Hutchinson Toastmasters II

Leadership is easy to appreciate when good things happen. Over our club’s 25 year history, individuals have guided the club and its activities to bring out the best in every member. In 2006, the Distinguished Service award was commissioned to recognize the outstanding contributions individual leaders make in the club.

The general guidelines for nomination are: five-years membership in the Hutchinson II club or eight-years as a Toastmaster with the last three in the Hutchinson II club. They must serve as an officer for two-years in our club and act as mentor to three new members. They must show great enthusiasm for the club, its members, and its activities.

The nominations are considered during the June officers meeting and the award is presenting during the new officer induction meeting.

The plaque has quote from NFL sports figure Merlin Olsen that says, “The winning team has a dedication.  It will have a core of veteran players who set the standards. They will not accept defeat.”

An otherwise fun, lively meeting ends on a sad note that the beloved EGG is moving on to the Daylighters Toastmasters club in St. Cloud. Former Hutch II member Anne Groetsch along with Mike Johnson represented Daylighters.

The ladies in the photo are Vickie, Irene, Nancy and Anne. The men are Scott, Bob A., Raymond, Chuck, Mike, Steve and Mike.

The newly elected leadership team headed by President-elect Raymond Norton will be sure to watch for opportunities to recapture the EGG after the 90 day ineligible period has elapsed on August 13th

They’re out there! They watch everything we do. They can even read our minds! We must protect ourselves before it is too late and we all become slaves to the Alien mind control empire.

A good conspiracy theory makes for lively conversation whether you think it’s silly, believe it halfheartedly or are a conference-attending, tee-shirt buying devotee. Come prepared to debunk or defend wacky conspiracy theories.

P.S. Rumor abounds that alien invaders will be coming to abduct our EGG.  (Don’t tell anyone you heard it from me.)

Toastmasters encourages you to step outside your boundaries and take risks.  One way I have done that is to use my time in TM as a springboard for job applications which have a larger communication requirement than I was previously comfortable with.  This led me to video tape two speeches for my own use (speeches are not taped at TM meetings except by the speaker’s request).

I adapted two advanced manual speeches from the Speaking from Television manual to record two demo tapes for two different job applications (and will be used for future opportunities when they come along), one for WeatherEye Radio in St Paul and one for WeatherNation in Excelsior.  Even if I do not get the positions, I feel it was worth it to challenge myself to step outside my personal boundaries in this way.

I also plan to work on The Professional Speaker advanced manual in the future (when I finish a couple other advanced manuals).  I am choosing this one because in this economic downturn webinars have become very popular, for job training and quasi-sales presentations.    Speech #4 in this manual allows for a 20-40 minute practice seminar which could be adapted for webinar practice for greater outreach to others outside your local geographic location through the use of modern technology.

This is all above what you get from any weekly meeting with Table Topics, 1-2 minute impromptu speeches on various topics.  These encourage you to speak on your feet which are priceless in the job interview process.  You learn how to think fast to respond to questions as you prove yourself in the job interview process.

VPPR Bob Lea, PRO Lisa Jenks, D6G Allan Bernard

District Six awarded their 2010 Public Relation awards at the Spring Convention. Bob Lea, VP of Public Relations for Hutchinson II accepted the award for the club. Lisa Jenks, Public Relations Officer chaired the judging committee and made the announcement. Allan Bernard, District 6 Governor, handed out the award.

Although it looks like Toastmaster violence is about to take place, Bob was “egging” on other clubs to come capture the traveling Elusive Gilded Gavel (EGG).

It’s that time of year to do some Spring cleaning and prepare your excess “stuff” for a Garage Sale. We’ll be discussing this theme at the 4/29 meeting and discover what you consider trash or treasure.

We all struggle to think up topics about what to speak on from time to time.  In the past couple of years I have taken on two (and probably a third in the near future) blogging opportunities to keep my name out there in my job transition. I started off using the same thought processes as I do when I write my speeches to write my blog posts.

Blogs are online logs, or online journaling about yourself or whatever interest or passion you are zealous about.  It is a good way to get ideas out of your head and into a different medium (digital in this case).

Since then I have found that almost every blog post I write about is also a 5-7min speech with a few changes here or there.  I can go though my growing archive of writing selections and I estimate there is enough for at least one time through the Competent Communicator manual again or I can just adjust and extend a topic to fit in the extended Advanced Manual time slots and goals.

Now that the Hutch II TM website has entered the Social Media age, start writing about this or that, you may find you have another speech in front of you to present when you are next scheduled to give a speech.  Or, if you write elsewhere online, feel free to use that content for your future speeches.  Log on, get those mental wheels spinning, let your creative juices flow in text form now and later through your speeches.  You can also write your speech, give it, and then write up a summary on the website to share with more people than just those who attended the meeting you gave your speech at.

Brett Farve

Peter Lowe’s Get Motivated seminar is coming to the Target Center on Wednesday, May 26th, from 8:00 AM to 4:45 PM. Guest speakers include:

• Brett Farve – Viking’s Quarterback
• Ron Gardenhire – Twin’s Manager
• Sarah Palin – former Governor of Alaska
• Steve Forbes – CEO of Forbes Inc
• General Collin Powell – Statesman
• Rick Belluzzo – President of Microsoft
• Rudy Giuliani – former New York Mayor
• Tamara Lowe – Sales Expert and Author

Zig Ziglar, America’s Top Motivator, will make a guest appearance.  The cost is a couple of dollars – you’ll pay more for parking and lunch. I’ve been to three of these events and found it to be a terrific bargain, filled with great business ideas and highly motivating. It’s a good opportunity to see and hear some great speakers and some not so great speakers and gather ideas for your own speeches.

Our schedule says that I am the Toastmaster for the April 22 meeting, and because I missed last week’s meeting due to an incurable disease causing me to climb up and down the Black Hills searching for an elusive tom turkey, the meeting theme was selected for me!  Of course, in my absense my fellow Toastmasters picked the obvious theme directly associated with what I do this time of year…yup, you guessed it…Biking!  While I can think of some fun table topics linked with wild turkeys, I will stick with the original theme!  Thus, think about that human-powered two-wheeler, or one-wheeler, or three-wheeler that you rode or still ride, especially the fun you had with them!  As always visitors are welcome to join us!  See you Thursday!

Mike

Have you said something or spaced out an important task where it created a misunderstanding among your listeners? Our club has formalized the recognition of such faux pas with the “Boner” award. Although our award looks like an ordinary leather dog chew toy, its symbolism is much greater.  After a member has given six speeches, they can qualify for the award. The General Evaluator asks for nominations at the end of meeting. The most common nomination is for skipping over an agenda item, but calling a person by the wrong name could earn a nomination. Occasionally, a member will leave the ringer volume up on their cell phone or most grievous,  refer to a seasoned Toastmaster as being “over the hill”.

The holder of the previous week’s award has the first opportunity to nominate a new recipient. The club members briefly debate the seriousness of the infraction, and the award is made. The boner award is all in good fun and just encourages a person to be alert and prepared – even at 7:00 AM!