MetroWest Toastmasters Club

Toastmasters Officers Training is for officers and members, Saturday, July 20, Main Library, Framingham.

District 31 Toastmasters In Person Summer Club Officer Training - Framingham, MA on Saturday July 20th.

Excellent opportunity to develop or refresh skills with the Toastmasters online learning program, PATHWAYS

Mark your calendars for May 17, 2024! The Pathways training team is offering a Basic Pathways (and Base Camp) seminar

* Teach members how to log in to Base Camp and navigate Level 1 or Level 2.
* Facilitators will guide attendees in sharing their screen and navigating a project tutorial, including marking projects and levels complete.
* Extra support to all Toastmasters who are working on their Pathways program. By sharing their screen during the seminar, members can clarify their doubts.

If your or club members are working on Pathways Level 1 or Level 2 join the Pathways training via Zoom on:

DATE: May 17, 2024 (a Friday)
TIME: 6:45 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. (ET)
(please log on at 6:45 p.m. to chat and check your Zoom settings)

The meeting will start promptly at 7:00 p.m.

The registration link is:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZArd-2sqzMoE9Vq81jlIdcRwmpupZ2XfCny

Kindly share the attached flyer with your Club’s members.

NOTE: If the member who is sharing their screen already knows how to log into TI and go to Base Camp, this will be a quick refresher before getting into L1 or L2. (there will be many attendees watching, so everyone is learning).

Texas night at the Toastmasters conference. Please register and attend

On Day 5 of CLCON 2024, Texas is taking over District 31! Join us to learn about “Persuasive Presentations” at 7pm and “A Toastmasters Journey” into leadership at 8pm brought to use all the (virtually) from Texas!

Yiting Liu, DTM is District 55’s Program Quality Director. Yiting’s journey began 10 years ago when she joined Toastmasters. She has grown tremendously through continuous learning and practice with support from fellow Toastmasters. Come hear how she archived the DTM award in 2020, and is currently the 2nd ranking officer at D55 Toastmasters. She is now running for the 1st ranking officer position because she want to give back to the Toastmasters community that turned her into a leader. Come hear about Yiting's leadership journey and leave inspired.

Make sure to hear what Yiting has to say about her session: https://youtu.be/TqvZbAptakk

Are you making presentations to convey information, sell an idea or product or to tell a story? Join John Chimanski Jr. as he shares practical strategies for creating impactful presentations. Learn how to structure your content, engage your audience, and convey your message in a compelling and persuasive manner. Whether you are an entrepreneur, a professional, or a student, this presentation offers valuable insights for enhancing your presentation skills.

For more information about the conference, and to get your virtual or in-person tickets, visit the conference website: https://conference.district31.org/

Come and see both sessions and take away teachings from Texas. See you at CLCON!

Have you wondered how to improve your communication skills? Do your Zoom skills need a touch-up? You are invited to our Open House, May 9 at 7PM (-4 GMT) and discover how Toastmasters builds community, self-confidence and communication skills in a friendly, supportive environment. Guests are encouraged, but not required, to speak This is an online meeting, using Zoom. Contact us for the link.

Image: A cluster of cheerful balloons beckons us to an open meeting of MetroWest Toastmasters Club on May 9, 2024, 7-8:30 pm

Have you wondered how to improve your communication skills? You are invited to our Open House, April 11 at 7PM (-4 GMT) and discover how Toastmasters builds community and self-confidence in a friendly, supportive environment. Guests are encouraged, but not required, to speak This is a hybrid meeting: you may attend in person at the McAuliffe Library or on Zoom. Contact us for the link.

Image: A cluster of cheerful balloons beckons us to an open meeting of MetroWest Toastmasters Club on April 11m 2024, 7-8:30 pm

SCRUPULOUS (adjective) - careful, thorough, extremely attentive
"Where might I find a scrupulous politician?"



Image: Demonstrating the administration of the polygraph, the subject is seated with hands and right arm connected to the polygraph. The polygrapher is making notes on the readouts. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC, in the 1970's. CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What did you mean when you said DTM, and other acronyms for Toastmasters?

Thank you, District 96. District 96 serves Vancouver, Northern BC & Yukon, Canada.

ABCD - Sorry What did you Say (Acronym Guide for Toastmasters) | District 96 Tips ABCD - Sorry What did you Say (Acronym Guide for Toastmasters) By: Louisa Davis DTM Published on: Aug 31, 2020 8 minutes read Share to Thanks to District 57 for the following compilation of commonly used Toastmaster Acronyms Did you say "survey", "evaluation", feedback" ?? What is the differenc...

