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Letter from the President – October 2009
Fellow Toastmasters
For the first time in my year of President, we had a proper business meeting. Lead by Danie, we 
followed the proper protocol for amending a motion and voting on the amendment and then the amended motion. Danie handed the process quickly and efficiently.
I am not sure when this newsletter will be published, and maybe Growcon will be over by then. If not, look at www.minicon.co.za or details. I have worked as part of the conference committee as the program convenor – what an eye-opener it has been! Such a lot of work and organisation goes into a conference where 150+ people are expected. I have renewed respect for people out there who do this for a living. Coming out of the conference will be one person who is the winner of the humorous contest for the Southern African region of Toastmasters. What an achievement! Of course there will have been many people slightly disappointed for having not made the various levels of the contest. Contests are the only time in Toastmasters where people compete against each other. The rest of the time, you ‘compete’ against yourself, hoping to better your previous effort.
This brings me to the ever-contentious issue of repeating speeches. There are advantages and disadvantages to being asked to repeat speeches or to merely move onto the next level. We have looked at this issue in our club committee meetings and thought that the best way forward is this: we will NOT ask members to repeat a speech during a public evaluation. The evaluator can speak to the member in private and merely suggest that they may want to repeat in order to meet the objectives of the particular speech more fully. The member then has the choice and can decide for him/herself whether to repeat or not.
Your feedback however is hugely important. In the near future, we are going to have a proper debate during the table topic session on being asked to repeat a speech. Think about whether you are FOR or AGAINST! In the meantime, if you would like to give us feedback, email me at president(at)4thdimension.org.za
Keep on keeping on!
Yours in growth,
President 4th Dimension
Letter from the President – July 2009
The new Toastmaster’s year has got off to a good start with 2 successful meetings. I believe the new committee is doing a sterling job, don’t you? Being on the committee for the third year in a row, I know the confusion that goes on when someone starts a new role. Then by the time you really understand the role and know exactly what to do, the year ends!!
Last year when I was VPE, I only managed to do one speech (poor excuse, I know). This year I plan to do one a month (take note Danie!!). I found that I lost quite a bit of confidence when it came to giving prepared speeches over that time. On the program you will see a list of names and the last speech given. If you are near the bottom of the list – phone Danie NOW and get back on the program. Constant practice is what gives you the learning edge.
We have a big club, which means that speaking slots are limited. However, there are plenty of clubs close to 4th Dimension, who are often looking for speakers. You will be amazed at how much you grow when you speak to a different audience. Danie and I, and even Andrew, who is the area governor, would be happy to accompany you to visit another club. Just give us a call, and we will arrange everything.
If you want to progress steadily, make sure you take on a role at every meeting – this way you get to speak regularly. REMEMBER to bring your CL manuals to every meeting – you may get asked to do a role at the last minute- then at least you can get that recorded towards your Competent Leader.
Your committee, specifically your Mom’s are here to support you. Let us know what you need. Our contact details are on every program.
Bernadette Devlin’s quote is what Toastmasters is about:
“Yesterday I dared to struggle.
Today I dare to win.”
Yours in growth,
Lowdown of the meeting held on the 17th of June 2009
Opening
David Black the Sergeant at Arms called the meeting to order at 18.23.
The Acting President Kirsten Long welcomed and asked everyone to introduce themselves. She confirmed the programme, Clinton ‘offered’ to handle the CL assignments.
Zibu Mntambo, having outlined the excellent progress South Africa was making towards being 100% prepared, then proposed a Toast – that we all be positive towards the Soccer World Cup.
The Programme
Kirsten handed over to Ray Smit, the Toastmaster for the night.
Ray opened his assignment with a couple of quotes to emphasise what a
Wonderful theme we had in “Count your Blessings”. These included:
If you have food in the fridge, clothes on you back and a place to sleep you are among the riches 75% of people in the world!
If you have money in the bank, cash in your wallet and spare change you are one of the 8% riches people in world.
