Norwich Open House Success!

Maroon banner announcing an open house on 17 April 2024,  in front of a range of photos depicting guests and speakers from the event.

On Thursday, April 17th, 2024, Norwich Toastmasters club held an open house at Chelsea Groton Bank in Norwich. We had 19 attendees, including 6 guests at our club meeting. Of our six guests, we had one guest from District 38 who gave a speech and our District 53 District Director, Distinguished Toastmaster Patti Walter.

To get us started, Ed Watkins, our Toastmaster of the Day, introduced our technicians that were filled by members from both Norwich Toastmasters club and our sister club, Colonel Ledyard Toastmasters. This meeting focused on spreading the word about Toastmasters and what Toastmasters has to offer. If you are looking for somewhere to challenge yourself to grow personally and professionally, you need to check out Toastmasters, as we all know the number-one fear is public speaking. The first section of the meeting focused on prepared speeches. At this meeting, we had three electrifying speakers!

  • The first speaker this evening was Christine Gabel, her speech was titled, “Find Your Voice, What Norwich Toastmasters Can Do for You?”. Christine’s speech was a very compelling speech about Toastmasters and what it has to offer, to help you find your voice because Toastmasters is an affordable continuing education that teaches you skills and allows you to practice them in a positive and supportive environment without fear of failure. Christine is new to Toastmasters and it is very evidence she is passionate about Toastmasters.
  • Our second speaker, Dennis Stevens, gave his speech titled, “Be Brave!” Dennis joined the club this past February and is already giving his 3rd speech. Dennis was inspired to give this speech after attending several club meetings and notice people refrain from participating. He talked about what does bravery mean? in reference to public speaking. He told us about the tale of two arrows in Buddhism. The first arrow we can’t always control, but the second is our response to the first arrow. He ended by giving us suggestions on how to handle our fear of failure and challenged us to let go of our fear, be brave and start right now by volunteering for Table Topics.

Photo provided by Christine (Christine and Mary were missing from the photo)

  • Our final speaker was Frank Vowinkel from Lehigh Valley Toastmasters in Pennsylvania, a club in District 38. Frank came to practice his contest speech titled, “The Funcle”, and to receive informal feedback prior to competing at his District’s Humorous Speech Contest. It was a hilarious story on how he was the fun uncle. His niece and nephew are so lucky to have a Funcle!!! We wish him all the best at the contest and look forward to hear how he placed.

We then moved to the impromptu section of the meeting, Table Topics. This part of the meeting allows us to practice thinking on our feet. Darrell Fox, our Table Topics Master, introduced school days as the theme for this session. Darrell asked questions about favorite teachers, best school topics, favorite toys and/or activities when we were all growing up. It was a lot of fun!

The final section of the meeting was evaluations led by our General Evaluator, Nate Jaycox. In this section we received constructive feedback to help us continue to improve our skills. Toastmasters provides a positive and supportive environment to allow us to learn and practice without fear of failure.

Are you looking to improve your communication skills? Are you looking to become a more effective leader? Are you looking for somewhere to challenge yourself to grow personally and professionally? If you answer yes to any of these questions, please attend our next Toastmasters club meeting in person or online.

DATE: Wednesday, May 1st

TIME: 7-8:30 pm

IN PERSON LOCATION:

  • The Congregational Church of Salem
    at the Community Building across the street from the church.
    244 Hartford Road
    Salem, Connecticut 06420

ONLINE ZOOM:

  • LINK: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84732872267?pwd=ZlZ1ODFYZzNySjBOVjR2UnN2aGFTZz09
  • Meeting ID: 847 3287 2267
  • Passcode: 4779255

For more information about the upcoming club meeting, contact Dennis Stevens at 760-802-4103 or Sharon Mercado at 860-367-4195.

A Change in Status for CATC

Founded in 2009, Capital Advanced Toastmasters Club is proud to be the Capital District’s only advanced club. The Executive Committee and club membership has recently voted and would like to announce that the club has decided to embark on a brand-new journey as an open, community club with no membership restrictions.

We are focused on communication and leadership skills, both basic and beyond the basics offered by most clubs! Let us help YOU with Level 4 and 5 & DTM projects or we can help you get started as a brand-new Toastmaster. Our next meeting is Monday, October 2nd at 6:30pm Eastern Time.

Please visit our website for more information. https://1360121.toastmastersclubs.org/

Last Word Toastmasters: An invitation

Greetings Divisions D & E Toastmasters,

Are YOU a Toastmaster looking for more opportunities to speak?

Hello from the Last Word club! We are the only Toastmasters club in the Berkshires in western Massachusetts. We are doing hybrid meetings, both in-person and virtual. 

  • Would you like to be our guest speaker and wow the crowd?
  • Maybe think of having a dual membership with us?
  • Come visit and see what you think.
  • Last Word is friendly and fun!

We meet at our president’s workspace in Pittsfield, Hi-Tech Mold & Tool. It has a nice meeting room, with a big TV screen for the Zoom calls.

Our next meeting is June 20th. We meet on the first and third Tuesdays of the month, 6:30 to 8pm. We are taking July 4th off and returning July 18th.

Drop us a line for more info, address and link at ToastmastersLastword@gmail.com

And check out our website, https://lastword.toastmastersclubs.org

With our best,
— David C, VPPR
— Eric, PRES and TRE

Region 9 Presents: 3 Secrets of Leadership Success

District 53 Toastmasters is part of Region 9, a collection of Toastmasters Districts in the northeast US, Quebec, Ontario, and maritime Canada. Join Region 9’s Advisor Patricia O’Reilly for a great day of leadership training, inspirational messages and powerful exercises to help you become a better leader.

