Brighten the long, cold winter with Toastmasters

FEEL THE FEAR, AND DO IT ANYWAY!
by Maureen Armbruster (CTM), President

Happy New Year Toastmasters! The first of January, in addition to marking the start of a new calendar year, marks the start of the second half of the Toastmaster year, (which runs from July 1 through June 30). It's hard to believe that my term as Goddard Toastmasters' President is half over! As is so often the case when we try on a new and challenging role, my first several months were spent learning what I'm supposed to be doing, striving to keep things running smoothly, and sometimes feeling a little overwhelmed. Yes, I had definitely steeped out of my comfort zone. And that is what Toastmasters is all about.

As members, we all are interested in self - improvement. Have you ever noticed that the accomplishments that you are really proud of, generally didn't come easy? In order to grow and to improve our skills, we are going to have to do things we are uncomfortable doing. The way we learn how to do anything is by doing it. Feel the fear, and do it anyway. I have to keep reminding myself that "successful people make a habit of doing things that most people feel uncomfortable doing".

I highly recommend the following books by Stephen R. Covey: "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", "Principle - Centered Leadership", and "First Things First". All three give insight into broadening your way of thinking, making progress in every aspect of your life, making time to do what you really want to do, and becoming more effective. These are seven habits Covey talks about:

  • Be Pro Active: Take the initiative and the responsibility to make things happen.
  • Begin With an End in Mind: Start with a clear destination to understand where you are now, where you are going, and what you value most.
  • Put First Things First: Manage yourself. Organize and execute around priorities.
  • Think Win/Win: See life as a cooperative, not a comprehensive arena where success is not achieved at the expense or exclusion of the success of others.
  • Seek First to Understand: Understand, then be understood to build the skills of empathetic listening that inspires openness and trust.
  • Synergize: Apply the principles of cooperative creativity and value differences.
  • Renewal: Preserving and enhancing your greatest asset, yourself, by renewing the physical, spiritual, mental, and social/emotional dimensions of your nature.

    (How's that for a few New Year's resolutions?)

    Establishing Goals

    by Michael Parrish (CTM),
    VP of Education

    I hope you enjoyed the holiday season and look forward to the New Year as much as I do. I also hope some of you thought about Toastmasters (smile), when considering New Year's resolutions. Although I do not believe in New Year's resolutions, I do believe in establishing goals and objectives. The best way to succeed in anything we do is to have something to reach for. I would ask each club member to set some realistic goals this year. Whether it is to give 2 or 3 speeches or to take on a leadership role, establishing goals will make it easier to measure what you have achieved at the end of the year. I will be encouraging club members to be a little more proactive in the coming year. I am looking forward to a successful and productive 1995 for the Goddard Toastmasters' Club, and I know you will help to make it happen.

    A New Look for a New Year
    by Jeff Bolognese (CTM)
    VP of Public Relations

    It's a new year and to celebrate, we're giving The Oracle a new look.

    My main priority as VP-PR will be to try and keep The Oracle as fresh and interesting as possible. As a start we're trying a different format that, hopefully, will make it even easier to read.

    We've also implemented a new labeling system that should make getting The Oracle out to you more efficient, too. Eventually, we hope to use a commercial printer to make our copies and organize everything.

    As I said, this is just a start. Let us know what things you like about The Oracle, and what new things you'd like to see. It's your newsletter and we want to know what you think about it so we can make it even better

    Prompt Time and Banner Display

    by Martha O'Bryan (CTM),
    Sgt. - at - Arms

    As Sergeant-at Arms my New Years' resolution will be to begin our meeting on time - promptly at 11.30 a.m. Other resolutions will be to have our banner proudly displayed at each meeting, and to have the Toastmasters Supply Catalog available so every member of Goddard Toastmasters' will have an opportunity to order from the catalog.

    At the Goddard Toastmasters' Club meeting held on November 23, 1994, our winners of Best Speaker, Best Table Topics Respondent, and Best Evaluator received the new modern style club trophies. These trophies are to be proudly displayed by the recipients until the next Toastmasters' meeting, at which time the trophies are passed on to the new winners of Best Speaker, Best Table Topics Respondent, and Best Evaluator.

    I am looking forward to the New Year, and I believe 1995 will be the best year ever for the Goddard Toastmasters' Club.

    Treasurer's Report

    by Evette Brown - Conwell
    Treasurer

    This is the treasurer's report as of January 10, 1995:

    Checking Account Balance $0.00
    Savings Account Balance $382.83
    Cash Received:
    Checking Deposit $130.00
    Withdrawal from Savings $0.00
    Dividend Savings $1.03

    Total Deposits (12/1 - 12/31) $237.30

    Deposit to Checking (1/10/95) $30.00

    Total Cash Received $267.30

    Cash Spent:

    Check #404

    Toastmasters International
    (2 members) -$92.00

    Check #405
    Pat Greco (Party Platter) -$30.02

    Total Cash Spent -$122.02

    Cash Balance,
    Beginning of January, 1995 $528.11

    MEETINGS DURING THE 4th QUARTER
    Herb Blodget (CTM)

    October 12. Bob Grigsby served as TMOD, today. Jane Liu gave her icebreaker entitled "The Terminator". She delivered a great speech and appeared to have been giving speeches for a long time, she was so at ease. Next, Jeff Bolognese gave a speech from the advanced entertaining manual. The speech, called "Conspiracy Theory 101" was a primer on how to develop your own conspiracy theories for fun and profit. Regina Cody evaluated Jane, and Karen Pham evaluated Jeff.

