Spring Contest Results

On March 12, Dallas Singles Toastmasters participated in the Spring Contest. Our Club President, Lee King was the contest master, and put together a great St. Patrick's themed contest. Many members participated, so the competition was tough. Contestants pictured: Kathy Corcoran, Tifany Curtiss, Brad Miller, Contestmaster Lee King, Allen Gorman, Katherine Compton, Susie Campbell, and Karen Lee. The Table Topics contest challenged the members to discuss 'green' in the springtime. Katherine revealed her leprechaun side by giving her Table Topics response while wearing a bright green wig! The International Speech contestants inspired us to get fit, improve our strategy skills, and be daring. Susie's speech reminded us that inspiration can be in the most unexpected places, even a tiny fortune cookie. After delightful display of oratory dexterity, here are the results:

Table Topics
1st place - Tifany Curtiss
2nd place - Kathy Corcoran
3rd place - Allen Gorman

International Speech
1st place - Susie Campbell
2nd place - Kathy Compton
3rd place - Brad Miller

The 1st and 2nd place winners went on to compete in the Area 33 contest on March 25. Here are the results from that contest:

Table Topics
1st place - Brenda Durant, Toast of Guaranty
2nd lace - Matthew Fogel, Leisure Speak

International Speech
1st place - Susie Campbell, yaaaay!
2nd place - Matthew Fogel, Leisure Speak

These contestants went on to compete at the Metro Division contest on April 18. Matthew Fogel won 2nd place in the Table Topics competition and went on to represent his club and Area 33 in the District 50 competition.

The competition was very challenging, and contestants at every level should be proud of their participation. For those of you who missed out on the thrill of competing, start working on your humorous speeches now! The fall contest will be here before you know it!

AWARDS!

AWARDS!!!

For those of you who may have missed a meeting, or others who may want to once again relish the victory of winning a shiny ribbon, here's a breakdown of awards for several weeks:

February 5, 2009
Best Speaker - Tifany Curtiss
Best Evaluator - Tammy Esselman
Best Table Topic - Susie Campbell
Best of the Big 3 - Dagan Newland

February 12, 2009
Best Speaker - Kathy Corcoran
Best Evaluator - Tifany Curtiss
Best Table Topic - Marty May
Best of the Big 3 - Susie Campbell

February 19, 2009
Best Speaker - Jonathan Gonnet
Best Evaluator - Dagan Newland
Best Table Topic - Vonda Walker
Best of the Big 3 - Katherine Compton

February 26, 2009
Best Speaker - Tifany Curtiss
Best Evaluator - Brad Miller
Best Table Topic - Heather Hartman
Best of the Big 3 - Jing Wang

March 5, 2009
Best Speaker - Brad Miller
Best Evaluator - Heather Hartman
Best Table Topic - Tifany Curtiss
Best of the Big 3 - Mark Schroeder

March 12, 2009
Spring Contest: More on that later!

March 19, 2009
Best Speaker - Mark Schroeder
Best Evaluator - Tammy Esselman
Best Table Topic - Kathy Corcoran
Best of the Big 3 - Tifany Curtiss

March 26, 2009
Best Speaker - Allen Gorman
Best Evaluator - Vonda Walker
Best Table Topic - Kathy Compton
Best of the Big 3 - Earl Esquejo

April 30, 2009
Best Speaker - Lee King
Best Evaluator - Susie Campbell
Best Table Topic - Mark Schroeder
Best of the Big 3 - Vonda Walker

Congratulations to everyone!

There are a few weeks missing, and this list will be updated once I have gathered the information.

DSTM JANUARY NEWSLETTER

Just in the nick of time (okay, maybe not), it's the January newsletter for Dallas Singles Toastmasters! Hello fellow Toastmasters, my name is Tifany Curtiss and I'll be your VP of PR for this term. In this month's newsletter, you'll find information on:

-Our NEW MEMBERS!

-TLI report

-Officers' goals for this term

-January meetings

Dallas Singles began 2009 with the addition of three members. Please welcome Kathy, Jonathan, and Miranda! Take some time to get to know them.

In lieu of our regular meeting format, we met at the TLI (Toastmasters Learning Institute) session on January 22. I am proud to announce that all of our officers attended TLI this term! That earns our club 1 DCP (Distinguished Club Point). We also had two enthusiastic new members attend the training session. Susie, Heather, Kathy and I attended the "Advanced Officer" training. This session emphasized the importance of teamwork within our clubs. We learned some methods for keeping our meetings fun and enriching.

WIth the new year, Dallas Singles Toastmasters inducted its new officers:
President: Lee King
VP Education: Earl Esquejo
VP Membership: Vonda Walker
VP Public Relations: Tifany Curtiss
Secretary: Dagan Newland
Treasurer: Karen Lee
Sergeant at Arms: Suzie Campbell and Tammy Esselman

At the Officers' Meeting on January 31st, the new officers stated their goals for this term. You can look forward to some changes to make our website easier to navigate, and a monthly newsletter right here in our blog. March will bring our spring contests; Table Topics and The International Speech Contest.

