Tip of the Week: ‘Tis The Season To Be Busy!

December always seem to be busy at work and at home. If you can't make your role next week, please email the group as soon as you know, so we will have time to fill your role. Don’t forget to go on to the Duty Roster and remove your name. And don’t forget to relax, spend time with friends and family, and enjoy this festive month!

Ho! Ho! Happy Ho-ur!

Dear Electric Toasters,

It's that time of year again! Since we will not be holding the December 21st and December 28th meetings, we hope to see all of you for a heart-warming Happy Hour on Tuesday, December 20th:

Tip of the Week: The CL Manual – Bring it, use it, love it!

If you joined Toastmasters as a new member in the last year and a half, you received two manuals in the mail – the Competent Communicator manual and the Competent Leader manual.  You are likely very familiar with the CC manual.  But have you looked through the CL manual?  It is easy to work through the CL manual and get your Toastmasters CL award – all you have to do is bring the manual to our meetings and give it to someone to evaluate your performance in your regular meeting role.  It’s really that simple!  About 90% of the projects in the CL manual are for normal meeting roles that you typically fill each meeting.  You will also get the benefit of learning the basic facets of leadership – including critical thinking, giving feedback, time management, mentoring, motivating people, and team building.  In addition, by obtaining your CL award you will be helping the club meet its educational goals!

Toastmasters Speaker to Trainer Workshop Saturday 12/10/11

Hello Fellow Toastmasters!

• Do you want to learn how to givebetter presentations?

• Do you want to learn how to keep an audience awake when you are teaching them something?

• Do you want to know some tips and tricks to teaching adult audiences?

• Do you want to be a District 7 Certified Presenter/Teacher so that you can present at conferences?

If you answered YES! to any of the above questions, you are in luck because you have a wonderful opportunity to transform yourself from Speaker to Trainer! District 7 is, once again, offering a 4-hour workshop that will put additional tools in your teaching toolbox.

The next session is scheduled for:

Date:              Saturday, December 10, 2011

Time:             8:00AM-Noon

Location:       Marylhurst University, VM Hemlock Room

Course Objectives - At the completion of this course, you will: 

• Understand the five steps involved in preparing and conducting a training program  

• Know how to facilitate discussions and 

• How to use various visual aids to enhance your presentations  

• How to present an effective training program

Seating is limited!  Please contact Phyllis A. Harmon asap to reserve your seat!

Thanksgiving Social on Tuesday! Members & Friends Welcome!

 

By: Ania Osińska-Bulloff, Electric Toasters' President

11/2 Meeting Location

Tomorrow’s Toastmasters meeting is in Mezzanine 5 on the middle floor between the Bridge and the Plaza levels. 

See you there!

Meeting location on October 26th

We are meeting in Skybridge C (our old room) today.

See  you there!

Coming up: The Leadership '11 Conference, November 5th

 

The Leadership '11 conference is scheduled for Saturday, November 5^th at 8:00 am. The conference link describes the program events, speakers, food selections, registration, etc.  Note that October 25^th is the date for maximum registration savings.

Also, at last week’s downtown Division Speech Contest Glenn Bridger of the Sunrise TM club won first place Table Topics.  Glen will be competing at the upcoming District 7 Leadership '11 Conference on November 5th and would really appreciate Area 71 support.

Just one more reason to attend the District 7 Leadership '11 Conference!

Mezzanine 5

Tomorrow’s meeting will be in Mezzanine 5 – the middle floor between the Bridge and the Plaza. 

See you tomorrow!

Our new member, Bianca Eskelson, says hi!

Fellow Toastmasters, my name is Bianca Eskelson and I work as a Research Associate for OSU’s College
of Forestry. You may wonder what I am doing in Portland. Well, I followed my husband up here and
work remotely, which has advantages and disadvantages. I joined Toastmasters in June 2009 because
I have to give many presentations and teach classes as part of my job and I was looking for a way to
practice my public speaking skills in a friendly environment. Actually, joining Toastmasters was a New
Year’s resolution and it took me six months to finally attend a meeting. In my free time I enjoy baking,
gardening, hiking, playing music, and judo. Although I love the Pacific Northwest and even enjoy the
rain, I do miss good bread and good chocolate!

Tip of the Week: What makes a good Thought of the Day?

One of the best things about our club is the huge variety of backgrounds and experiences we bring to each week’s meeting. It is that huge pool of perspectives that make the Thought of the Day work very well on its own merits. 
Here are a couple of sideboards for the speaker to use in preparing the Thought of the Day – write and rehearse the speech so it is 1-2 minutes long, and try to tie the speech to the meeting’s theme.  Prepare for the Thought of the Day as if it was a “mini” regular speech – write, rehearse, edit, etc.  The result will be a thoughtful and entertaining short speech that both you and the club will benefit from.

Our new member, Robert Scott, says hi!

“This is Robert Scott,” is how I now answer my “work phone.”  I have never had a work phone until recently, at least not dedicated to me.  I never needed one because my past employment included production and operations, manufacturing, hospitality, even sales, but nothing that required true professional communication.  Things have changed since I graduated law school and passed the Oregon bar.  I am now in the stage of building my legal practice and learning how to be a good lawyer, neither of which, I have come to learn, are taught in law school.  

I am exceedingly fortunate to work for Immix Law Group PC, unquestionably the greatest law firm in the world.  We are a boutique firm that specializes in serving entrepreneurs, investors, and small and growth-stage businesses.  Immix is the perfect fit for me as I am entrepreneurial by nature, having started my first business at age twenty.  The most important part of my job is helping our clients navigate business and legal pitfalls, thereby leaving them free to focus on the important things, like running a company.  To do my job well, I must clearly, concisely, and confidently communicate with our clients and other professionals.  I am hoping that Toastmasters can help me become a better speaker, a better listener, and thus a better advocate and adviser.  

During the few rare hours I am away from work, I enjoy relaxing with my wife and friends, which often includes kayaking, camping, fishing, weightlifting, or golf.

Tip of the Week: What Is That Leadership Manual???

You know that Leadership Manual you received with your Communications Manual after you joined Electric Toaster (you received it for free if you joined in the last year)?  Have you looked through it lately?  Even if you don’t intend to work through the Leadership Track of Toastmasters, the Competent Leader Manual is a great way to sharpen your skills in listening, evaluation, and group leadership.  Please bring your CL Manual to every meeting and work in one of the projects – most of them are the daily roles that we fill, such as serving as Timer, Grammarian, or Toastmaster.  Give your manual to the person sitting next to you to evaluate your work that day – it only takes a couple of minutes!  And as an incentive, in an undisclosed a near-future meeting, I will give a special treat to everyone in attendance with a CL Manual!