Archive for the ‘District Governor News’ Category

Incoming District Governor, Bruce George, was photographed letting his hair down after the first day of District training.

Do you have some interesting photos you can share with us? Thanks to Greg Bremen for this gem.

Members Matter    No  12

Hello fellow members,

As I write my final “Members Matter,” I wish to leave you with 3 thoughts

4 weeks to go for this Toastmaster’s year?

• Where are you in your personal journey?
• Are you on track to achieve your goals and your club’s goals?
• Is it simply 1 speech for your Competent Communicator or Advanced Communicator or 1 project in your Competent Leadership manual that you need?

I encourage each of you to maintain your focus, visualize your result, believe in yourself and you will achieve your goals.

Something that is fantastic about Toastmasters

I asked Past District Governors Di Riddell, Vernon Flood, Barrie Fuller and Colin McFarlane why they are still active members in their clubs 30 + years after joining?

Their comments included:

• Watching butterflies emerge from their cocoons through the support that our Organisation gives at every level.
• Seeing Gary our International President interacting with club members.
• Colin still enjoys giving and evaluating speeches
• Barrie says that no matter what your day has been like, the club meeting will always lift your spirits and renew your energy.
• Vernon used to be shy. Toastmasters supported, persevered and gave him confidence.
• All four are still gaining as they share knowledge, expertise and enthusiasm.
• Di said that it is often a newer member who gives you a different perspective. Toastmaster skills have given Di a voice to speak with passion, to women in transition, to write, self publish and serve on boards and committees.
• Barrie is seeking out opportunities for new clubs in the corporate world. What a challenge!!
• The life skills that Vernon gained allowed him to retire early in life.
• The thing they love most about our organisation is its equality, (no sirs or professors,) the fun and friendships.

How long have you been a member?

What friendships have you gained?

How excited are you about attending your club meetings?

Inspiration:

• Many members have inspired, encouraged and supported me. Who are you allowing to encourage and support you?
• 10 years ago I joined Toastmasters to improve my impromptu speaking skills.   (I said nothing in my 1^st Table Topic  ) Through mentoring, encouragement and Toastmasters powercharged programs, each of us can be the person we dream of being.

Who do you want to be?

Challenge yourself and become that person!

Hot off the press!!

Past District Governor Barrie Fuller has been awarded a Presidential Citation.  Congratulations Barrie!! Barrie will receive his award at the International Convention in Palm Desert.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity of being your District Governor and sharing with you through “Members Matter” this year.  It has been a joy beyond measure to serve our District.

Yours in Toastmasters

Coral McVean DTM

District Governor 2009-2010

Toastmasters International District 69

www.toastmastersd69.org

Phone 1300 30 40 69

Phone : 07 5441 7820

Mob : 0438 417 880

Email coralmcv@bigpond.net.au

POWERCHARGED PROGRAMS:

PLUG IN !!

Today – 3 questions to ponder!

What has inspired me?

• Our International President’s attitude. Gary always invites a first timer to evaluate his presentation – Congratulations Kylie Lowe!! What an experience. Kylie moved rapidly from tourist to explorer. Throughout my year I have asked to be evaluated and timed as I am still a member and need feedback to improve. Sometimes members have disagreed with my attitude.
• Preparation and organization of our Convention that was effortlessly lead by Sue Kruger
• We had over 150 people who came to view a contest and gain a taste of Convention
• There were over 360 registrations
• Camaraderie amongst all attendees at Convention
• Julie Cross connected our internal sparkle to external results
• Mark Hunter’s keynote address. Mark took us on a journey, asked us to reflect, and suggested the Johari Window could be used to help Toastmasters move from tourist to explorer but said  what we choose is ok .
• Convention being on twitter.  District is developing the use of social networking

What have I learnt?

• Even though you think everything is organized there will always be a point for improvement. Ours was to understand the Centre’s policy on serving food. I apologise for the delay in the serving of our dinners.
• The Centre can make mistakes. On checking our emails, a hot breakfast was ordered for Monday morning.

What are members gaining?

• Judy Thomas is a vision impaired member. She has gained so much confidence that she has attached a billboard to her scooter to promote Toastmasters. As a result of that she now speaks to Vision Impaired people and is about to be a guest speaker at Rotary.  Judy is an explorer!
• 3 years ago when Mark Griffin joined Toastmasters he had a severe stutter. As his nerves settled his stuttering has improved. He is now about to chair a two hour session at an International Convention on Statistics for 20,000 delegates. Is he an explorer? He will also be leading a one day workshop in South Africa and Canada on statistics   Wow!
• Experienced Toastmaster Tania Rooney said that being a Toastmaster gave her the confidence to volunteer at the Olympics and use the loudhailer, to go to Africa with Polio Plus be given a microphone and do Table Topics for TV,

and to recently give the eulogy for a well liked and respected Toastmaster in a non emotional way . What an explorer!!