At our January 8th meeting, Allen completed his role as Toastmaster for the very first time with confidence. Jin completed her very first speech: The Icebreaker. We got to know her passion for researching the eye, and her fondness for figure skating. During our January 15th meeting, I told you how I was tackling my new year's resolutions. Mark shared some tips for getting happy, and Marjori described just how comfortable we can feel at Hotel Lumen.

If you have any information that you'd like to see in the February newsletter, please let me know at the next meeting!

The First Move

You're at a party and open to a new relationship. Who usually makes the first move, and what is proven to work?

The Holidays are approaching and this is a primarily singles group, so I thought for this week my tip would be on "first moves". Studies indicate that women make two-thirds (2/3rds) of the approaches that work. A researcher named Monica Moore did a study where she observed more than 200 women at a party and recorded what are known as nonverbal solicitation signals. Here are the top 10 successful approaches from that study, including the number of times each was used successfully:

• Smile at him broadly - 511
• Throw him a short, darting glance - 253
• Dance alone to the music - 253
• Look straight at him and flip your hair - 139
• Keep a fixed gaze on him - 117
• Look at him, toss your head, then look back - 102
• "Accidentally" brush up against him - 96
• Nod your head at him - 66
• Point to a chair and invite him to sit - 62
• Tilt your head and touch your exposed neck - 58

So ladies, don't hesitate to make the first move. You'll be in good company! If you are shy and need more courage, or feel he'll think you are too forward for smiling or brushing up against him, the fact is that he most likely won't. The male ego takes over, and 10 minutes later, men usually think they made the first move. (Yes, this is also proven by Moore's research.)

But what about first moves for men? The advice is "move fast", meaning to immediately make your presence known and signal your interest with steady eye contact, smiles and nods returning her glance, and moving close enough to talk to her.

May these tips warm up your Holiday party mingling!

Sources: Moore, M. M. 1985. "Nonverbal Courtship Patterns in Women: Context and Consequences." Ethnology and Sociobiology 6:237-247.
Lowndes, L. 1995. How to Make Anyone Fall in Love with You 50-51.

Guests

Hello, it's Tifany, your friendly neighborhood VP of Membership. As you may know, Dallas Singles Toastmasters is having a membership drive currently having a membership drive. That means we have a goal to add 5 members to our club. The best way to get new members is to have guests check out our club. I have put together some tips we can all use to bring in guests to Dallas Singles Toastmasters.

Most of these tips are from the District 23 Toastmasters website:

* Bring your boss
* When someone notices your progress, tell them why and invite them
* Hand out fliers and brochures
* Have a host for each guest
* Hand out invitation/business cards
* Members constantly promoting and raving about Toastmasters
* Make prospective members feel important
* Network with coworkers, friends, and family
* Members give talks at other organizations
* If you’re the boss, encourage your employees join
* Share your Toastmasters experience with others
* ASK your guests to join
* Hold joint meetings with non-Toastmasters groups
* Smile
* Hold smooth meetings
* Practice selling Toastmasters at Club meetings
* Ask someone (everyone)
* Pamphlets in doctors’ offices, hospitals, cafeterias, libraries, etc.
* Warm greeting
* Distribute extra magazines in waiting rooms, etc
* Participate in community events
* Write letters to community groups
* Have a Club newsletter
* Never cancel a meeting
* Members should be prepared
* Mention Toastmasters at meetings of other organizations during announcements
* Talk up Toastmasters to those who express problems with public speaking
* Make it FUN


When we have guests visit our meetings, it's up to all of us to make them feel welcome. It is primarily the VP of membership's duty to welcome visitors, but everyone is encouraged to introduce themselves and answer any questions guests may have. Our guests should never feel like they are being ignored!

Our club has "guest packets" that are presented to all guests. While this is a great tool for explaining DSTM and Toastmasters International, our current members are the best resource for describing the Toastmasters Experience. District 23 gives a couple more tips for talking to guests:

*Explain all the Confusing "Stuff!"
Seat your guests next to a 'friendly face' who can answer questions and clarify what's happening during each part of the meeting. Spend a few minutes during the break or after your meeting, covering the following: • why they decided to visit a TM club • how the program can benefit them • how it has benefited you personally • what would happen after they join (new member kit, speech scheduling, mentor assignment, etc.). Let them ask lots of questions.

*ASK them to join!
"If you don't ask, you won't get!" Let your guests know that you'd love to have them as a member, because (...and give them a few reasons: you like their enthusiasm, it would be interesting to hear about their own life experiences, you could learn from them, etc.) Don't beg. Don't tell them about all your membership "heartaches." Don't treat them like a "point" in the DCP. Keep it positive and upbeat!


