“The Luck of the Irish” Lingo Advanced TM Club March 15/22

I don’t know if it was the “luck of the Irish” or what, but we had a “fortuitous” meeting, referring to the word of the day (Fortuity) selected by our newest member Grammarian and English teacher, Violet W.  We are so “fortuitous” to have her join our club. 

After being introduced by Cherry, Sgt at Arms, Eileen S, TM for the evening, cautioned us on getting caught up with the new currency “Leper-coins,” and with that our meeting was off and running.  In introductions we learned several members had some Irish blood in them but the rest of us just wanted to visit there someday for various reasons. 

We did not have a business meeting nor induction of our two new members, Violet and Richard M, as he was unavailable. Get well soon Richard. 

Dan Mc gave an exceptionally good longer speech on “Collaboration.”  The biggest takeaway was his statement “collaboration is not a choice, it has to happen.” He used an analogy between two teams he worked/works with and the three important aspects of collaboration: Clear objectives, Know the persons involved and Create a safe place. Speech evaluator Craig B liked various aspects of the speech and reminded the speaker (all speakers) to look at the camera. 

Then it was my turn to host TableTopics so why not find out who had the “luck of the Irish” through selecting cards to correspond to the numbered questions. Xiao X selected the first card and chose a “two” to which she was asked about the “two” roles she likes to fill. They are timer and evaluator as they require the most attention and listening skills. Violet selected a “three” and responded to the “three” parts of evaluating a speech. She referred to the “sandwich” technique, which was a good review for all of us.  The lucky picker of the “pot of gold” - number “four” was Craig who instead of responding to a TT question, he was able to ask someone a question about “Ireland, luck, green or TM.” Incidentally, during Introductions, Craig told us he was a lucky person. Craig chose Rhys D to response to the subject “Ireland” asking him what three people he would take to Ireland on an all expense paid trip to Ireland. Rhys decided he couldn’t take just three of us but all eight of us (I am not sure if the Cat was coming too). Cherry had a question on the “seven” executive roles and she gave the pros and cons of each. Eileen took the most time in responding to her “five” question, naming “five” TMs she admired (Dan and I were pleased to be on her list) and giving us an in-depth description on her late TM friend, Bernadette C-L, who sounded like a wonderful person.  TT Evaluator Xiao summed up the TT session as “exciting, educational and well done.” Eileen won best TT but Timer Cherry, wearing a timer/judges hat, disqualified her for going overtime, noting Violet was the second place winner. 

There was some discussion on the next Lingo event scheduled for April 5/22 with no firm decisions as to the theme or TM for the evening so stay tuned. Edith B VPPR

Motivational Strategies workshop presented by Lingo Advanced Communicators on March 1/22

