Bill SituClub President Teresa Lau (middle) was recently the recipient of the five-member sponsor pin. Teresa Lau, our VP membership, recently received the five-member sponsor pin for the 2019-2020 year. A huge congratulations to her on her achievement! This award is part of Toastmasters International's Membership Building Program for Individuals. Toastmasters who sponsor five members during a Toastmasters year receive a blue pin. Sponsoring 10 members will earn a Toastmaster a burgundy pin. Those who sponsor 15 members receive a 25% discount off their next Toastmasters Online Store purchase. Teresa was one of the nine Toastmasters in District 21 to receive recognition in this program. Individual sponsor report for 2019-2020 Two Years of Dedication and CountingCoincidentally, this month also marks Teresa's second anniversary as a Toastmaster. She joined Richmond Friendly in August 2018 and has been a dedicated club member ever since. Teresa's first club officer appointment was in the beginning of 2019 as the treasurer. She served two terms as club treasurer until the end of the year before becoming VP membership at the start of this year. Last month, Teresa was successfully elected to serve a second term in this position. The sponsor pin isn't Teresa's only award this year. In fact, 2020 has been a year of achievement for her. Back in February, she successfully competed in the Toastmasters international speech contest. Although it was her first time competing, Teresa successfully advanced as far as the division level after a first-place finish at the club and area levels. She also successfully finished level 3 of Motivational Strategies shortly after the contest. Teresa at this year's area-level contest "A ship docking on different shores"Teresa's also got some interesting ways to describe her VP Membership role. Let's hear what she has to say :) How does it feel to have received this recognition? I was amazed to receive this recognition. I did not realize there was a membership-building program in the first instance. My goal of increasing members was to assist our club in attaining the Distinguished Club award by the end of June 2020. All my focus and efforts were put into how to turn guests to members before the deadline. Some skills that I had learnt from various club officer training meetings helped a lot. Nevertheless, the most important thing was that I got many helping hands. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to the Past Division Director Jiadong Kang, Area Director Ana Geldres, club mentors Andy Vuong and Yulin Peng, President Bill Situ, VP Public Relations Ke Xu, Treasurer Shoko Ueno, and welcome teammate Allen Tang. This recognition is for all of you. What made you decide to take on the VP Membership role at the club? I was the club Treasurer for an entire year. I thought that it was time to move on taking another leader role at the club. The close relationship between the VP Membership and the Treasurer made me decide to take this role. By the way, the role would enhance my communication skills with others. What has the experience been like to bring new members on board?
The experience of bringing new members on board has been like docking a ship on different shores. When the ship (Toastmasters) is near the shores (guests), the crew (VP Membership & teammates) throw ropes (information about benefits of Toastmasters) to be tied to the moors (guests' needs). Once the ship is fixed to the shores, passengers (new members) can easily get on board. For yourself personally, what has been the biggest benefit that you’ve gained from being a Toastmaster? The biggest benefit that I have gained from being a Toastmaster is overcoming my stage fright. Since passing my board examination to become a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, I have been invited to present nutritional talks to different groups of people. At the beginning, I was nervous and trembled when standing and speaking in front of audiences. I did not know how to use eye contact nor engage and interact with them. After joining Toastmasters, the fright was gradually removed due to a weekly chance to learn and practice at Toastmasters meetings.
