Archive for the ‘Educational Articles’ Category

1. Opening by the chairman
2. Welcome to guests and members
3. Apologies
4. Minutes

Last club meeting

Motion: That the minutes of the club meeting held on ……… be confirmed as printed.

Last executive meeting

Motion: That the decisions of the executive meeting held on ……… be ratified.

5. Business arising from the minutes
6. Correspondence
   • inward
   • outward

Motion: That the inward correspondence be received and the outward be adopted.

7. Business arising from the correspondence
8. Treasurer’s report

Motion: That the treasurer’s report be adopted and the accounts be confirmed and passed for payment

9. Other reports e.g. executive members

Motion: That the reports be adopted.

10. General business
11. Date of next meeting
12. Closure

Graham Miller, DTM
District Parliamentarian

To conduct an effective meeting you need:

1. Competent chairman
   • unbiased (organiser not dictator)
   • firm but friendly
   • clarity in motions and procedures
2. Clear purpose – set goals
3. Agenda
4. Strict time limit
5. Involvement of all participants
6. Appropriate format:
   • General
   • Annual
   • Special
7. Size of meeting
8. Review goals at end

Ask Questions

1. Has it been worthwhile attending this meeting?
2. What have I gained from this meeting?

Recommended Reference

“Guide for Meetings and Organisations”

Volume 2 Meetings (8th edition 2005)

by N E Renton

Publisher: Lawbook Company

Motions

• format (“That ……….”)
• move
• second
• discuss
• right of reply
• vote
• declare carried or lost

Amendments

• format (not a negation of motion)
• move
• second
• discuss
• vote
• declare carried or lost
• go back to original motion (whether amended or not)

Graham Miller, DTM
District Parliamentarian

Try substituting the words in bold for the examples given:

great

able, absolute, aces, adept, admirable, adroit, bad, best, brutal, cold, complete, consummate, crack, downright, dynamite, egregious, exceptional, excellent, expert,  fantastic, fine, first-rate, heavy, marvelous, masterly, number one, out-and-out, perfect, positive, proficient, skilled, skillful, super dupa, surpassing, terrific, total, tough, transcendent, tremendous, unmitigated, unqualified, utter, wonderful

excellent

accomplished, admirable, attractive, capital, certified, champion, choice, choicest, desirable, distinctive, distinguished, estimable, exceptional, exemplary, exquisite, fine, finest, first, first-class, first-rate, high, incomparable, invaluable, magnificent, meritorious, notable, noted, outstanding, peerless, premium, priceless, prime, select, skillful, sterling, striking, superb, superior, superlative, superlative, supreme, tiptop, top-notch, transcendent, wonderful

good

acceptable, ace, admirable, agreeable, bad, bully, capital, choice, commendable, congenial, crack, deluxe, excellent, exceptional, favorable, first-class, first-rate, gnarly, gratifying, great, honorable, marvelous, nice, pleasing, pleasant, positive, precious, prime, reputable, satisfactory, satisfying, select, shipshape, sound, spanking, splendid, sterling, stupendous, super, superb, supereminent, superexcellent, superior, tip-top, valuable, welcome, wonderful, worthy

effective

able, active, adequate, capable, cogent, compelling, competent, convincing, direct, effectual, efficacious, efficient, emphatic, energetic, forceful, forcible, impressive, live, moving, operative, persuasive, play hardball, potent, powerful, powerhouse, practical, producing, productive, resultant, serviceable, serving, sound, striking, sufficient, telling, trenchant, useful, valid, virtuous, wicked, yielding

able

adept, adequate, adroit, alert, bright, capable, cleft, competent, cunning, dexterous, easy, effortless, endowed, equipped, facile, fitted, intelligent, knowing, powerful, ready, smart, strong, worthy, qualified

satisfactory

A-OK, adequate, all right, ample, average, cogent, comfortable, competent, cool, decent, enough, fair, fulfilling, gratifying, groovy, hunky-dory, passable, peachy, pleasing, satisfying, solid, sound, sufficient, suitable, tolerable, unexceptional, valid

brilliant

accomplished, acute, astute, brainy, bright, celebrated, clever, discerning, egghead, eminent, excellent, exceptional, expert, genius, gifted, glorious, illustrious, ingenious, intellectual, inventive, knowing, knowledgeable, magnificent, masterly, outstanding, penetrating, profound, quick, quick-witted, sharp, smart, splendid, superb, talented, whiz