As I continue to visit many clubs, I am excited by the dedication and commitment of our members to improve their Communication and Leadership skills by plugging into Toastmasters powercharged programs.

In the next 7 weeks many of you will be completing your Communication and Leadership manuals. I wish you success in achieving your personal and club goals

Enjoy the journey and remember.

If it’s to be, it’s up to me.

Regards,

Coral McVean DTM

District Governor 2009-2010

Toastmasters International District 69

What an exciting month March has been!

Happenings include:

• 6 exciting Division Conferences. I invite you to attend the District Convention in Caloundra from April 30 to May 3 to hear our successful Division Conference contestants and share their inspiring and humorous speeches. One of these speakers will have the opportunity of being the next World Champion Speaker
• Members enjoying their membership and clubs have been gaining members as a result
• March to May Madness has started
• 4 new clubs have chartered  Kick Start, RACQ, Powerlink and Healthy Chatterers  and 9 other clubs are in formation

What has inspired me?

• While in Alice Springs for the Northern Division Conference, I met Hollie Prezel a new Toastmaster who has not yet delivered her Ice Breaker. However, she wanted to be there and her enthusiasm for Toastmasters saw her as a trainee judge.
• Recently I met Linda Bourke who has been a Toastmaster for only 6 months.  Already she has found that participating in club assignments is valuable from a personal and a professional level. From her perspective Toastmasters gives her an opportunity to learn new things, meet new people and have lots of laughs. Isn’t that our aim? With each delivery she is becoming more confident.

How are you using your Toastmasters skills?

Graeme McCourt has received a Minister’s Award and credits that in part to Toastmasters saying it has honed his communication skills. Of the 27,000 Centrelink employees nationwide only a handful are nominated each year to the Minister for Human Services, Chris Bowen. Congratulations Graeme!

As an MP Liaison Officer, Graeme serves as the first point of contact for MP’s and Senators when constituents express concern about the quality of service or decisions connected to the Human Services Departments. Establishing a relationship quickly with all concerned where tensions are running high is important. Table Topics and training in clear thinking are hallmarks of Toastmasters training that have been invaluable to him and he has put these skills to good use.

Ann Mitchell is using her skills in another way. She is in her 4^th year as leader of Laughter group and she has formed a Parkinson’s Support Group. Skills she has learned are reading an audience, the value of research and increased confidence.  Well done Ann.

Remember Theresa Brooks? She has overcome enormous hurdles to become a proficient Toastmaster. She has now been named one of the top 5 performing demonstrators nationally for Demo Plus. Congratulations Theresa!

No doubt you know others who are using their Toastmaster skills as life skills. If so let me know so I can recognise their efforts. As I visit many of our clubs I have been excited by the enthusiasm of our members to improve their Communication and Leadership skills

Finally I ask – Are you on track with your goals? There are only 3 months left to achieve them for this term. I hope on the 30^th June you can say ‘I am happy with what I have achieved in this Toastmasters year!

It’s up to you if it is to be – enjoy your journey

Regards

Coral McVean DTM

Can you believe it? Eight months of our year have gone – there are only four left. Have you checked on your goals? More importantly, are you on target?

District 69 is alive and exciting!

New Website Developments

Our website is developing each day. I would encourage you to have a look. We are now getting a greater number of enquiries from potential members via the web so we need to be aware of what is offering there. Even better send your club’s success stories to our webmaster Gary Kuss webmaster@toastmastersd69.org, plus any resources you wish to share.

Travelling Gavel

This month sees the beginning of the Travelling Gavel’s journey. See the history behind the idea on the web. Gary will set up a link so that you can click and see where our Travelling Gavel is  The journey starts from my home club, Nambour.

Who will be the first to kidnap it?   All you need to do is:

• Contact Nambour Club Vice President Education, Vernon Flood on mcinally@bigpond.com
• Ask for 3 members of your club to be on the agenda
• Have 3 or more members of your club attend our meeting
• Then your club captures the ‘Travelling Gavel’ until someone kidnaps it from you.
• Let the webmaster know you have it for his tracking on our website
• It is a creative way to meet members from other clubs and to gain new ideas!

Club Coach

Recently I attended Carina Club. In Sept 2007 they had 6 members with only 4 turning up to meetings. Now they are at charter strength. It didn’t happen overnight and it shows the power of a committed club coach – in this case, Sandy Macdonald. Now eighteen later the club has gained Distinguished Club status.

Sandy’s philosophy was to ‘grow the skills of the members’ and to use our Toastmasters powercharged programs effectively to ‘grow the club’   She listened, guided and had the support of the active members. Now, they have a new challenge, if they continue to grow they will need a bigger venue.

