August 1st meeting roles

Roles for August 1st:
The Toastmaster of the day is Brian, evaluated by Avital. Diane will be the only speaker of the day, evaluated by Kathleen. Brian H will be the grammarian of the day, and Laimons will be the Table Topics master. Lee will be the timer of the day.
This will be our business meeting

May 16th Throw back table topics!

River talked about how she had a Volkswagon beetle that she learned how to drive a stickshift on. She said that her dad took her around the back roads in Texas to teach her how to drive it, and assured us that she did master being able to change gears and not roll backwards on hills. River was the table topics winner.

What are Pathways Guides

Pathways Guides are integral members of the Pathways launch team. Pathways Guides work closely with the Chief Ambassador and Program Quality Director, while partnering with an Ambassador to visit each club and prepare you for the arrival of Pathways. They are a club’s first point of contact for all Pathways questions and will help with training, supporting the vice president education and more.
These guides will give a presentation on how the new education program will work from Toastmasters International.

What are the Chief Ambassadors

Chief Ambassadors and Ambassadors:

These members of the Pathways support team are vital to the development and success of Pathways. Chief Ambassadors and Ambassadors provide leadership, and build excitement for Pathways by inspiring, educating and supporting members within their district. They work with the Pathways Guides to educate the clubs on the new Pathways programs.

The current program and Pathways

Your progress toward awards in the traditional education program won’t be transferable to Pathways because the projects and structure of learning in the programs are different. However, you still have plenty of time to complete awards you are working toward. When Pathways rolls out into the last two regions—regions 8 and 9—there will be a two-year transition period to allow you the opportunity to complete your work and move over to Pathways.

Please note: Any service you have completed as a club or district leader that has not been applied toward an award can be used to fulfill your next education award in the current program or Pathways (including club leadership, district leadership, club sponsor, club mentor, club coach, Youth Leadership Program and Speechcraft).

(https://www.toastmasters.org/Education/Pathways/FAQ)

Highlights

The Toastmaster of the day was Lee, whose theme was the history of Toastmasters. He talked about how the club officially started in 1924, but meetings had been held before that. Christa was the general evaluator, who complimented the speech evaluators on their balance of comments, and talking about the mentor program.
Diane was the first speaker of the day, who spoke about how online classes make it easier for students to complete their degrees that they started. She said they are generally more focused on their schooling than on ground students, and participate with their peers through online discussions and projects. Her evaluator was Brian, who complimented her flow between topics in her speech. The only thing he would have her work on is more frequent eye contact.
Avital was the second speaker of the day. She told us the story of her friend who survived a diagnosis of cancer. Avital talked about how her friend learned the different plants that made up her chemotherapy medicine, and became more encouraged. Kathleen was the speech evaluator for Avital who said that her speech used pauses really well, and her presence giving her speech.
Lauralee was the Table Topics master of the day, who focused her table topics on the manuals. Laimons sold a vacation package to Hawaii, where he asked if everyone had good health, and enjoyed warm days? Brandy, our guest, said that her brother in law went to a Toastmasters meeting in Utah, where he has learned a lot of skills. Because of his progress, she decided to come to a Toastmasters meeting near her. Christa Colway won the table topics trophy after persuading us that Disneyland is great if you have the time to wait in a line for two hours, in the heat, and pay a lot of money to go there.

Paul was the timer of the day, and Peter was the grammarian with the word sarcasm. 

What are the projects like in Pathways?

What are the projects like in a path?
"Every path has required and elective projects. Path recognition is achieved when a member completes 14 projects across all 5 levels—a combination of 10 required projects and 4 elective projects chosen from a comprehensive list covering a variety of subjects. Each project includes at least one speech. Though members are required to complete 4 elective projects, they have the option to complete as many as they would like." (https://www.toastmasters.org/Education/Pathways/FAQ)

