|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A good Toastmaster has many tools at her or his disposal. Once upon a time one's local library supported members as they researched topics, looked up word origins in the dictionary and otherwise sought reference materials. Today the World Wide Web brings us more information faster and from the farthest reaches of the globe. Each week I find facts, figures and frivolity I can apply to my weekly role in my club. What an indispensable tool for Toastmaster success WordmasterThis week I'm our club's Wordmaster. Choices abound. First I’ll check my e-mail program's in-box. Like 520,000 others in 201 countries, I subscribe to the free “A Word A Day” service of www.Wordsmith.org. Today’s word is armamentarium. Hmmm, I won’t win any friends with this one! (It means the collection of equipment and techniques available to one in a particular field. I wonder if our Sergeant-at-arms knows it?) Opening ThoughtA new member of our club has been given her first assignment…Opening Thought. She’s at a loss to find one that matches next week's meeting theme. She e-mails me, her newly assigned mentor, for help. After a chat on the phone I send her one of many links to quotation pages: www.startingpage.com/html/quotations.html#bestlistings. If it's worth quoting, it's here or linked from here. Of course I encourage her by suggesting some day she'll say something so profound she will be quoted by others. She purrs back with a combination of appreciation and bemusement. Nevertheless, the idea has been planted! ToastmasterOver the years a variety of sites have helped me as Toastmaster. Some I visit on a regular basis for ideas and tips to apply in meetings. Writing and Giving A SpeechThe Internet is full of sites that archive great speeches, whether by statesmen and stateswomen, scientists or artists and poets of any era. There are political speeches, famous commencement addresses and other oratory that has withstood the test of time, Such texts and transcriptions are often revealing and inspiring at the same time. SPEAKERNET NEWS You Can UseMy secret weapon as a speaker comes from www.SpeakerNetNews.com. SpeakerNet News is a weekly compilation of speaker tips from over 5000 professional speakers, trainers, consultants, authors and vendors from around the world. It's free, it's e-mailed to me each Friday, and it's chock full of fascinating tips to help me be more impactful as a speaker. There are platform and performance tips, recommendations on various audio-visual equipment, and so much more. No Longer Lost in Translation
Closing ThoughtThere are so many sites for closing thoughts to choose from. Some days I prefer Shakespeare: http://www.allshakespeare.com/quotes. Other weeks I opt for the poetry of Rumi: www.allspirit.co.uk/rumi.html. On occasion I prefer funny or quizzical quotes and ruminations such as those found on www.comedy-zone.net/guide/quotes.htm or funny things other people, including kids, have said: http://www.rinkworks.com/said/. JokeMasterSeveral free services that e-mail me a joke a day include www.joke-a-day.com/ and www.ajokeaday.com/ . The two challenges I find in delivering humor in Toastmasters are picking the right joke and telling it from memory. These sites give me ample content to choose from. Jokes are clean, short and plentiful so the odds of finding the right joke for my club mates, meeting theme and tone are high. GrammarianI’ve found various sites over the years that help me be a better grammarian. Wordsmith Barbara McNichols's site http://www.barbaramcnichol.com/ alerts me to word trippers, teaching me which homonym is the right word to use in every situation. Her e-zine brings them to me regularly. One site that offers a portal to over a hundred relevant links comes through Toastmaster-favorite Dr. Richard Lederer http://pw1.netcom.com/~rlederer/rllink.htm. Sites linking to this page address grammar and usage, etymology, linguistics, puns, oxymorons and much more. For idioms of speech heard in meetings I use and refer others to http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/. This site explains turns of phrase and colloquialisms not commonly known by all members. Speaking Outside of ToastmastersWhen I am asked to give a speech outside of Toastmasters I'll do my best to research the group, audience or location using the Internet. When I speak at a new club demonstration meeting for a local company I will use www.hoovers.com to learn more about them and recent events. I'll also look at related newsgroups found through search engine Google’s group category https://www.google.com/grphp?hl=en&tab=wg&ie=UTF-8 to learn more about companies or organizations. You can too! After Meetings Often I hear figures of speech during meetings that I am unfamiliar with. Various sites offer etymological information on turns of phrase, idioms of speech and vernacular one hears in meetings. These sites allow me to learn between meetings. I've been known to send out a postscript to our meeting with any follow-up information, clarifications or elucidations on topics addressed in our meeting. It's a form of lagniappe I believe in, giving Toastmasters "a little something extra" to enhance the meeting experience. Ideas For Your Club I’ve become a big fan of the newsgroup toastmasters.org. It's a virtual group worth subscribing to. As a member of this free cyber-community you can pose questions of Toastmasters worldwide and learn from thousands of others who've traveled the path you're on. Check this listserv out!
|
© Copyright 2004 Craig Harrison. All
Rights Reserved. Professional speaker Craig Harrison, DTM of Berkeley CA, turned a virtual group, Laugh Lovers, into advanced Toastmasters club #96430-57 in Oakland, CA. Craig received a Presidential Citation in August 2004 in Reno, NV from Toastmasters International at its annual convention. You can surf Craig’s site at www.ExpressionsOfExcellence.com or visit Laugh Lovers' site: www.LaughLovers.org.
|
|
|
| |