I have to say I am so proud of all of you. It is amazing to see how we have all come together as a club. The common theme is that we are all friendly and the meetings are fun. Everyone knows they are in a safe place to stretch themselves and take speaking risks. Everyone accepts their assigned roles happily. The ingredients of this club will serve us well. We have exceptional attendance by our members which speaks well for us.

It is great that our club has received great support from our Toastmasters at large. We have received excellent advice. We have two strong mentors; Joan Winter and Karin Czyruk. We have a good number of experienced members and just the right blend of new members. Having the right blend of experience and inexperience brings out the best in all of us.
Meetings just keep getting better and better and our last one was no exception. Our speeches are excellent, the humour is so very entertaining and we are all growing at a rapid rate.
We are striving to keep the educational sessions going because it allows us to keep sharpening our skills.

We are working hard at getting ready for our Pathways training. Tony Nelson will be doing the training on Oct 2. Julie White has been communicating with Tony to make sure we hit the right points. Michelle Liu is helping with scheduling which is saving me time. Members can advise Michelle or me if they can’t make a meeting or want to reschedule a speech. Having done the scheduling for so long now, it is hard to let go… but I will. Michelle is perfect for the task.

The weekly agenda has most of the bugs worked out and is now working pretty well. Creating the agenda is now a lot easier that we have the scheduling worked out. Tracy McWatt has been a great asset attending every meeting. As sponsor she is going the extra mile and we appreciate it. Having Joan Winter and Egon Pedersen attend our meetings is awesome! Between the two of them they have close to 80 years of Toastmaster experience. That takes our total Toastmaster experience to over the 100 years in total. We may be a new club but we collectively have a lot of experience.
Todd Morgan has taken over the web site, so watch for some exciting changes there.

I think we need to have a volunteer photographer to take photos, especially for our new website. Also to record photos on special events such as the Halloween meeting. Regarding the Club Executive Committee, we tried meeting ahead of the regular meeting… Boy!!! that did not work well. The meeting itself was excellent, but the timing of having it immediately before the meeting is just not workable. I will communicate with our executive and figure out what is going to work best for everyone.

At this coming week’s meeting, we are expecting Jennifer Magee our Area 45 Director, George Maziec and Candice Morrison Gage to attend. I am really looking forward to Wednesday’s meeting.

Warm Regards,

Dan
dan.white@taxauditsolutions.com

Bits and pieces fromTerry Lynch, editor

Hallowe’en Meeting:
Don’t forget ‘Hallowe’en Night! Oct 30 is the Halloween meeting, so be sure to start thinking about a costume, whether it be Pirate, Ghostie, Goblin, hero or anti-hero. Let’s get creative and have some fun!

New Website:
Soon, thanks to Todd Morgan, our new website will be in place and will also host an online version of the newsletter.

Toastmaster Tip of the week Part 1:
Whether you’re new to giving speeches as some of us are, or are a seasoned Toastmaster, these how-to articles from Toastmasters International website, will help us hone our skills. Get quick and easy tips for how to prepare and present an award, use visual aids and props, incorporate body language into your presentations, and more. With time and practice, you’re sure to see improvement in your ability to communicate and an increase in your confidence. Preparing for a speech is one of the best ways to ensure you give an effective presentation.

This week’s tip:

• Organize your speech in a logical sequence: opening, main points, summary.
• Practice and rehearse a speech frequently prior to delivering it. Ask friends to be your audience, or practice in front of a mirror. Be sure to use a timer to help you pace your speech.
• Stay tuned for more tips over the next several weeks.
• With time and practice, you’re sure to see improvement in your ability to communicate and an increase in your confidence.

Please let me have your contributions! In order to keep the newsletter relevant and be of value to our members, please let me have any feedback/input/comments that you would care to contribute. This is vital to generating the synergies that we need to continue to grow both individually and as a group.

Next week’s theme: “Laughter is the best medicine”. Please give some thought to this theme in preparation for next Wednesday’s meeting.

Cheers,
Terry
terrylynch@rogers.com
or (416) 315-1787