July 18th meeting

We would like to welcome our guests Brandy, Vicki and Brian H.
The Toastmaster of the day was Lee, who talked about the history of Toastmasters. He gave us facts like how it started officially in 1924 by Ralph Smedley. Another interesting fact he told us was that all Toastmasters meetings around the world are held in English so everyone can compete together in the international competitions. Christa was the general evaluator of the day, and she thanked Brandy, our guest, for participating in Table Topics, and sharing how she found our club. In her evaluation, Christa also thanked our evaluators for being so specific to the person they were evaluating, and balancing the compliments and advice they provided.
There were two speakers of the day, Diane and Avital. Diane gave her second speech from the Competent Communicator, Organize Your Speech. In her speech, she talked about how there are several advantages to going to business school online. As an online teacher for Washington State University, she shared her experience teaching online, and how the students still get to interact with each other. For the student, she said this format gives them flexibility to work and go to school. Another thing Diane said about the students is that most of them just need to finish their degree that they had started and then life got in the way. One last thing that she found with teaching online is that her students seem more serious about their degree. Brian was the speech evaluator for Diane. Since he is her mentor as well, he talked about how she had talked to him about this speech. He complimented her organization, and how she connected her ideas. His one comment on how she could improve was a more final ending, and using more frequent eye contact.
Our second speaker of the day was Avital, who gave her sixth speech in the competent communicator, vocal variety, called Choice. Her speech explained how a woman she knew battled cancer, and was told that she only had a few weeks left to live. When faced with this news, she had her son come to see her to say goodbye. He asked her why she did not fight, and she decided to change how she looked at the chemotherapy. She did research into how the therapy works, and found the plants that the medicine was made out of. When she started her last round of chemotherapy, she had a different perspective, and had less side effects than she had ever had when going through cancer treatments. Kathleen was Avital's evaluator of the day, who talked about how she had heard Avital talking to Lee, her mentor, before the speech, and the speech was even better the second time she gave it. One thing Kathleen complimented her on was her use of pauses to emphasize her points. The only thing she saw that Avital could work on is her ending so that it is more direct.
Lauralee was the Table Topics master of the day, who focused her table topics on the manuals. She took speeches, like the sales pitch speech in the professional speaker manual, to inspire her Table Topics. Laimons sold a vacation package to Hawaii, where he asked if everyone had good health, and enjoyed warm days? He then went on to talk about how the people are generally friendly, and he knew the main island better than the others, so he was selling his package to the big island rather than anywhere else. Brandy, our guest, was asked how she heard of Toastmasters. Her brother in law went to a Toastmasters meeting in Utah, where he has learned a lot of skills and has been very supported through life's trials, including being diagnosed with a disease. Because of his progress, she decided to come to a Toastmasters meeting near her. Christa Colway won the table topics trophy after persuading us that Disneyland is great if you have the time to wait in a line for two hours, in the heat, and pay a lot of money to go there.
Paul was the timer of the day, and Peter was the grammarian with the word sarcasm. 

Advanced Communication Series

The current advanced communication manuals:

The Entertaining Speaker
Speaking to Inform
Public Relations
Facilitating Discussion
Specialty Speeches
Speeches by Management
The Professional Speaker
Technical Presentations
Persuasive Speaking
Communicating on Video
Storytelling
Interpretive Reading
Interpersonal Communication
Special Occasion Speeches
Humorously Speaking

Paths in Pathways

What are the different Paths in the new Pathways?

1. Motivational Strategies
2. Presentation Mastery
3. Leadership Development
4. Innovative Planning
5. Visionary Communication
6. Strategic Relationships
7. Dynamic Leadership
8. Persuasive Influence
9. Effective Coaching
10. Team Collaboration

For Motivational Strategies, the goal is to build motivational leadership and communication skills. In Presentation Mastery, the main focus is public speaking skills. The third path, Leadership Development, is more focused on leadership, but incorporates  communication as well. Innovative Planning is designed for learning creative project management, and communication skills. Visionary Communication is similar by working on innovative communication and leadership skills. With the sixth Path, Strategic Relationships, it works on networking, leadership and communication skills. Dynamic Leadership works on building strategic leadership and conflict resolution skills. The eighth path, Persuasive Influence, works on building skills to help you lead in complex situations. Effective Coaching works on interpersonal communication skills, leadership and coaching. The last path is Team Collaboration, like the name suggests, works on building collaborative leadership skills. 

*All information was originally found at toastmasters.org

How Does Pathways Affect becoming a DTM?