Saturday 13 May 2023

9:30am-12:30 pm ET / 2:30 pm – 5:30 pm GMT +1

Hear Great Ideas!

Past International President Ted Corcoran presents Skills of Servant Leadership — Learn how high levels of emotional intelligence and servant leadership go hand in hand. Learn how to get our team members on our bus, and going to the same destination.

Past International President Jim Kokocki presents Situational Leadership — Learn how to enable leaders to assess team member readiness and support them appropriately for their specific needs. Learn how to respond to a member’s “task maturity” to enable them to perform better.

Past International Director Monique Levesque-Pharoah presents Manage Conflict Before It Manages You — Learn how to facilitate honest and respectful discussion to resolve conflict and improve working relationships using the Interaction Model tool. Learn how to become more aware of the background biography and context of others on your team or overseeing your leadership.

Join Amazing Leaders!

Poster for the Region 9 Toastmasters "Final Three Secrets; for leadership success"

Region 9 Advisor Patricia O’Reilly invites you to join her for an amazing afternoon of leadership training with prominent Toastmasters from around the world.  Join her and

  •  Past International President Ted Corcoran
  • Past International President Jim Kocoki
  • Past International Director Monique Levesque-Pharaoh

with presentations on the Skills of Servant Leadership, the values of Situational Leadership, and the importance of Managing Conflict Before It Manages You!

Presentations will run from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm ET / 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm GMT + 1 on Saturday, May 13, 2023.

Register to join these amazing online sessions! 

Need Club Officer Training? Check These Out

You can attend a Club Officer Training in another Toastmasters District.  If you do, be sure to post your training date and the District attended at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AlternateCOT.  We will reach out to the other district to validate your training attendance.  We can’t guarantee your club will get training credit unless you post your attendance in this AlternateCOT log.

Listed below are several opportunities that we selected because they are all online and have a format similar to what we use in District 53.  All times listed have been adjusted to EST.

DateTimeHost DistrictRegistration Link
Mon, 01-30-239:30-11:00pmDistrict 1 (CA)Register
Sat, 02-04-2310:00am-2:00pmDistrict 27 (VA, DC, MD)Register
Mon, 02-06-239:30-11:00pmDistrict 1 (CA)Register
Sat, 02-11-2310:00am-NoonDistrict 46 (NY)Register
Sat, 02-11-2312:30pm-2:30pmDistrict 46 (NY)Register
Sun, 02-12-232:00pm-4:00pmDistrict 36 (DC, MD)Register
Wed 02-15-236:00pm-9:00pmDistrict 10 (OH)Register
Wed, 02-15-239:00pm-12:00amDistrict 57 (CA)Register
Wed, 02-16-236:00pm-8:30 pmDistrict 10 (OH)Register
Sat, 02-18-2310:00am-1:00pmDistrict 14 (GA)Register
Sat, 02-18-2311:45am-3:00pmDistrict 39 (CA)Register
Tue, 02-21-239:00-11:00pmDistrict 101 (CA)Register
Wed, 02-23-236:00-9:00pmDistrict 10 (OH)Register
Thu, 02-23-239:00pm-12:00amDistrict 57 (CA)Register
Sat, 02-25-2311:00am-1:00pmDistrict 36 (DC, MD)Register
Sat, 02-25-2312:00noon-2:00pmDistrict 101 (CA)Register
Tue, 02-28-237:00-9:30pmDistrict 83 (NY, NJ)Register

Open House: Talk It Up Toastmasters

Talk It Up Toastmasters Club #8045, will sponsor an Open House on Thursday, 16 February 2023, from 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm online. (Calendar)

You can find them here on Toastmastersclubs.org or on Find-a-Club at Toastmasters.org

Please contact Steve McGuinness, VPPR, for additional information: stevensnewemail@gmail.com

District 53 announces Contests for 2022-23

District Director John J. Hogan and Program Quality Director Patti Walter have announced the following contest program for the 2022-2023 year:

  • The International Contest, leading to the World Championship of Public Speaking
  • The Tall Tales Contest, ending at the District 53 Conference in May

The contests for each level of competition must occur by the following dates:

  • Club Contests must take place by January 15, 2023
  • Area Contests will take place between January 16, 2023 and March 15, 2023
  • Division Contests will take place between March 16, 2023 and April 16, 2023
  • The District Contests will occur as part of the District Conference in May 2023

All contests at all levels must conform to the Toastmasters Contest Rulebook for the 2022-2023 program year. Questions should be directed to Patti Walter as the Program Quality Director.

Open Houses in June – July – August

The following clubs are hosting Open Houses in June, July and August 2022. Visit if you can!

July 18, 2022 — 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM (2 hours)

Capital Advanced Toastmasters – Open House

Join the members and guests of Capital Advanced Toastmasters for an Open House on July 18, 2022 from 5:30 – 7:30 pm. Refreshments provided at an in-person event!

Cathy Kittle, winner of the 2022 District Table Topics Contest

• Wildwood Program, Inc,
1190 Troy Schenectady Road (Route 7)
Latham, NY 12110. 

Keynote by Cathy Kittle, DTM — 2022 Winner of the District 53 Table Topics Contest.

Learn to be a better public speaker, evaluator, and leader in the Toastmasters world — grow your skills in an advanced club — build your skills in the context of a wider community!

More information can be had at the club’s website: 1360121.toastmastersclubs.org

RSVP to Jim Parsons, DTM