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Administrator D64 Blog

March 2015 – Toastmasters Month in Manitoba

Originally published March 3, 2015 in the Winnipeg Free Press

The Province of Manitoba has issued a Proclamation declaring the month of March as Toastmasters Month. To celebrate this, we have challenged all of the Toastmasters
clubs in Manitoba and NW Ontario to open their doors to guests at their Open House. Visit for free. Information on Open Houses can be found at www.district64.ca.

What you will find at an Open House is an example of a regular meeting in a friendly, supportive atmosphere where we share information and practice how to improve our communication and leadership skills. You will hear many topics being discussed, ranging
from family stories, practice for business presentation and even tall tales.

The tall tales speakers will be practicing their outrageous presentations for the upcoming speech contests starting in March. While the World Championship of Public Speaking hopefuls will be starting their path to the Toastmasters International Convention in August
in Las Vegas!

What’s in your future?
Do you have an important presentation to make and are not sure how to do it well?
Perhaps it is a Toast to the Bride, maybe it is a work presentation or it could be a delicate
subject that you want to bring up to a friend or member of your family. Toastmasters can
help.

Through Toastmasters’ self-directed and personalized program, you can practice your
presentation, get feedback on what works and what could be improved so that when the
day comes, you can be a star.
• Special event – March 21, 2015 at Holiday Inn Airport West.
❍ 9:00 am – Hear all about District 64 activities and events from the District 64
leadership.
❍ 11:00 am – Join us for a celebration of our 90th Anniversary at a Showcase
featuring specialty clubs with expertise in all aspects of Toastmasters.

To see how Toastmasters can help, please go to http://www.toastmasters.org/Resources/Video-Library/five-basic-publicspeaking-tips

There are Toastmasters meetings every day of the week (day and evening) in Manitoba and North-West Ontario that would welcome you. Go to www.toastmasters.org/findaclub or call 204-338-7401 to find out more. No experience necessary.

Administrator D64 Blog

What’s in a name?

Originally published February 17, 2015 in the Winnipeg Free Press

For a Toastmasters Club, their name often tells a story. Some are easier to decipher than others. The Parliamentary Club deals with business procedures using Robert’s Rules of Order, Comedy Club, Eh? focuses on adding humour to presentations while le club francs parleurs has meetings in both official languages.

Some clubs are named after their location. Charleswood Club, Downtown Winnipeg Club, and Seven Oaks Club are all named after the part of the city where they meet. Out of town locations include Beausejour, Interlake or Thompson Toastmasters.

Some of our more creative names include the following corporate clubs, Licensed to Speak (MPIC), Toast of IG (Investors Group), and City Slickers (City of Winnipeg).

Whatever the name of the over 100 clubs in our District, which includes Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario, you will find the same format for the meetings. There are prepared speeches, impromptu speaking (known as Table Topics), evaluations of all parts of the meeting and a timer. People come from all walks of life, all skill levels and with different ambitions, but they all find a welcoming place to improve their communication and leadership skills. We call it – “a safe place to try.”

So whether you are working on that presentation at work, giving the toast to the bride, or want to improve your communication techniques, there is a Toastmasters club for you. There is no better time than now. The Province of Manitoba has declared the month of March as “Toastmasters Month in Manitoba”. Watch for information on Open Houses in your area.

To hear more comments about Toastmasters, please go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WStG9TnG0Gw

There are Toastmasters meetings every day of the week (day and evening) in Manitoba and North-West Ontario that would welcome you. Go to www.toastmasters.org/findaclub or call 204-338-7401 to find out more. No experience necessary.

Administrator D64 Blog

What’s in it for me?

Originally published February 3, 2015 in the Winnipeg Free Press

I am often asked , “Why join Toastmasters? I know how to make presentations and I talk to my staff all the time.”! What I have learned is that we don’t always perform the way we think we do, and no matter your skill level, there is always something new that the Toastmasters program can help with.