Table Topics Contest hosted by Seven Hills Advanced Toastmasters on Tuesday, November 13, 2023. Please register to attend and/or to compete.

This is a hybrid event. Gather at 5:30 pm EST (-5 GMT), Contest at 6 pm. Audience will vote.

Registration (in-person or zoom link): https://abbvie.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIvd-2orz4vEt2TeKTIHbO661-W7dY1s_7t?fbclid=IwAR0JOScVwxWPP3NRJjpsxOItoJLB7MQn-85vQjEF1cr1l_bAHAL9itHBB9M #/registration

Don't wait until 2024 for a speech contest! Join Seven Hills Advanced Toastmasters for their Autumn Table Topics Contest.

When:
November 14th, 2023
Social Time: 5:30 pm
Event Start: 6:00 pm

The contest is unofficial, with audience voting. Register now to watch or compete either in person or virtually.

Registration (in-person or zoom link): https://abbvie.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIvd-2orz4vEt2TeKTIHbO661-W7dY1s_7t

In-Person Location:
AbbVie Bioresearch Center
100 Research Drive
Worcester, MA 01605

Contact Seven Hills Advanced Toastmasters for more information or would like to compete
[email protected]

Congratulations to Stefano McGhee on being elected Second Vice President of Toastmasters International. We are proud to have a local Toastmaster in top leadership.

From the press release:
Stefano S. McGhee, of Weymouth, Massachusetts, has been elected Second Vice President of Toastmasters International, the world’s leading organization devoted to communication and leadership skills development. McGhee was elected to the one-year term at the organization’s 2023 International Convention, Nassau, Bahamas, Aug. 16-19.

Eection results are here: https://www.toastmasters.org/about/board-of-directors/current-board-of-directors

COMPORT (verb) - 1) To conduct oneself; behave. 2.) To agree with
"Articulate Toastmaster members who comported themselves well in Table Topics"
"Our outdated rules did not comport with 21st-century realities"



Image: Comport (compote dish), Royal Staffordshire Pottery Homeland Series New Zealand, base dark brown glaze, lip of dish dark brown background and underside of comport is a light pale lemon glaze, scene depicts - mountains in the background and a Maori figure in foreground. Auckland Museum, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Retrospective (adjective) - looking back on or dealing with past events or situations.
Synonyms - reflective, contemplative
Retrospective (noun) - an exhibition or compilation showing the development of the work of a particular artist over a period of time.



Adjective: The museum is having a retrospective exhibit of the artist's early works.
Noun: The museum is featuring a retrospective of Picasso's early works.

Image: Scene from the 1947 film Out of the Past. Robert Mitchum looks back over his right shoulder at Jane Greer standing in a distant doorway. Dell Publishing, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Need help writing your introduction? The Skills Master at the May 25, 2023, meeting gave us four questions to ask when writing an introduction:
1. Why this topic?
2. Why this time? (why the topic is relevant right now)
3. Why this audience? (why the audience would care about the topic right now)
4. Why this speaker? (your credentials or background that 'qualify' you for talking on this topic)

Image: A blank piece of paper that has yellowed with age. Clark, Ralph, 1755-1794 (Howe, Richard Howe, 1st Earl, 1726-1799), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The State Library of New South Wales requests acknowledgement that the image is from the collections of the State Library of NSW.

RESLIENT (adjective) - Tending to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.
Synonyms - flexible, elastic, springy



The resilient substitute wordmaster quickly came up with a word of the day.

Image: A silver birch tree which has completely bent over, forming an arch. By Prosthetic Head, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Congratulations to our members who have been Toastmasters for more than 20 years! District 31 Toastmasters recognized you in the Hall of Fame at the recent CLCON23 Spring Conference. We thank you for helping us improve our speaking and leading skills and inspiring us to persist in our journey.

image: Kazuko, Lori, Judy and Ed

You are invited to our Open House on May 11. Gather at 6:45 pm, the event starts at 7:00 pm. You may attend in-person to McAuliffe Library, 746 Water St, Framingham, MA, or remotely using Zoom. (PM us for the Zoom link.)

VEHEMENT (adjective); VEHEMENTLY (adverb) - showing strong feeling; forceful, passionate, or intense.



Example: Her voice was low but vehement.

Image: Woman and man dancing vehemently, accompanied by a man strumming a stringed instrument. "Vehement Dance" of Mikhail Ivanovich [Glinka], by Nikolai Alexandrovich Stepanov, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Congratulations to Randy Salminen for winning FIRST place in the Division E International Speech Contest and to Lori Whitmore for winning SECOND in Division E Table Topics Contest. The contest was held on March 25, 2023. Randy advances to the District 31 Toastmasters International Speech Contest on May 6. Lori will represent District E in the Table Topics Contest if the first place winner is unavailable.

