Tag: 2022-2023

Joe Grondin, our Keynote!

Posted on | by Andrew Watt, DTM

Register Here!

Joe Grondin, DTM AS, in round black eyeglasses, a gray charcoal suit with a pink shirt and a pink-and-gray paisley tie, holding a microphone, smiling broadly, and standing in front of a blue-and-pink curtain with several indistinct national flags behind him at the 2017 Toastmasters International Convention.
Joe Grondin, DTM AS
Keynote Speaker at District 53’s Annual Conference

 Joe Grondin, DTM, AS is a retired educator and is now, with the guidance of his Toastmaster family, fulfilling his dream of being an international inspirational speaker. He is the author of the books “Living in Harmony With Our Children” and “Speak to Reach” and has been asked to speak throughout North America on these topics.   

Joe has been busy traveling the globe to pursue his passions. Destinations include Malaysia, Washington D.C., and Las Vegas to participate in the Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking. Having qualified seven times for the world championships, he has successfully placed in the top 10 on two occasions. Joe is a three-time TEDx speaker and earned the prestigious Accredited Speaker designation from Toastmasters International in 2017 becoming one of 90 people in the world who hold this distinction. Joe does admit that his biggest accomplishment is getting hugs from his grandchildren.

Joe is a “FEEL GOOD” type guy and takes any opportunity to sing and dance in public, much to the dismay of my family. The last time Joe did his song and dance in public his children ran for cover.

Joeis a proud Toastmaster and he believes that Toastmaster audiences are the best audiences in the world. It is truly an honour for Joe to present in front of his toastmaster family because it matters not where you are in your journey, you are dedicated to self-improvement so that you can make a difference in this world. Joe is hoping that in some small way he can help you on that journey.

Saturday Morning Keynote – “Developing Your Signature”

This session will focus on how to develop our unique signature voice and encourage you to develop your unique presentation style.

Saturday Afternoon Keynote – “Mrs. Elliott’s Lessons

Mrs. Elliott, Joe’s favourite teacher, taught him four lessons on leadership at a time he needed it the most. Toastmasters further helped Joe to hone those lessons. This presentation combines leadership with wellness and are lessons about finding what shines within us, finding the possibilities, finding the strength within, and finding the positive.

Bonus Workshop & Breakfast: (Separate registration)

“Speak to Reach”

This presentation surrounds Joe’s book about providing us with tools to help us to become proficient public speakers but also, through self-reflection, enabling us to speak from our hearts to reach any audience. To reach an audience means using our unique heart-connected voice to touch others in a way that inspires them to make a positive change.

Register for the conference!

FebFest: Next Level Toastmasters

Posted on | by Stephanie Roy

“Why did you join Toastmasters?“

Our PRM, Mohan Padamati, asked this question at each of the Officer Training events this winter. It’s an important question, one we should revisit often to keep ourselves motivated and on track with our goals.

The answers were what you would expect: increase confidence presenting, networking, grow professional leadership skills, get better at public speaking, etc., etc.

What are you doing to push yourself towards your goals?

What are you doing to step outside your comfort zone?

How are you challenging yourself to grow?

This weekend I had the pleasure of participating in District 53’s FebFest Event and watching numerous brave Toastmasters take massive leaps in their journey. We all know how intimidating it can be to step up to the podium in our clubs. These speakers chose to stretch outside of their club bubble and walk onto a larger stage. And they did not disappoint.

The event consisted of three sessions:

  • 1pm Pecha-Kucha
  • 2pm Speech-a-thon
  • 3pm Table Topics Marathon
Pecha Kucha text image says 20 images by 20 seconds

The first session of the day was a Pecha-Kucha led by the wonderful Norm Thibodeau. If you’ve never seen this style of speech before, it is an amazing test of a speaker’s skills. A Pecha-Kucha consists of 20 slides set to display for 20 seconds each, resulting in a 6 minute and 40 second speech. The slides advance automatically and the speaker must time their speech to match their prepared slides. As a Toastmaster still fighting to get any speech under 7 minutes, I was quite impressed. There is little room for error and preparation is key to success.

The five Pecha-Kucha speakers were:

  • Russell Kenny
  • Vijaya Karunakar
  • Amy Chiu
  • Anthony Sariol
  • Norm Thibodeau

After the Pecha-Kucha, we moved on to the Speech-a-thon session led by yours truly. It was a privilege to take on the emcee role for this portion of the event. Each speech carried it’s own unique message, while also beautifully weaving together to offer us all motivation and powerful life lessons.

Image of a flower with the background of a blue sky and a gibbous moon

Sugan Kumar kicked things off sharing his experiences being on his death bed and fighting though a brain injury at a young age. He reminded us to face challenges with strength and practice gratitude for all of the blessings in our lives, because we never know when they will be taken away.

Ann Canfield‘s speech gave us action steps for how to show that gratitude towards others by seeking first to understand. She reminded us that curiosity and active listening moves us much faster towards solutions when there is tension and challenges.