Our Toastmasters meetings are structured to be a safe place to try something new. Members start out at their own pace, developing the basic skills of communication and leadership. After that, there are many different paths to follow to take their skills to the next level.

Perhaps you have been promoted to a manager position (or would like to be). The five topics shown in the “Speeches by Management” manual provide ways to help with “The Briefing”, “Appraise with Praise”, “Persuade and Inspire”, “Communicating Change”, and “Delivering Bad News”, all situations a manager is sure to find. Having these tools at hand, and being able to practice the relevant techniques, will make the task much easier whenever the situation comes up.

Advanced Manuals vary from “Humorously Speaking”, to “Communicating on Video.” “Facilitating Discussion”, and “Interpretive Reading”. These are just a few of the advanced presentation skills you can develop from the more than fifteen manuals available.

When you consider the positive feedback given after each presentation, coupled with helpful growth points, it’s clear how easy it is to make each meeting interesting, informative and fun. You wouldn’t believe the variety of topics that members share at meetings and we always leave the meeting energized.

For more information about the Advanced Communication manuals, please go to www.toastmasters.org and search for Advanced Manuals. Drop in to a club near you and see for yourself. We’d love to see you.

To hear more comments about Toastmasters, please go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WStG9TnG0Gw

There are Toastmasters meetings every day of the week (day and evening) in Manitoba and North-West Ontario that would welcome you. Go to www.toastmasters.org/findaclub or call 204-338-7401 to find out more. No experience necessary.

Administrator D64 Blog

New Year’s Resolutions – have you broken yours already?

Originally published January 20, 2015 in the Winnipeg Free Press

Was it to lose weight, eat better, save money, be more assertive? All very good goals but hard to achieve without a support system. If one of your goals is (was) to be a better speaker, leader, communicator or simply to gain more confidence – your next step should
be to visit a Toastmasters Club. There you will find a friendly supportive atmosphere where people practice and develop their communication and leadership skills with the help of a great support system. You will find people having fun, talking about interesting things, giving positive feedback while demonstrating different levels of communication skills.

For speaking skills development, there are a set of manuals to work through at your own pace starting with the Competent Communicator Manual – a set of 10 speech guidelines that get you started speaking in front of the club. They include the Icebreaker (speaking about yourself), and end with Inspire your Audience. Some of the others are Your Body Speaks, Organize your Speech, and Get Comfortable with Visual Aids. Michael Bayer CSP, says “everything you ever wanted to know about public speaking is in these manuals.”
If better leadership skills are your goal, there is The Competent Communicator manual which identifies how being part of a Toastmaster meeting can improve skills such as Critical Thinking, Giving Feedback, Time Management and Team Building among others.

For more information on any of these topics or manuals, go to www.toastmasters.org. For general information on better communication techniques, I invite you to visit http://www.toastmasters.org/Resources/Video-Library.

Let this be the year you take the step forward to better listening, thinking and speaking and make your New Year’s resolution a reality. To hear more comments about Toastmasters, please go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WStG9TnG0Gw

There are Toastmasters meetings every day of the week (day and evening) in Manitoba and North-West Ontario that would welcome you. Go to www.toastmasters.org/findaclub or call 204-338-7401 to find out more. No experience necessary.

Administrator D64 Blog

Winnipeg aura un club Toastmasters les matins en français! (French Professional Toastmasters Club)

The World Trade Centre Winnipeg and the Chambre de commerce francophone de Saint-Boniface are starting a Club to deliver the world-class toastmasters program in French!

Demonstration Meeting:

When: Friday, May 15th, 2015, from 7:30 to 8:45am

Where: World Trade Centre Winnipeg, 219 Provencher Blvd., 2nd floor (the Old St. Boniface City Hall building)

Please RSVP by May 13th to Alberto Velasco at avelasco@wtcwinnipeg.com or by phone 204.289.4099

You can also pass on the attached information sheet to your Francophone friends and colleagues.

CCFSB-ReunionDemo