COMMUNICATE & CONNECT

Your Style Is As Unique As You Are And Our Goal Is The Same-To Connect. Dawn Miller

Public speaking is a step outside our personal comfort zones.

We welcome Toastmasters and guests at our monthly meetings.

Each meeting has a theme and has a theme and agendas are planned in advanced. If you would like to add your name to the agenda please contact Johanna Rzepa VP of membership

Our VP of membership Johanna Rzepa for more information 604-886-3157

The Beachcombers Advanced Toastmasters club will hold their monthly meeting at 686 Harmony Hall on Harmony Lane every 2nd Monday 6:30 – 8:30 except changed when Monday is a stat holiday or special event.

Hope to see you there!

Date: September 9th 2019
Time: 6:30pm to 8:30 pm
( 686 Harmony Hall on Harmony Lane in Gibsons B. )

Members Advance to Area Contest on Sept. 30

Our September 13 Beachcombers Toastmasters meeting featured one of the more exciting aspects of Toastmasters – contest!

Two of our members, Rifa H. and Dorothy M., went head to head in the Table Topics contest. The impromptu speeches were about the one lesson they would pass on to graduates from their life experiences. Dorthoy M. took first place with Rifa a close second.

Both members will advance to the Area Contest to be held on Sept. 30 at 6pm at Davis Bay Hall. Beachcombers are urged to come support and assist in the area contest. It’s a great way to cheer on our members and meet ones from the other three clubs.

Congratulations to the contestants!

September 15: Table Topics & Tall Tales Contest

Twice a year, Toastmasters around the world get competitive. For 2017, Beachcombers Advanced Toastmasters Club will hold their fall contest on Friday, September 17 at 6 pm at Sita’s Spag & Suds. This is in lieu of our regularly scheduled meeting.

The Fall Contest, determined by District 96 leaders, will be the Tall Tales and Table Topics contests.

Eligibility: Anyone who is a member in good standing of Beachcombers Advanced Toastmasters club (their dues are paid up) and they maintain a good standing throughout the competition. There is no minimum speech requirement for either contest.

Tall Tales Contest Rules (summary, please see Rulebook for complete details):

• 3-5 minute speech
• Subject matter selected and written by the contestant
• Must include exaggeration, be highly improbable
• Must contain a theme/plot

Table Topics Rules (summary, please see Rulebook for complete details):

• 1-2 minute impromptu speech
• All contestants answer the same question
• No special knowledge needed

To participate as a contestant or assist by filling a role, please contact our VP of Education, Dawn Miller.

Sign up today!

On the Edge: June 16 Meeting Notes

Our June meeting theme was “on the edge” and it was perfect for our advanced #Toastmasters club.

Toastmasters step up to conquer their fear of public speaking, taking their own personal development into their own hands. They embrace the challenges and meet a fear head on that others shy away from. We are often on the edge, mastering the art of being comfortable with the uncomfortable.

One of the highlights for the meeting was executive board elections. Our Area 73 director, Sheila C., headed the nomination and voting process for the 2017-2018 leadership position.

Congratulations to our new board members:

President: Weegee S.
VP of Education: Dawn M.
VP of Membership: Kay W.
VP of PR: William B.
Treasurer: Bob M.
Secretary: Charlie H.
Sargent at Arms: Margot G.

We will be on summer meeting schedule for July and August, which means alternate locations. If you are interested in joing us for a summer meeting, please contact us at beachcomberstoastmasters@gmail.com

Afloat in Tumultuous Times

How does one stay afloat during tumultuous times? How do we find our stable ground during the periods that vex, challenge and strain us?

At this month’s Beachcombers Advanced Toastmasters Club meeting, member Sheila C. posed a question that appeared simple on the surface regarding certain aspects of our meetings. It was an exercise on facilitating a discussion on ideas as part of her Advanced Communication Silver.

Under the surface, a different question arose — why do we meet? Do we gather to flex our professional speaking skills? Sure. Do we meet to further our personal development? Yes.

But wait, there is more.

What we learned is that the social aspect of the meetings is the driving force behind our membership. It is the gathering to mix and mingle. It is sharing about our challenges, our accomplishments, and our brags. It is getting to know the fellow members a bit better while learning more about ourselves. It is a night out for dinner with friends who happen to enjoy public speaking.

It is what keeps us afloat during tumultuous times.

Join us for our next meeting on June 16, 2017 at 6pm at Sita’s Spag and Suds. The theme is “On the Edge.”

Area 73 Shines in Division H Contests

Area 73 Mobile Cheering Section

It was a dark and rainy day but that didn’t stop a van full of Sunshine Coaster from venturing into North Vancouver for the Division H Contests on Saturday afternoon. 

The third level of International Speech and Evaluation contests were held in the Alpha meeting room at the Arc’teryx headquarters in Deep Cove.  

It was here that the stage was set for five Evaluators and six International Speech contestants to demonstrate their mad public speaking skills. 

There were three people from Area 73 who rose to the challenge: William B. (speech, Beachcombers), Weegee S. (speech, Morningstars) and Kyle H. (evaluation, Morningstars). 

With every level of the competition, a contestant is pitted up against a new set of peers and a slightly bigger audience as partners, friends, and family come to watch. For this contest, Sheila C., Johanna R., and Weegee’s husband, Mike, helped fill the chairs (and a couple of roles!) with Area 73 energy. 

And it helped.

Area 73 walked away with three of the top three placements in the two categories.  

Congratulations to William for his FIRST place win and to Weegee for her THIRD place win in the International Speech Contest. 

Congratulations are in order for Kylie for her SECOND place win in the Evaluations contest!

At this level, the first place winner in each category goes on to the District 96 Spring Conference. It is a one-day extravaganza held at the BCIT Downtown Campus (555 Seymour Street, Vancouver) on May 13, 2017. Registration and information is available at d96springconference.ca.