Russell Kenny reminded us of the truth made famous by the Serenity Prayer: focus on what we can control, our own reasoned choices, and let go of that which we cannot control.

To bring the message home, Anthony Sariol inspired us to take action, to step up and do something with the opportunities we have been gifted.

Each speaker showed up for the day with their own unique speech and no collaboration. It was fascinating to watch it all come together into a beautiful message for us all.

To round out the afternoon, Thomas Farrelly led us all through a Table Topics Marathon, bringing compelling questions in a variety of areas. Everyone got a chance to participate and practice their impromptu speaking skills, including our District Director, John Hogan, and our Programs Quality Director, Patti Walters. It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know some of the leaders in our district, as well as fellow Toastmasters.

We all have our own unique reasons for joining Toastmasters, but each of us begin with a goal in mind. We want to become better, braver, bolder. We seek to expand our skills and our network. Personal growth and development is a challenging path to walk alone. Our District 53 leaders are hard at work creating opportunities, like FebFest, to allow space for us to blossom into powerful communicators and leadership.

SpringBoard into action - logo for 2023 Annual Conference

If you missed out on this awesome event, you’re in luck! There is an even bigger opportunity on the horizon.

Come join us at the District 53 Conference in Springfield on May 6th and surround yourself with like-minded people striving to achieve goals just like yours. Get all the details and register at: d53tm.org/district-conference/

Obituary: Eugene Siemiatkoski

Posted on | by Andrew Watt, DTM

The leadership of District 53 Toastmasters is sad to report the death of Eugene Siemiatowski, on January 20, 2023. Brought into Windsor Toastmasters by his wife Wanda, Eugene was a regular competitor in District contests, and also served a term as an Area Director from time to time. He was an excellent professional chef and active in numerous other organizations besides Toastmasters.

His family will receive friends on Saturday, February 4, 1 p.m.-3 p.m., with a Celebration of Life at 3 p.m., at Carmon Windsor Funeral Home, 807 Bloomfield Ave., Windsor. 

A more complete obituary can be found at the Carmon Funeral Home page.

Stephanie Roy Joins Website Team

Posted on | by Stephanie Roy

Area 41 Director Stephanie Roy has joined the team that runs the District 53 website as a member of the editorial and authorship staff. Look for her byline on stories in the near future!

Stephanie Roy, Area Director
Stephanie Roy, Area 41 Director

Stephanie first heard of Toastmasters years ago from author and podcaster, Lewis Howes. Howes credits Toastmasters for a large part of his transformation from a washed-up football player to a Times best selling author and successful public speaker. Despite being inspired by his story, the timing wasn’t right for Stephanie to find a club, but the idea stayed rooted in the back of her mind.

Flash forward to the pandemic, Stephanie, like many of us, found herself with an unexpected amount of free time. As a self-admitted personal-growth-and-development junkie, she began searching for ways evolve her personal and professional skills. The idea of exploring Toastmasters resurfaced.

In October of 2020, Stephanie visited two clubs in her local area: Nathan Hale Toastmasters in Manchester, CT and Talk It Up Toastmasters in Windsor, CT. (Fun aside: because everything was virtual, her first visit to Nathan Hale was actually while in California!) Both clubs had their own unique personality and culture, and she recognized the value in both. Ever the over-achiever, she joined not one, but both clubs officially on November 1st, 2020.

Since then, she has fallen in love with Toastmasters and raised her hand for as many opportunities as possible. She took on the role of President in both clubs for the 2021-2022 year. Because of the shifting landscape for all of us, both clubs lost their VPEs a few months into the year and she stepped in to take on those roles as well. She passed the baton as President for the 2022-2023 Toastmasters year, but stayed on as VPE and picked up the role of SAA in both clubs.

With eyes firmly set on earning her DTM, Stephanie is serving as Area 41 Director this year as well as donating her time as a Club Coach. She has completed the Persuasive Influence Pathway, as well as level four in both the Visionary Communication and Presentation Mastery Paths. She is serving on the District 53 Conference Committee for the second year in a row, assisting with Winter Officer Training, and FebFest. In addition, she will be offering the Youth Leadership Program for a group in the Manchester, CT area beginning in February.

Outside of Toastmasters, Stephanie has spent the last 20 years as an entrepreneur and teacher, specializing in building empowering, community oriented villages within brick and mortar business. Driven by an entrepreneurial spirit from a young age, she pursued a career as a professional martial arts instructor and quickly established herself as an integral part in the growth of the business.

For the past ten years, she has brought her integrator and systems building expertise to developing personal and professional consulting programs through Momentum Learning Systems, LLC, as well as founding several complementary businesses. Most notable is Questers’ Way, a brick and mortar center that fuses family, fun, learning, and food into an integrated facility that empowers the community to learn and grow together.

Stephanie looks forward to bringing you news from Division D. Watch for her upcoming reports on FebFest and Winter Officer Training highlights!