Pathways requirements for becoming a DTM:
"Completing two paths
Serving as a club officer for 12 months
Serving as a club mentor or coach
Serving as a club sponsor or conducting Speechcraft or a Youth Leadership Program
Serving as a district officer for one year
Completing DTM project"

Currently to become a DTM, you need to have received your Advanced Communicator Gold, and Advanced Leadership Silver. This means you would need to complete the competent manual, as well as six advanced manuals for speaking. Instead of those extra manuals, you complete two paths through Pathways. For the Advanced Leadership Bronze, you are required to serve as an officer for six months, which has now been increased to a year. In the Advanced Leadership Silver, you need to serve as a district officer for a year, which is the same as the new DTM requirements. Serving as a club mentor or coach is also a current requirement for the Advanced Leadership Silver. 

Have you heard about the New Pathways Program?

How does it affect the:

Distinguished Club Program
The Distinguished Club Program (DCP) is an annual award program recognizing clubs that provide an outstanding member experience. You play a vital role in your club’s participation in the DCP through your achievements. There are six educational DCP goals you and members of your club can fulfill:

1. Four members complete Level 1 in a learning path
2. Two members complete Level 2 in a learning path
3. Two additional members complete Level 2 in a learning path
4. Two members complete Level 3 in a learning path
5. One member completes Level 4 in learning path
6. One member completes Level 5 in a learning path

Like working with the current DCP, the pathways Distinguished Club Program works with education goals to help promote the club. Instead of having a member complete a Competent or Advanced Communicator or Leadership goal, it just has changed to be a Pathways level. This means that the members will complete speeches or roles, like they would with the traditional system, but instead of receiving their Advanced Communicator Bronze, it will be path specific. 

Who Are We?

Yaquina Toastmasters is a club that meets in Newport, Oregon. We are part of an international public speaking club called Toastmasters International. 
Yaquina Toastmasters has, for over 50 years, helped people overcome their fear of, and master the art of public speaking. We strive to provide a supportive and positive learning experience, in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth.

Where we meet:
Pig 'N Pancake 
810 SW Alder off Hwy 101
Back meeting room Newport , Oregon 97365 United States

When we meet:
7:00 AM to 8:00 AM every Tuesday 

Roles for 7/18

Lee will be the Toastmaster of the day, evaluated by Christa. There will be two speakers of the day, Diane evaluated by Brian, and Avital evaluated by Kathleen. River will be the grammarian of the day, and Paul will be the timer. Lauralee will be in charge of Table Topics.

The Ice Breaker

Projects of the Competent Communicator:
1. The Ice Breaker 
This speech is designed as a way to introduce yourself to the club, and get used to speaking in front of a group. This is a four to six minute speech, where you work on writing your speech and delivering it to your audience. The goal of the speech is to stand in front of your audience, tell them about yourself, and remember to breathe while doing it. Through this speech, your mentor will be able to learn where you are in your experience as a speaker. 
Tips for the Ice Breaker: 
1. Practice your speech out loud
When you are reading your speech in your head, you can substitute words that are not actually on your paper, and when you are nervous, you are more likely to read directly from your speech. It can be helpful to practice your speech in front of a mirror as well, so you can see what you look like while giving your speech.
2. Take a breath
If you feel like you are racing through your speech, it is okay to stop and take a breath, collect yourself, and keep going. Sometimes when giving a speech, you can feel silly, and start laughing because it feels uncomfortable. This is normal, and in those times you just need to remember that Toastmasters is here to help you. We all started with the ice breaker, and felt just as awkward and nervous as you are feeling. 
3. You do not need to be perfect
Your audience is not expecting you to be perfect. It is okay to stumble over words, and say umm several times. If you forget what you were going to say, just keep going. We do not know what is on your paper. The goal of this speech is not to be perfect. The Ice Breaker is designed as a speech to help you get up in front of your audience and give a speech. If you give your speech, you have met the goal.