It was an excellent day of speeches, evaluations and Area 73 fun! 

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And the Winner Is . . . .

What would you say if you had the chance to tell the world one thing?

In the monthly Beachcomber’s Advance Toastmasters meeting on April 21, William B. stepped up to the podium to deliver a powerhouse speech for the club level International Speech contest.

William B., an accomplished speaker and current President of the Gibsons Chamber of Commerce, performed his speech “Commit, Not Quit” about learning a valuable life lesson during some scary horse riding lessons.

Narrowing our life experience done to the moment where we “break and mend” can be difficult — especially in a five to seven-minute time frame. William expertly led us through the backstory to the climatic conclusion with expertise.

William advances to the next round of competition, the Area 73 Contest on April 25th at the Sechelt Arts Centre.  The contest starts at 6:30pm — so arrive early!

Congratulations!

Other highlights from the “Stepping Up” meeting: 

We were honored to receive a visit from Michael Gurney from Prince Rupert, who serves as VP of Membership and the Area Director for Area 45.  He visited all four clubs on the Coast and served as our General Evaluator for the evening! Well done and thank you, Michael!

Each member of Beachcombers stepped up this evening to serve as our Inspirator (Rifa), Grammarian (Dorothy), Table Topics Master (Dawn Miller) and Table Topics Evaluator (Kate Wotton).

A fun twist was offering William’s speech a round robin evaluation with five evaluators. Each evaluator offered a slightly different viewpoint or approach to his contest speech — a further demonstration of the benefits of an advanced club.

By the end of the meeting, we had managed to capture TWO new members — Margo and Sarah!

It was a lovely spring evening meeting at Beachcombers Advanced Club!

Next Meeting is on May 12 at 6 pm at Sita’s. The theme will be Keeping Afloat in Tumultuous Times!

Cheers! A Toast for St. Patrick’s Day Meeting

Slainte!

It was a festive gathering this month for the Beachcombers Advanced Toastmasters Club as our monthly meeting fell on St. Patrick’s Day.

Sita’s Spag & Suds, the restaurant where we meet, had a festive menu featuring Irish Stew and Shepard’s Pie. They even had green beer for those willing to add a bit of festive colour to their brew of choice.

The Toastmasters showed up in their green clothing and “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” ties. Each role from Table Topics Master to Timer contributed to the Irish theme.

Here are a few pictures from the event!

Join us for our next meeting on April 21, 2017 at 6pm. This will be our International Speech and Evaluation contest! Beachcombers, if you are looking to participate, please sign up via Turbobase!

 

 

Take Your Passions to the World

Why did you join Toastmasters? Take a moment and think about it. Think about why you were compelled to learn more about public speaking and communication. What was it that motivates you to further your personal development?

In short, what message did you want to share with the world?

Here is your chance. On April 21, Beachcombers Advance Toastmasters will hold the club level International Speech Contest, where members present a five- to seven- minute speech on any subject they choose. That’s right — ANY SUBJECT.

The International Speech Contest is the only contest that goes beyond the District level. Winners of the District Conference round will advance to the Toastmasters International Conference held in August in Vancouver, BC this year.

In order to enter the contest, the participants must have completed at least 6 formal speeches from the Competent Communications manual and be a member in good standing (paid your dues). Click here to download the full 2016-2017 rulebook.

The International Speech can be about anything but should include the basics you know so well: personal stories. The idea is to let people into your world so that they have a better understanding of theirs. Make it personal. Make it memorable.

Interested in participating? Sign up as a Speaker on March 29 in Turbobase to compete. It’s that simple!

What do you have to tell the world?

 

Tips to Elevate Your Next Evaluation

Evaluations. They are the strongest resource in the Toastmasters program . . . and the scariest.

Many people dread having to stand up and give an evaluation for one of their Toastmaster peers. Can you relate? They worry about “pointing out what is wrong” or being critical of a speaker in development.

Others feel like they lack the speaking experience to offer helpful, encouraging or supportive in evaluations.

I understand both the fear of being critical and second guessing your speaking experience — for I have been there. But I want to offer you a different perspective.  Let’s start with . . . .

Why We Evaluate
The purpose of evaluations is to help fellow members become better speakers and leaders. Everyone has different reasons for wanting to enhance their public speaking skills. Perhaps you are shy and want to connect one-on-one with members of the community. Perhaps you are looking to take your new product or idea to a wider audience. Whatever the reasons, member want two things:

1) To improve their speaking skills
2) To know how to improve

Cue evaluations.

Evaluations help to highlight the speaker’s strengths and areas where they could expand, grow or develop. Evaluations are a source of information that the speaker processes and uses to build their next speech. It is how we improve. It is not “being critical” but looking for the one tip, gem, that will help their next speech. 

Evalutions are helpful, supportive and encouraging. They are the evaluators opinion — which means everyone can offer their perspective regarding of their Toastmasters experience.

With the club Evaluations Contest in April, here are a few tips from the Successful Communication Series Workbook to elevate your next speech evaluation:

1) Show you care: let the speaker know your opinions are coming from a positive place meant to lift them up and encourage them.

2) Match your evaluation to the speaker: Where is the speaker in the Toastmasters program? How is their confidence? Insecurity? Offer up a suggestion that fits their level without being a jump out of their comfort zone.

3) Be specific and use examples: Praise and suggestions are more meaninful when given specific information and examples. This helps the speaker to connect your evaluation content to the content of their speech.

4) Be authentic in your comments and feedback. Honesty helps to promote self-esteem and help the speaker learn. Honesty is the most valuable element you can insert into your evaluation.

The best evaluations come from your unique perspecitve. They offer honest feedback (positive and suggestions).

Happy evaluating!