Term 2, Issue 2 . February 2010 Newsletter

Toastmasters Then and Now

What Works for Us…

Special Convention Event: The Golden Gavel Award Dinner

Accepting an Award with Class

Environmentally Friendly Meetings

Toastmasters Learning Connection

Manama Toastmasters Club Newsletter— for internal use only

Manama Toastmasters Club Club No. 2916 .

Area 3 . Division C . District 79

Est: 01.07.1964

Toastmasters International From a humble beginning in 1924 at the YMCA in Santa Ana, California, Toastmasters International has grown to become a world leader in helping people become more competent and comfortable in front of an audience. The nonprofit organization now has nearly 250,000 members in more than 12,500 clubs in 106 countries, offering a proven – and enjoyable! – way to prac-tice and hone communication and leadership skills. Most Toastmasters meetings are comprised of approximately 20 people who meet weekly for an hour or two. Participants practice and learn skills by filling a meeting role, ranging from giving a prepared speech or an impromptu one to serving as timer, evaluator or grammarian. There is no instructor; instead, each speech and meeting is critiqued by a mem-ber in a positive manner, focusing on what was done right and what could be im-proved. Good communicators tend to be good leaders. Some well-known Toastmasters alumni include: • Peter Coors of Coors Brewing Company • Debbi Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies

Manama Toastmasters Club Formed in 1964, Manama Toastmasters is the first toastmasters club in all of Arabian Gulf. Since then, for over 46 years, it has been helping people to become better leaders and better communicators wherever they are - in their organizations, schools, universities, businesses, social networks and many other areas. Hundreds of members have gone on to lead, or form, huge organizations in Bahrain and abroad. Many toastmasters clubs in the Gulf too, owe their birth to Manama Toastmasters Club, which is why it is often called 'the mother club' of District 79. District 79 - of Toastmasters International - comprises 275 clubs in the GCC Countries and Jordan and Lebanon.

President Message

To the members of Manama Toastmasters Club:

I would like to congratulate you on your outstanding achievements as one of the pioneers clubs in Bahrain.

We always should aim to help people overcome the challenges and conquer their fears. So during your club meeting, look around and celebrate the great achievements of your member’s and highlight there communication and leadership skills. And think about the day you join your club and consider what you have become today, and you will notes’ that it happen due or a result of participating in the Toastmasters movements program. And that makes me so proud of you all,

The Toastmasters program helps us gain the courage to change, and to build a new generation of leaders, confident and passionate Toastmasters leaders. Many of us began our Toastmasters journey to build something new in our personality and become efficient, capable leaders in our organization and our communities. And what we have to do when we gain what we desire from the great movement, is to act as good ambassadors and provide the knowledge that we gain to a new generation.

Our organization depends on members such as you to help more and more people develop the Courage to Change through the Toastmasters program. And we see you all as the currant challenge and the future success in building a great generation of leaders, Thank you all for your commitments, and congratulations on your outstanding achievements.

With warm regards,

Khalid AlQoud, DTM President Manama Toastmasters Club District 79 – Toastmasters international

Then… When people hear the word “basement,” they’re not likely to picture the home of a global communication and leadership development organization. But a basement in the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in Santa Ana, California, is exactly where Ralph C. Smedley held the first meeting of what would eventually be-come Toastmasters International. The date was October 22, 1924. Smedley began working as director of education for the YMCA after he graduated from college. He observed that many of the young patrons needed “training in the art of public speaking and in presiding over meetings,” and decided to help them with a training format that was similar to a social club. During the early 1900s, the word “toastmaster” referred to a person who proposed the toasts and introduced the speakers at a banquet. Smedley named his group “The Toastmasters Club” because he thought it suggested a pleasant, social atmos-phere that would appeal to young men. At that first Toastmasters meeting, members practiced speaking skills in a supportive, informal atmosphere. The seedling club blossomed. Then another sprung up in nearby Anaheim. Word spread about Smedley’s ex-periment and soon people in other communities, and even other states, began to request permission and help to start their own Toastmasters meetings. As more clubs emerged, it was a time of firsts: Smedley created the first Toastmasters manual, and publication of The Gavel – the first Toastmasters newsletter – began in 1930. (The Toastmaster magazine made its debut three years later.) In the 1930s, the organization grew to an international level by incorporating and chartering its first club out-side the United States, in British Columbia, Canada. Over the ensuing years, Toastmasters International laid the foundation for many of the activities and philoso-phies we know today: The first Inter-Club Speech Contest was held in 1938; District 18 of Scotland became the first district outside the United States in 1946; and in 1968, the first Competent Toastmaster (CTM) awards were issued for completing the manual, Basic Training for Toastmasters. Two years later, the first Distin-guished Toastmaster (DTM) awards were handed out. Until 1962, a series of rented office spaces in Southern California served as Toastmasters International’s “home office.” That year, the staff moved into its first World Headquarters building. The Santa Ana facility wasn’t far from the YMCA where the first Toastmasters club met.

