Kilcoy Toastmasters

Now I’ve been to a lot of birthday parties but never have I seen one like this.  Kilcoy Toastmasters are officially twelve months old and it’s time to celebrate.  As you can no doubt tell by now this article was written at our toastmasters meeting.  As I look around I see people from all walks of life, with varying degrees of speaking ability.  Some have arrived for the first time and are terrified about having to introduce themselves to the group while others are accomplished public speakers and one is a professional keynote speaker.  The one common trait shared by all these individuals is their desire to increase their speaking ability.

Most parties are a lively affair and this is certainly no exception to the rule.  The party games at this one are a little different to the norm, each one requires the participant to utilise their speaking skills.  First cab off the rank is the old fashioned pass the parcel… but this version has a twist.  As each layer of the parcel is removed a new written note is unwrapped which provide the next speaker with a speaking based task.

Following this light start to the evening we kick into three fantastic prepared speeches covering topics ranging from the reserve banks’ influence on the economy through to hexakosiohexekontahexa – a phobia of the number 666.

Following these outstanding examples of what practice and persistence can yield it’s time for a break and of course being a birthday we had an awesome birthday cake.

Now Toastmasters isn’t just a fantastic organisation that provides people with everything they need to improve their speaking skills…  Every meeting is conducted according to a formal structure which includes a business session with all the elements that one would expect.  Our business session is always run following the break.  It Is fair to say that many of the participants that attend Toastmasters do so not only for the speaking skills they learn but also for the education in formal meeting protocol.

Following the business session is arguably one of the most important parts of the evening.  The speech evaluations.  All evaluations are conducted in manner that not only provide the speaker with fantastic encouragement but also constructive criticisms that provide the speaker with feedback to help them grow.

The evening was beautifully rounded out with table topics.  Table topics practice the skill of impromptu speaking. Each participant is provided with a topic and then must speak for a minute on the topic with no preparation.  A tonne of fun and a great laugh for all.

So there you have it, a Toastmasters meeting from start to finish.  To be part of the party simply contact the Kilcoy club for the next meeting details.  New speakers of all skill levels are always welcome so come along and be part of the fun.

On Sunday 21st June, Daryl & Vicki Higgins hosted a champagne breakfast at Hunting Lodge estate Winery to celebrate the 1st handover ceremony of Kilcoy Toastmasters Club. Brian Duckworth, governor of Area 22 chaired the outgoing ceremony of retiring executives, and Area 3 Governor Robyn Downey inducted the incoming executive for the 2009/ 2010 year. The District 69 Lieutenant Governor of Marketing, John Kay was amongst the many distinguished guests attending. Representatives of other local clubs also attended this auspicious occasion.

Traditionally, Toastmasters Clubs give out three awards annually to club members to encourage and acknowledge achievements and effort throughout the year.

Awarded to a member for outstanding contribution to the executive and the Kilcoy club, Daniel Sheehan was the very worthy first recipient of the Presidents Perpetual Trophy.

Daryl Higgins Presents the Presidents Award to Dan Sheehan

The 2nd award of Toastmaster of the Year was awarded to Daryl Higgins, who not only was involved in all aspects of the Kilcoy Club as Club President and active participant, but also visited other clubs as guest speaker and representative of Kilcoy on many occasions.

Brian Duckworth Presents the Toastmaster Of The Year Award to Daryl Higgins

Lastly the award for Most Improved Toastmaster of the Year went to Alison Walsh, for her growth in self-confidence and speaking skills.

Brian Duckworth presents the Most Improved Toastmaster Award to Alison Walsh

We are so proud of our efforts in our first year of charter- 23 club members, participation with place getting in every Toastmasters competition available to us, and in our first year, achieved the level of a Distinguished Club within Toastmasters International, virtually unheard of in a clubs charter (1st) year.

Happy Attendees of the Champagne Breakfast

Special Guests: Allie Lovett (incoming Area 3 Governor), Fran Kay (incoming Area 22 Governor), Brian Duckworth (outgoing Area 22 Governor), Robyn Downey (outgoing Area 3 Governor)

We are looking forward to another dynamic and growing year for the club and encourage you to come and join us. For $5 including supper, Kilcoy Toastmasters provides a night of entertainment, education and friendship, where you are guaranteed to get something back. It is an investment in you!

Kilcoy Toastmasters is held the first and third Wednesday each month at the Christian Outreach Centre, William St Kilcoy, 6.45 for a 7pm start, finishing at 9pm. Our next meeting is on the 1st July 2009. For enquiries please contact: President- Dan Sheehan Ph: 5422 0856 or Vice President Membership- Debra Mann Ph: 5422 0104

This is a great speech available on You Tube which is both funny and entertaining.

Inspirational Humorist Andy Dooley, delivers his HUMOROUS story about meeting Tony Robbins on top of a mountain.

