March 29, 2007

Linguists of Listowel
March 29, 2007
Theme: Smooth Sailing

Chairperson Marie called the meeting to order and welcomed speechcrafters and toastmasters. Everyone introduced themselves with an item of information that they hadn’t shared before. Gary led table topics. He invited members to pull a picture out of an envelope and describe an event associated with it. Carolyn won table topics. Toastmaster Diane shared a joke and announced the order of speakers and evaluators for the evening. Rita introduced Carolyn who was presenting her third speech “The problem in the Arctic”. Polar bears are being threatened by the environment and humans. Sheryl evaluated.
Gary introduced Riek with her speech on “How to organize your speech”. Audrey evaluated. George introduced Leo who was presenting his speech on Vocal Variety. He talked about how workplace systems must change to free us from division. Marie evaluated. She congratulated him on presenting his final speech for his speechcrafters certificate.
Diane introduced George. He was presenting his #10 speech in his CC manual. His object was to understand the mood and feeling of your audience and to put those feelings into words and inspire the audience. The title of his speech was The Sky is the Limit. He talked about his desire to become a better public speaker and how Toastmasters had improved his abilities. He encouraged speechcrafters to step out and join toastmasters. They would be glad they did.
Marie evaluated. Everyone congratulated George on an excellent inspirational speech and on his completion of speech #10!
Gary gave the timers report and the Table Topics Winner was Carolyn.
Toastmaster Diane reminded everyone that next weeks meeting would be at the home of Keith and Jane. The meeting closed with refreshments.

March 23, 2007
Toastmasters International
District 60
Western Division
Evaluation and International Speech Contests

Area 18 had two contestants in this competition that was held at the Kin Station in Listowel.
Keith placed third in International Contest.
Carolyn competed in the Evaluation Contest.
Members from the Linguists of Listowel who attended were: George, Keith, Ezra, Jane, Wendy, Audrey, Diane, Sheryl: sergeant at arms, Marie: Sergeant at arms and she was in charge of refreshments.

March 29, 2007

Open House
March 27, 2007 Mount Forest Motivators
Theme: Find Your Voice

Marie and Diane attended from the Linguists of Listowel. We are twin clubs for the year. The purpose of a twin club is to help each other achieve their membership and education goals.
Guest Speaker was Tony Nelson. He spoke about his Toastmasters journey over the past 35 years. He is dedicated and explained that he will remain in toastmasters mainly because he enjoys seeing new people improve their communication and speaking skills. Marie did an awesome evaluation and everyone could learn from her technique.
Debbie presented her #10 speech from the CC manual. She also spoke without notes and with enthusiasm. Diane took pictures and Debbie hopes to send out a press report.

March 22, 2007

Linguists of Listowel
March 22, 2007
Theme “Surfs Up”

We welcomed Marge and Caroline from the Mount Forest motivators.
Keith called the meeting to order at 7:20 pm. and welcomed 17 toastmasters and speechcrafters. He praised everyone for their hard work with their speeches and their quest to get the “butterflies to fly in order”. Next week will be our 6th Speechcraft meeting, but due to bad weather and other commitments not everyone has completed their speeches. We will be incorporating speechcraft into the next meetings but they will take on a different persona. We hope everyone will enjoy them and continue on to become better thinkers, speakers and listeners.
It’s dues time again- The amount is $60 to cover you for a whole six months! What a deal.
Everyone is becoming more confident with their introductions. It is very important to relax, take a deep breath and smile. Wendy Logan led table topics with a new idea. Speechcrafters could open a dictionary, point to a word and read the definition. That would be the word that they would use in their one minute Off the Cuff mini speech!
Amy won the Table topics award.
Timer Audrey explained her role at timing everything during the meeting. Toastmasters believe it is very important to be aware of time limits and stick to them.
Melissa presented her ice breaker speech “Melissa in a nutshell”. She mentioned some of her most memorable moments. Diane evaluated her speech with lots of glowing compliments for her first speech. Darlene talked about “My biggest pet Peeve” and George evaluated. Riek presented her “Be in earnest” speech and Marie evaluated. Leo talked about management in a large company for his “Show what you mean” speech and Caroline evaluated. All speeches were excellent and showed a great deal of preparation.
Diane presented an educational module on Vocal Variety. Jane impressed everyone with her vocal variety in her speech “Anaconda 3”. Audrey gave the timers report.
Next meeting is March 29, 2007 with the theme “Riding the Waves.”