SpringBoard into action - logo for 2023 Annual Conference

Register for the D53 Spring Conference!

Posted on | by Andrew Watt, DTM

May 6, 2023

Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place, Springfield, MA & Online

 “SPRINGBoard to Success”

Conference Registration Is Live!

Get the Early Bird discounted rate for a limited time!  Rate ends April 7, 2023.

Register here.

Call For Presenters is Closed!

Want to get out of your comfort zone? Share your knowledge with your fellow Toastmasters!
Deadline to submit: February 15, 2023

Miss the CFP Q&A Session? Check out the recording here.

Presenters must attend in person.

Stay in touch with conference happenings at the District 53 Conference Page.

Talk Up Toastmasters! from the CGD

Posted on | by Andrew Watt, DTM

16 January 2023

Greetings fellow Toastmasters!

Bettyann Peck, Club Growth Director

We all know Toastmasters love to connect, so take advantage of it — Let’s Talk Up Toastmasters!
This exciting membership program starting February 1, 2023, is the chance to encourage your members to invite guests to a special meeting where prospective members can learn about Toastmasters’ many benefits.

Here’s how it works for your club:

  • When you add five new, dual, or reinstated members with a join date between February 1 and March 31, you’ll receive a special Talk up Toastmasters ribbon to display on your club’s banner.
  • Qualifying clubs can also earn a special discount code for 10% off their next club order.

The discount code expires six months from the date of issue and is not valid with other offers
Applications and payments for members with a join date between February 1 and March 31
must be received at World Headquarters or online no later than March 31. The addition of
transfer and charter members does not count towards Talk Up Toastmasters credit.

Applications and payments for members with a join date between February 1 and March 31
must be received at World Headquarters or online no later than March 31. The addition of
transfer and charter members does not count towards Talk Up Toastmasters credit.
I look forward to seeing the remarkable results of your efforts that will benefit you and your
clubs!


Yours in Toastmasters Service,

Bettyann Peck
Club Growth Director, 2022-23

Open House: Talk It Up Toastmasters

Posted on | by Andrew Watt, DTM

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

New Year’s Message

Posted on | by Andrew Watt, DTM

5 January 2023

Greetings Toastmasters of District 53,

My family and I wish you the very best, YOUR very best life in 2023!

I find myself amazed that half of the 2022-2023 program year is written in the past. Immediate Past District Director Ishii told me that this year as District Director would occur as passing quickly. 

John J. Hogan, District Director

He was spot on!

Nevertheless, there is much to come in the next six months! Your Club Speech Contests are in full swing. Area and Division Speech Contests will follow, culminating with District Speech Contests, conducted at the Spring Conference in May. Club Officer Training events are happening too, throughout January and February. FebFest 2023 planning for February 4 is in the works! Program Quality Director Walter is busy with her conference (“SPRINGBoard Into Action!”) and contest committees, putting together the high quality programs that District 53 Toastmasters cherish. Club Growth Director Peck is making great strides with placing Club Coaches, and supporting new clubs through the chartering process. 

And finally, fellow Toastmaster, what is YOUR personal goal that will be realized through your participation in one of our 11 Pathways educational opportunities? I’ll share mine in my next newsletter. 

All for now!

In service,

John J. Hogan, DTM
District Director: 2022-2023

Chief Judge appointed; Rules Clarification

Posted on | by Andrew Watt, DTM

District 53 has appointed a Chief Judge for the 2022-2023 contest season.

Andrew B. Watt, DTM will serve in this role until and unless a member of his club disqualifies him from contest participation. Questions may be directed to him.

With regard to Rule 3.B.3 and 3.B.4 in the Toastmasters Contest Rulebook 2022-2023, the District has decided that only one (1) contestant from each contest at club, Area, or Division will advance to the next level of competition, regardless of whether that contestant is the winner or the runner-up.

All contests at Area level and above must be held, even if there is only one (1) contestant competing, in order to ensure that minimum and maximum time rules are respected.

District 53 Welcomes New Clubs

Posted on | by Andrew Watt, DTM

8 November 2022

Fellow Toastmasters,

Greetings from Baltimore where I am continuing to serve District 53 Toastmasters and our members.

Let me extend my congratulations and welcome to our newest clubs:

  • Big Y Toastmasters
    Springfield, Massachusetts
    Chartered 4 October 2022 in Division D, Area 43
    Sponsors: Patt Walter, DL5; Andrew Watt, DTM
    Sponsoring Club: Blue Chip Toastmasters
  • Voya Toastmasters
    Windsor, Connecticut
    Chartered 7 October 2022
    Division D, Area 43
    Sponsors & Mentors: Tom Farrelly, IP5; Steve Lanning, DTM
    Sponsoring Club: Hubble Toastmasters & Housatonic Toastmasters

Welcome to our new charter members from these new corporate clubs, and we look forward to seeing some of you at District events quite soon!

Sincerely,
Bettyann Peck, DTM
District 53 Club Growth Director, 2022-2023