Their meetings are fun and the members are achieving their Communication and Leadership goals.

If your club needs assistance and has less than 12 members, speak to our Club Coach, Richard Dudaniec Richard.dudaniec@pipersgroup.com.au.  He is there to help you .

Inspiring Toastmaster Stories

Pause for a moment and ask yourself – How am I using my Toastmasters skills in everyday life? Here are two inspiring stories from Toastmaster authors.

Karen Tyrell joined Toastmasters after a severe bout of Bipolar Disorder in 2007 to repair her shattered self esteem and build her self confidence. Through active mentoring and support from her club, Karen has gained confidence and now has 3 books ready to roll. Two are at the Publishers (a crime and a kids Sci Fi), the third titled “Me and Her – a Memoir of Madness“ is with a Literary Agent. It covers her struggle and triumph over Bipolar Disorder. In early February, Karen was invited to be a Public Speaker for SANE a Mental Health Organisation. Congratulations Karen!

Our second author is Marilyn Campbell. Marilyn who joined in 2005 has developed a desire and skill for storytelling from the variety of speeches she has delivered. It was Toastmasters that inspired her to write stories. She has developed her skills as an oral and written storyteller and now has her first book, ‘’The Wild Monkey Girl “ published by local publishers  Congratulations Marilyn !

Each of us gains a multitude of skills by being a Toastmaster. Have you taken the time to reflect and be aware of how much you have gained?

While reflecting – I encourage you to go a step further and decide what your next challenge will be?  Enjoy your journey whatever your answer.

Coral McVean
District Governor 2009-2010
Toastmasters International District 69

What an exciting and busy month February is going to be.

Our activities include:

• The launch of our new D69 website on 15^th February. It is my pleasure to thank Nicky Jurd and Kaj Haffenden (partners from Precedence) who are sponsoring the redesigning, development and hosting of our new website. All at no cost to the District. What a generous offer – and one that is greatly appreciated.
• Toastmasters Week from 14^th to 20^th. Charlie, our PRO has provided many ideas for promoting our amazing organization.
• The Toastmasters Ball on the 20^th under the enthusiastic leadership of Alana Beale. What a way to end our Toastmasters Week for those who can attend. I encourage you to put your dancing shoes on and be there.
• “Talk Up Toastmasters” begins.
• Club Officer and Member Training is being offered in some Divisions.
• Area Governors are visiting their clubs for their second official visit.

All of the above are relevant to you, the club member. As we settle in the 2010 year I am offering a few questions you may like to consider.

• Do you feel supported in working to achieve your Toastmaster goals?
• All of our clubs charter with 20 members. I see quite a few clubs have less than 20.  How healthy is the membership of your club?
• Have you offered support to other members in your club?
• In other words – ‘Is your club using the magic of mentoring to retain its members?’

A wonderful example in mentoring is demonstrated by our District Secretary Ingrid Duane.

Ingrid says “I experienced very good mentoring and now I enjoy giving back to others“.

As District Governor, I have seen the enormous growth in two of her mentees over the last year. Prior to each meeting Ingrid contacts and meets them individually to go through their next assignment. Both of these mentees have faced huge challenges regaining self confidence. One battled past trauma to the point of losing rational thought process and even word usages and has achieved a CC. The other has benefited from learning about structure in a presentation.  Ingrid has encouraged them to believe in themselves. They have gained remarkable confidence and are keen to continue to take advantage of the opportunities that Toastmasters offers.

Ingrid says, “This is as good as it gets, I gain a deep sense of accomplishment when I assist  members to achieve their goals.”

Do you have a mentor that you discuss your assignments with?  If not please ask your Vice President Education to suggest someone suitable for you.

Have you ever thought that your life challenges were difficult?

Recently I met Jesse James, and heard his story. He is happy for me share it with you.

Jesse was born to hearing impaired parents who were also unable to speak. At school he was the butt of bullying and ridicule. He had no verbal communication except for grunts and signs. He had no self esteem or confidence and was suicidal by the age of fifteen. Despite these challenges he succeeded at school and has always been in gainful employment. He married, and on the surface life was ok, but after 30 years of marriage he fell into a deep dark all consuming depression and could see no escape. A friend,  Francesca Thorne invited him to a Toastmasters meeting. He came, he had a go, and he persisted.

He says that he now has confidence in his ability to communicate and has much more self esteem. Toastmaster’s has made an amazing and positive difference to his life. Jesse has now completed his Competent Communicator, is working on an Advanced Manual, was test speaker at the Area 34 Conference and reads in his local church.

It’s not what happens to us but what we do about it.

Despite your challenges in life, ‘What are you giving and gaining from Toastmasters?’

I encourage you to enjoy all the opportunities that our amazing organisation offers.

Coral McVean DTM
District Governor 2009-2010
Toastmasters International District 69