Learning Through Laughter

Full House! Pleasure to have two guests visit. Vibrant energy and members were chatting up a storm!

What is your dream job? How Table Topics helped nail an interview!

Member Recognition
Congratulations to Trevor! Won this week for best Table Topic (TT). Great tip when he sat down on the floor and showed us what his friend likes to share with him! ** Tip: Nothing like a good demo! One of our guests showed courage (Word of the day too!) and shared who she likes to talk to at work. She got an extra round of applause for her efforts. Mary as the TT evaluator, took on this role for the first time with humor and had us laughing out loud.

Way to go Devon! He was presented with the weekly Igniting Spirits Trophy. This trophy is given to the member who Ignites Spirits by inspiring us by taking on new roles and stepping out of his comfort zone. Who will win this week?!

Speakers of the Week
** Tip: Chronological order - one way to structure your speech to make it flow more easily. Yvonne has been working on her Pathway speeches and shared her leadership styles in high school, during university and her residency, and dealing with health challenges. She is determined to use her skills to help educate others. Jey used the S.T.A.R. method to help Yvonne get stronger as a speaker.

** Tip: Giving a speech, getting feedback, and applying the feedback to another speech. One of the fastest ways to grow. Ksenija gave a speech about Contests last week, recieved feedback from her evaluator and mentor Marvin, and this week continued to inspire and educate the members with "Contests Part 2" about getting involved in the upcoming Club Contest on Oct 8.

Marion had us chuckling with her joke of the day and Dermot as Grammarian had us laughing out loud with his play on words. Glen rounded out the meeting as General Evalutor by offering feedback to the evaluators and the overall meeting. Yes, he tickled our funny bone at times too!

What will you learn next week? Come and stretch your brain and find out!

Club Contest March 2017 - Participation, Challenge and Success

All participants in the Igniters Club Contest were acknowledged by President Marion who personally thanked everyone for their participation.  The contest organizers spend weeks making decisions that produced a rewarding experience for contestants and the many guest.

Evaluation Contestants: Stephen (SSA), Ellen, Anne, Marion (TM), Chris

First Place Winner Ellen

International Speech Contestants:  Ellen, Malcolm, Yvonne, Margaret, Marion (TM), Mona (SAA)

First Place Winner Ellen

Test Speaker during Workshop

Nandini's Evaluation Workshop created a full house with 18 guests.  Her presentation was informative and interactive.  Michelle volunteered to be the Test Speaker for our evaluation practice.  "The Act" was well researched and challenged our thinking about food choices, especially our fast food treats that sneak into our meals.  It is always a treat to see the collaboration between two speakers in one meeting!

Igniters Toastmasters – “Power Up Your Evaluations!” Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Do you want to find tips to be a stronger evaluator?

Are you interested in competing more effectively in the Spring Contests?  

Would you like to be a better speaker?

If you answer yes to any of the questions – this fun and interactive workshop is for you! Join two - time District 42 Evaluation Winner, Nandini Venkatesan DTM who will share her experiences and help you become a stronger evaluator and speaker. For Toastmasters at all levels. She will share advice and tips she learned from mentors, competitors, and Toastmaster friends.

Location: Parkdale Community Association, 3512 - 5th Avenue NW
Time: 7:00 to 8:30 pm
Registration: 6:30 pm
Cost: $5 for materials

Free Parking: In the community lot or street parking.

* Preregister by: Monday, March 6, 2017  

 https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/EvalWorkshop_07Mar2017 

Hope to see you there!

Open House Meeting - February 28

Igniters is having an Open House meeting on February 28.  Guests are encouraged to come to our meeting to experience the benefits of public speaking. 

Toastmasters provides a positive environment for developing communication and leadership skills:

➤ Give better sales presentations
➤ Hone your management skills
➤ Work better with fellow employees
➤ Develop and present ideas more effectively
➤ Offer constructive criticism
➤ Accept feedback more objectively

Igniters is especially focused on mentoring to ensure a positive experience that is respectful.  Check out our Mentoring Resources!

Got a Sales Pitch?

Rob had a business idea and his sales pitch was given in CC#8 with visual aids.  The lead in story was captivating, the middle part was technical but not too technical then we had to provide our input about whether we would buy it to avoid a catastrophe due to lack of this innovative technology. Igniters has listened to a few speakers who were working on their sales pitch or interview pitch and we want to hear more.

