D38 Newsletter 12/2014 Page 1 District 38 12/2014 INSIDE THIS ISSUE Members’ News 4 Club Spotlight 5 Fall conference wrap up 8 Educational Achievement 10 Members’ Story Highlights Yasmine Mustafa 12 Recently won 1 st Prize and Audience Pick at Temple University’s 15 th Annual Idea Competition, Yasmine tells you how her toastmasters experience supported her to achieve this success. Brian Young 13 A sound engineer and event producer, Brian shares his tips on the topic “Don’t let preventable sound problems ruin your speech”. Current Status Distinguished Goal Paid Clubs 149 163 Members Payment 3615 7566 TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER During the October renewal period, only 149 clubs renewed, presenting a gap of 14 clubs needed to reach Distinguished District status. Additionally, within that gap are 10 clubs, which have renewed fewer than 8 members and are consequently not identified as a paid club. The 90 th Anniversary of Toastmaster International on October 22 nd kicked off a year long celebration for Toastmasters around the globe. Our celebration was the nightcap to our Division B Humourous and Table Topics Speech Contest. With 60+ Toastmasters gathered in Collegeville at the home of the forthcoming Collegeville Toastmasters enjoying a buffet offering of hot and cold foods, a customized cake, I offered a toast and there was a special recognition of Past International Director, Past District Governor John Foster, DTM, Past District Governor Lillie Foster, and Past Distinguished District Governor Elliot Dennis. The honor of a Presidential visit, which occurs every five to six years, was bestowed upon us as we hosted International President-Elect Jim Kokocki, DTM during our Annual Fall Conference. Jim’s visit included experiencing Main Line Toastmasters club meeting, Positively Charged Toastmasters club meeting, the forthcoming Bancroft Toastmasters club, a meeting with the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, and being the featured speaker of our conference. While we have many great memories of this year to reflect upon; we have even greater memories and accomplishments to create. Are you on target for your year-end goals? Is your club on target for its year-end goal? District 38 Toastmaster Define Your Excellence! Inspire, motivate and produce like never before. The time is now, there is much to accomplish towards our district goal of achieving President’s Distinguished. You can help us get t here. Cynthia A Brown, DTM District Governor 2014 - 2015 District News And Events Message from our District Governor Cynthia A Brown, DTM Dear fellow Toastmaster, As we approach the halfway mark of the 2014- 2015 Toastmaster’s year there is a lot to reflect upon: new clubs joining the District 38 family, District level contests with a field of 7 contestants, the 90 th Anniversary of Toastmasters International, and hosting International President Jim Kokocki, DTM. As we approach the halfway mark we recognize we are challenged in our count of paid clubs towards our goal of President’s Distinguished District 38.
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D38 Newsletter 12/2014 Page 1
District 38
12/2014
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Members’ News 4
Club Spotlight 5
Fall conference wrap up 8
Educational Achievement 10
Members’ Story Highlights
Yasmine Mustafa 12
Recently won 1
st Prize and
Audience Pick at Temple University’s 15
th Annual Idea
Competition, Yasmine tells you how her toastmasters experience supported her to achieve this success.
Brian Young 13
A sound engineer and event producer, Brian shares his tips on the topic “Don’t let preventable sound problems ruin your speech”.
Current
Status
Distinguished
Goal
Paid
Clubs 149 163
Members
Payment 3615 7566
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL
NEWSLETTER
During the October renewal period, only 149 clubs renewed, presenting a gap of 14
clubs needed to reach Distinguished District status. Additionally, within that gap are 10 clubs,
which have renewed fewer than 8 members and are consequently not identified as a paid
club. The 90th Anniversary of Toastmaster International on October 22
nd kicked off a year
long celebration for Toastmasters around the globe. Our celebration was the nightcap to our
Division B Humourous and Table Topics Speech Contest. With 60+ Toastmasters gathered
in Collegeville at the home of the forthcoming Collegeville Toastmasters enjoying a buffet
offering of hot and cold foods, a customized cake, I offered a toast and there was a special
recognition of Past International Director, Past District Governor John Foster, DTM, Past
District Governor Lillie Foster, and Past Distinguished District Governor Elliot Dennis.
The honor of a Presidential visit, which occurs every five to six years, was bestowed
upon us as we hosted International President-Elect Jim Kokocki, DTM during our Annual Fall
Conference. Jim’s visit included experiencing Main Line Toastmasters club meeting,
Positively Charged Toastmasters club meeting, the forthcoming Bancroft Toastmasters club,
a meeting with the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, and being the featured
speaker of our conference.