Well we were not only inspired and/or motivated, but we also had a great evening of sharing, learning and laughing.  Rhys D, Area B51 Director/ Lingo opened the meeting and called upon Cherry C, TM for the evening to get us started.  All our members were present, old and new, plus six guests.  Our guests came from the West - BC (Karen B, D21 Club Growth Director) and the East - Sask (Don Z, Past D99 Director) plus Alberta (Guitaj K Area F5 Director, Michelle S Area B9 Director, Doug K and June M). What an elite bunch. 
As an icebreaker, Cherry had us introduce ourselves by selecting a motivational strategy from a list of ten one liners - #2  “Be genuine with people” received the most responses and a couple originals were suggested. She then outlined the evening plans of top notched presentations.  
Violet W, perhaps a new Lingo member (the ink is not yet dry), presented a L5 Motivational Strategies Pathway speech regarding Team Building. She spoke about her team creating a Jeopardy Board type Toastmasters trivia game.  I would love to play it.  Next Xiao X also did a Level 5 project, a Dynamic Leadership elective - Moderate a Panel Discussion, when she moderated a panel on what else but “Motivational Strategies for Toastmasters Clubs.” Hence, a panel of dignitaries were gathered consisting of our own Richard M, D99 Quality Program Director/newest Lingo member and Dan Mc, D99 Club Growth Director/ Lingo Pres, plus Karen B from D21 and Don Z from D99. The panel offered many, many strategies for motivating members. I liked hearing that organization, effective evaluations, providing a respective and supportive environment plus having a fun aspect were important. Music to my ears.  
Speech Evaluator,  Craig B, concentrated on the presentation and delivery style of the speaker, while speech evaluator Eileen S concentrated more on content of the discussion and management of the moderating process. She gave a sample suggestion of a smooth conclusion. 
Meanwhile, I perhaps picked the wrong meeting to be timer, as I timed, and timed, and timed.
Cherry ended the evening with a couple of case studies for discussion on the chat box; which required everyone to put on their thinking caps along with some flying-fingers typing skills.  Michelle S. summarized the 1st case study. The 2nd case study was open ended and Gultaj K. said it was a difficult question. Agreed. 
Guests are certainly welcome to join us again and Cherry would make sure that they were invited to become Lingo members. They all provided such great energy for the event.  
I bet they would like to tell us about their “Irish Luck” at our next meeting March 15/22 at 7 pm MST. Eileen Is TM for the evening and lucky for us, there will be an induction of new members. The more the merrier. 
Many of us will also continue judging speech contests, if not organizing and perhaps competing. Since It was is such a busy evening, did anyone notice if March came in as a Lion or a Lamb??   Submitted by Edith Baraniecki, DTM, VP PR

Feb 15, 2022 Open House “Survivor night: Outwit, Outplay and Outlast”

Lingo Advanced TM Open House “Survivor night: Outwit, Outplay and Outlast” 

Well our doors were open, so to speak, but only one guest came. We are very happy that Violet W took us up on our invitation to join us for an evening of “Survivor - Outwit, Outplay & Outlast.” Just what we needed in the midst of winter, experiencing another difficult Covid year, and busy times with Toastmasters as speech contest season is approaching.  

Sgt at Arms Rhys D Introduced fellow Lingo Charter member Survivor Edith B, TM for the evening, who had everyone look at their thumbs since she read that a big curvature of the thumb is an indication of flexibility and survivorship. Grammarian Cherry C chose a good strong word of the day, as we all have great “potential” and are all survivors one way or another. From members and our guest introductions, we heard things like cancer, other health issues, job loss, long careers, long marriages and loss, caused by a natural disaster.  

Before we got to the fun and games, Cherry C gave an inspirational speech from the Dynamic Leadership Path Level 3 titled “Leaders are made.”  She described her own story which led her to becoming a leader within her career in Government. Speech Evaluator Eileen S liked how Cherry presented her speech but thought she could have tied in her original question about the age a person started drinking coffee into the conclusion of her speech.  It is wonderful that Eileen can always find a concrete suggestion for improvement, particularly since she had a busy evening being timer as well. 

Dan Mc used an interesting and thought provoking approach in leading Tabletopics by posting quotes and then asking a question.  Craig B thought we had good structured responses but we could have enhanced our gestures.  Xiao X won best Tabletopics describing her sudden need to relocate in Edmonton and how in turn it has benefited her family.  

Then we “Let the games begin.” Thanks to Gamemaster Xiao and family, we played several rounds of guessing games using Blooklet.com. We may not have “Outwitted, outplayed or outlasted” our fellow toastmasters but we did find out how well we did or did not know capital cities, flags and logos. Thanks to the ultimate games, the Olympics, we did better than we could have. Such fun. 

We were then back to Toastmaster business with reports and a round robin evaluation of the meeting. Our next meeting is on Tuesday March 1/2022 at 7 pm MST where the educational topic will be Motivational Strategies. Dan will coordinate the event and Cherry will be Toastmaster. But the very best news is that our guest Violet W will give a speech as she is working on the Motivational Strategies Path. What a lucky coincidence. Way to go Violet. We are certainly looking forward to hearing your presentation.  Edith B, VPPR 

 

Workshop: District 99 Contest Judges Training Feb 1, 2022 at 7:00pm

It was our pleasure to host the D99 Contest Judges Training Workshop. There were close to 40 participants. Many of them asked for the power points from the workshop. We are happy to provide them.

