What A Surprise!

In Toastmasters we have someone assigned to be the Grammarian, with a different grammarian at each meeting. As we all strive to earn our leadership goals, we rotate leadership jobs on a regular basis. This past Monday was my turn to be grammarian. As the grammarian I was responsible to pick the "word of the day". Our theme, yes we have a weekly theme as well, was "Unexpected Gifts". It's probably not a surprise that I picked the word "SURPRISE". What fun to see how everyone uses this word in their speaking roles and comments. Almost everyone there used the word and received a nice little treat. I am proud of my fellow Toasties!

We were also treated to a wonderful speech by Veronica. It was not a surprise that it was wonderful! She spoke about Mice and Traps as part of her Story Telling project. What a great story. We learned that "In the tapestry of life, we are all on the same journey. We are like threads all woven together." I wish you were there to hear her story. I felt like a little kid again, spell bound by what was happening to all the farm animals, and learning an important life lesson at the same time. Thank you Veronica for your great story telling abilities!

Wishing you a day full of surprises!
From your Toastmaster Toastie,
Laina

Cottonwood Toastmasters meets every Monday 12:00 to 1:15 at the Cottonwood Village, 201 E Mingus Ave. Guests are welcome. For more information call Laina Lloyd at 928-300-8638 or Dave Ellison at 928-634-6540

Gestures

Did you know that" the human body contains more than 700 muscles:? Did you also know that "your effectiveness as a speaker is directly related to your ability to invoke emotion and interest through the use of non-verbal communication"? In the article "Gestures: Get Moving!" located at Toastmasters International, you can read more about body gestures. Just to wet your appetite, listed below are four of the eight suggestions the article teaches us about gestures for public speaking:

• Start with eye contact. Being prepared – having control of your message – is a prerequisite for being able to project and establish a bond with the audience. Don’t just pass your gaze throughout the room; try to focus on individual listeners and create a bond with them by looking them directly in the eyes for five to 10 seconds.
• Express emotion with your facial muscles. For inspiration, take a look at the The Human Face, a BBC documentary narrated by John Cleese of Monty Python fame, now available on DVD.
• Telling a story? Highlight the action verbs and look for ways to act out one or more parts. Speaking about marathon running? Run a few steps.
• Stay true to your personality. Don’t copy gestures from a book or other speaker, but respond naturally to what you feel and say. 

Can you think of what the other four suggestions would be? Fill in your thoughts in the comment box. We'd all like to know. 

To read the full article go to:  
http://www.toastmasters.org/MainMenuCategories/FreeResources/NeedHelpGivingaSpeech/TipsTechniques/GesturesGetMoving.aspx

Cottonwood Toastmasters meets every Monday 12:00 to 1:15 at the Cottonwood Village, 201 E Mingus Ave. Guests are welcome. For more information call Laina Lloyd at 928-300-8638 or Dave Ellison at 634-6540

Murphy's Law, Pickles and Onions!

We had the enjoyment of listening to two great speakers at our Cottonwood Toastmasters this past Monday. Helen shared with us how she found and named her two precious black and white kittens, named Pickles and Onions. She has an amazing way with words and described her kitten experiences with phrases like "Kicking Kitty Butt" and "Limp as dish rags".

Then Leo shared with us some fun stories in his Entertaining Speech project. He spoke about Murphy's Law with a unique twist helping us to see life from a different point of view.

Our toastmasters gave great stories when asked to speak on "Summer Pastimes". It was great entertainment, especially when Dave talked about his canoe ride when caught in a storm somewhere in the Midwest. He kept going and going...kind of like the Energizer Bunny. He was disqualified for going over the time limit, but it sure was fun listening! I also enjoyed hearing the toastmasters who spoke about Hawaii! One of the speakers talked about how the sand would feel between her toes while she walked along the Hawaiian shores,  and I realized right then and there that I must to go there some day soon!

So tell us, what is your favorite summer pastime? Remember, you only have ninety seconds to tell all!

Happy telling,
From your Cottonwood Toastmaster Toastie,
Laina 

 (picture from Cheap Tickets to Hawaii web site)

Cottonwood Toastmasters meets every Monday 12:00 to 1:15 at the Cottonwood Village, 201 E Mingus Ave. Guests are welcome. For more information call Laina Lloyd at 928-300-8638 or Dave Ellison at 928-634-6540

Congratulations Lisa!

Congratulations to our newest Competent Communicator, Lisa! We are all excited and proud for you! To earn a CC award, a Toastmaster must complete the ten speeches in the Toastmasters Communication Manual.  

Lisa spoke to us about Mind Games. She said "We create our experiences now by our thoughts from yesterday." She mentioned the importance of choosing the words we use. If you want a "BIG" job, you might want to be more specific or a job bigger than you really desire may manifest for you! Paint a picture in your mind of what you really intend for your life and stay focused on that picture, not what you now have or what you are currently experiencing.

"You can have everything..."