VORACIOUS (adjective) - wanting or devouring great quantities of food (voracious appetite). having a very eager approach to an activity. (voracious reader)



Example 1 - I bought five pizzas, anticipating my family's voracious hunger.
Example 2 - The general evaluator is a voracious listener.

Image: Panotti, Large ears, 1493 woodcut. Panotti is a mythical race of people described as possessing large ears that covered their entire bodies. by Hartmann Schedel, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Happy Belated National Grammar Day, March 4, 2023

March 4th is National Grammar Day. I drew this for my fabulous father—a fabulous English teacher—in (I think) 1976.

Hope you can attend the District 31 Toastmasters Conference, April 29-May 6, 2023. We have TWO World Champions of Public Speaking: 2001 WCPS (and District 31 native) Darren LaCroix and WCPS 2018 Ramona Smith. Registration link coming soon to www.district31.org. In-person and on-line options for attending.

Please join us.

Ebullient [ih-BOOL-yint]
(adj.)
- Bubbling with enthusiasm or excitement.
- Joyously unrestrained; exuberant.

From Latin “ebullire” (to boil up), from “bulla” (bubble).

Used in a sentence:
“The cantankerous curmudgeon has finally been defenestrated in favor of an ebullient yet temperate chap with the requisite tenacity and mettle for the position.”

ADJUDICATE (verb) make an official decision about which party is right. Adjudicate also meand "to act as judge."


Example 1 - My mother adjudicated whether my sister or my brother would get which piece of pizza.
Example 2 - The court can adjudicate on this dispute.

Image: scale of justice, by DTR, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scale_of_justice_2.svg

Are you using your GLOVE when you evaluate a speech? GLOVE is approach for evaluations: provide feedback on gestures, language, organization, vocal variety and organization..

GLOVE:
Gestures
Language
Organization
Vocal Variety
Energy

We thank our Area Director for sharing and demonstrating the GLOVE during the speech evaluation. The Area Director (a trained volunteer) helps a cluster of a handful of clubs succeed in supporting the members.

Image: GLOVE from http://clipart-library.com/data_images/13245.png

EFFERVESCENT (noun) 1 bubbling. 2 marked by or expressing an appealingly lively quality
EFFERVESCENCE (adjective)


Example 1 - In Massachusetts, we ask for a tonic when we want an effervescent beverage.
Example 2 - She was a marvel with fresh, direct and an effervescent nature.

Image: Bubbles of carbon dioxide float to the surface of a carbonated (effervescent) soft drink.
By Spiff - Image:Soda bubbles macro.jpg, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Soda_bubbles_macro.jpg, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

AUDACITY (noun) boldness or daring
AUDACIOUS (adjective) fearlessly, bold


Example - Start up organzations can be run only by audacious leaders

Image: Person highlining at Taft Point in Yosemite National Park, USA, with El Capitan in the background.
By Jeff P from Berkeley, CA, USA - Yosemite Highlining, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66843412, via Wikimedia Commons

REDOLENT (adjective) exuding fragrance


Example - When I walked into the kitchen where my mother was preparing dinner, the air was redolent with coconut rice.

Image: Coconut rice with raisins is a favorite dish in Colombia.

Jsn.2k11, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

EXUBERANT (adjective) Happy, full of energy


Example - Members gave exuberant responses to the Table Topics.

Image: silhouettes of three people jumping for joy at sunrise
Cat from Sevilla, Spain, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Metrowest Toastmasters celebrates its fifth anniversary. Congratulations for attaining the highest level of quality and service to members, President's Distinguished Club, every year. Keep up the great work.

We welcome visitors -- we meet second, fourth and fifth Thursdays at 7:30 pm Eastern US time, using Zoom. Facebook Message us for info and the link.

POLEMICAL (adjective) relating to or involving strongly critical, controversial or disputatious writing or speech



Example - We look forward to a polemical discussion of the shape of the earth.

Image: Flat earth and round earth
Wikimpan, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

CORNUCOPIA (noun) - (1) a
symbol of plenty consisting of a goat's horn overflowing with flowers, fruit, and corn.
(2) abundant supply of good things of a specified kind
from the early 16th century: from late Latin, from Latin cornu copiae 'horn of plenty' (a mythical horn able to provide whatever is desired).


Example - The book includes a cornucopia of wonderful stories.
Word of the Day, May 12, 2022

Image: Copious amounts of green beans, cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, red grapes, blueberries, strawberries and Swiss chard spilling out of a cornucopia on a banquet table.

Attribution: Jina Lee, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons