Spring Contests - International Speech & Table Topics

Hello Area 1! It's that time of the year again...time to begin thinking about the upcoming contests. This year, the District has bumped everything up a month as to accomadate a visit from our new International Director. Because of this, all of the club, area, and division contests are also getting moved up. Right now the Area 1 Contest is tentatively set for February 21 (this is a Thursday) at the Elks Club on South Dixie!

Here are all the guidelines for each of the contests:
- International Speech Contest
- International Speech Ballot Form

- Table Topics Contest
- Table Topics Ballot Form

Please let me know when you are planning your contests! Have Fun!

Just A Quick Note

Hello Area 1! Just a quick note, if you elect officers every 6 months, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure that you update the list on the TI website so you get credit for the Distinguished Club Program! If you keep the same officers just update it with the same names again!

Thanks!

Add a Jokemaster...For Built In Humor (Written By Phyllis May)

Promoting the power of humor in our speeches is constantly emphasized but using humor successfully is a skill that, to many, does not come naturally. Providing a place for your members to hone their skills is easy enough…add a Jokemaster to your duty roster.

Adding a Jokemaster, while not an officially recognized functionary, provides one more opportunity during a meeting to give a member a speaking role…and unlike others…a role that calls for preparation and practice.

Telling a joke successfully is a skill that many people don’t feel they have. How many times have you heard someone tell a joke and totally mess up the punch line? Have you ever been in a situation where someone is killing time and says, “Does anyone want to tell a joke?” Most people cringe because they know they just can’t pull it off with the finesse that telling a joke calls for. And, volunteering to embarrass ourselves is not something most of us want to do.

Adding a Jokemaster to your agenda is a terrific and fun learning opportunity.

While telling a joke you are actually giving a short speech. Adding vocal variety, gestures and carefully choosing the words, expressions and timing are all aspects of crafting the telling of the joke.

Very few of us aspire to be stand up comics but, if you want to tell a joke and tell it to your club, try these ideas:

§ Like any other presentation, before selecting your topic Know Your Audience. Toastmasters is not the place for off-color selections. Keep in clean and inoffensive.

§ Few people can pull off telling a long, complicated story with a hopefully funny ending. Unless you’re a professional, you’ll lose people and the ending will be anti-climactic. Until you’re experienced, stick with short, easy for your audience to follow dialogue.

§ Personalize it if possible. For example, you might find a joke about lawyers. Your club includes a member who is a lawyer. If he/she is a good sport, substitute the person’s name. It’s easy to hook your audience into thinking you’re telling a real story…until you get to a ridiculous ending. That often makes it funnier when they realize they’ve been had. Or, make it your story.

A joke might start like this: “A group of lawyers were having lunch….” You could adapt it by saying, “I don’t know how many of you heard what happened recently to John but he and some of his lawyer friends were having lunch when….” You’ve immediately grabbed the attention of your members, who all know him. They know you’re up there to tell a joke and suddenly they’re going to be privy to a funny and perhaps embarrassing story about John. You continue to reel them in to the story and finish with a strong punch line.

§ Be sure to rehearse the punch line…especially if it’s complicated or a tongue twister, easily confused. Your joke telling success all rests right there in the delivery of those words.

Being able to tell and joke and then see and hear a genuine appreciation for your success if a terrific feeling for everyone who says, “Oh, I could never tell a joke.”

Our past President was afraid to ever sign up as Jokemaster and only did it reluctantly when no one else came forward. She dreaded it but did it, on occasion. At our Division Officer’s Training, she stood up on the stage, holding a microphone and successfully told a joke to about 100 attendees. Her obvious pride at knowing she had overcome one of her biggest fears made all of us who knew the challenge this was, ecstatic.

One caution…if you add a Jokemaster, provide expectations from the beginning. Signing up for that role and then walking up and READING internet jokes is a waste of meeting time, an insult and definitely a wasted learning opportunity. Nip that in the bud!!

There’s no evaluation opportunity for the Jokemaster other than whether or not people laugh or the joke falls flat. The General Evaluator could comment briefly in the wrap-up.

Most of us have a great admiration for the social skills that are enhanced with joke-telling abilities. Add humor to your speeches and presentations and if it’s a new skill to you, start small. Learn to tell a joke and enjoy the laughter that follows. While we suggest that members have a “speech in their pocket”, all of us could have a “joke in our pocket”…not just for our meeting but to surprise people the next time someone says, “Does anyone have a joke?” You might surprise yourself!

Phyllis May, AC-G, is a former Area Governor and President of Key West Toastmasters in Key West, Florida. (Contact info: 305-295-7501)

Introducing...

Well, hello all Area 1 Toastmasters! This past Wednesday I had the honor and privilege to unveil the brand new Area 1 Logo and Slogan at the West Kendall Toastmasters Meeting! As far as I remember Area 1 has never had their own logo or slogan, so I said, why not?