Dave's Toastmaster Award

Dave's Speech Evaluation Contest Award

Brian Receiving His Competent Communicator

July 11th meeting review

We would like to welcome our guests Viki, Brian, and Brandy, and invite them back to our meeting next week Tuesday July 18th at 7:00 AM at Pig 'N Pancake.
Our Toastmaster of the day was Diane, whose theme was travelling. She talked about how packing was an issue for her when she recently travelled to the galapagos island, and that she needed to sit on her suitcase to make everything fit. Laimons was her evaluator, who complimented her on her time management, and how she got introductions for both the speakers.
Lauralee was the first speaker of the day, who did a speech from the Toastmasters successful club series, which is part of the requirements for receiving her Advanced Communicator Bronze. She talked about the education program, and how each of the manuals work. During her speech, Lauralee went through the requirements to receive the Advanced Communicator Silver and Gold, as well as the Advanced Leadership Bronze and Silver. Lauralee concluded by asking what people's goals were? Brian was the evaluator for Lauralee, who mentioned that because this was a Toastmasters scripted speech, that he appreciated how she personalized the speech. He also said that he understood that not everything was the style that Lauralee would normally use, and so there were some awkward pauses as she had to make the slide reveal all of the lines of text. One thing that Brian did compliment was her presence in front of the lectern.

Kathleen was the second speaker of the day, who gave a science fiction speech. She talked about how we sent out a radio signal into space saying that we were here on Earth. During her speech, Kathleen referenced several movies including the Star Trek series and Cosmos. While talking about the possibility of life on other planets, she said that we did not realize that when we sent out this signal into a cluster of stars in the hercules constellation, that there would be several planets inhabiting that system. There were some major concerns as to contacting aliens that we knew nothing about. What if they are like the Klingons? How are we to communicate with them? We can always point to a cow and repeat the word cow several times to try to have them understand that the word cow is what we say to represent that creature, but... are there space cows? She said the biggest obstacle is that we do not know who is out there, and if they have better technology than we do. Her last minute evaluator was Peter, who complimented how Kathleen used her voice to communicate a suspense. He said when she was talking, her speech made him think of the T.V. series Ancient Aliens. Peter also said Kathleen did a good job of balancing the mystery of whether life exists in space, and concerns of that fact. 

Laurie was the Table Topics master of the day, whose theme was her family reunion. She asked Paul what is one thing he would share as an experience that was significant to him in his years of life. He said that one of his earliest memories is when President J. F. Kennedy on November 22nd, 1963. Paul said he remembered how he felt the day he heard the president had been assassinated, as well as the great fear of Sputnik being launched into the sky, and having a spacecraft watching him. Brian H was asked if he would like to live to be 100 years old by Laurie. He said that he would like to live to be that old, and teased that he did not know what the world would do without him. Brian Haggarty said that he would hate to get to 99 years old and not make it to a full century. The winner of Table Topics was Brian. 

Paul was the grammarian of the day, whose word of the day was eclipse. Avital was the timer of the day.

Club speech contest winners

Roles for July 11th

Diane will be the Toastmaster of the day for July 11th meeting, evaluated by Laimons the general evaluator. There will be two speakers of the day. Lauralee will be the first speaker evaluated by Brian. Kathleen will be the second speaker evaluated by River. Paul will be the grammarian of the day, and Laurie will be the Table topics master. Avital will be the timer of the day.

Brian's speech contest award

Brian taking first place in the Humorous Speech Contest

Lauralee got her Competent Leadership this year (June 2016-2017)

Brian getting his Competent Leader

Lauralee Got her Competent Communicator this year (June 2016-2017)

Dave awarded Lauralee her Competent Communicator award and Competent Leadership award.

Table Topics Trophy 6/27

Peter was the winner of Table Topics for our 6/27 meeting! Laimons was the Topics Master of the day, who challenged several members to think on their feet.

Christa's Speech Contest Award

Roles of Club Officers

There are seven officer roles in a club to help with running the club. These officers are elected either every year, or every six months by the club. Some of the officers will volunteer, and some will be volunteered.

