Toastmasters Trinidad & Tobago is currently marking its 96th anniversary from October 17th to October 22nd. To celebrate there would be a virtual series of events which would be streamed live (and recorded) via Facebook (https://bit.ly/3o6SweN), Linked In ( https://bit.ly/34f55wR) and Youtube https://bit.ly/3m6CJek).
Through various panel discussions, interviews and presentations you will learn more about Toastmasters Trinidad and Tobago. As a Toastmaster, you enhance your leadership and communication skills so you can move confidently towards your personal and professional goals.
In the October issue of Toastmasters magazine there is an article written by DTM Cathey Armillas on how to “Rock Your Presentation”. Cathey is a Ted Coach and Executive Speaker coach and has coached a wide variety of speakers: from a rap singer to a World War II veteran, from CEOs to TED speakers and Toastmasters World.
In this article she lists the ten top mistakes made when public speaking and then provides tips on how to countermand these mistakes so you can “rock your presentation”.
I have to admit I am guilty of the first mistake listed – “infowhelming” the audience – giving them too much information. Cathey also discussed the need to tailor the material to suit your audience and not based on your level of expertise which ties into the second mistake she discussed which is being “Audience Ignorant”, resulting in a presentation that does not match interest of the audience.
Cathey highlighted the fact that “leaders want the 30,000-foot view while analysts love to get into the weeds”. This is a really a really useful point that we could consider in our places of work when doing our presentations. As you prepare your presentation consider who is your audience. Is it a client? Is it your colleagues? Is it management or execs? What is the purpose for this presentation? How familiar are they with the material or initiative or project? Your response to these questions would determine how much detail you would go into for your presentation or whether you would just provide a Birds Eye view. Just note that more times that not, Senior Managers and Executives would just need a birds eye view of the information you are presenting.
Cathey also discussed the importance of connecting with the audience and that it’s our jobs as public speakers to bring down the “invisible wall between you and the audience.”
The magazine also has an article that highlights our 2020 World Championship winners: Mike Carr, Linda-Marie Miller, and Lindy MacLaine – a championship that was held virtually which provided its own unique challenges that these speakers embraced. Mike Carr’s story was particularly touching as he had stepped away from Speech contests after not placing when he had advanced to the International Speech Contest semifinals in 2015.
The Toastmaster magazine also has tips on how you can incorporate storytelling into your sales – an interesting read whether or not you are in sales because we may not be directly be involved in selling to a client but we can be trying to sell an idea or initiative or gain consensus in our places of work.
Today we celebrated Republic Day in Trinidad and Tobago. We became a republic 44 years ago.
A republic is defined as a “state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives…..which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.”
In a monarchy you rule because of the station you were born or married into. Monarchs felt that the right to rule was their divine right – they were pre-ordained to be King or Queen by God. Some even asserted that as a Monarch they were not accountable to an earthly authority (such as a parliament) because their right of rule was from divine authority.
In a democracy you rule because you were chosen by the people to represent them in parliament – your station is of no relevance.
My dear reader…what is your vision for Trinidad and Tobago as a Republic 4 years, from now ? 10 years from now? 20 years from now? 44 years from now?
What is your vision for Trinidad and Tobago Toastmasters clubs?
What is your vision for yourself ?
We made a choice to become a Toastmaster. What choices are we going to make to ensure we get the most of our Toastmasters experience? Because as the saying goes, “if you don’t know where you are going, how are you going to know when you get there?”
So what do you want to accomplish as a Toastmaster in the next six months? next year? next five years? Write it down. What do you have to do to get there? Start planning. Map out what you need to do every week, every month, to get there. Are there any major obstacles to these goals? For instance other goals such as personal, work or studies? Then just start. Stop. Start Over. But keep going. Perfection is not the key but persistence is.
Our nation’s watchwords as stated by Dr. Eric Williams are “discipline, tolerance and production” as Trinbagonian Toastmasters let us use this to work towards our goals because as stated by Denzel Washington “Dreams without goals, are just dreams and they ultimately fuel disappointment.”
So just start. Start logging into Pathways more frequently. Volunteer for roles at Competitions. Take part in a competition. Give speeches at other clubs. Mentor an incoming Toastmaster. Join a committee. become a member of the Executive. As stated on our coat of arms: “together we aspire, together we achieve.“
If you are not a Toastmaster. Take the first step. Attend one of our virtual meetings and see how Toastmasters can be a stepping stone to becoming a better communicator and leader.
When Thomas Edison was inventing the light bulb, he was asked by a reporter, “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?” Edison’s response to this was, “I did not fail, I just found 1,000 ways it would not work.”
To grow, to become better, we must receive feedback. This feedback we tend to classify as ‘success’ – if we get the outcome we want and ‘failure’ if we don’t get the outcome we want.
What if ? We stop classifying these results as success or failure but just considered it all feedback – pure and simple. Feedback that lets us know that we need to change how we are doing thing, that there are scenarios we have not considered or perhaps we are not putting in the required effort.
Because, in truth and in fact, you have a tendency to learn more when things don’t go the way we expected, than when we do. For myself, my failed projects or goals not accomplished allowed me to really think about what I did wrong, forced me to reevaluate the way things were done and gave me the impetus to put things in place to ensure that I do better next time(s) around (it may take several tries before you get the result you want). This is why, when managing a project, the retrospective – thinking about what went good and bad is a critical component of project success.
In Toastmasters you are given the opportunity to get feedback in a myriad of ways: as your speech is evaluated, as meetings are evaluated, as guests give their comments on our meeting and as we take up leadership roles – indicated by the success of our clubs and districts.