Thank you to D99 Quality Program Director Richard M and D99 Club Growth Director Dan Mc for assisting Eileen S (Lingo Advanced Communicators) in putting the workshop together.  Eileen presented, along with Rhys D (Lingo/Area B51 Director) and Glynn W, who we were thrilled to hear his Chief Judge talk.  Lingo Advanced members who were facilitators, Sgt at Arms and Timer. Our VP PR, Edith Baraniecki was able to pull off  3 presenters, a 20 minutes breakout session,  a demo video and ballot exercise; she even managed to give us a 10 minutes break. 

If you require the link to the TI Rule Book, ballot, or other items, please let me know. 

Last, but not least, we want to invite you to Lingo’s Open House on February 15/22 at 7 pm. The “fun” side of us. We will be having a “Survivor” night theme so be prepared to Outwit, Outplay and Outlast other guests and members. Just be thankful the theme is not “The Bachelor.”

                                                      

Contact Edith Baraniecki if you have any questions and for the link if you discarded it

 from the workshop. It is the same. We would be thrilled to have you join us.

Edith Baraniecki, DTM VPPR Lingo Advanced TM

Embaran@telus.net                                                                                  

https://lingo.toastmastersclubs.org 

Jan 18, 2022 Calling all Toastmasters: Educational: How to post your ad on Eventbrite?

2022 is proving to be a very enlightening year for Lingo Advanced Communicators members.  Sgt at Arms Eileen S opened the January 18/22 meeting in her usual professional manner and was given an extra job by VPPR/Toastmaster for the evening Edith B.  She was pollmaster for introductions when the question asked was: What is your preferred social media for hearing about TM events and club activities from the following options (in alphabetical order: 1) Eventbrite, 2) Facebook, 3) Linked-In, 4) Meet-Up, 5) Other, which may include word of mouth and Twitter. Except for Twitter all received votes (members voted for more than one). Facebook had more votes, which made old school Edith B and Craig B happy, not to mention Rhys D, the lead for D99 Fan Facebook site. Eileen liked to see all on a D99 calendar page. 

The Educational regarding Eventbrite, presented by Cherry C, not only told us about Eventbrite but showed us. A great presentation, which her speech evaluator Rhys D acknowledged.  Timer Dan was engrossed in the presentation but noted the timing could have been closer to the 20-25 minutes allocated for the Dynamic Leadership L4 Managing Online meetings if the “after demo” part was eliminated as not totally necessary since the subject was covered so well. However, it was a true “pedagogy.”  It was unfortunate that no guests took the opportunity to hear this TLI worthy presentation.  

Tabletopics Master Craig asked questions about the personal benefits of Toastmasters and in attracting members. Xiao X won best Tabletopics. She probably had lots of thinking time as she was not as busy counting the word of the day “pedology” as she was counting Ahs and Ums. Eileen was kept going every which way as not only did she open the meeting and manage the poll, but she was also Tabletopics Evaluator, particularly noting the speakers openings and conclusions.  All participated in a round robin general evaluation of the evening with good things to say about the evening and points that could be improved. All in all, it was an enjoyable, enlightening evening, where we shut our computers down with smiles on our faces and wheels turning.  

Our next event on February1 /22 is a big one, hosting “Judges Training” for D99. We need to shine. The two hour event is coordinated by Eileen, who will also do a presentation on judging, along with Rhys talking about the tips of completing the score card and guest speaker: Glynn W will talk about the Chief Judge’s Role. Edith will be TM, Cherry Sgt at Arms and Dan will manage breakout rooms. Assistance will be needed for Timing and room moderating. Registrations are through Eventbrite. 

Also stay tuned for our Open House February 15/22 - Survivor Night.  

More to come. 