Cottonwood Toastmasters meets every Monday 12:00 to 1:15 at the Cottonwood Village, 201 E Mingus Ave. Guests are welcome. For more information call Laina at 928-300-8638 or Dave Ellison at 634-6540

Membership

As of 2011, there are more than 260,000 members and over 12,800 clubs in 113 countries. Membership in the US grew by 3% in 2007 and continues to grow rapidly in many other nations. Toastmasters members belong to local clubs, which generally have between 10 and 40 members, with 20 members being a typical size. The local clubs meet on a regular basis for members to practice various skills useful in public speaking, including giving speeches, speaking extemporaneously, listening, and providing each other with feedback and evaluation. Some clubs meet monthly, some meet twice a month, and some meet weekly.

Membership is open to all people ages 18 and above wishing to improve their communications skills. Toastmasters International has a policy of non-discrimination. Although Toastmasters was initially formed as a male-only organization, membership was opened to women in August 1973. Certain clubs (referred to as "closed clubs" or "in-house clubs") organized within businesses restrict membership to people in the organization; this is the only restriction on membership permitted by the international organization. From time to time, advanced clubs form and it is preferable that one has completed a certain number of speeches (e.g. 10) before joining these clubs.

(this information was taken from Wikipedia.com)

These are some of our Cottonwood Toastmasters Club members. We are a fun group!

The coronation of our new 2011 President!

Leo, our faithful Sargent at Arms

 

Dorothy

Marian our amazing club Mentor

Lisa and her husband at our last party. Lisa just completed her Competent Communicator requirements! She did an amazing job on her speech! Congratulations Lisa!

Helen Graves

Lynn 

Veronica, or sometimes she goes by Gloria! Watch out for that Gloria gal!

We meet every Monday 12:00 to 1:15 at the Cottonwood Village, 201 E Mingus Ave. Guests are welcome. For more information call Dave Ellison at 634-6540 or Laina Lloyd at 928-300-8638

2011 New Officers Coronation

Congratulations to all the new officers in our Cottonwood Toastmasters Club! We give a heart felt thank you to those of you who served so willingly this past year. You are greatly appreciated!

Past President Paula Plapp and Treasurer Laurie Rangle
Laurie Rangel was also our Y6 Area Governor this past year.
Thank you ladies!

Introducing Roger Eastman
Y6 Area Governor
Roger is a member of one of the Flagstaff Toastmasters Groups
It was an honor and pleasure to have him at our meeting!

The new leaders. From left to right we have:
Roger Eastman Y6 Area Governor, we thank you for accepting this position!
Dave Ellison our magnificent President
Paula Plapp and Laurie Rangle our amazing VP's of Education
Helen Graves the wonderful and talented VP of Membership
Laina Lloyd VP of Public Relations
Marny Zeurcher the talented and beautiful Secretary
Leo Zeurcher our competent and fantastic Sargent at Arms
Denise Gaff the terrific Treasurer

We meet every Monday 12:00 to 1:15 at the Cottonwood Village, 201 E Mingus Ave. Guests are welcome. For more information call Laina at 928-300-8638 or Dave Ellison at 634-6540

Table Topics

At every Toastmasters meeting we have a section devoted to Table Topics. "Table Topics" is an unrehearsed speaking exercise where the speaker speaks "off the cuff"; that is, the speaker responds to a question or topic that is not known beforehand. The Table Topics Master presents the topic, calls on an individual, and then that individual has 1 to 2 minutes to respond. In our club, you have 90 seconds.

This is one of my favorite times at Toastmasters. During a recent meeting I was asked to stand and address the assigned topic. I started to shake, my mind went blank, and after what felt like forever, my mouth finally began to speak! It's crazy how your brain starts moving and then the words begin to come out. It seems like an eternity standing there trying to think of something to say and you wonder "When will that light come on so I can stop speaking! Surely I have spoken long enough!" Ah, the light. Yes, we have a light that signals our time, thank goodness, or I would probably end too soon. With a sigh of relief, you finally see the light and you can end. You hurry and take your seat and wonder, "What in the world did I say?"

So, do you want to give it a go? Okay, this will be good practice for you! Set the timer for 90 seconds. Here is your topic: Talk about the most trouble you have ever been in. On your mark, get set, GO! Woo Hoo, fun isn't it? There are several members of our Cottonwood Toastmasters Club that are amazing examples of ad-libbing. I look forward to hearing form them during the Table Topics session of our meetings. I look forward to hearing from you too. Feel free to leave a comment about your first blog assigned Table Topics speech. We would all like to hear about it!

Come join us for an afternoon of fun! It will brighten your day and quicken your step. You will walk around with smile on your face and everyone will begin to wonder what you are up to!

Signing out for now,
Your Cottonwood Toastmasters Toastie,
Laina Lloyd

A Fun Group

We here at Cottonwood Toastmasters end our year in July and begin new in August. Here we are celebrating a successful and fun year. A special thank you to our past leaders! You did an awesome job. You are greatly appreciated.