Alternative WTM Venue for the Next Two Weeks

Just a friendly reminder to all that for November 10 and 17, our meetings will be held at the Liberal Arts and Science Building, room LA170, at Washtenaw Community College.

Washtenaw Toastmasters Silent Auction – December 1st

What is a silent auction? How does it work?

It’s an auction without an auctioneer.

All items, which can be goods or services, are set out on tables with bid sheets. During the bidding period, bidders write their bids on the sheets. When bidding stops, the bid sheets are collected. The winning bids are determined. Winning bidders pay up and go home with the goods.

Items that can’t be physically placed on a table are represented by information table tents. This will give participating members with items/services to sell the opportunity to let their writing and graphic lay-out skills a chance to shine.

Perhaps you’ve been thinking of starting a side business, like organizing closets, dog walking, home or holiday decorating, etc. Here’s an opportunity to try out your services while at the same time raising money for the club.

Call me crazy, but these are just some ideas.

Sounds like fun. How can I participate?

1. Sell your items or services. There should be a minimum value of $15.

2. Come December 1st prepared to part with some cash. Get all of your holiday shopping done early at the WTM silent auction. Your friends and family will be amazed when they find out what a savvy shopper you are.

3. Volunteer. To help make this event a success, I’m looking for 3 to 5 volunteers to help with setup, bid processing, etc.

All money raised benefits our Washtenaw Toastmasters Club.

Phyllis Ford, Silent Auction Chair

Happy Halloween!

Thursday’s meeting for WTM was appropriately themed Halloween Masks.  Many of those present wore costumes, including our toastmaster Marty Maier, who was dressed as Zorro with a black cape, eye mask, and sword.  Apologies go to Zorro for the unmasking of his true identity.  Our president Sadhana Alangar came dressed as a tourist, complete with a palm tree hat and Nikon camera.  However at one point her costume obtained a true unique identity after marking her forehead with a Sharpie pen—a rebus denoting “headline.”   Andrea Paslick was dressed as a masquerading “wench” (an autonym of perdition) and accompanied a pirate who at this point has reverted to your mild-mannered blogmaster Vince Marshall.  Valerie Wells was our Topicsmaster and appeared to be Ann Arbor’s NOT-so-original zombie (apologies where due, as it is difficult to determine exactly who is the original zombie).  At one point, it appeared that The Dude, Jeff Lebowski, was present at the meeting, although rumors still exist that he in fact was not Jeff Bridges but our own Jim Egerdal.  Kent Newman brought a taste of the outdoors by dressing as an intrepid hiker.  A clown known dearly to us as “Sparkly” was also present.  In related news, it seemed odd that Mayna Schumacher was absent from the night’s meeting!  Alp Mercan appeared as an iPad in homage to the late Steven Jobs.  Also wearing a costume was Monica Rodriguez who was identified only due to the fact that none of us had ever heard of a real butterfly that was able to perform as the Sergeant at Arms at a Toastmaster’s meeting.  Sadhana brought cake and tossed candy into the crowd while changing costumes several times.  A good time was had by all!

Washtenaw Toastmasters Invited to Division C and District Level Competitions

On Friday evening, October 14, four Washtenaw Toastmasters, Tracey Coffield, James Mann, Kent Newman and Alan Traxler, participated in the Division C Toastmaster’s competition.  The event was held at Aubree’s Pizzeria & Grill in Ypsilanti.   In all, twelve speeches were given including six humorous speeches and six Table Topics presentations.  Alan and Kent participated in the Table Topics event, and James and Tracey both gave humorous speeches.  First places were taken by our WTM members Tracey and Alan!

Both Alan and Tracey will move on to the next level of competition.  The District 28 Competitions will be held on the weekend of November 4 and 5, which fall on a Friday and a Saturday.  The Table Topics speeches will be on Friday the 4^th and the humorous speeches will be on Saturday the 5^th.  The competitions will be held at The Park Inn which is located approximately an hour away from Ann Arbor in Toledo, Ohio.  Further information can be found in a flyer and the poster for anyone interested in going.