Enjoy!

–Newspaper Article 12th May 2009–

At our meeting held 6th May, Kilcoy Toastmasters voted in our new club executives, to take office effective 1st July 2009.

The positions are all filled as follows:

President – Daniel Sheehan
Vice President Education – Karen McNab
Vice President Public Relations- Damian Milosavljevic
Vice President Membership – Debra Mann
Treasurer – Judy Wallace
Secretary – Cheryl Gaedtke
Sergeant at Arms – Ralph Julius, Assistant – Bonnie Morgan
Past President- Daryl Higgins

On the night we had a mini speech-a-thon, with 6 fantastic speeches, topics ranging from Red Deer, Trains, the ‘how to’ of testimonials, through to the evolution of our language.

We had a great regular warm up, where members gave a 30 second response to Cheryl’s topic -the first night of television- “Good Evening, Welcome to Television”- (What would your next words be….?). What a variety of responses we had!

We also had our Wordmaster, a film review, and welcomed two visitors to our club. A great evening was had by all.

Kilcoy Toastmasters is held the first and third Wednesday each month at the Christian Outreach Centre, William St Kilcoy, 6.45 for a 7pm start, finishing at 9pm. Our next meeting is on the 20th May 2009 with a full meeting agenda. For enquiries please contact: President- Daryl Higgins 5498 1243 or Vice President Membership- Karen McNab 0439 629 195.

Visitors free with supper supplied, all welcome. Come and join us at Kilcoy Toastmasters!

–Newspaper Article 27th April 2009–

It is with great pleasure that I am able to inform you of some of the recent happenings in the Kilcoy Toastmasters club.

When I first went to a Toastmasters meeting, I anticipated standing around with a glass of port and doing nothing but toasting to each other’s success. Nothing could be further from the truth. The whole premise upon which Toastmasters is based, is to provide individuals with a positive environment in which to improve their communication skills and public speaking abilities.

Each meeting, although different, does have some common elements. The first of these is prepared speeches, in which a member prepares a speech based upon the level of training they have already received. This training is gained through materials and mentoring provided by the club. Another element at each meeting is impromptu speaking, i.e thinking on your feet. In this scenario, the speaker is given a topic, and then immediately speaks on it for approximately one minute.

Many members join Toastmasters to not only improve their public speaking skills, but also to learn more about formal meeting practices. Each meeting contains elements of a formal nature such as treasurer’s report, correspondence, Presidents report and formal evaluations. It is through these elements that many people are able to learn how to properly conduct a formal meeting.

The Kilcoy club has recently met for the 50th time, and, as a relatively juvenile club, we have already managed to achieve a lot. The club held a mystery meeting recently, in which all elements of the agenda were known only to the President (Mr Daryl Higgins). A riotous night ensued, and a lot of fun was had by all. We also held an Australian themed meeting. Thongs and singlets were the order of the day, and while many of the blokes spoke on ‘mateship’, the sheilas contributed with a variety of material, as only a top Aussie sheila could. With cork hats bobbing and thongs slapping loudly, many a passerby was stunned to hear “Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi’ echoing loudly (and repeatedly) out of the hall and through the local Kilcoy countryside.

As a club that openly welcomes new members, we hereby cordially invite all interested members of the community young and old, to contact us for further details about attending one of our great evenings.

Damian Milo
Kilcoy Toastmaster

Our next meeting is on 6th May, from 7-9pm at the Christian Outreach centre, William St, Kilcoy. For enquiries, please contact President -Daryl Higgins, 5498 1243 or Vice President Membership- Karen Mc Nabb, 0439 629 195

*KilcoyToastmaster Damian Milo, has taken his speaking skills to the next level, and has now commenced a career as a professional Keynote Speaker.

–Newspaper Article – 29 March 2009–

On 29 March, Kilcoy Toasties participated in the Area 22 speech contest. We achieved a fantastic result against 7 other clubs, placing in all three speech categories! Donna Sheehan achieved 2nd place in the Novice Speaker category – where members having completed 6 or less speeches within the club, present an original speech on a topic of his/her choice.

Alison Walsh won 1st place in the Interpretive Reading category. Here competitors choose a piece of writing / article or book, and make it come alive!

And Daryl Higgins achieved 3rd place in the ‘Tall Tales’ category, where competitors make and present, highly improbable, outrageous and outlandish stories of gigantic proportions!

We had great club member and spectator support on the day, all participating in the event as judges, trainee judges, timers and tally counters, and giving our competitors loads of encouragement.

Kilcoy Toastmasters is held the first and third Wednesday each month at the Christian Outreach Centre, William St Kilcoy, from 7-9pm. Our next meeting is on the 15th April 2009.

If you would like to improve your communication skills for work or play, or simply to boost your confidence, mark it on your calendar and come and join us at Kilcoy Toastmasters!