Submitted by Edith B VPPR 

Jan 4, 2022 Educational: Leadership Development

Lingo Advanced Communicators Blog for the first meeting of 2022. Our January 4/22 meeting was similar to a western movie showdown without the saloon.  We were a six pack of members “integrating” leadership and negotiation strategies in our discussions. TM Rhys D was the Sheriff without a badge, but with an “apt for numbers” as introduced by Sgt at Arms Cherry C. We did as asked, and introduced our roles and ourselves by mentioning our New Years resolutions. Among the resolutions mentioned were “to stay or be healthy, be more organized and the usual, continue or be more physical” but this one threw us - eat more chocolate, ha. 

Cherry was our speaker for the night. She gave a Dynamic Leadership L3 speech on “Negotiate the Best Outcomes” re Styles and Strategies. She spoke about a real life example of buying a vehicle. Her speech evaluator, Eileen S, emphasized the value of a strong opening. e.g. "Have you ever needed to negotiate and didn't know where to start? Today, I am going to provide you with some tools for successful negotiation". Chery's slides not moving was an issue but her message came through loud and clear. 

Then the showdown began as Deputy Craig B Tabletopics Master asked us leadership questions. It became a duel of D/D  versus  E/E (Timer Dan, TM Davis, Speech Evaluator Eileen and TT Evaluator Edith B) with the duo of E/E winning the best Tabletopics speakers, yah. Some of us were happy with the first E/E win on the season. Grammarian Edith, while noting that “integrate” was used in some form by all but there were also several “informal” words used. The Ahs were not tallied because the numbers guy may have disputed the math for his count. 

Just as the meeting ended, a lone rider strode into the meeting. Richard M, D99 Program Quality Director, was timely in further discussing our next educational event (always the First Tuesday of the month). Thus on February 1st at 7 pm we will host Judges Training, as organized by Eileen S. See D99 Event postings. However, before that we will meet January 18/22. Stay tuned for details of both.

(Submitted by Edith, picture from Edith/Morris' trip to Deadwood, South Dakota) 

Dec 21, 2021 Christmas theme: Are the holidays only about food and wine?

Are the holidays only about food and wine?  You might think so. Our glasses were charged as we toasted Toastmasters within our club, our guests Toastmasters Jessica M, Karen T, and D99 Program Director Richard M, who dropped in, and Toastmasters everywhere. Sgt at Arms Cherry C got us started by introducing Toastmaster Edith B, who in turn asked everyone to tell us about their favourite food/wine pairing.  Some “commemorated” people, places or events. 

We were treated to two speakers: 

1) Shiao X working on Dynamic Leadership L4 Elective - Manage Projects Successfully Part 1 - planning the project and Part 2 - executing the plan regarding “Create a kitchen garden.” It was certainly a family affair. According to Speech Evaluator Jessica, the speeches and her produce were well done, but wished we knew what dishes Shiao would make with her produce.  2) Eileen S gave her ice breaker speech under Visionary Communication “So this is Christmas!”  Eileen doesn’t seem to be phased by the Covid limitation of this Christmas again. I suspect it is because she is a grandmother, as is her speech evaluator Karen and this blog writer. We liked the “visionary” of seeing the toys she was giving to her grandkids. I guess it really is true “Who needs Santa when there is grandma.” 

Rhys D was Tabletopics Master asking some challenging questions related to Christmas, for the most part. Tabletopics Evaluator Craig B noted all the important parts were there in the responses. Cherry C won best Tabletopics  when she told us about her pursuit of finding a Christmas Eve church service in Hong Kong. 

Grammarian/Ah counter Cherry was not as busy with her grammarian role as she was with her Ah counter role or as Timer Dan Mc was. His red light was blinking as much as Rudolph’s red nose. 

We all wish everyone a very, merry holiday, regardless of how you celebrate it, and all the best in the New Year. We look forward to what Toastmasters has in store for us in 2022.  What Will it be? Perhaps leading a workshop in February on Judges Training. See you back on Zoom on January 4/22. 

Happy New Year from us to you, as our picture shows “Cheers.” 

Submitted by Edith Baraniecki, DTM