While we have many great memories of this year to reflect upon; we have even
greater memories and accomplishments to create. Are you on target for your year-end
goals? Is your club on target for its year-end goal?
District 38 Toastmaster Define Your Excellence! Inspire, motivate and produce like
never before. The time is now, there is much to accomplish towards our district goal of
achieving President’s Distinguished. You can help us get there.
Cynthia A Brown, DTM
District Governor 2014 - 2015
District News And Events
Message from our District Governor
Cynthia A Brown, DTM
Dear fellow Toastmaster,
As we approach the halfway mark of the 2014-
2015 Toastmaster’s year there is a lot to reflect upon: new
clubs joining the District 38 family, District level contests
with a field of 7 contestants, the 90th
Anniversary of
Toastmasters International, and hosting International
President Jim Kokocki, DTM. As we approach the
halfway mark we recognize we are challenged in our
count of paid clubs towards our goal of President’s
Distinguished District 38.
D38 Newsletter 12/2014 Page 2
Message from our District Lt. Governor of Education
Q: How long have you been with Toastmaster? Tell us a little about your
journey with toastmasters.
A: I have been a toastmaster for 15 years. I originally joined HDR toastmasters but
at some point could not make the meetings when I changed jobs. In 2005 I joined
Princeton TM club. Due to conflict with my other obligations I can’t attend as many
Princeton club meetings as I would like. Thus about six months ago, I joined the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation club.
Q: Have you competed in humorous contest before? What key factors made
you succeed this time?
A: This is probably my fourth Humorous speech contest. On one previous occasion I
won the club contest. I have never made it past the area level before this year. I
attribute my success to suggestions and encouragement I received from friends at
both clubs. I modified my speech between the club contest and the district contest
based on those suggestions. At TM people go out of their way to help you succeed.
Q: Can you give other toastmasters some suggestions on how to be better at
humorous speech?
I don’t consider myself an expert at humorous speech. My suggestion is to try
different things to find out what works on the audience. Many times what I think is
funny doesn’t get a laugh but people find something else funny. Be willing to keep
what works and throw away what doesn’t. In general TM members are easiest
people to get a laugh.
Q & A with Hemant Marathe,
The 1st
place winner of 2014 District 38 Humorous Speech Contest
Hemant Marathe (Middle) with
Chris Boraski (Left), President of
Princeton Toastmaster Club and
Jack Levitt (Right) contestant
interview chair who is also a
member of Princeton
Toastmasters Club .
Special thanks to all contestants for making the conference great!
John Brown (Right), 1
st place
winner of 2014 District 38 table
topics contest with Barbara
Spause, Lt. Governor of
Education and Training.
Members’ News
Humorous Speech
Division Area Club Table Topics
Division Area Club
1st Place:
Hemant Marathe
F 61 Princeton
Toastmasters Club
1st Place:
John Brown A 10
Franklin & Marshall
Club
2nd
Place: Glenn
Freezman G 70
Main Line Toastmasters
Club
2nd
Place: David Easlea
G 70 We The
Speakers
3rd
Place: Jerry Shockey
D 41 Boardwalk
Toastmasters
3rd Place: Chris
Hampton D 44
Voorhees Toastmasters
Club
Kevin Stepanuk
C 31
Positively Charged
Toastmasters Club
Kristina Egger
F 62 Washington
Crossing Club
Frank Vowinkel E 52 Lehigh Valley Toastmasters
Club
Christina Babb
G 70 We The
Speakers
John Langel A 13 Susquehanna
Icebreaker Club
Alex Brown B 24
Delaware County
Toastmasters Club
Deborah Leach B 22 Siemens
Toastmasters Club
Jen Kuzo E 53 PPL Power
Talkers Club
Note: Contestants other than first 3 place winners are listed in the order that they competed.
D38 Newsletter 12/2014 Page 5
Club Spotlight
Jim Kokocki DTM, International President Elect, presented corporate recognition award to
ACE Group Philadelphia and United Healthcare.
Alexandra Speers, President of ACE Philadelphia Toastmasters Club shared in her introduction: “Many of our members have
expressed how much Toastmasters has helped them improve their speaking and leadership skills in a professional environment.
