President's Tip of the Week

How to Have Fun as a Toastmaster
(11/30/09)

I’ve never been one of those Toastmasters that went to club meetings and nothing more. During my first several months as a Toastmaster, two of our veteran members encouraged me to attend the upcoming District 3 conference where I was privileged to meet the current President of Toastmasters International

I haven’t missed very many of these Arizona conferences since. They are held twice a year in the fall and in the spring and each features the best the state of Arizona has to offer for various contests. This past contest treated us to a side-splitting tribute to social networking and the breakdown of human communication.

Coming up at the end of April will be a special treat in the form of the International Speech Contest and Table Topics Contest. I have it on good authority that the winner of the District 3 International Speech Contest will come from our home area of G3 and will represent us at the International Convention in Palm Desert, CA in August.

In addition to enjoying these contests, we will be privileged to honor one of our own, who will be receiving the coveted Distinguished Toastmaster award. If you were there for Liz’s speech two weeks ago, you’ll know Tamra will be one of .1% of individuals who join Toastmasters to achieve that level of distinction.

All of this is to encourage you to venture outside the club as a way to enhance your Toastmasters experience. I am currently serving as club coach for (and consequently a member of) another club, as well as Area Governor for G3. I have never had as much fun as a Toastmaster as I have for the last 6 months that I’ve been in both of these positions. I have visited 8 other clubs, attended various trainings, chaired committees, will soon try my facilitator’s hat on for the first time, and I have my own DTM in sight for next year. It has been a BLAST and I have grown immensely as a person and as a leader through all of these experiences.

Take a step outside the Gilbert Toastmasters safehouse and you never know what you might find… you might very well find yourself!

Dates to remember:
April 30-May 2 – District 3 Spring Conference in Mesa (cheer for Tamra!)
August 11-14 – International Convention in Palm Desert, CA
October sometime – District 3 Fall Conference, probably in Tucson (cheer for Liz & Emi!)