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Bill SituClub President Last meeting, we had to say a fond farewell to our club treasurer, Shoko. She recently relocated to New Brunswick to begin a new job. Shoko joined Richmond Friendly Toastmasters back in January of this year. Only a few weeks into her membership with the club, she took over the vital treasurer position. The treasurer at the time had to leave the club due to health-related concerns. Shoko has been an incredible asset to Richmond Friendly since the very beginning. On top of managing the club's finances, she has also done a conscientious job in taking on the various meeting roles every week. Back in May, Shoko also successfully completed level 1 of Presentation Mastery. All in all, she's been a positive example of a Toastmaster through her enthusiasm and dedication. Shoko Ueno, outgoing club treasurer Thoughts from Shoko HerselfAs she began to part ways with the club, Shoko happily took a moment to share her experience. What was it like when you took on the treasurer role for the first time, especially considering how long you had been a Toastmaster at the time? It was around a month after I became a member of this club. When one of the members called my name during the election, I was excited and glad that members saw me as trustworthy, as a treasurer manages club finances. How does it feel to now have to part ways with the club? To be honest, I am still looking for a way to attend this club even as a guest, as long as a virtual meetings continue. Attending a meeting every Tuesday has become a part of my life, so I am sure I’ll miss it. What will you remember most about Richmond Friendly? Definitely the atmosphere of this club. This is why I decided to be a member. Members are so welcoming, receptive, co-operative, and encouraging. Richmond Friendly has been my gas station to charge my energy. I really enjoy seeing members smiling and chatting over zoom. What has been the most valuable experience you’ve gotten out of Toastmasters during your time with us? Zoom meetings! I learned a lots during the process. After knowing we weren't able to have meetings in-person due to the pandemic, we made a huge effort to keep the meetings going. Everything was new for us, such as indicating time by turning back ground colours or delivering a speech, but we did it. We also had met guests and other TI members from the world over Zoom. I am thankful that I have such receptive and cooperative friends, otherwise I would not have had these wonderful experiences. Also, I appreciate the plentiful support from our club coaches and directors. Do you plan on continuing your Toastmasters journey? Yes, I sure do. I have gained a lot of confidence to speak English with someone, which was the most frightening thing to do for me. Since I started this journey, I have conquered my fear. I got a band 8 in IELTS speaking thanks to this special English environment. I feel I should continue till I get comfortable with English. Long way to go!! We sincerely thank Shoko for her dedication and effort over the past several months. We will miss her tremendously and wish her the best in her future endeavours.
Bill SituClub President "Hey Bill, I'm doing my Ice Breaker speech next week. How much should I plan for it?" This is a fairly common question that I get from new members at the club. Chances are, you may have wondered about this yourself or had someone ask you this before. Let me cut straight to my answer, and that is, it really depends. "Really Depends?"Speech outline worksheet for the Ice Breaker project, the first project for every path in the Pathways program I know this response might seem a little disappointing. You were probably looking for something more definitive. Still, think of it this way: If the answer were that clear-cut, then there wouldn't really be a point of me writing an entire post on this. I'll start off by saying that some form of preparation is entirely necessary for any prepared speech. After all, a prepared speech isn't called a "prepared speech" for nothing! In the previous post, I talked about how writing is, if not the best, at least a highly effective way to coherently organize thoughts. Every prepared speech project in Pathways comes with a speech outline, and that's for your benefit. In other words, writing things down on paper is a step that I would certainly never skip. The question thus remains as to how much planning is needed for you to effectively deliver your speech. This is where preferences may be different for every person. Find What's Right for YouSome people may find that it necessary to write out a complete and detailed script for a speech. Others may find it more helpful to only write down the key points. Either way, both methods have their unique and distinct advantages.
Writing out a speech in its entirely can be helpful in that you can prepare more fully. This way, once you hit the stage, you would know more exactly what to say at every moment and articulate it correctly. Supposedly, this is helpful if you're delivering a speech in a language that you don't speak very fluently. This may also be a good practice if you're going to speak on content that you're not particularly familiar with. However, I personally have found that a fully scripted speech can actually impede my flow of delivery. I have noticed that whenever I present on a speech that I've written out verbatim, I am more likely to lose my train of thought. This is because I find myself constantly trying to recall what I specifically need to say next. Simply put, the fewer things I have to remember, the fewer the things I will forget. As such, I personally prefer to prepare just a few key points and then focus on covering them during the speech. Yet again, you might beg to differ on this, and that's completely okay! If all of this comes down to one piece of advice, then it would be to see for yourself what works best. There's really no one-size-fits-all method when it comes to planning speeches. What are your personal preferences for preparing speeches? What has worked best for you? Comment down below! |
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August 2020
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