Now going along with the idea of this blog and creating a space where we as Toastmasters can comment and talk, this year's Area 1 slogan is "Speaking Up & Speaking Out." It is exactly as it sounds...I want to hear your voice, your comments. Over the rest of this year, I want to know what is going on with you in your clubs. Sure, I will visit and get to meet many of you, but before I even show up, I want to know about you and your club, so Speak Up & Speak Out!

And now, without further ado, the logo for Area 1 Toastmasters:

District 47 Conference & Contests

Howdy y'all? You broncos and belle's ready to go back to the Wild Wild West? Well then come on up to hottest corral and saloon in town...the District 47 Conference & Contest.

The District 47 Conference will be held in Lake Mary,FL from November 9 to November 11

Come and support your Division E contestants as they take on the best in Florida & the Bahamas!

Registration can be found at District 47 Conference Registration

Please make sure to register by the deadline & I look forward to seeing everyone up there!

Division E Contest

So, 78 Toastmasters walked into the Improv...

This past Saturday, two of our very own Area 1 Toastmasters had the opportunity to perform on the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Improv! Stage! It was a marvelous show and fierce competition.

The evaluation contest came first and West Kendall's Troy Gelinas gave it his all in evaluating what was a good test speech. Troy compared how he was going to evaluate the Speaker's speech to rebuilding and working on a '57 Chevy Mustang.

In the Humorous Speech contest, Sunrise Community's Gary Glasse competed and made everyone laugh, again and again! He did a fantastic job and looked extremely comfortable up on the stage!

As a side note, Sunrise Community Toastmasters Club was only chartered in April 2007 and they have already sent a member to the Division E contests! This is fantastic. Remember, contests are a great way to break out of the comfort zone of your club and really test yourself and your skills and to become more comfortable in different situations! Remember, this come January when I start looking for contestants for the International Speech & Table Topics contests!

In the end it was a great contest, and while none of the winners were Area 1 contestants, the first and second place in Evaluation are part of the Area 1 community! Congrats Sandy & Evelyn!

Evaluation Contest
1st Place - Sandy Liebowitz
2nd Place - Evelyn Benson

Humorous Speech Contest
1st Place - Douglas Kent
2nd Place - Delia Arcelus

Please support the Division E winners at the District Conference. (Details to follow)

Area 1 Contest

Hello Area 1! I just have one question for everyone...Where were you last night? I can say with confidence that most of you were at the Area 1 Contest at Steak & Ale...and what a contest it was! It was the most attended contest (at least 40 Toastmasters were there to cheer on their clubs entrants)! It was also the largest contest in recent Area 1 history, with 5 speech contestants and 3 evaluation contestants.

The night started out with the evaluation contest. The test speaker was Elisa Calvo from the Miracle Mile club. Elisa gave a riveting speech about the power of influence. She gave very little for our evaluators to criticize, but they tried. All three evaluators, Troy Gelinas, Phyllis May, and Richard Lotharius evaluated the test speaker and gave it their all.

The humorous speech contest was...well as the name implies, extremely funny! There were competitors from Key West, Beckman Coulter, West Kendall, Miami Advanced, and Sunrise Community! It was an amazing and hilarious contest and a pleasure to see all of the involvement from the other clubs! Our marvelous speakers were: Gary Glasse, Troy Gelinas, Sandy Liebowitz, Judy Hadley, and Scott Mooney! Congratulations to all participants for being about to step out of your "club comfort zone" and compete in the best Area contest around!

The night ended with various awards. First the Area 1 Superstars were named. They are:
- Kerry Cromie - Key West
- Evelyn Benson - Miami Advanced
- Norma Chew - West Kendall
- Kimberley Green - West Kendall
- Marianne Magner - Key West
- Cheryl Roll - Middle Keys


In addition, all of the functionaries were thanked for their help throughout the evening. Finally, the awards were announced:

EVALUATION CONTEST
1st Place: Troy Gelinas
2nd Place: Phyllis May

HUMOROUS SPEECH CONTEST
1st Place: Gary Glasse
2nd Place: Troy Gelinas
3rd Place: Sandy Liebowitz

Congratulations to all winners and participants! Both Troy and Gary will be competing THIS Saturday, October 6, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, at The Improv! This event is from 12 to 4. Lunch will be served and admission is $15.00 cash. Please come out and support the Area 1 Contestants! (Directions are on the link at the bottom of this post)

I will see all of you on Saturday as we root on our Area 1 Contestants, Troy Gelinas & Gary Glasse!



Directions to The Improv! @ Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

Welcome to the Area 1 Blog

Hello all Area 1 Clubs and welcome to the brand new Area 1 Blog! This is the place to go to find out all the new and upcoming Toastmasters news! Please check out this site regularly as it will be updated with Area 1, Division E, and District 47 news. There will also be interesting articles posted for you to read.