Washtenaw Toastmaster Els Nieuwenhuijsen Speaks at the Ann Arbor City Council

On Monday, October 10, our fellow Toastmaster Els Nieuwenhuijsen presented to the Ann Arbor City Council: Ann Arbor Community Awareness: Diversity and Accessibility. It was a great success!  The presentation was followed by questions and answers.  She presented the audience with three main points:

Disability, accessibility and demographic change – Disability is a universal human experience that affects every individual, family, community, and neighborhood. Els enlightened the audience as to the groups of people who were likely to benefit from changes in Ann Arbor’s accessibility practices.  She pointed out that there are residents with hearing, vision, mobility, cognitive and other functional limitations .  She provided the Council with illustrations from a few of the “Best Accessible America” cities and her own personal experiences. Also, she mentioned that The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) predicts that the Ann Arbor population of 65 and older will increase by 137 percent between 2010 and 2035. This has major implications for the city.  Older individuals have a greater likelihood of experiencing hearing, mobility, vision, and other disability related issues.

Benefits of addressing disability, accessibility, and age-friendly concerns for the City Council include economic growth, health, and wellness for everyone.

Recommendations for the AA City Council included:

Establish and implement policies to enhance Ann Arbor’s reputation as a disability/age friendly city, which are based on the following recommendations:

1.       Strengthening awareness of accessibility services, programs and activities.

2.      Enhancing greater inclusion and integration of disability issues in all aspects of     community life.

3.       Appointing an ad-hoc committee to develop specific recommendations that are actionable.

4.       Passing a resolution to endorse that disability issues are included as a part of Ann Arbor’s commitment to diversity.

The meeting was attended by a group of strong and distinguished supporters, including representatives of the U-M Council for Disabilities Concerns, the U-M Office for Institutional Equity, the Ann Arbor Center of Independent Living, the Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor, Toastmasters International, the Parkinson Network, and other local advocates.  Notes for publication were taken by David Askins, editor of the online Ann Arbor Chronicle (annarborchronicle.com).  For those interested in a copy of the report she gave to the Council members, please contact Els at elsni@comcast.net

Written substantially by Els Nieuwenhuijsen

A Washtenaw Toastmaster at the Ann Arbor City Council

Check this link to read the article in the Michigan Daily on Els Nieuwenhuijsen’s Ann Arbor City Council speech!

Pride and Arrogance

Vince Marshall, Washtenaw Toastmaster

Learning how to be more effective as an interesting speaker takes time and requires some psychological introspection.  We all want to give speeches with confidence and conviction.  Contrary to what we may believe, this isn’t some inborn ability.  Speaking in front of an audience could be a trying experience.  I know that it can be for myself often, and we all feel some of that every time we perform in front of others.  A large part of that is the body’s reaction to what it perceives to be stressful.  There are attitudes and techniques which we can use that minimize this stress, which free ourselves up to speak with confidence, conviction, and pride.

1. Personal mental image is a key component of any speech.  If you see yourself as looking at an intimidating crowd full of “big people” you are guaranteed to be nervous and will not speak with full confidence.  This functions as a self-defeating attitude.  Instead, realize that you are communicating with your peers, who want you to open up to them and to share your thoughts and feelings.
2. Your posture affects the way you feel.  Try keeping your chin and shoulders up.  This openness changes the way you feel, just as a smile on your face makes you seem happier and more connected with the audience.
3. A sense of pride and self-confidence makes things easier on you and your audience.  A lack of pride may be due to feelings of guilt from not being “good enough.”  Pride comes from within and also from others.  When someone compliments your strengths, and you can agree with them, your pride in yourself grows.  And upon reflection, you can see for yourself how you do things which a short while ago you would have never been able to accomplish!
4. One barrier to being perceived well is similar to pride but is excessive.  Arrogance comes from wanting to appear superior to others and wanting to make others jealous.  While we hardly ever notice it at our Toastmasters meetings, just an appearance of arrogance can damage others’ feelings and tarnish reputations.  It is an especially good idea to remain compassionate when evaluating others’ speeches, especially for those giving first speeches.
5. When you project your enthusiasm and inner energy out into the audience, you are giving to them.  People pick up on your enthusiasm and can’t help but feel good about themselves and you at the same time.  They send the energy back to you with their own twist and everyone gets involved.

Pride in yourself is an essential piece of a good speech.  Having the right mental attitude and energy are simple yet effective ways to find your pride when speaking.  Pride grows with experience at Toastmasters, and it’s due to being able to see your own development and accept others’ appreciation.