The Grammarian Richard Riche introduced the word for the meeting – GIRN – to complain in a whining voice or contort ones face and grimace.
The timekeeper Monica Oosthuizen explained the timing.
The Hark Master – Coralie Rutherford summarised what she would look for.
The evaluation Chairman Kirsten Long told us why evaluaiton was arguably the most important part of the evening.
Speeches
Liz Pearson – Bullying CC
Liz had our full attention as she opened with horrific examples of bullying. She outlined the reasons people became bullies and highlighted why so often it stayed hidden.
She urged us to realise that bullying was not part of growing up and must be opposed. She looked at the reasons why adults bully and how they need help and what we can do to help.
Liz finished by saying that it is a long hard road for both the bully to stop their destructive behaviour and the person being bullied to overcome the effects of bullying
Danie Roux – Modified Sandwich Technique ACB
Danie told us how in Toastmasters we are taught about the sandwich technique of evaluation, starting with the speaker’s strengths, then areas for improvement and finishing with more strengths.
In Danie’s eyes this was very boring – dry bread, dry meat and again dry bread but no condiments, to make the evaluation tastily beneficial. This was the modified sandwich technique.
So the bread was unconditional praise and the condiments areas for improvement with practical suggestions on how to improve.
To reinforce his proposal he provided examples of the original technique and his recommended modified technique, leaving us all fired up to apply this creative evaluation technique.
Saar Ben-Attar – Recovering my creativity – CC4
Saar opened by saying what a bizarre notion to recover your creativity?
His quest started by accident, while wandering around Waterston’s book store in London, here he came across a book so fascinating he read half of it before paying for the book and taking it home to finish and start actioning.
In the book, entitled The Artist, the author Julia teaches about creativity, we are all basically creative but today most of us need to recover our sense of creativity.
The first step is a very practical exercise which should be done every morning. Take a blank piece of paper and start writing, up to 3 pages, of whatever comes into your mind. You will be amazed at your thoughts, which are often very negative. Then summarise the key points.
Following this for 12 weeks, clears out ones negativity and enables us to recover our creativity and sense of faith. The results are astonishing.
Table Topics
A fun Table Topics session was lead by Liz Pearson
Christa Roux entertained us on how we can benefit from the world cup, in her case it would be watching a soccer match for the first time.
Brendan told us that his formula for beating the winter blues was to do the opposite to everyone else. He didn’t hibernate but spent more time at the gym keeping fit and trim so when Yebo summer came all his slim trim body needed was a tan!
Richard gave us a good tip on how to survive the financial crash, by paying off your debt rather than creating more debt, especially when you don’t have the money. The end objective to save and only buy anything when you can pay cash for it.
Clint entertained us by describing what he would do if he was the Coach for Bafana Bafana.
Coralie a non chocolate addict spoke on the “The Joy of eating chocolate”.
For Danie Roux it appears that what he loved most about his job was meeting a range of stimulating people over lunch.
Evaluation
The evaluation session was chaired by Kirsten Long
Karen Geyser evaluated Liz Pearson’s speech, Kirsten Long Danie Roux’s speech and
David Black Saar Ben-Attar’s speech.
Presentation
Leadership Excellence – Delegating to Empower was presented by Kirsten Long as her final assignment in the advanced leadership manual.
Kirsten presented an excellent summary on how to delegate, the process, the barriers, the steps, choosing the right people and communicating effectively to them.
Hark Master and Raffle
Coralie Rutherford was the Hark Master and Christa Roux conducted a profitable raffle.
On a point
Danie reminded members of how they could obtain a DVD of their speech.
Kirsten Long reminded everyone of:
- COT, on Saturday 20 June
- The Installation dinner, in Sunninghill on 24 June, the cost was R120.00 and the dress smart casual. The speaker would be Douglas Kruger who won the South African District leg of the prepared speech contest and would now compete in the US.
- The next meeting, on Monday 6 July, when Danie Roux would be the stand in for the new President.