December 2013 Newsletter
The December 2013 Newsletter is now available ONLINE . If you are interested in contributing to the January 2014 newsletter please contact Krystal Rose.
Toastmasters Celebrate the Holidays Togethere with a Fun Luncheon
- A toast from the club President, Shannon O'Connell
- White Elephant Gift game
- Tasty lunch provided by AKA Bistro
- TONS of LAUGHS!
(click on photo to enlarge)
Happy New Year to all. See you at the first meeting of the year which is Tuesday, January 7th 2014
In the News: Toastmasters Int. Gets Recognition as a Resource to "Get Over the Fear of Public Speaking"
..."The great thing about Toastmasters is that it provides a safe space to practice your public speaking (everyone is there because they want to get better too!) and you get constructive feedback on your presentations from people who have been studying with the program for a while. It’s as close as you’ll get to taking a class on public speaking without paying a lot of money...finding a place where you can practice presenting in front of an audience without the pressure of a high-stakes spotlight is really the first big step to becoming more comfortable with public speaking..."
Key Take Aways:
http://mashable.com/2013/12/26/public-speaking-tips/?utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29&utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedburner
If you are interested in learning how to join Toastmasters, check out the MEMBERSHIP page for more details
Key Take Aways:
- Practice (in a supportive environment, like Toastmasters)
- Put yourself out there
- Learn from the experts (observe advance speakers, how they speak and their body language)
http://mashable.com/2013/12/26/public-speaking-tips/?utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29&utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedburner
If you are interested in learning how to join Toastmasters, check out the MEMBERSHIP page for more details
Quoteable for thought
“If you don’t get nervous when speaking to an audience, it probably means you’re dead.” ~Anonymous
New Officers in 2014
Congratulations to the incoming officers for the Jan. –June 2014 term:
President Shannon O’Connell, CC, CL
VP Education Rose Abbott, CC, ALB
VP Membership Kristin Blomstrom
VP Public Relations Krystal Rose, CC, CL
Treasurer Andy Tien
Secretary Mary Marasco
Sergeant-at-Arms Michelle Bender, ACB, ALB
A big thank you to our 3 board members who are going off the board: Tina Lenert, CC, CL; Viola Tawil, Sowmya Venkat. Thank you for your service to the club and members. Your contributions have proven to be valuable and have positively affected our path towards a President's Distinguished Club.
Founders District Speaker Exchange
Are you pressed for time and/or wanting to finish your competent communicator, competent leader or any of the other communicator and leadership awards sooner than later? You may be interested in the Speaker Exchange Program. The Speaker Exchange Program coordinates speaking opportunities for Toastmasters clubs to recieve outside "guest" speakers which means Parsons Toastmasters' members can speak at other clubs and recieve credit. The club wants you to accomplish your personal goals, so speak with the VP of education today for more details.
Parsons Toastmaster's is Thankful for All the New Members in November
Please welcome the club's newest members:
(pictured with Rose Abbott, VP of membership)
Vernon Budinger
Vernon Budinger
Eric Leider
Sterling Wainscott
Sterling Wainscott
Sandra Huang
Kyle Kranzky
Sonja-Sophie Loeffler
Leslie Suhy
Jolene Horn
Parsons Toastmasters Website Takes 2nd Place in Founder's District Contest
Krystal Rose, VP of Public Relations and club webmaster was recognized at the Founder’s District Conference, November 9th, for winning 2nd Place in the Diamond Web Award.
This picture was taken at the Parsons Club meeting on Tuesday. Congratulations, Krystal!
Krystal also wins a free admission to the Founder’s District 2014 Spring Conference.
Our award winning website is: http://parsonstoastmaster.blogspot.com/
(Left to right: Club President Shannon O'Connell with Krystal Rose)
A Month of Visitors
There must be something [good] in the water as this week's meeting counted 11 new visitors. Guests are always welcomed to visit and highly encouraged to participate. If you are new to toastmasters please contact the club's VP of Membership, Rose Abbott and she will gladly provide you with club details.
A Toastmaster’s Journey
A Toastmaster’s journey
Is like a flight
Into the air and
Into the light
Where you’ll end up
Only you will know…
It’s a mystery to learn
How far you can go
At first we are like
a bumbling bee..
but then we practice
and begin to see
Our progress we make
At each meeting we learn
And become more confident
At each new turn
We make a few blunders
Here and there
We’re not afraid to show
that we care
We gain our confidence
And then…
We come back for more
Again and again
Who is to say
What we can do
Only you will know
What’s inside of you
Let’s not be afraid
To try something new
For we can soar high
Into the blue
Keep up your journey
Into the light
Spread your wings like a bird
Upon a free flight
You’ll soar on the wind
And up far and high
Into the clouds
With the sun and the sky
Like a bird who learns
To enjoy the flight
Your journey with Toastmasters
Can bring YOU to new heights!
Is like a flight
Into the air and
Into the light
Only you will know…
It’s a mystery to learn
How far you can go
a bumbling bee..
but then we practice
and begin to see
At each meeting we learn
And become more confident
At each new turn
Here and there
We’re not afraid to show
that we care
And then…
We come back for more
Again and again
What we can do
Only you will know
What’s inside of you
To try something new
For we can soar high
Into the blue
Into the light
Spread your wings like a bird
Upon a free flight
And up far and high
Into the clouds
With the sun and the sky
To enjoy the flight
Your journey with Toastmasters
Can bring YOU to new heights!