The first role is the President, who opens the meeting every morning. They are in charge of operation and supervision of the club. At the beginning of the meeting, they will present any news that needs to be dealt with, and then turn over the meeting to the Toastmaster of the day. Generally the President will work with all of the officers, but the Vice President of Education will be their closest officer,

Vice President of Education is in charge of scheduling and confirming the roles are filled before the meeting. They also help members to be on track for awards such as the Competent Communicator. The Vice President of Education will work with the President often, as well as the Vice President of both Membership and Relations to help gain more members and set up schedules.

The Vice President of Membership helps to conduct membership building programs. They help to give membership material to new members and applications to join for potential members. This officer will work with the Vice President of Relations often as well as the Treasurer.

The last Vice President is of Public Relations. This president is in charge of promoting the club, and the membership programs. They are in charge of keeping an online presence and keeping the members up to date on events and meetings. The Vice President of Relations and of Membership will work together often, as well as with the Secretary.

The Secretary helps to keep a roster of members and keep the files for the club. They also need to keep the minutes for records. During the year, the Secretary will work with the Treasurer and Vice President of Public Relations to keep the members engaged, and up to date.

The Treasurer will keep the bank account and make sure to collect dues so that we can maintain our memberships. They work with Membership to collect the dues of a new member and the application for that member, This officer also works closely with the Secretary.

Sergeant at Arms helps to maintain the club equipment and supplies. They will set up the room so it is ready for the meeting, with the tracking charts out for members to record their achievements. This officer is also in charge of the guests so that the president will know how many guests have visited and who they are for the meeting. The Sergeant at Arms works with the Secretary and Vice President of Membership.

Basics of the Competent Communicator

The Toastmasters program helps you through manuals such as the Competent Communicator, but is not a formal course such as Communications 111. There are no grades or tests, but instead you have Table Topics and the Ice Breaker Speech. Club meetings help you to work together to study and practice your communication and leadership skills.

You can work with introductions, perform roles during club meetings, and work on projects, such as the ten speech projects in the Competent Communicator. In this manual you build speaking skills with each new project. Most of the speeches are five to seven minutes focusing on a single skill. It works on everything from organization, to body language, to researching a topic. This will help you learn to speak with clarity and confidence.

With each speech you give, you will be evaluated to help you grow and learn. They will point out strengths and offer suggestions on how to improve the speech. This manual focuses on the basics of public speaking, and your evaluator will focus on the basics as well. If you are working on vocal variety for your speech, they will also focus on it when giving your evaluation. The manual will help you gain the skills through it's ten projects, then you will receive the Competent Communicator Award.

Want to learn more than just the basics? There are plenty more manuals for communication that you can work on, ranging from storytelling, to career related learning. After you have finished the manual, Toastmasters International will send a letter to your employer if you wish them to, notifying them of your achievement. This is especially nice if your work has a program to pay for you to be in Toastmasters.

Happy Independance Day

Happy Independence Day! There was no meeting on July 4th to observe our nation's holiday.

June 27th meeting

The Toastmaster of the day was Paul, whose theme was celebrating summer. He talked about how the summer reminded him of using sunscreen, seeing all of the green around him, and going on roadtrips. Peter was the general evaluator of Paul. In his evaluation, he said that he would share some of his feelings about summer, including his feelings about the tourists who come to town.
Christa Colway was the speaker of the day, whose speech was called Faking It. In her speech, she talked about being in a prize winning marching band at school. Christa was a horn player with choreographed gestures. During her speech she talked about how she practiced and practiced to look just right while marching. Laurie was the speech evaluator for Christa's speech.

Because the meeting lacked a second speaker, Paul had everyone participate in a Reader's Theater drama "My Brain: The All-hands Meeting".  Laurie Weitkamp was the Chairperson of the Brain trying to conduct a serious mid-morning "board meeting" with board members named Coffee, Antidepressants, Sleep, Sugar, Protein, Water, Exercise, Therapy, Meditation, Alcohol, Weed and P.M.S. The one page drama by Hallie Cantor was in The New Yorker, August 24, 2015. Because this was an impromptu and round robin speech, there was no evaluator for it. 

Laimons was the Topics Master of the day. He challenged 4 members to impromptu speaking, including Vicki, John, Brian Haggerty and Peter Boris. The winner of the Table Topics trophy was Peter. 

Viki was the grammarian of the day, whose word was insanity. John was the timer of the day.