improve

advance, ameliorate, amend, augment, better, boost, civilize, convalesce, correct, cultivate, develop, doctor up, edit, elevate, emend, enhance, gain ground, gain strength, grow better, help, increase, lift, look up, make strides, meliorate, mend, perk up, pick up, polish, progress, promote, purify, raise, rally, recover, rectify, recuperate, refine, reform, revamp, revise, shape up, sharpen, straighten out, take off, touch up, update, upgrade

bad

abominable, amiss, atrocious, awful, bad news, beastly, blah, bottom out, bummer, careless, cheap, cheesy, crappy, cruddy, crummy, defective, deficient, diddly, dissatisfactory, downer, dreadful, erroneous, fallacious, faulty, garbage, godawful, gross, grungy, icky, imperfect, inadequate, inadequate, incorrect, inferior, junky, lousy, not good, off, poor, raunchy, rough, sad, scuzzy, sleazeball, sleazy, slipshod, stinking, substandard, synthetic, the pits, unacceptable, unsatisfactory

• (granted, many of these words wouldn’t work so well in a motivational evaluation!)

poor

base, below par, common, contemptible, crude, diminutive, dwarfed, exiguous, faulty, feeble, humble, imperfect, inadequate, incomplete, inferior, insignificant, insufficient, lacking, low-grade, lowly, meager, mean, mediocre, miserable, modest, niggardly, ordinary, paltry, paltry, pitiable, pitiful, plain, reduced, rotten, scanty, second-rate, shabby, shoddy, skimpy, slight, sorry, sparse, subnormal, subpar, substandard, trifling, trivial, unsatisfactory, valueless, weak, worth

develop

actualize, advance, amplify, augment, beautify, broaden, build up, cultivate, deepen, dilate, elaborate, enlarge, enrich, evolve, exploit, extend, finish, heighten, improve, intensify, lengthen, magnify, materialize, perfect, polish, promote, realize, refine, spread, strengthen, stretch, unfold, widen, work out

elaborate

add detail, amplify, bedeck, clarify, comment, complicate, decorate, develop, devise, discuss, embellish, enhance, enlarge, evolve, expatiate, explain, expound, flesh out, garnish, interpret, ornament, particularize, polish, produce, refine, specify, work out

correct

alter, amend, better, change, clean up, cure, debug, do over, doctor, edit, fiddle with, fix up, go over, help, improve, launder, make over, make right, make right, mend, pay dues, pick up, polish, reclaim, reconstruct, rectify, redress, reform, regulate, remedy, remodel, reorganize, repair, retouch, review, revise, right, scrub, set right, set straight, shape up, shape up, straighten out, touch up, turn around, upgrade

change

accommodate, adapt, adjust, alter, alternate, commute, convert, diminish, diverge, diversify, evolve, fluctuate, make innovations, make over, merge, metamorphose, moderate, modify, modulate, mutate, naturalize, recondition, redo, reduce, reform, regenerate, remake, remodel, renovate, reorganize, replace, resolve, restyle, revolutionize, shape, shift, substitute, tamper with, temper, transfigure, transform, translate, transmute, transpose, turn, vacillate, vary, veer, warp

Taken from : Roget’s Interactive Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.0.0) Copyright – 2003 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved. (http://thesaurus.reference.com/)

See also Dave’s Good Thesaurus

Roles

Publisher

The Club President serves as the publisher and is ultimately responsible for the Newsletter’s content.

Editor – (usually VP PR)

Supports goals of the Club by publishing articles which reflect and focus on the Club Mission and works closely with all Executive members.

Sets the tone of “providing a mutually supportive and positive learning environment”.

The editor should adopt a style that reflects enthusiasm and a positive attitude.

Should you inadvertently offend someone with newsletter content (obviously it wouldn’t be deliberate) be quick to issue a genuine apology.

How does a Club Newsletter help achieve success?

The Primary functions of a Club Newsletter are to:

• educate,
• congratulate,
• motivate, and
• inform

An effective, well-written Newsletter helps maintain communication between members.

Where do you find material for your Newsletter?

Just about everywhere!

• Promote your club activities.
• Write on Club procedures, speech-making, evaluation tips for new members.
• Mention guests; send guests a copy.
• List upcoming Club, Area, Division and District events.
• Report the results of contests and add photos.
• Recognise members’ achievements

Note: When articles or items are reprinted from other sources, include a credit line.

