Editorial

This week I was scheduled to give an editorial talk and timing of this coincided with something that was very personal, near and dear to me. Here is what I spoke about: " The news of the Wisconsin Gurdwara (Sikh Temple) massacre has captured the attention of the local and international media and rightfully so. The notion that a gunman, let alone a reputed white supremacist, would have the audacity to walk into a house of worship and murder innocent people simply boogles the mind. In the days and weeks to follow many questions will no doubt be raised key among them, who was this gunman? What were his motivations? Did he act alone? All of these questions will of course no doubt be answered in time as law enforcement begins the methodic and painstaking task of investigating this heinous crime. What remains to been seen however is what will the response of our elected officials and communities throughout America be? There will no doubt be countless vigils, remembrances and calls for action. But until and unless this country and it's elected leadership take a firm stand and take concrete steps to root out hate in all it's forms, then this tragedy will have simply become just another footnote in the long history of gun violence in our country. While many great strides have been made post 9/11, more most be done. Schools must adopt lesson plans that incorporate accurate and meaningful depictions of Sikhs and Sikhism, media must do a better job at educating the broader public and not reinforce negative stereotypes. Lastly government officials must begin to do more than issue empty proclamations of support for the community. Our leaders need to ensure that census figures reflect religious diversity so that policy makers can make informed choices of where to direct resources. Finally our federal law enforcement officials must begin to track hate and bias motivated attacks against the Sikh Community instead of lumping us together with Muslims and Arabs. How can one expect to identify solutions, when there is no meaningful way to identify the problem? Hopefully the tragedy of Oak Creek will help bring about the changes that are long overdue. The sooner the better. The country and indeed the world, cannot simply afford to wait. " Upon delivering this I received very good feedback on how I could improve myself. I noticed the importance of rehearsing as well, you only get one chance on television!!!

Maile Collmer 7/17/12 speech

From Maile Collmer 7/17/12 One of the benefits of being in this Toastmasters’ group is that I can practice speaking on topics for my business. This week I spoke on Social Capital as it relates to Networking. I will be speaking about Networking at two chamber events this week so this was a great exercise in working out some of my topic ideas. Because I was working on completing my Competent Communication Award in Toastmasters, I formatted my speech to fit my last speech in that manual. Toastmasters is great at giving you many different ways to structure a speech, different aspects to work on your speaking skills, and a variety of strategies I might not thought of otherwise. I left this one for last, “Research Your Topic”. It was number seven out of ten. The cool thing is you don’t have to do the speeches in perfect order. With this speech I completed my Competent Communication Certificate, yay! Next I will be working on speeches from the Persuasive Speaking and Professional Speaker advanced manuals. Stay tuned!

Fate, Hope, and Love

A little over a year ago I wrote an original story for a project out of the “Entertaining Speaker” manual. I spent so much time on the writing of it that my speech date arrived before I had time to memorize and rehearse it. I ended up reading a lot of it and going over my time limit. However, the feedback on the little hand-written notes contained much praise for the story itself, along with strong encouragement to try it again when I’ve had time to prepare and rehearse the presentation.


That is what I did for today’s speech. I had it memorized, well-rehearsed, and I had the timing down. My evaluator poured on the kudos and noted that the audience was riveted. The little feedback notes confirmed this. I was so happy to be able to do the story justice. The main lesson here is that you can re-work and re-use any of your earlier projects, especially when you feel you weren’t quite finished with it, didn’t deliver it as you had wished, or didn’t have enough time to say all that you wanted to say. When you’re finally happy with it you can keep it in your portfolio of “back pocket” speeches, ready to deliver it whenever the need arises. Jim Morphy, Member Early Word Toastmasters

Project Planning!

This week I spoke about project planning at our Toastmaster meeting. The fun part is that I spoke off the cuff!!! I was thinking about it for a couple of minutes into the meeting and spoke for 5-7 minutes and got great feedback as well. The thing that I am happy about is that I remember the first time I spoke at Toastmasters, I could not peel my eyes off of the paper I was reading from... and a year and half later I collect my thoughts and am able to give a speech that is well received by an audience! This is the charm of being here every week. Gurpreet TM member at Early Words

Patriotic Duty

Today I had the honor of asking our club members to assist in getting 6 members in 12 days so we can get our Distinguished Club Award. I look forward to our members rallying together to reach this goal. If you have ever considered joining Toastmasters now is the time. Contact me a Gary@lwadvice.com if you are considering joining. You have until the 29th to take advantage of a special offer. Gary

LIving the Dream? or Feeding the Addiction?