The true friendship built among my colleagues is wonderful as well.” Robert Poliseno, Regional Executive Officer ACE Mid-Atlantic
Region gave an acceptance address and spoke highly about the values toastmasters brought to his company, “Confidence and
communication skills are two important things club members get from their toastmasters experience. These are important for
anyone to become a successful individual. Toastmasters’ spirit of continuous improvement aligns well with our company’s
underlying business objectives . . . we’re always trying to get better at what we do.”
Members’ News
The Day I Met the Smedleyans
It was a warm busy evening in May. Roads were swarming
with people in motion wearing different colors and styles of
clothes. Happy children were eating ice cream or cotton
candy. Parents were holding their children and walking on
pavements, families were riding bikes or sitting on cement
Blocks and chatting as they watched the boats sailing on the
lake. No! I am not talking about a city in the United States. I
was in a different city far away from the United States, namely
Colombo, the trade capital of Sri Lanka. I travelled to my
lovely homeland in July to visit family and friends.
(to be continued on page 6)
From left to right: Robert Poliseno, Regional Executive Officer ACE Mid-Atlantic Region, Cynthia A Brown D38 governor, Alexandra Speers Pres of ACE Philadelphia Toastmasters, Jim Kokocki Int’l Pres- Elect
From left to right: Karuna Bheemreddy Pres of Horsham Consortium Club, Kimberly Lees-Pratt, Pres of United We Speak Toastmasters, Jim Kokocki. Int’l Pres Elect
D38 Newsletter 12/2014 Page 6
Members’ News
The Day I Met the Smedleyans (continue)
Stories behind your club name – Call for contributors
Does your club have a unique name? What does it mean? What is the history and story behind it? We would like to
hear. Please write a short article within 150 words and send it to [email protected] before end of Feb. The chosen
stories will be featured in next district newsletter in March 2015.
I wanted to linger that evening on the streets watching
cultural activities, relaxing at outdoor restaurants, and
sipping hot tea, absorbing everything happening around
me. Especially after experiencing the brutal winter
trapped in my Pennsylvania home, the streets of
Colombo were a welcoming place that I decided to leave
one evening to attend a local Toastmaster meeting. I
dragged a friend of mine and reluctantly got into a “tuk-
tuk” (the natives’ fond name for a three-wheeler cab
powered by human runners) to go see a Toastmaster
meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The meeting was held in a second floor of a school
building. I entered, strangely hoping to see the familiar
faces of Siemens Toastmasters Alex, Leeann, Laurie,
Brian, and others, but instead I met unknown yet warm
and charismatic faces of Rayhan, Nadie, Lakshan and
lots of others whose names I do not recall. On the left
hand side, there was a long narrow table laid with
pastries, soft drinks, tea and coffee. It really was a
delicious start to the meeting since most members come
after a long day of work. After a brief chat with people in
the hallway, I entered the meeting room. Inside I could
see a well-organized room with agendas lying on chairs.
Some people were already sitting inside.
My friend and I sat in the back and waited. The meeting
started with one member trying to imitate another member’s
voice and the rest of them involved in a guessing game of
identifying the person. Soon I realized that this was the theme
of the meeting because it was repeated many times thereafter.
I found it to be a fun and interactive way of involving everyone
in the room. Next, a mentee spoke about what he gained from
his mentor and how their relationship helped him to improve
his skills. Then came one of my favorite sessions: The Round
Robins. It was a constant talk about one topic by every
member in the club. The topic was protests in colleges and
how would members react to it. Would they participate or
avoid it? Everyone gets 20 seconds to speak and when one
person ends his part of the speech the next person should
start the speech from the last word of the person before him. It
was not easy but it was a great impromptu rehearsal. This was
followed by three great speeches: an icebreaker, tenth speech
and a speech from an advanced manual. The speakers were
really good: the flow, the gestures, everything spot on. Even
the icebreaker was flawless; it did not seem like a first speech.
So all of you travelling Toastmasters: when you are in a
different country, try attending a Toastmaster meeting. I
guarantee that you will learn something new in that hour you
spent as a visitor with Toastmasters.