    Jeff was voted most effective speaker, and Regina, most effective evaluator.

    October 26. The October 26 meeting presented the club with a full slate of speakers. Maureen Armbruster pulled double duty performing both as President and TMOD. Jentung Ku was the first speaker and also gave his first speech with TM. The speech was entitled "A Country Boy", in which Jentung recalled his childhood with some beautiful imagery. It's hard to believe it was his first speech! Next up was Bob Grigsby who presented "Our Most Precious Asset", project #1 from the Professional Salesperson advanced manual. Suraiya Ahmad next presented her second speech from the basic manual, "A Woman Scientist in a Male Dominated System", in which she discussed the trials and tribulations she'd encountered in her career as a woman in the physical sciences. For our final speaker of the day, Martha O'Bryan presented her first speech from an Advance manual. The speech was from the Entertaining Manual and was entitled "The Frightening Encounter." Chris Scherer evaluated Jentung, Carolyn Ng evaluated Bob, Herb Blodget evaluated Suraiya, and Barry Sherman evaluated Martha's speech.

    Martha was voted most effective speaker, and Chris was voted most effective evaluator.

    November 16. Michael Parish, VP (Education) organized an excellent educational program dealing with "Improving Your Management Skills". The training module was divided into three segments. An introduction explaining the objectives of the session was presented by Pat Greco. Chris Scherer then described generalities of management in goal setting, planning and delegation. This included showing how a goal can best be attained within the time and resource constraints of the project. Regina Cody concluded the session with the discussion of factors for increasing efficiency and morale based on ideas from the text "One Minute Manager". We then divided into five groups to "role play" three personnel management challenges. The program was well organized and we all enjoyed the presentations as we got lots of organizational and management information.

    November 30. Martha O'Bryan performed a real juggling act today as she wore three hats during the meeting. After opening the meeting as Sgt. at Arms, she assumed her scheduled TMOD assignment. After the prepared speeches she quickly developed a Table Topics session to fill in for a last minute cancellation. Great job in all areas, Martha! We had three excellent prepared speeches: La Shawn Davis presented her "Ice-breaker", and we got to know a lot about her interesting background. She didn't use any notes and appeared quite at ease as she spoke. Amazing for an Icebreaker, La shawn. Jane Liu gave her second speech and discussed the physical advantages and enjoyment of taking a daily walk, and stressed that we should start a walking routine NOW. Jane used no notes, showed great enthusiasm, and exhibited great poise, confidence, body motion and vocal variety. We were all ready to put on our walking clothes at the end of the speech! Dan Mandl told of his interesting experiences as a marathon runner. The speech was spiced up with Dan's characteristic great humor that had us all in stitches. La Shawn was evaluated by Michael Parish, Jane by Bob Grigsby and Dan by Chris Scherer.

    Dan was voted most effective speaker, Chris best evaluator and New Member Pat McHale took the Table Topics award. Great start Pat!

    December 14. Our Goddard Toastmasters Club got us into the holiday spirit with a gigantic lunch/feast. We shared the spirit with the Aero Toastmasters with whom we have always had a close relationship. Maureen Armbruster called the meeting to order. After a brief introduction, the gavel was passed to Pat Greco (MVP) who welcomed and pinned our two newest members, LaShawn Davis and Pat Mc Hale. To conclude our portion of the awards, Michael Parish (EVP) acknowledged and pinned our members who reached new speaking plateaus during the year. These included Jeff Bolognese (CTM), Karen Keen-Pham (CTM), Martha O'Bryan (CTM) and Mike Brill (ATM Bronze). Aero President Angie Upshire then presented her club's awards and acknowledged Bob Grigsby who helped organize their club and has helped them during the 10 years since. We concluded the meeting with our lunch/feast where both food and drink were delicious and abundant. Maureen again brought her famous super-holiday cookies which are always the hit of the desert table. Dining music consisting of traditional and holiday music was provided by the Aero accordionist accompanied by our own Tex Baird on the Guitar. The festivities were enjoyed by all and those of you who could not make it missed a great event!

    The Importance Of Manual Speeches

    by Paul McCeney (ATM)

    Toastmasters stresses the importance of following the Communication and Leadership Program manuals in making club speeches. The requirements for each speech project are designed so as to develop a different aspect of public speaking, and each project builds on the previous projects. It is not necessary to take each speech project in order, although this progression helps the Toastmaster to derive the maximum benefit from each project. The important things are to try to meet the requirements of each project and have your principal evaluator record his reaction in your manual. For your own records and club records, have the club EVP initial your manual when you have successfully completed each project.