What is golf? A hobby? A passion? or an Addiction? You be the judge:

Ken Smith's "Show What You Mean to Say"

Ken Smith presented the Toastmaster Better Speaking Series module "Body Language" at the May 29th 2012 meeting of Early Words Toastmasters.

Arlinda Smith presenting "General & Specific Speech Purposes"

Arlinda Smith gave a winning educational speech explaining how to make sure your audience knows and remembers both the general and specific purposes of your speech.

What a day in Toastmasters

Today's meeting was a great example of what a Toastmasters meeting has to offer. We heard an educational speech on how to organize your speech. We heard a rehearsal speech for professional presentation to be given before a group of small business professionals. And we heard the following speech about growing up in Igloo, South Dakota. All this and more for only $12.00 per month.

The Highwayman

Kerry reads "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes in completing Project 2 of the Interpretive Reading Manual. This Project tied with Kanda Alahan for the day's best speech.

Arlinda's "Roasting Ken" speech

Arlinda roasted Ken in winning humorous speech at the Rising Stars Toastmaster Club. It was good entertainment.

Who's the funniest Early Words Toastmaster?

This coming Tuesday promises to be a fun day at Early Words Toastmasters. First will be the evaluation contest, a contest which pits the best speech evaluators in the club against one another for the honor of representing Early Words Toastmasters at the Area B17 Speech Evaluation Contest. Then comes the Humorous Speech Contest which will feature three members doing their best to make the audience laugh the hardest. Surely there's no better way you can think of to spend a Tuesday morning.

The FBI visits.

The FBI was created on July 26, 1908. To celebrate its 103rd birthday, Early Words Toastmasters was briefed by agents of the FBI. Led by Special Agent in Charge Kerry Jones, a team comprised of Special Agent Ken Smith (head of the Humorous Investigations Division), Special Agent Kanda Alahan (chief of the Behavioral Analysis Unit), and Special Agent Arlinda Smith (Chief Interrogator) the team highlighted moments in FBI history.

My 2056 Experience

I have been a member this club for approximately 6 months. For those folk considering joining Toastmasters I must say it has been an outstanding experience. Every person has contributed to this experience to make me feel welcome and that I might be improving as a speaker. 2056 Rocks!
Every Tuesday we share company, bread, words and togetherness.

Be well,

Gary

Name Change

Concord Breakfast Toastmasters voted this morning to change it's name since we no longer meet in Concord and we don't serve breakfast. Initially the club considered changing the name to "Up Early and Speaking" which was the original name of this blog. However, the club felt this name was a little too long and settled on the name "Early Words". So, if the early bird gets the worm, does the early word get the berm? Berm or not, welcome to Early Words Toastmasters.

Toastmaster Friend Survives Shiprweck at Sea

Our good friend, Toastmaster Charles C. Gibson, survives a shipwreck and nine or ten hours of swimming without a life jacket to reach the shore of a deserted island in the Sea of Cortez. Read the article in this Contra Costa Times article.

Speaking With a Purpose

The Toastmasters Advanced Speaking Series offers guidance and practice in speaking for almost any purpose you might imagine. Today, our club had two speeches from Advanced Communication manuals.

Arlinda read Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven for a project from the Interpretive Reading Manual. Kerry spoke of "The Longest Eight Miles" for a project from the Storytelling Manual.

Ken & Arlinda re-marriage proposal and acceptance 02-09-2010

Video posted to our youtube channel shows some of the fun that members have in Toastmasters.

Officers Installed - In with the New!

By all accounts, Concord Breakfast Toastmasters is an old club...approaching the 55th anniversary of its charter.But old doesn't have to mean stodgy or decrepit... The club officers who were installed today are a great mix of new and experienced members, making for a very promising year.

Our new President, Gurpreet Kaur, and our new Vice President of Membership, Eric Bergquist, are first time club officers. First time officers are great for the health of the club in that

Dennis Owen's quote in South China Morning Post

Club member Dennis Owen recently passed this on to his club mates:

South China Morning Post (Circulation / Reach: 100,004)  2011-07-01
" The stories of the volunteering works of 38 Cathay Pacific Airways employees are told in a book entitled Flying High with 38 Hearts of Gold. Many of the 38 were at the book's launch at Cosmos Books, Wan Chai, on Wednesday.