Linguists of Listowel
Paddyfest Variety night
March 15, 2007
St Pauls Lutheran Church.

Jane entertained everyone with some Irish songs on the piano before the meeting started.
Marie was chairperson for the evening. She welcomed members, speechcrafters and several guests at 7 p.m.
She welcomed back Audrey who gave an Irish reading. Sheryl entertained with an Irish story and some good Irish Jokes. Diane got everyone laughing with Speech #3 in the Humorously Speaking advanced manual. Her speech title was “Why Kiss the Blarney Stone?” For Table topics members had to pull an object out of a hatbox and give an Irish explanation of how they invented it. Jan chaired the second half of the evening and Marie acted out an Irish folk tale. Everyone was enthralled because the lights were off and there was only a candle for light.
Keith was timer for the evening and Patrick Raftis from the Listowel Banner attended and took some pictures.
Food and fellowship were enjoyed after the meeting.

March 8, 2007

Linguists of Listowel
Theme: “Leaving Footprints in the Sand”

Coordinator Keith Stoltz welcomed all members and Speechcrafters. Because of the recent stormy weather and the cancellation of the last two meetings everyone is at a different stage with their speeches. All members introduced themselves and then Leo led table topics. Members drew a slip of paper out of an envelope and spoke for one minute about what the topic said they did last Thursday when toastmasters was cancelled.

Diane introduced Riek. Her icebreaker speech title was Patience and Bacon. She is a farrow to finish pork producer and enjoys looking after the new born pigs in her barn. She enjoys fresh air, snow and driving the tractors.

Diane introduced Wendy with her icebreaker speech entitled “Passionate engagement”. Wendy enjoys writing and shared some humorous anecdotes about researching a novel. Diane evaluated both speeches and looks forward to hearing their next speech.

Leo, Carolyn and Sandra did their speeches "Speaking in Earnest." Their objectives were to speak with conviction and to confront and control any nervousness they might have. Leo talked about quality in the workplace, Carolyn shared her experiences as the oldest child and Sandra speech title was “Things Women Do.” She described how many women had shaped her life. George evaluated these speeches with lots of glow points and a couple of grow points.

Marie gave the educational presentation “Gestures in Speaking”. A gesture is a specific body movement that reinforces a verbal message or conveys a particular thought or emotion. Although gestures may be made with the head, shoulders or even the legs or feet, most gestures are made with the hands and arms.

Sheryl presented her speech with the topic “Show what you Mean”. She talked about drug abuse and especially Crystal Meth. Her objectives were to learn the value of body movements and to explore the different ways of using body language... To develop a sense of timing and natural smooth body movement. Sheryl spoke passionately, without notes. She displayed conviction and confidence and body language that enriched the message of her speech. Jane gave the timers report.

Wendy was the table topics winner.

Marge and Al brought greetings from the district and invited everyone to an open house for the Mount Forest Motivators March 27, 2007.

Wednesday March 7, 2007
Area 18 contest- Bruce County Museum
South Hampton, Ontario
International Speech and Evaluation Contest
Host Club –Saugeen Speakers
Keith placed first in the International contest and Marie placed second in the evaluation contest. Congratulations to them both. There were seven excellent contestants in both categories. Jane was Chief Judge for the evening and Diane was a judge for both contests.

International Speech and Evaluation Contest
Mount Forest Motivators- 4th Anniversary
February 20, 2007
Keith, Diane, Marie and Allan traveled to Mount Forest.
Keith was chairperson for the contest. His opening remarks were encouraging and motivating for all present. Diane was chief judge and explained all of the rules and presented the contest winners. Marie worked as a timer and Alan was the Target Speaker for the Evaluation contest. Caroline placed first in both contests and will compete in the area 18 contest.

On March 15, 2007 we will be celebrating Paddyfest with an Irish Variety night. Everyone is welcome to come out and join in the Blarney.