“Each of the Open House meetings will take place at Iroquois Memorial Hospital, 3rd Floor Classroom, and are open to the public this week,” says Lorraine Smith, Public Relations officer. Illiana Articulators will meet on Thursday evening. Gathering will be at 6:30, and the meeting will begin at 6:45 – 7:45. Iroquois Early Risers will meet Friday morning. That meeting will be from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.

Each meeting usually features two speakers who have prepared speeches with a specific goal. Smith noted that one of the side benefits in Toastmasters is the education gained from speeches, because of the various backgrounds of its members. Carolyn Looker of the Early Risers recently gave a speech out of the “Speeches by Management” advanced manual, telling how her company, Looker Products in Milford, is researching ways in which they can manufacture more eco-friendly products. At that same meeting, Louise Bishopp, with memorabilia belonging to her husband Jay, gave a history of the communication systems in that industry at a time when they used Morse Code and towers in Iroquois County. Her personal goal that day was to give a PowerPoint presentation.

The unique format of a Toastmasters meeting allows each of its members gain self-confidence and achieve personal growth. The reason for the Open House is to give business owners, managers, community leaders, as well as individuals, an opportunity to see the value of membership in this educational organization.

Toastmasters International, a not-for-profit international organization, has more than 200,000 members in 10,000 clubs in over 80 countries. For more information, visit www.toastmasters.org and www.watsekatoastmasters.com.

“Each of the Open House meetings will take place at Iroquois Memorial Hospital, 3rd Floor Classroom, and are open to the public this week,” says Lorraine Smith, Public Relations officer. Illiana Articulators will meet on Thursday evening. Gathering will be at 6:30, and the meeting will begin at 6:45 – 7:45. Iroquois Early Risers will meet Friday morning. That meeting will be from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.

Each meeting usually features two speakers who have prepared speeches with a specific goal. Smith noted that one of the side benefits in Toastmasters is the education gained from speeches, because of the various backgrounds of its members. Carolyn Looker of the Early Risers recently gave a speech out of the “Speeches by Management” advanced manual, telling how her company, Looker Products in Milford, is researching ways in which they can manufacture more eco-friendly products. At that same meeting, Louise Bishopp, with memorabilia belonging to her husband Jay, gave a history of the communication systems in that industry at a time when they used Morse Code and towers in Iroquois County. Her personal goal that day was to give a PowerPoint presentation.

The unique format of a Toastmasters meeting allows each of its members gain self-confidence and achieve personal growth. The reason for the Open House is to give business owners, managers, community leaders, as well as individuals, an opportunity to see the value of membership in this educational organization.

Toastmasters International, a not-for-profit international organization, has more than 200,000 members in 10,000 clubs in over 80 countries. For more information, visit http://www.toastmasters.org and http://www.watsekatoastmasters.com.

Visit a club this week!

Open House meeting location: IMH 3rd Floor Classroom

Illiana Articulators
Thursday, October 9th
Gathering at 6:30 pm
Meeting from 6:45-7:45 pm

Iroquois Early Risers
Friday, October 10th
Gathering at 6:45 am
Meeting from 7:00-8:00 am

2008-2009 Theme: Courage to Conquer

• Conquer your fear of speaking before large groups of people
• Develop good listening skills
• Learn critical thinking
• Increase your self-confidence
• Achieve personal growth

Encourage your managers and employees to learn excellent communication skills! Visit a club this week!

At their July 24 meeting, Sandy Hamende talked about “Gaetano Donizetti-a Happy Composer”,and inspired us to attend the upcoming Opera.  It also was her 10th speech!   Carrie Yana’s speech that week was “Going for the Gold.”

The club had 2 outstanidng speakers on August 14th:  Rober Bard gave is 3rd Ice Breaker entitled “Farm Boy”, and Connie Kissee continued working on her second CC with “Never Say Never.”  An excellent general evaluation by Chuck Alt inspired Connie to rework Table Topics on August 28th, gearing the question to specific individuals.

Amy Denoyer gave an excellent presentation of “Speaking Dog 101” as she regaled us with facts she learned at dog school with her dog Ace.  Who learned more, the dog or the owner, Amy?

Lorraine Smith, DTM, presented the results of her High Performance Leadership Project, the first Family Reunion her family had experienced.  The completion of the HPL project is one step closer to her second Distinguished Toastmaster Award.

Other outstanding speeches this month were given by Bernie Smith “My Home State” (Illinois) Marvin Stichnoth, “What’s happening in Precision Agriculture”  (his awesome new tractor), and Jim McRoberts, “Technology Available for Toastmasters.”

Following through on his promise, he helped Louise Bishopp do a power point presentation as she told and showed us about local railroads 50 years ago with “Trains, Towers and Operations.”  Finally, Carolyn Looker did an excellent presentation of “Going Green” with her display of bird houses and feeders.

The speech contest is the opportunity to pick the best speaker!  We love excellent evaluations, but instead of an evaluation, there is a winner!  You then have the opportunity to give the same speech to a different  Toastmaster audience, so you still receive that encouragement and support, but you have taken your  next step in developing your skills.

Our club contests and Area contest have been scheduled for October.  The Area consists of four clubs: Iroquois Early Risers, Illiana Articulators, Key City (K3) Toastmasters, and Lincoln-Way Toastmasters in Frankfurt.

The Humorous Speech is a 5-7 minute speech that contains some humor; the Tall Tales Contest is a 3-5 minute original, highly improbable, humorous tale.

The Division E Contest is on November 8th in Kankakee.  The District Tall Tales Contest is November 21st, and the Humorous Speech Contest is November 22.  Accept the Challenge!