Practical advice: Keep a notebook.  Ask members for specific contributions.You never know where the next idea will come from.

Should a list of members and contact details be included?

As privacy issues are involved this is a decision that must be made by the club membership.  If any member objects to the inclusion of personal contact details in the club newsletter then a different means of sharing necessary contact information between club members should be decided upon.

Five key elements for content

1. Membership recruitment and retention
2. Educational material
3. Recognition of members’ achievements
4. Administrative information
5. Schedule of events.

Producing the Newsletter

The first one you do requires a lot of effort, setting up the format etc (ask the previous editor for a template or electronic copy).  It gets easier after that.

Let your positive attitude and enthusiasm show in the tone of your writing.

Decide on the frequency.  Establish a routine and stick to it.

Don’t try to do the whole newsletter all at once.  Pace it out, adding content as you think of it or acquire it.

Get a budget.  There are expenses attached to producing a newsletter which should be built into membership fees.

Reproduction: You can get them done professionally (paper included, collated and stapled) for around 15-20c per A4 page.  This means a six page newsletter would cost around 90 cents-$1.20.  Some public libraries and some MPs’ electoral offices allow ‘free of charge’ copying for club newsletters.

Comment

When creating newsletters, Microsoft Publisher has some wonderful templates.  However, it is not a good format for circulating your newsletter electronically as many people do not run “Publisher”.  If you produce your newsletter in Publisher and wish to circulate electronically, as well as print, it is recommended you convert your document to a pdf format.  Adobe has a free download called PrimoPDF which converts documents to pdf format through the ‘print’ facility.

Asking questions leads to success

What is the purpose of my publication?

Who will read it? What will interest them?

What kind of image do I want to portray?

What is the mix of text and visuals?

How can I make my message as interesting and easy to read as possible?

Frequency of Publication

• Depends on available resources; time, help from other Club Members; publishing and distribution costs.
• Determine a workable schedule and stick to it.
• Note that the District Newsletter competition requires 3 editions from 1 July to April 1 of the Toastmasters year.

Attracting Readers

• Unique and interesting articles
• Use large, clever headlines to attract attention to important articles.
• Use a lot of names – people love to see their names in print!
• Keep articles brief, simple and clear.
• Make sure text is distinct and easy to read.
• Place articles according to importance if possible.  Sometimes the placement is governed by size or by custom for example: there may be a custom in your newsletter that the meeting report is always on page 3.
• The Newsletter should maintain the high standards of the Club.

Soliciting contributions

• Issue an open invitation (frequently) for members to contribute articles for the newsletter.
• Ask people directly (one on one) for specific articles.  This can be done face to face, by phone, in writing or by email.  Always give contributors a realistic deadline.
• Always acknowledge receipt of articles and say thank you.  Do it promptly and with appreciation for the effort they have made.

Production

• Set a realistic budget and keep production costs within the budget.
• If coloured photographs are to be reproduced in black and white (eg. by photocopying) save the original document in greyscale.  Photocopies of greyscale photos are usually much clearer than photocopies of coloured photos.

Circulation

• Send the Newsletter to anyone who might find it interesting and beneficial.
• Most important for members and inactive members.
• Consider guests, other clubs, Area and Division Governors.

Design and Layout

• Incorporate graphics but do not clutter the page.
• Make each page look interesting and inviting to read.
• Leave white space between articles – break up with boxes, borders and artwork.
• Don’t use lots of fancy fonts – too many make it look confused; difficult to read
• Consider using coloured paper – pastels work best.  This makes the newsletter easier for members to locate among their many white paper documents.
• Use a masthead for permanent information.

Editing

• Proofread for grammar, factual errors and spelling – ideally proofreading should be done by at least two different people.
• Simple is best – use two short words instead of one long unintelligible word!

Information on producing a club newsletter can be found in the Club Officer Manual – When you are the Vice President Public Relations. You will find information about the District 69 Newsletter contest on the District Awards page.

Note: The ideas and suggestions included in this paper have been gleaned from various sources including the Club Officer Manual, Toastmasters web sites, and personal experience.

Producing a newsletter is a creative exercise.  It is interesting, exciting and satisfying.

Spread the news.  Share the feeling.  Go forth and produce a club newsletter.

Joycelyn Brent
Editor-Corroboree