Christmas Party 2016...Good Time Together

We celebrated our Christmas party together at Glen and Diane's home.  Many Igniters were able to attend to enjoy the lively conversations in our last meeting of 2016.

Awards, Awards, Awards...

Brenda - Public Relations of the Year

Mona - Advanced Communicator Silver

More Area Awards were presented by President Marion on behalf of Area Director Kathy.  Our members are enthusiastically completing their roles and goals with support from Igniters.  Brenda received Public Relations of the Year and Mona was acknowledged for completion of Advanced Communicator Silver.  We can't wait until next year to see who is called to the podium to celebrate their success!

Commitment and Dedication in Table Topics

Raholn exemplified the meeting themes of commitment and dedication with his Table Topics speech. He has been paying attention to our not-so-secret formula for success to be prepared with an award winning answer!

Area Awards Ceremony

Area Director Kathy presented awards to Igniters for individual contributions and Igniters accomplishments in 2015-2016. President Marion accepted the club ribbons for Open House and Go Getter awards.

Malcolm - Humorous Speech Contest

Anne - Rookie of the Year

Diane - Competent Communicator

Marion - Competent Leadership

Glen - Crown Pin for Sponsorship

Marvin - Crown Pin for Sponsorship

Mona's stunt double - Advanced Communicator Silver

Membership Continues to Grow

Ralohn was inducted into Igniters by our VP Membership Rob. We affirmed out commitment to each other's progress and mentoring is available as coordinated by Mona.  Check out our new online mentoring resources!

A Spooky Good Time at the Meeting

Nandini, our Toastmaster, didn't let our meeting be hijacked by pirates unless we needed to fill the role of grammarian or Ah-counter.  Costumes were encouraged, but not required, and some were udderly entertaining, especially during Table Topics thanks to Frode.  We celebrated Halloween as the meeting theme and it was a spooky good time!

Area 41 Contest

The contestants were ready and excited to uncover the humour and provide thoughtful insight to Table Topic questions.  Brenda, Malcolm and Ellen had practiced in the weeks leading up to the Area 41 Contest.

Igniters sent their cheering team for encouragement during the contest. 

Area Director Kathy congratulated all contestants for their contribution towards a successful contest.  Good luck to the winners at the upcoming Division E Contest on Wednesday, October 26 at Rosedale Community Hall with Registration starting at 5:30pm.

It's a Tie !

We did the vote and there was a Table Topics Tie!  Seema, Malcolm and Margaret followed the secret recipe to success in answering the Table Topics questions from Rob's Google Top 60 Fill in the Blank questions with the theme of thankfulness and mindfulness. Their evaluator Diane did recommend using more personal stories to increase the impact in Q & A situations.  We can't wait to see and hear more success from our members and guests.

New Member Induction

Malcolm was inducted into Igniters tonight.  It is an important occasion for new members and existing members to acknowledge their responsibilities of positive mentorship to everyone in the club.  Rob as VP Membership and Marion as President coordinated the induction ceremony.

Theme Building or Team Building ?

The synergy was obvious for the dynamic team of Stephen and Casey as our Toastmasters.  Their commitment to teamwork was experienced by all at the meeting.

Table Topics also became a teamwork endeavour as Rob guided the teams to develop questions based on our interests.  The winning questions were determined through voting to experience the value of decision-making as a team.

Contest Season has Arrived

Our contestants Stephen, Chris, Brenda, Malcolm and Ellen were enlightening, composed...and hilarious...at our Club Contest.  We are cheering on the winners and will be there for support at the upcoming Area Contest.

Welcome New Members !

Ksenija, Heather and Jason were inducted into Igniters.  We encourage their ongoing growth as public speakers in pursuit of their professional goals.  Tonight's meeting theme was "Grab Bag" in which all of us had to be prepared for a surprise role...Public speaking can be "like a box of chocolates in which you never know which one you are going to get".

Aloha at Igniters

Rain or shine...It's always a good time to express the theme of the meeting in every way possible.  All we needed were some coconuts then it would have been the Hawaiian vacation that was planned for by Nandini, our Toastmaster for the evening.

Visual Aids Galore !

Mona harvested a delicious salad from her garden for our meeting with a plethora of visual aids! 

Marvin has been acquiring souvenirs and memorable collectibles for years.

Chinese versus Japanese: Similarities and Differences.  JianLi enlightened us with informative research.

Yvonne is an avid sewer who enjoys finding beautiful silks and new patterns for her family and friends.