In 1973, Toastmasters met an important milestone by opening membership to women. Twelve years later, Helen Blanchard became the organization’s first female president. By 1982, membership reached 100,000. To better serve its growing worldwide membership, World Headquar-ters relocated in 1990 to its current building in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, 20 miles south of Santa Ana. In July 1997, a bold new offering was developed for the educational program: An improved two-track educa-tional recognition system that allowed members to pursue awards in both leadership and communication. In 1999, the 10-goal Distinguished Club Program was introduced. … And Now As Toastmasters International celebrates its 85th anniversary, the organization stands at a historic high point. Program offerings have never been more expansive. Toastmasters leaders have developed innovative strate-gies to keep up with advances and shifting cultural dynamics of the global age. Indeed, while many organiza-tions around the world are downsizing because of the economic climate, Toastmasters International is grow-ing with thousands of people taking advantage of the organization’s programs to enhance their communica-tion skills. Membership is at an all-time high, with more than 250,000 members in 12,000 clubs in 106 coun-tries. As of June 30, a record 1,073 new clubs were chartered, and 56 districts were recognized as Distin-guished or better, a number surpassing all previous years. “Toastmasters grew by nearly five percent in 2009,” says Toastmasters Executive Director Daniel Rex. “Tens of thousands of people have seen the value of the Toastmasters training in their personal lives and careers. They know the program can see them through a lot of challenges.” As Rex sees it, there is no limit to the growth potential of Toastmasters International, and he is making sure the World Headquarters staff is well positioned to serve its members as their needs change and the organization grows in existing and emerging markets. “Our renewed emphasis is to provide optimal service and resources at each member development stage, begin-ning with the prospective member who is looking for a club on the Web site, applying for membership in the club, receiving a New Member Kit, and talking with a staff member on the phone,” Rex explains. One way to meet members’ needs is through the Toastmasters Web site which is continually expanded through new product and service offerings. An exciting and recent addition to the Web site is the organization’s first e-learning tool, Toastmasters Learning Connection (TLC) for district officers. Blending education with the power of the Internet, TLC provides access to Toastmasters’ officer training in a virtual learning environment. The distance-learning program is designed to complement face-to-face training and is not intended to replace it. This program still is in its infancy, but is expected to encompass training for a variety of officers. Another recent change voted in by members at the annual International Convention on Aug. 14, 2009, is Global Representation and Support. It improves the organization’s structure by enhancing global representa-tion with 14 regions and directors, and replaces The Nominating Committee with the International Leadership Committee (ILC). More information on the implementation of this proposal will be shared on the Toastmasters Web site and in the November issue of this magazine. The organization’s profile is about to grow even higher: A new film about Toastmasters is scheduled for re-lease this fall. SpeakEasy, a feature-length documentary produced by Tumbleweed Entertainment, explores the 2008 World Championship of Public Speaking and the larger Toastmasters world. From a gathering in a YMCA basement in 1924 to the 12,000-plus clubs that meet in 106 countries today, the Toastmasters story is one of dramatic growth and success. And with accomplishments come opportunities. “As we meet our members’ needs and greet thousands of club visitors, we offer the most valuable service imagin-able: We help people improve their lives,” says Rex. “That’s what the Toastmasters mission is all about.”

What Works for Us...By Paul Sterman Members Share Table Topics Successes

“‘Regular’ Table Topics is a great learning experience, but it’s fun to do something different occasionally,” says George Marshall, DTM, of the Star Search Toastmasters in Newark, California.

