience howled, shreiked, and roared with laughter. Like demented, delirious, degenerates.


28 March 2008: Article in South Taranaki Times:

Image: Hawera Toastmasters article.

24 January 2008: An advertisement and a news article appeared recently in the Educational Section of the Christchurch Press.

Image: Toastmasters advertisement.

Image: Toastmasters advertisement.


Dianne Moore, VP Public Relations for Division E, organised an electronic billboard sign on Stewart Dawson's Corner in Wellington for the week prior to the November 2007 Convention.  This corner is the equivalent of Time Square, so it had huge visibility to the thousands of people who walk or travel through this major intersection.

One Media Limited from Christchurch donated the use of the billboard for Toastmasters during a gap in paid advertising.

View the Billboard Advertisement (650KB Windows Media File - .wmv format)


When a Toastmasters club pulls together they can do anything. This year Lake City Breakfast Club from Rotorua decided to enter in the Rotorua Creations N' Colour Award 2007 to promote the club and have a bit of fun. The event was a feast of feats of creations, light, colour and sound that packed out the new Rotorua Energy Events Centre.

Lake City Breakfast is a lively creative club which numbers several professional artists amongst its membership. It is also a very successful club earning Presidents Distinguished for the last 7 consecutive years.

Image: Lake City Breakfast club members with award.
The tight five from left Carol Banister, Jan Miller CC (Club President),
the wine glass modeled by Erin Bates, Jill Briar (holding award),
Ron Hall CC and Annette Bates ACB.

The creative efforts were led by the group known in the club as the "tight five pictured" above. Their creation was built on a theme of toasting, and was a wearable champagne glass, complete with bubbles. An impressive voice over during the cat walk exhibition had member Sam Lees proposing a toast to the event and Toastmasters.

The whole club turned out with a block booking in the grandstand, and even in the crowd of over a thousand, LCB Toastmasters made their presence known in support of their club’s entry. 

It was a great night out which was made even better when the entry was awarded the second prize in the corporate category. Well done Lake City Breakfast Club - Toastmasters can do anything!!


WOW Toastmasters Unveil New Flag

Image: WOW Flag and Banner.The WOW Toastmasters Club of Wairarapa unveiled their new flag at their annual business meeting at Gladstone Vineyard on 13 May 2007.

The flag has the word Toastmasters printed vertically in blue lettering on a white background.  It is on an extendible pole with the base designed to fit around a car tyre or be anchored to the ground.  The flag comes with a bag for easy carry and storage.

The club intends to use the flag as a meeting location marker for visitors and club members at outdoor venues, and to identify the meeting room at the club's indoor venue at Cobblestones Museum in Greytown.  The flag will be visible from quite a distance and will flutter gently in the Wairarapa breeze!

Approval from Toastmasters International was sought to use the word Toastmasters on the flag, which was made by Flagmakers in Wellington. (Visit the Flagmakers website and follow the Flexipole link to view more information.)

For more information, please contact VP Public Relations Dale Hartle DTM email wow@toastmasters.org.nz

Also visit the WOW club website for meeting reports. 

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