Area 71

Prior to becoming an Area Governor I heard that the role was one of the most rewarding leadership positions in Toastmasters. It’s in this role that you further develop servant leadership skills as you work with area clubs to help them to achieve their success.

I have to say that I agree with my predecessors. It is indeed a very interesting, educational and rewarding role. I recommend it to all Toastmasters.

When I look back at Area 71 this year I see an area where lots of people made a significant difference. Six loosely defined Area Action teams totaling 31 people helped out throughout Area 71 with speeches, workshops and other Toastmaster activities as we worked to help struggling clubs and to build new ones.

We’ve also had impressive growth in the area. Membership numbers are up 144% over where they were at the start of my term and the number of clubs has increased by 150%, going from six to nine clubs. The Area has also achieved President’s Distinguished status with all the requirements that come with that.

Several aspiring future Area Governors have expressed a solid interest in becoming an Area Governor in the future. This Area played a strong supporting role in helping Division S to become a President’s Distinguished division and District 86 to become a Distinguished District this year.

I believe that Area 71 and Division S is looking forward to another fantastic year. We have a wonderful new Area governor in Gail Gustin. If you haven’t met Gail yet believe me when I say that she is one of the most supportive, kind and helpful people I know. Within Division S we have a new Division Governor and four wonderful Area Governors who will help this division raise to an even higher level. I look forward to watching them help us to “soar to success”.

Area 71 next year will be a different area. Dynamically Speaking will transfer to Area 72 and Oxford Orators will transfer to Area 73. Charismatic Communicators will transfer from Area 73 to Area 71. This leaves Area 71 with eight clubs for our new Area Governor.

In looking back over the year, for me the real success of this Area comes from the people. People stepped out of their clubs and their comfort zones to make a difference for other clubs and for other Toastmasters. These are the people who really made the Area so successful and in my last message as Area Governor I thank them specifically for the success that this area has enjoyed.

~Jamie N
“Share the power of YOUR example”
Governor, Area 71
2009-2010
ACG/ALB

On January 30th Division S will be offering the first Division S Phase Two club officer training of the 2009-2010 Toastmasters year. Training is expected to be at 390 King Street in the Goodwill Career Center in London and is expected to run from 9:00 am until noon. (Rick Moore is confirming location at this time).

Attendance at this session is highly recommended for all club officers that haven’t yet been trained. Comments in a recent LinkedIn Toastmasters Group discussion revealed several statistical studies that show a clear connection between officer training and the overall  success of a toastmasters club.

During the training take advantage of the opportunity to meet officers from other clubs that hold the same role. These people may be able to assist you throughout the Toastmasters Year.

All Toastmasters are welcome to attend the training.

For further information please contact Division S Governor, Rick Moore.

The purpose of this page is to summarize contest related information in one place.

Preparing a contest

• Contest Overview
• Ordering the Speech Contest Kits
• Contest Preparation Handout by Judy Suke
• Online Toastmasters Contest rulebook
• How to chair a contest by Deborah McGrath
• May I compete and judge in the same contest at different clubs?
• How many rules should the Chief Judge share with the audience?

Area 71 Contest dates

(Information about the Area 71 clubs on this page can be located here).

• January 25, 2010 – London Western – International Speech and Evaluation
• March 6, 2010 – Area 71 – International Speech and Evaluation
• March 26, 2010 – Division S – International Speech and Evaluation
• April 17/18, 2010 – District 86 – International Speech and Evaluation

Contest dates in other nearby areas

If you know of a contest happening near Area 71 please let me know so that I  can post the information here.

Only five people attend the meeting and two of them are guests. None of the three club members are prepared to give a speech. What do you do?

Well if you had been at Oxford Orators tonight you would have discovered that what you do is have a great meeting.

To remedy the lack of speakers we turned the meeting into an impromptu night with the theme being “change”.

The night started off with the “How to prepare a speech in only five minutes” workshop. During the actual discussion of the workshop the participants prepared one speech. When we reached the five minute timed portion of the workshop everyone prepare d a second speech. This meant that everyone had at least the outline of two speeches.

At this point a request was made for volunteers to give a speech. Two Toastmasters gave speeches using one of their two templates. This left them with another speech already prepared for a future meeting. The people who didn’t speak had two speeches prepared for the future.

Of course you can’t have a speech in a Toastmasters club without an evaluation so we had round robin evaluations for both speakers. This gave the speakers an enhanced evaluation of their speech while also giving everyone in the room another speaking opportunity.

After both speakers were evaluated then it was time for Table Topics. With only five people in the room it was possible to give everyone a chance to provide  extended Table Topics speeches. Timing was green light at 1.5 minutes, amber light at 2.0 minutes and red light at 2.5 minutes. Table Topics were announced using the Table Topics Contest format where speakers are told their topic as they enter the room and they are only allowed the time it takes to reach the lectern to prepare their speech. Topics included “Lions, tigers and bears”, “The cat came back the very next day”, “The cow jumped over the moon” and “Ouch, it bit me”.

The chairperson was given a special challenge since they were leading the impromptu speaking workshop and it was time to demonstrate the technique with an even tighter starting time. With the chairperson positioned at the lectern each of the other four people in the room provided a topic. The challenge was to provide a Table Topic that was coherent and included all four of the provided topics in the speech.

At the end of the meeting our two guests rose to provide their feedback. Guest number one was actually from a Timmins, Ontario club located in Division N who was down visiting his family. He expressed how much he enjoyed the meeting and he couldn’t wait to tell his home club about the experience.

Our second guest had visited Toastmasters once before. He enjoyed participating throughout the meeting and announced that he wanted the signup forms so that he could become a member immediately.

So what do you do if only five people are in a meeting and two of them are guests? Well you provide opportunities to learn and to support each other while having a great time!

Five minute to prepare a speech workshop