If you’re the Topics master, be imaginative and resourceful. Here are just a few ideas shared by members whose experience spans several clubs each:

Bill Malthouse, DTM, a member of three clubs in Virginia, recommends this tactic: Bring in some commo office supplies – a paper clip, a stapler, a pen, even a doorstop. Then put them all in a bag. When Table Topics begins, a member fishes blindly in the bag and pulls out an item. Let’s say they snag a stapler. The Topics master then poses this question: “Please describe your daily life as a stapler.” The next member pulls out another item, and the same pattern is repeated. Susan Carroll-Clark, DTM, a member of two clubs in Toronto, Canada, says photographs are a great catalyst for Table Topics responses, evoking all sorts of images and ideas for the speakers. She brings in photos to reflect a specific theme. “I’ve used [photos] for a food theme, a vacation theme, a sports theme and so forth,” she says. George Marshall says “hardware” topics are always a big hit. In a recent turn as Topics master, he brought in very old tools from his kitchen and workbench. The members’ Table Topics challenge: Pretend to sell the object to a customer, describing its function (which can be made up, if need be) and purpose. Darla Nettles Edwards, a member of the TRC Toastmasters club in Charleston, South Carolina, enjoys a little tabloid in her Table Topics. She suggests this scenario as a fun exercise: The Topics master tells me bers, “You’re all staff members for an outrageous supermarket tabloid. As the chief editor, I need to know what stories you are working on this week.” Then, says Nettles Edwards, the Topics master calls on me bers, asking for a report from “the sports editor,” “the beauty editor,” “the Hollywood reporter,” “the crime reporter” and so on. Keep in mind a few fundamentals when planning a Table Topics program. Several days before your club meet-ing, ask the Toastmaster if the meeting will have a particular theme. If so, prepare topics that tie in to that theme.

In addition, choose questions or subjects that allow speakers to express their opinions. Don’t pick complicated topics that require specialized knowledge to understand. Use ones that are broad and general enough for anyone to talk about without preparation.

When leading a Table Topics session, have you ever used office supplies to elicit responses? Or written a stack of letters from fairytale characters? Or brought in photos of food to trigger a culinary discussion? These are all tools that members have used to produce creative Table Topics programs and creativity is an important part of the exercise. Clubs need to mix things up to prevent their Table Topics sessions from stagnating.

Pamela Winter, DTM, a member of four clubs in New Jersey, says she learned to take a more flexible approach when serving as Topics master. “I used to be very structured with Table Topics, which required [members to have] some in-depth knowledge in history, physiology, current events or other fields,” she says. “I thought my questions were pretty good, but I would get a lot of complaints from other members after the meetings.

“About two years ago, I switched tracks, and my Table Topics have become less esoteric and thus more fun.”

Winter cites as an example a recent Table Topics program she led. She let her imagination run wild, writing brief letters from popular fairytale characters addressed to the popular American newspaper columnist “Dear Abby,” in which the characters ask for advice about their problems. For example, Little Red Riding Hood seeks help in dealing with a “crazy stalker.” Table Topics speakers were asked to respond to the letters – in es-sence, to serve as Dear Abby and dole out advice to the characters.

The program, says Winter, “had guests and members alike laughing up a storm.”

The Toastmasters International online store also has some excellent resources to help you with planning Table Topics programs:

• Think Fast! Table Topics Handbook (Item 1315) • Stand Up and Speak! Table Topics Game (Item 1316) • TableTalk (Item 1318) • Chat Pack (Item 1319) • Penny Stones (Item 1321) • Master Your Meetings (Item 1312) Paul Sterman is an associate editor for the Toastmaster magazine.

Special Convention Event: The Golden Gavel Award Dinner

Carolyn Kepcher is the 2010 Golden Gavel Recipient At this year’s International Convention in Palm Desert, California, the Toastmasters International Golden Gavel award ceremony – traditionally a luncheon – will take place on Friday evening, August 13, as a dinner event instead. The Golden Gavel has been presented by Toastmasters since 1959, with past recipients including Walter Cronkite, Stephen Covey, Zig Ziglar and Deepak Chopra. This inspir-ing occasion promises to be one of the most popular events at the Convention. Toastmasters International will honor Carolyn Kepcher with the prestigious Golden Gavel for her achievements as a business leader, writer and television personality. Kepcher is widely known for her role as Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization, specifically for her five seasons on NBC’s hit series, The Apprentice, presided over by Donald Trump. When Trump had the difficult task of choosing con-testants to fire as part of The Apprentice, Kepcher’s input helped him make the selections.

“I worked for Donald Trump for 11 years, and in that time I learned that it is possible for a woman to survive and do well in a male-dominated culture,” says Kepcher, a resident of Ridgefield, Connecticut.

With her high-level insights into corporate and career survival, Kepcher is a regular guest on national televi-sion programs such as Good Morning America, the Today Show and the Oprah Winfrey Show. She also writes the weekly “Your Career” column for the New York Daily News.