DSTM is a great club with a lot to offer. Use some of these tips to increase our membership. With more members, we have more to offer and more to learn!

The X's and O's of Organizing a Speech

How quickly can you organize a speech? An evaluation? A table topic response? One outline that demonstrates good organization is:

• Introduction
• Give Roadmap of Topics to Cover
• Transition Into Topics
• Topic #1
• Topic #2
• Topic #3
• Transition Out of Topics
• Summarize Topics Covered
• Closing

This sequence can help you organize your thoughts in a way that makes presenting them easier. And there's an easy way to remember the steps. Just think X's and O's!

This progression is easily represented with a version of Tic-Tac-Toe, as shown in this diagram:

When you are planning to speak, whether a prepared speech or an impromptu one, consider starting off with a blank Tic-Tac-Toe board, and fill in the center row of squares with the ideas you want to present. Then form your "roadmap" giving the audience an initial overview, and a summary of what you've just covered. Finally, add the double punch of an attention grabbing opening, and a close worth remembering!

This technique allows you to focus on your topics, while organizing them immediately as you write them down. And the visual simplicity makes it a snap to remember!

I'd like to thank one of our experienced members, Marty May, for this great suggestion, and one I'm happy to pass on to you as he did to me!

Room(s) For Another Memorization Technique

This week's tip comes from Brad Miller, who joined Toastmasters just last October. Brad has already stepped into the role of Club President, and recently competed in our club contests! Thanks, Brad, for sharing your experience with our members!

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Great speakers attract an audience! They comfortably use all of the available stage space; they look directly at the audience; and they speak to the audience rather than at them. Great speakers also share a common trait in what they don't do. They don't use notes! Memorizing a speech that is only a few minutes long is easy – but how do the great speakers memorize a speech that lasts 15 minutes or longer?

One technique a speaker uses to remember his speech is to use note cards. He will break his speech into the main topics he wants to cover, and then break each topic into subtopics which he writes on note cards. While giving the speech the speaker uses the note cards to jog his memory and help him stay on track. Note cards provide a tool to make the transition from memorizing a speech word for word to just remembering key points the speaker can use as a roadmap. When finished with a point, he moves to the next card in order to make his next point. Note cards allow a speaker to adjust his speech for individual audiences, and they prevent the speaker from appearing stiff and over-rehearsed. The drawback with note cards is that it is still difficult to really look at the audience and gain their full attention. But what if you knew a way to store each of the note cards in your head? What if you could jump from topic to topic as your speech demanded? Such a technique would empower you to pick and choose what points you want to spend more time on and what points to gloss over depending on the demands of the audience. Imagine if remembering a speech was as easy as describing the rooms in your house!

The memory technique I like best was developed by the ancient Greeks (or so I was told by the teacher who taught this technique). With note cards, the first step is to break your speech into its main topics. In my memory technique, these topics are represented by the rooms in your house. The first point you want to make might be represented by your kitchen; the second point – your living room; and the third – the bedroom. Each of the subtopics you use to support your main point can be placed in each room, either along the walls or on the furniture. Then, when giving your speech you simply walk through the rooms in your house "looking" at the objects you placed in your rooms to help you remember your speech.

The easiest way to show you how this works is to give an example. One of my first speeches I gave in Toastmasters was comparing skills learned while you are playing games, with skills that help in life. One of the points I wanted to make was how games teach us to take the offensive and take charge of our lives. As I was giving my speech I imagined myself standing in my kitchen. I looked at the sink and saw it filled with chess pieces and rolls of film. The image reminded me that I was going to discuss "developing your pieces." By developing many and varied skills we are better able to take advantage of opportunities when they arise. After I made my point I turned my attention to my stove. I saw a knight on horseback attacking a pawn standing on the ground (this was keeping in line with the chess theme of my speech). Suddenly the pawn rises and attacks the knight, knocking him from his horse! This may seem to be a crazy thing to picture but the more extreme the image the easier it is to remember when you are giving your speech. The image reminded me that I wanted to discuss ways to always be on the lookout to take the offensive, even when it seems we are losing.

As I worked my way through my speech I worked my way through my house in my imagination. My living room was where I kept my points for defensive strategies, and my bedroom was where I kept my ideas for general strategies. The nice thing about this mental strategy is that I can immediately move to any room of the house in my imagination so I can rearrange my speech at any time without too much difficulty.

With a little practice you will find that this technique will help you remember longer speeches with less effort. You will remember every point and sub-point that you want to make to the audience. You will be able to move from room to room and back again with ease so you can custom tailor your speech to any audience. Once the rooms are set you will look your audience in the eyes; you will use the entire stage, and you will have their full attention. Your audience will believe you are a great speaker!