If you think about a diamond, it’s beautiful isn’t it – as it glistens in light. But if you think about it, a diamond is just “a piece of coal that handled stress exceptionally well.” So when mistakes occur, rather than viewing your mistakes as failures and the mistakes of others as slights, consider it all as feedback. Consider it as an opportunity to grow, to learn about your behaviours and thoughts, to understand how you react to others and to draw to your attention your internal dialogue when you feel that you have fallen short (if it’s too negative you may even give up rather than keep going).
Always remember, only fake diamonds are perfect, ALL natural diamonds have a bit of imperfection – so our goal is not to be perfect because like diamonds- nature made US ALL imperfect.
So as we attend our Toastmasters meetings, serve in various roles during meetings, give speeches, evaluate speeches and serve as leaders on the Executive, Areas and Division, when we are challenged, embrace this process of becoming a diamond. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Always remember that you don’t have to be perfect to be a good Toastmaster. You just have to show up and make good on your Toastmasters promise.
“A diamond is just a piece of charcoal that handled stress exceptionally well”
Find your leadership. Find your club. Join us this Thursday 3rd September, 2020 as we celebrate National Pride – all nationalities welcome.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts” – Winston Churchill. In this year- 2020, a year where we are battling a pandemic (Covid 19) it is a challenging time from both a health and economic perspective. We are challenged but yet we continue on.
Talk Tsu Flyer – National Pride Meeting Theme
Join Talk Tsu as we celebrate 58 years of Trinidad & Tobago being an Independent nation. We are a but a young nation (not old enough to get a pension as stated in a meme).
When you consider that other more developed countries have been around for hundreds of years, we have made progress for a young small Caribbean nation. Yet-there is always room for improvement. There is a lot we can do better. We have a lot to learn, to improve, to do better. It takes all us of us as Trinbagonians to do this. Still, we should take pride; pride in how far we have come and pride in how far we want to go.
We should take the time to acknowledge all of our small victories so that they would eventually add up to something great (as stated by Kara Goucher). As Toastmasters, we can contribute to the growth of our young nation, by improving the communication and leadership skills in our communities – two of the important components to success at our schools, offices and government institutions.
One of the main barriers to the development of leadership and communication skills is confidence. As a Toastmaster, you are given the opportunity to overcome this barrier, through Toastmaster’s supportive environment of mentoring and feedback; helping you to find your confidence as you work through various communication and leadership projects. Through the support of your fellow Toastmasters and online materials tailored based on your personal leadership and communication goals – your selected “Pathway”, you will see your leadership and communication skills flourish. For those of us who have been fortunate to attend the Executive Leadership training – it’s a treasure trove of information that assists you in your development.
So take that first step. Come spend an evening with Talk Tsu.
“We are going to free ourselves from mental slavery because whilst others might free the body, none but ourselves can free the mind” – Marcus Garvey.
As we celebrate Emancipation Day here in Trinidad and Tobago, let’s take a moment to ponder on the limits we put on ourselves: “we are not smart enough, we can’t accomplish this, we are not good public speakers, we are not good leaders”. What if you thought differently? What if these limits only existed in your mind? Free yourself to think differently, to quote Nelson Mandela: “It’s impossible, until it’s done.”
Take that first step towards becoming a better public speaker and leader. Find your confidence, Find your club…..come spend an evening with Talk Tsu.
It is with great pleasure that I can report to you that our club is strong and it’s future is in great hands.
This month of May 2020 marks 15 years of growth for our beloved Talk Tsu Toastmasters Club #788773.
In spite of the restrictions on gatherings due to the Covid19 pandemic our club members continue to display tenacity as we have conducted both our April and May meetings online.
Not only that, we have even held our club elections online. These historic events would not have been possible without the club members who volunteered their time, skills and resources to setup and participate in the meetings.
I must express my congratulations to the incoming club executive to be led by TM Kareem Forde. For the 2020/2021 term this team will lead our club to success and I do look forward to working with them as both a member and the Immediate Past President (IPP).
As we begin preparations for our final club meeting for this term and the various handover sessions to be conducted, I thank everyone who has supported the 2019/2020 club executive.
Please do have a wonderful day and please continue to invest in your development.
On behalf of the 2019/2020 club executive, it is with great pleasure that I wish all the members of Talk Tsu a Happy Club Birthday as we celebrate 15years of Talk Tsu.
Even though due to COVID19 based restrictions on public gatherings we cannot physically meet, I still strongly feel the Talk Tsu spirit and camaraderie among members.
I encourage you to share your favorite Talk Tsu memories in the comments and feel free to share your pics on our group chat. We’ll try our very best to post some on our social media channels for the world to see how Talk Tsu celebrates.
I must sincerely thank all the club’s members,past and present, for your unique contributions to Talk Tsu over the years.
Without your participation, dedication and efforts our club would never have achieved the success we continue to have over the years.
This success is not only in terms of Distinguished Club Program goals or contest success but the growth that we all have attained from the relationships formed between us.
I encourage you members (past, present and future) to continue to foster these relationships, because it is only through these relationships that we can become the great leaders and communicators we joined Toastmasters to become.
As I raise my glass, I invite you to do the same as we toast to Talk Tsu’s past, present and future success.
It is with great pleasure that I announce that we have already achieved our first education award for the 2019/2020 term!
It is my pleasure to congratulate TM Sherdon Pierre, CC,CL on achieving his Competent Leader award.
Toastmaster Sherdon is a great example of a competent leader as he has served on the club’s executive over the past four terms. As the VP Public Relations 2019/2020, TM Sherdon is doing well to promote the Toastmasters brand by his example.
Sherdon has also represented our club, area and division at the District Table Topics contest in 2017/2018.
On behalf of the club executive and officers, I wish TM Sherdon continued success in his personal growth journey. Knowing TM Sherdon I expect to see many more awards coming in soon and I look forward to serving along with the club executive, to ensure that his Talk Tsu experience continues to be super fantastic.
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