Disna Weerasinghe, CC, CL,
Member of Siemens Toastmasters Club
Later on, I learned that 2014 Toastmasters World
Champion Dananjaya Hettiarachchi is a Smedleyan. I am
not surprised about it because Smedley is an advanced
Don’t Let Preventable Sound Problems Ruin Your Speech
Members’ Story
Brian Young
Brian Young is a
sound engineer, event producer and member of HDR Lawrenceville Toastmasters in Lawrenceville, NJ. For more than thirty years, he has provided audio and production services for corporate meetings/conventions, concerts, recordings, commercials, Broadway and off-Broadway shows and a wide range of events for Fortune-500 companies, non-profit organizations, celebrities/superstars, bad wedding singers and U.S. Presidents. Brian will present several free Sonic Survival for Speakers lectures in central New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania for fellow Toastmasters who would like to host these educational events. The program combines simple, practical audio advice with entertaining stories from the world of live events and runs approximately 60 to 90 minutes, including Q&A. To schedule a presentation, call Brian at 609-838-2458 or 212-665-3204, or email [email protected] information can be found at www.sonicsurvival.com
Have you ever wondered why so many speeches
and presentations are disrupted by sound
problems? Although certain types of audio
anarchy are beyond a speaker's control, many
other sound problems happen when public
speakers do not use microphones correctly, do
not choose the right types of microphones and do
not properly plan and communicate their
audiovisual needs in advance. Fortunately, there
are many simple ways in which speakers can
prevent some of the most common types of sonic
distress.
As a sound engineer and an event producer, I
joined Toastmasters in order to become a better
public speaker and present lectures about event
planning and sound. I then created Sonic
Survival for Speakers™, an entertaining,
informative talk (and forthcoming book) designed
to help public speakers cope with microphones,
acoustics and audiovisual planning. In the
following paragraphs, I'll share a few basic
concepts from the program.
One of the most common, most detrimental
mistakes that many public speakers make is
holding the microphone too far away from the
mouth. Even highly experienced speakers
sometimes commit this regrettable audio faux
pas. I worked with a famous comedian who has
unintentionally frustrated sound engineers and
audiences on countless occasions with this bad
habit – often holding his microphone a foot or
more away from his mouth, even when speaking
softly.
Other problems occur when certain microphones
are positioned in ways that accentuate those
annoying “popping” sounds, which, if the PA
system is large enough, can sometimes go
“BOOM!” – like the sound of Warren Buffet
dropping his wallet.
Additional audio difficulties arise when “podium”
mics and lavalier (“clip-on”) mics are not
positioned and used correctly. The proper use of
common types of microphones is an essential
public speaking skill that can be quickly and
easily learned by all of microphones is an
essential public speaking skill that can be quickly
and easily learned by all.
When offered a choice of microphones,
selecting the right type can be extremely
important. Many speakers prefer the hands-free
flexibility of a wireless lavalier mic (a.k.a. “lav,”
“clip-on,” “body mic”). However, in some rooms
and with certain types of voices, lavaliers can be
especially problematic because of their tricky
sonic characteristics and higher potential for
feedback. I once had a prominent speaker with
a very soft voice insist on using a lavalier in an
acoustically challenging theater. At the
beginning of his talk, several people up in the
balcony started shouting, “We can't hear you!”
Without missing a beat, he looked up at them
while pointing at the people downstairs and
yelled, “Don't worry about it! I'm not talking to
you! I'm talking to them.”
During the sound check, you will speak through
your microphone while it is adjusted to maximize
quality/intelligibility and minimize the risk of
feedback. This might take anywhere from ten
seconds to a few minutes. Although some
sound systems will not work well even with a
sound check, this simple test is usually one of
the most effective ways to prevent many
unpleasant sonic surprises.
An important, universal rule of proper
“microphonology” is to always do a
“sound check” before your speech.
D38 Newsletter 12/2014 Page 14
GREAT VALLEY
TOASTMASTERS is sponsoring a
YOUNG LEADERS PROGRAM
Young Leaders Workshop:
When: March 2, 2015 7:00-9:00 PM
March 9, 2015 7:00-9:00 PM
Where: East Whiteland Township Building
209 Conestoga Road
Frazer, PA 19355
Final Speech Festival:
When: March 15, 2015 12:30-2:30 PM
Where: Hershey’s Mill Golf Club
401 Chandler Drive
West Chester, PA 19380
Great Valley Toastmasters Club is sponsoring a Toastmasters Young
Leaders Program.
We will meet for 2 evenings in March and work with students through the
Toastmasters Young Leaders Program manual covering such topics as:
How to write a speech
Using gestures and voice inflection in your speech
Table Topics
Active Listening and Evaluation, and more….
Our work will culminate in a luncheon at Hershey’s Mill Golf Club that will
feature youth speakers delivering their prepared speeches and seasoned