Chamber Voices Toastmasters

District 33 Website

Brian Rice — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 07:11:06 +0000

With the term, which began July 1, the District 33 leadership team decided to give their website a new look. The previous site was modified and a new site was created. Now the District Governor wants to hear from his constituents. Here is his latest letter. Please take a minute to cast a vote for the site of your choice.

District Governor Letter 7-23-12

Incoming Club Officers

Brian Rice — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 02:04:20 +0000

Chamber Voices has achieved President’s Distinguished status, the highest distinction made by Toastmasters International, in each consecutive term since 2004. Each year, an executive committee is elected to drive the club to this level of success. These officers begin their term as of July 1, 2012:

President: Kristina Greer, ACB, CL
Vice President Education: Rob Laughlin
Vice President Membership: Debbie Makiri
Vice President Public Relations: Julie Quan, CC
Secretary/Treasurer: Kay Collis, DTM
Sergeant at Arms: Helmut Kuhn

Thank you to each of the outgoing executive committee members for their commitment to achieve an eight consecutive President’s Distinguished term.

President: Nate Rosenberg, CC, CL
Vice President Education: Paul Mangual, ACB, CL
Vice President Membership: Manolita Moore
Vice President Public Relations: Brian Rice, ACB, ALB
Secretary/Treasurer: Kay Collis, DTM
Sergeant at Arms: Robert Laughlin

How to Prep for a Presentation

Brian Rice — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 01:41:43 +0000

Lifehacker.com contributor and author of the Information Diet, describes the steps he takes to prepare a polished presentation.

Johnson describes each step: know the scene, know your slides, and test the audience. Can you think of a better audience to test than Toastmasters?

An Argument and Suggestions for Minimizing Verbal Crutches

Brian Rice — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 01:29:07 +0000

Brett and Kate McKay at The Art of Manliness state their argument and suggestions for minimizing verbal crutches.

Um’s and uh’s indicate that the speaker is “in trouble.” The primary view on the purpose of filler is that it is either an involuntary symptom or a purposeful signal (here linguists do not agree) that the speaker gives to indicate to his listeners that he is “in trouble” – he needs a moment to plan what to say next or to hunt for something in his memory. It tells the audience that there is about to be a delay. “Uh’s” signal a shorter delay, while “um’s” tell the audience the delay will be longer.

Basically, um’s and uh’s happen when you’re trying to think and speak at the same time. This is why they occur more frequently during transitions to a new topic or at the beginning of a sentence rather than at the end or in the middle of one; your brain is idling at the juncture between planning and executing what to say next.

Toastmasters is a great options for practicing your presentation skills (and working to eliminate these fillers).

Five Basic Public Speaking Tips

Brian Rice — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:44:15 +0000

Master a topic and present it well. Following these tips will ensure your next speech goes smoothly and your audience gets more from the experience.

Communication Skills For Interviews

Brian Rice — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:40:17 +0000

Interview with confidence through focused listening, articulate responses and effective body language. Following these tips will empower you to impress others.

Chamber Voices, A President’s Distinguished Club Once Again

Brian Rice — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 06:58:50 +0000

Chamber Voices members,

Congratulations on being named a President’s Distinguished Club again!! As a club, this was our top goal, and we did it!

What does being named a President’s Distinguished Club mean?

President’s Distinguished Club is the highest honor accorded to Toastmasters clubs.
Earning President’s Distinguished Club means our club continues to attract people who are actively working together toward improving their communications and leadership skills.
It has two parts: education and membership. A certain number of beginners and veterans in our club had to complete their manuals to achieve their communications and leadership goals. We also had to run a club that attracted new members and infused our group with new ideas and personalities.

Thank you to the officers for making sure we ran a good club this year and helped people achieved their goals. Special thanks to our Vice President Education, Paul Mangual for helping us achieve our education goals so quickly.

Congratulations to those members who completed a manual this year (remember to set a new goal for yourself for the next twelve months). And thank you to all our members for your work this year. The things you do each month (invite a guest, make someone feel welcome, mentor someone, give constructive evaluation, sign up for a meeting role, serve as an officer, or complete another speech) make our club a better place for everyone.

Be proud of to be a member of Chamber Voices, a President’s Distinguished Club once again!

Nate Rosenberg, President
Chamber Voices Toastmasters

Toastmasters International Member Demographics

Brian Rice — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 06:56:17 +0000

A profile of Toastmasters members:

52% of members are female and 48% are male.
The average member annual household income is $50,000-$74,999.
30% of members earn $100,000+ annually.
The average member age is 45.8 years.
25.4% of members are between the ages of 18 and 34.
74% of members have a bachelor’s degree or higher.
35% of members have a master’s degree or higher.

What industries employ Toastmasters?

17% professional, scientific and technical services
15% finance, insurance and real estate
8% educational services
14% other
Only 3.2% of members are unemployed.

As reported by Toastmasters International

Why Seek To Be A Chamber Voices Officer?

Brian Rice — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 06:55:45 +0000

Toastmasters is a fabulous organization full of many opportunities to further ones expertise at communication and leadership. We all joined for our own personal reasons, but they probably stem from a desire to better our skills and network with other business leaders. I personally wanted to get over anxieties associated with speaking in front of a group of people. Fortunately I was able to get involved with the board in the first six months of being a club member. It has made a big difference in the level of participation with the club allowing growth of talents that had yet to be properly understood. By being pushed to get up at every meeting as the Sergeant at Arms the anxieties of speaking to the group have become much more controllable. It’s also resulted in a change in perspective for how an organization is run and helped in the pursuit of competent leadership.

What can you gain from seeking a leadership position on the board? Ultimately you won’t know the answer to this question until you take the leap of faith to get involved. The time requirements are minimal and it’s an excellent chance to get to know some of your fellow club members better. The board meetings allow everyone to take part in the decisions of the club which helps each of us individually get the most out of the Toastmasters experience. By asking not what your Toastmasters club can do for you, but what you can do for your club your perspective changes from your own self perceived limitations to focusing instead on the strengths of the group.

Rob Laughlin
Sergeant at Arms

Resources for Roles

Brian Rice — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 06:55:10 +0000

As a new Toastmaster, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the variety of roles and responsibilities that are needed during any typical club meeting. If the Vice President Education – and each of the members – are doing their job, you would have immediately been given an opportunity to fulfill one of those roles. If that is case, or you waited a few meetings before volunteering, you still need some guidelines in order to prepare before the meeting.

There are more resources for learning about roles than there are roles themselves. Use the search feature at toastmasters.org and type in the name of any meeting role and several results will be returned. Typically, the first entry is a role description from Toastmasters International. You can also find each meeting role organized at the site.

Branching out, you can search Google for meeting roles and find descriptions as written by different Toastmasters from clubs around the world. YouTube is a great resource for watching speakers, but there are several videos available to see how other members serve in meeting roles too.

Our own club site, lvchambervoices.com includes a Documents page outlining several meeting roles including Toastmaster, General Evaluator, Timer, and Table Topicsmaster. In time, other members may choose to create outlines for the remaining roles.

Don’t forget your greatest resource as a Toastmaster – your club members. The most experienced members of your club have served in these roles several times. Newer members are a great resource because they may have only served in a particular role once and can tell you to prepare for very particular points. If you are scheduled to serve in a role at a future club meeting, sit next to the member serving in that role at the next meeting. Pay close attention to how they approach the responsibility and talk to them after the meeting. The experience will be fresh in their mind and they will be glad to help you prepare.

There are resources every place you look. Find the ones that work best for you and you will become a resource for others.

Brian Rice, ACB, ALB
Vice President Public Relations