“The best speakers and leaders are those who use imagination and creativity to achieve their objectives,” says Toastmasters International President Gary Schmidt. “We have selected Carolyn as this year’s Golden Gavel recipient for her commitment to helping working women get ahead and providing a platform for them to learn, share and grow through her work as an author, leader and mentor.”

Her book, Carolyn 101, rose to No. 2 on the New York Times best-seller list and focuses on helping readers learn “skills such as sizing up a situation, spotting opportunities for advancement, and anticipating your next move.” Through the company she founded, WorkHerWay.com, Kepcher leads a team of more than 150 con-tributing authors and subject-matter experts, offering advice to women in the workplace. When faced with tough times, Kepcher recommends to “avoid going into survival mode and focusing entirely inward.” On the contrary, Kepcher says this is the time to give of yourself, “to offer yourself up to those who could benefit, whether it’s through volunteering, mentorship, becoming the ‘field expert’ in the local newspaper for your pro-fession, starting a blog, or reading and commenting in Web communities relevant to your work.”

As a manager of four golf clubs for the Trump Organization, Kepcher played a crucial role in acquiring, devel-oping and marketing new properties. Kepcher’s business savvy and hands-on leadership in these and other real estate projects led to her position as Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization and COO for Trump Golf Properties.

A major part of her role on The Apprentice was to explain why people were fired, but now Kepcher has taken steps in her current career to help people avoid this fate. When a change is unavoidable, she advises: “Sometimes you have to know when to call in the troops. You have a support system out there, in the form of friends, family and colleagues. Don’t hesitate to use it, and to pay that forward when you can.”

Kepcher pays it forward by supporting entrepreneurs in their dreams of launching a business. She has part-nered with Microsoft in the launch of new accounting software that will aid startups, and she has partnered with Microsoft and Yahoo! to develop mentoring programs for entrepreneurs.

Carolyn Kepcher will speak at the Golden Gavel Dinner on August 13 at the Toastmasters International Convention in Palm Desert, California. Don’t miss your opportunity to learn from this extraordinary workplace expert. For Convention details and registration information, please visit www.toastmasters.org/2010Convention.

Accepting an Award with Class When It’s Your Turn, Be Grateful and Engaging.

By Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE Accepting an award is like walking a tightrope. You need to be gracious, grateful and humble – but not so humble or self-deprecating that the audience thinks you are trivializing the honor. The warm glow of the occa-sion can suddenly turn chilly or sour with a few ill-chosen words.

I once coached a man who was due to receive an award from a large organization. Two thousand people would be in the audience. “I want to be funny,” he told me, “so I’ll start by saying how desperate they must be to give me this award.” I persuaded him that he’d be insulting the organization and everyone who had ever been hon-ored. We worked together to come up with a gracious acceptance speech; one that was still funny but would leave everyone present feeling great about the evening, the award and the organization.

Sooner or later, you’ll be presented with an award. It may be a surprise, or you may have time to prepare. Use your answers to the following questions to weave a warm, wonderful speech that will leave everyone with a big smile (and maybe a tear):

• Who nominated you? • Who invited you to join this group or encouraged you to get involved in this project or event? • What is your connection to this group? • How do you feel about the people and the organization’s goals? • Why are they giving you this award? People will not remember all the details of what you say, but they will remember the stories you tell. Include a memorable vignette or incident, something entertaining or touching about your connection.

Inspiration From the Oscars Show biz can provide wonderful examples of gracious acceptance speeches. When Russell Crowe won an Oscar for The Gladiator (2000), he dedicated it to “everyone who has seen the downside of disadvantage.” Then he received the 2002 Golden Globe Award for A Beautiful Mind. He gave credit to the people on whose life the film was based, offering special thanks to “John and Alicia Nash, for living such an inspirational love story.” Being succinct also has its charms. Action-star “Everyman” Harrison Ford was honored with the Cecil B. De-Mille Award in 2002, for “outstanding contribution to the entertainment field” – or more specifically, 35 mov-ies over four decades, including Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Fugitive. “In anticipation of to-night,” he told the audience, “I wrote two speeches, a long one and a short one. I’ll give you the short one: ‘Thank you’ But it seems there might be enough time for the long one as well, which is: ‘Thank you very much.’”

Typically, however, an acceptance speech won’t be that short. Whenever you have some advance notice, be sure to ask how long you are expected to speak. The shorter your time slot, the more you will need to practice! When the time comes, look directly at the audience. Never read your remarks. You can walk up on stage with notes, but they should consist of a few bulleted points.