~Writen and Read by Michelle Bender at the October 22nd meeting
Club Meeting: October 8th
The theme for meeting: "Fail Forward"
What it means: turning mistakes/adversity into success
Inspiration Nancy Urena (1-2 minutes)
Speaker #1` Kristin Blomstrom
Speaker #2 Rose Abbott
Evaluator #1 Sowmya Venkat
Evaluator #2 Shannon O’Connell
Table Topics Master Michelle Bender
Gen. Evaluator Mary Marasco
Ah Counter ?
Timer Daniel Juan
Grammarian Michelle O’Leary
Area B2/B3 Contest this Saturday October 5, 2013- Support Our Club's Contestants
Please plan to attend the Area B2/B3 Contest on Saturday, Oct. 5 at Kaiser (corner of Walnut/Los Robles). Registration at 8 a.m.; Contest begins at 9 a.m. Let's support our Tall Tales Winner, Kristin Blomstrom and our Evaluation Winner, Michelle O'Leary. It will be a fun and entertaining event
Evaluation Contest: Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Contest Toastmaster: Viola Tawil
Test Speaker: Anna Romero
Contestants: Rose Abbott
Marlene Martin - 2nd Place
Jennifer Miller
Michelle O’Leary - 1st Place
Krystal Rose
Vote Counter: Mary Marasco
Timer: Rodney Walker
Judges: We have 5 judges so far
SAA: Ron Morris
Officer Meeting: September 5, 2013
The club officers met today at noon to discuss hot topics, clubs policies, clubs distinguished, the upcoming "Tall Tales" and "Evaluator" contest as well as fundraising ideas and membership.
Tip: Strengthen Your Confidence
Confidence isn’t something you either have or you don’t. It’s a dynamic emotion that, like a physical muscle, needs exercise to grow stronger. Here are two ways to build and maintain it:
- Take inventory of your past. It’s easy to doubt yourself and your abilities. But if you look at your track record, chances are that your successes outweigh your failures. And, more importantly, you likely survived your missteps and gleaned lessons along the way.
- Focus on strengths. Most leaders are very strong in a few competencies, average in the majority, and weak in a few. Concentrate on leveraging what you’re best at. Then, manage your average and weak areas so they don’t detract from your effectiveness.
Source: Havard Business Review
Division B Toastmaster of the Year Award
Out of all the members in Area B2 (includes 5 local clubs), Bill Harmon was chosen as Toastmaster of the Year for Area B2!
Bill also received recognition from the Parsons Toastmasters officers for his outstanding service in leading the club to Presidents’ Distinguished Status.
Your dedication to the Parsons Toastmasters Club and to the members, plus your participation in the Contests and Founder’s District committees were instrumental in your being selected as the Area B2 Toastmaster of the Year
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(Bill Harmon with Viola Tawil who presented the Parsons Toastmasters' award).
Message from the Outgoing President
Nine speeches and two years ago, I joined Parsons Toastmasters Club 2151.
Today, I am proud to announce that we have achieved President’s Distinguished Status for 2012-2013, woohoo!!!, which was my goal when I became your president.
Of course, YOU [members] were the ones who achieved this goal by getting your CC, CL, and advanced leader awards, officers getting trained, submitting dues on time (yay, Viola!), and ALL the new members who came and joined.
This is only the third time we have accomplished the goal of earning President's Distinguished Status during the life of the club which began in 1974. In 2008, we did not even get a designation because the club had less than the required 20 charter strength members. And now, here we are ending the term with top honors, awards and a strong member base.
I look forward to seeing you all in the upcoming Toastmaster year (2013-2014), when our new president Shannon O’Connell will certainly bring some much needed dignity back to the role of Toastmasters President.
- Bill Harmon, 2012-2013 Club President
A New Term Starts In July
The next meeting will be held on July 2nd at the normal location (100 W Walnut Str. Pasadena) from noon to 1 p.m. Join in on welcoming the new club term and the new club President, Shannon O’Connell. Outgoing President, Bill Harmon, was recently awarded the “Area B2 Toastmaster of the Year” (a district-wide honor) for his service to the Parsons Club, the surrounding area clubs and the district. Michelle Bender, also a board officer at club and district level, was awarded the “Area Governor of the Year” honor. We encourage you to join a meeting and learn more about the award winning club.
HBR Tip: Brush Up on Your Grammar
People may view your language as a reflection of your competence. If you make a lot of writing mistakes or have grammatical errors when speaking, you may come across as uneducated or lazy. Since practicing grammar, as we once did in grade school, is not part of our daily routine, take it upon yourself to brush up on the rules once in a while. Consult guides on grammar and usage, such as Strunk and White's Elements of Style. Ask knowledgeable colleagues to proofread your material and to explain their corrections. Pay attention to what talented writers inside and outside the organization do. Read first-rate nonfiction, which will help you cultivate an appreciation of the skills you're trying to acquire. Check out what the Harvard Business Review wrote for ways to improve your grammar. No time to read? Try listening to podcast and audio books. I recommend the Grammar Girl podcast.
Source: HBR
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