My Toastmaster's Experience

Last night I attended my very first toastmaster's meeting. Upon arriving, I saw a large number of people in a huge conference room. I was excited to see the amount of people there, thinking that I would kind of blend in with the crowd and no one would notice me (I did not want them to pick me out of the crowd to speak because I get very nervous when doing so). Anyway, I asked the person at the door if it was a toastmaster's meeting- and it was not. I went to the front desk in which the lady there informed me that the meeting was down the hall in a smaller room (I remember swallowing my saliva in my nervousness). When I got to the door I peeked in, and a gentlemen had waved me in. They were all dressed in business attire and I, of course, in jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers. I happened to be the only woman there, the only one in my 20s, and I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb. There were about 15-17 men there, mostly in there 50s, 60s, 70s, and I believe one 80 year old man. The man who waved me in also invited me to sit next to him. He was very friendly and also one of the administrators of the group. He also happened to smell alcohol, however, he was very helpful in telling me how things are run in the meetings. It was a very loose environment in which they would occasionally have chit chat amongst themselves when things were going on.

The first order of business were table topics in which a few people are picked to speak about a topic and then they pick people out of the crowd to comment on their topic - the people who are picked out have to talk about the topic- unscripted, without and "um's" "awes" or other things that we say when we are searching for the right words.

The second order of business were the presenters. This was the real deal in which 2-4 people speak about a topic that they have chosen or one that the club has chosen for them. They are timed and there is a 3 light system which shows them when they are passing the allotted time. They also have a bell for when someone does have "um's" and "awes's", however it is not during the presenter's time, but whenever any other person is speaking.

The third order of business was the evaluation. This is when they give constructive criticism about the presenters. They give them feedback on what they did wrong, how they could improve, and what they did well in. They also have an evaluation on evaluators, on how well they spoke about the presenter. They also evaluate the people who presented table topics and what they did well, what they did wrong, and what they could improve on.

They also have a mini award giving at the end of the meeting in which they give ribbons for the the "best table topics", "best evaluator", "most improved toastmaster", "most improved speaker", and the "best speaker". It was an interesting experience for me to see a novice speaker to a experienced speaker. I will definitely use the information that was given to me for future pubic speaking tools. I also thought that it was a very informative experience for me that I enjoyed until the very end.

Discussion: How to Be A Persuasive and Influential Speaker

Preparation for being an influential speaker is probably the most important in giving a job well done. I think that practicing in front of friends or family can be useful. They can give you feedback about how you are speaking, your body language, content, and tone. I think that many people forget about their tone when they are speaking and may not realize that they are boring their audience. It is necessary to be somewhat enthusiastic about what you are talking about; I think that helps the audience become interested. As someone already mentioned, being passionate about what you are speaking about is a necessary aspect that can be helpful in making the audience passionate too. Making sure that your content flows and try not to spend too much time on minor details, but hitting main points of importance that will stay in audience's mind.

CONTACT!!!

I have finally made contact with 2 of my group members! All is not lost!!!!

Persuasive Communication to Build Consensus

While I was at work I tried to complete this assignment with a few of my co-workers. Some of them came up with interesting answers. To have a less desirable job for a lot of money, some of the answers were: a teacher, lawyer, daycare provider, human resources, and a computer engineer. The "passion" jobs for a lot less money that were mentioned: to work with dolphins (I really thought that was interesting), secretary (that I did not get), a coach (sports), an office manager, and a police officer. When one would hear someone else's answer for the question some answers were changed, as if the other's was a better one. In the end, the less desirable job, which took a couple trials to come up with, ended up being the lawyer. The "passion" job for a lot less money was an office manager. The only man in the group was the only one that did not agree with this. He wanted to stay with being a coach for his "passion" job and thought that none of the other positions would have been worth it.

Communication Questions

I think that the definition of communication is getting a message across. They can be verbal or nonverbal, and may differ based on gender, race, religion, ethnicity, region, and several others. We may not understand each other all the time because of the difference in cultures, and we may handle and take things differently than those from our cultures. Messages are sometimes taken differently than we wanted and sometimes the messages may come across as offensive to some but not others. I think it is necessary to learn about different cultures in order to be an effective communicator across diverse population. Learning to pay attention to a person's body language is also necessary in communicating well. In many cultures, a person's body language can say a lot more than others.

My group experiences

So far, I have to say that my group experiences have been pretty limited. I only have contact with one other student which was the person I did the phone interview with. Other than that I have yet to have spoken with any other member of my group. It is a bit frustrating because time is ticking and I do not know what to do at this point. I have yet to figure out what kind of experiences we have on how differently we communicate because I do not have any with them! Anyway, I hope my experiences change and things get better.

What makes a good leader?

I think being a good leader can be many things. An obvious aspect would be good communication; to get things across clearly and also know how to listen effectively. It is indeed a vital part of leadership. I think it is also being able to priortize and know what needs most attention without neglecting the details. Being able to pay attention to non-verbal cues is also a necessary characteristic of a good leader. Having the ability to sense certain vibes and having good perception of whether or not everyone is on the same page. In addition to being a good leader is also knowing when it is time to be led. I think it is not always necessary for a good leader to dominate every aspect. Receiving feedback and knowing how to utilize it is also important. Finally, I think that a good leader knows that the group that he/she is leading is the backbone, and without them, the leader would be nothing. So, communication with the leader and group members is key in being efficient. I think being a a good communicator is essential in being a strong leader, because you know how to handle differences in genders, races, cultures, and religions appropriately.