Whenever you are involved in philanthropy or leadership in your professional organization, your company or your community, you are likely to get an award some day. It’s better to have a few well-crafted remarks ready than to be caught speechless – or worse, say the wrong thing. A planned speech can help you avoid appearing overanxious. So be gracious. Be modest. Be prepared!

Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE, is an executive speech coach, professional speaker and author of several books, including Get What You Want! She’s also a former member of the Cable Car Toastmasters and ProToasties clubs in San Francisco and San Mateo, California. Reach her at www.fripp.com. Make your next speech memorable using these manuals from the Advanced Communication Series:

Special Occasion Speeches (Item 226N) Specialty Speeches (Item 226E) Humorously Speaking (Item 226O)

Environmentally Friendly Meetings

How clubs can conserve energy and reduce waste. As a global organization with members in 106 countries, environmental stewardship is a topic of interest to many members. Participants in Toastmasters meetings and con-ferences can take advantage of the following suggestions to reduce waste and make meetings more sustainable: Save paper by reducing printing. Cut down on paper by using technology such as PowerPoint or a laptop to display information on a screen. Or follow the example shared by Linda Eenigenburg of Cary Grove Toastmasters in Chicago, Illinois. She says her club, like many others, recently decided to eliminate printed agendas altogether. “We write out the agenda on one large sheet that gets posted on the wall.” Will Hsiung, of the Arlington Heights Toastmasters in Rolling Hills, Illinois, has taken it one step further by us-ing an enlarged, laminated agenda that they can write on with a dry-erase marker at every meeting.

The Positive Thinkers Toastmasters club in Vancouver, Canada, writes their agenda on a white board each week, but plan for the presiding officers to use a printed agenda because “otherwise they can spend half the meeting either speaking to the board or rubber-necking be-tween the board and the audience,” says member Debbie Forbes.

What about other materials, such as handouts or announcements? Keep your club’s Web site current with an-nouncements. That way, members can review information before the meeting and those unable to attend can access the information. If your club has a newsletter, consider saving money and resources by making it avail-able online. Many clubs e-mail their newsletters. It’s a nice way to keep in touch when some are too busy to attend meetings.

Try texting. Some clubs are giving up paper ballots in favor of using cell phones to text comments to mem-bers about their speeches and to submit votes to the vote counter. Consider recycling. If you feel strongly in favor of having printed agendas, announcements or ballots, con-sider printing on both sides of the page and use recycled paper and vegetable-based inks. And bring – or ask your host venue to provide – recycling bins for paper, metal, plastic and glass. This way, you can easily recycle any leftover materials at the end of your meeting. Also, remember to reuse or recycle any signs, and take advantage of electronic bulletin boards, if provided in your meeting locale.

Bulk up and reuse. Encourage club members to avoid using standard water bottles and instead bring refillable plastic or eco-friendly water containers to the meeting. Toastmasters International also offers a line of eco-friendly products. To find these products, visit TI’s online store and type “eco-friendly” in the products search menu.

Save energy. If your club meets during the day, consider a change of scenery every so often and hold meetings outdoors – at a local park, for example. Make use of natural light whenever possible. If your club meets during the day, check to see if open curtains will provide adequate light for a safe gathering. In addition, coordinate with the meeting venue or host to ensure that lights and air conditioning will be turned off when rooms are not in use. Spread the word! There are many shades of green, so take these first steps to make your meetings the deepest green possible. Once you have information and a plan on taking the steps to make your meeting more environ-mentally efficient, write down the plan and share it with your club. Then, promote it to guests. You can even give a speech about it. This is a surefire way to inspire your club to join the effort for a greener world – thanks, in part, to Toastmasters!

Toastmasters Learning Connection

Learn. Apply. Succeed. Toastmasters Learning Connection (TLC) blends educa-tion with the power of the Internet. Also known as distance learning, TLC provides access to Toastmasters’ training in a virtual learning environment and is designed to complement face-to-face training.

Toastmasters' 2009-2010 President Gary Schmidt introduces TLC in a short video. Enjoy this special message.

System Requirements Adobe Flash player 10.0 or later- Broadband Internet connection (DSL or Cable)

- Visit http://www.toastmasters.org/Members/OfficerResources/eLearning.aspx

Select modules below to enter TLC and start learning now! Future modules will include additional training for district officers, as well as club officers. We will announce each new module as it is posted to the Web site so officers can stay informed, trained and prepared for their important volunteer positions.