District 42 Table Topics Champ!

On Nov 19, in the District 42 Table Topics Contest a Champ was crowned! Cat from Igniters won! She answered the question with passion and a heartfelt sledding story with her grandfather. It was a terrific competition with six Division contestants thinking quickly on their feet.

There was a fabulous humorous speech contest with the top funny storytellers. Many inspiring Toastmasters were nominated and recognized for their achievements at the Of the Year Awards.

Dec 13 - Igniters are having their annual holiday gathering with food, games, speech, and the always fun gift exchange.

January is a great time to think about your goals. Come to a fun meeting on Tues Jan 3. Imagine with a mentor, support, and practice - how you could grow in 2023.

Igniters Rock Area Contest!

Congratulations Igniters! 

Join us at Division E Contest to support Cat, Jeff, and Nandini.

November 5, 9am on the D42 YouTube channel. https://youtube.com/c/District42Toastmasters  

Area E6 Contest Oct 20

Table Topics 

1. Pearl - SMART Speakers 
2. Cat - Igniters 
3. Ellen - Igniters 

Humorous Speech Contest 

1. Samantha  - Spoken Word 
2. Jeff  - Igniters 
3. Mona  - Igniters 

Toastmaster of the Year 

• Nandini 

PR of the Year 

• Igniters 

Why join Toastmasters

What do you enjoy most about Toastmasters?

Transforming Jey!  Press Link to find out more.

Come visit Igniters - every Tues night

7 pm. Guests are always welcome. 

High Five Igniters!

Igniters is the place to be if you want reach your goals!

D42 Conference 

Ksenija was an inspiring contestant who honed her evaluation skills and placed 3rd District 42 Evaluation Contest! Diane touched hearts with her speech about a gift at Christmas her father with dementia gave to her mom. She placed 3rd in the International Speech Contest. 

Igniters Club was invited to present an Ed session on creative fun meetings. Ellen conducted a panel session and recieved credit for Moderating a Panel. Glen, Vicky, Mary, Jeff shared fun tips and ideas with Petra as a creative timer. 

Nandini and Marvin as Co - Mcs on Saturday were organized and used their skills to entertain and guide events for the day. 

Hybrid Meetings

Jessica and her Team of Mary, Marvin, Mona, and Vicky along with other members to facilitate Hybrid meetings every two weeks. It is a learning process as members learn new skills and share tech tips. Another advantage at Igniters. Zoom and in person meetings.

Congrats New Executive! 

July 1 - June 30. New members stepping up. Seasoned members work on new skills. Huge Thanks to our outgoing executive. Vicky, Chris, Nandini, Cat, Drew, Tracy, Jeff.

President: Fola

VP Education: Jessica

VP Membership: Jeff

VP PR: Trevor

Treasurer: Ellen

Secretary: Cat

Sergeant at Arms: Marvin

Past President: Vicky

Guests welcome every Tues! Come to see how support makes a difference.

Teamwork! Get to your Goals Faster!

Congratulations Ksenija for Evaluation and Diane for International Speech Contest!

Wow! Both Igniters won the Division E Contest on Fri April 8.They recieved feedback at the club and from Specialty Mentors.They attended the District Circle of Gold on Tues April 18 receiving feedback from top notch evaluators. Come cheer them on at the District Conference April 28 - 30!

Register for free! Guests welcome.

https://d42tm.org/conference

More Teamwork! Igniters are giving an Ed session at the D42 Conference. Ellen, Glen, Mary, Jeff, Vicky, and Petra will be sharing creative ideas about the online Ed program Pathways and fun meetings. Mona along with Vince will also be giving an Ed session on Mental Health. Nandini and Marvin will be leading the Sat as Co - MCs. 

Go Igniters!

Storytelling Tips: World Champion of Public Speaking - Craig Valentine.

1. Use a “foundational phrase.”

For each story, develop a foundational phrase your audience can easily remember and repeat.

2. Get to your stories quicker. There’s way too much set-up (what I call “pre-ramble”) for many stories. Get to the story and then go rapidly into the conflict and hook your audience.

3. Invite your audience into your scene. For example, I say, “Imagine being in my passenger’s seat as I went through the drive-through.” My audience members are now in my passenger’s seat where they can relive the story with me.

Each week you can work on your goals with support and teamwork.

Raise Your Game!

How do you raise your speaking to the next level? Come to the Circle of Gold (COG), where top-notch evaluators give feedback to Contestants.This is the brain child of our own first President of Igniters Darlene.

On April 1, 2 - Division E Evaluation Contestants Ksenija and Ellen and International Speech Contestant Diane recieved helpful mentoring and tips.

Feedback team including Trevor and Nandini shared insights to make the speeches stronger. The learning for everyone was incredible! If speakers and evaluators raise their speaking game - it's not only a win for them - but the audience too!

Division E Contest Fri April 5 - Let's cheer! Learn! Grow! Go Igniters!

Speaking Nuggets:

1) Intro - grab our attention early! You only have 15 seconds to reel us in.

2) Micro pauses - allow the audience to take into your key message. Pause. This will imprint in their memory.

3) Know your purpose - this will ground you, lessen your anxiety, and keep you focused.

How will you raise your game?! Tuesday nights at Igniters - a fun way to do it!!

Contests - Igniters Shine!

Congratulations Igniters for a terrific showing at the Area E6 Contest!

Ksenija won the Evaluation Contest with Ellen placing second. Diane won the International Speech Contest.

Nandini gave us a perfect master class of how to be the Toastmaster at a contest. Marvin kept things running smoothly in his role of Tech Support.

Yvonne kept the meeting running on time. Thanks Mary for being a contest official.

Glen and Mona were in the audience supporting and cheering.

Igniters swept the contest and continued to show the world why we Ignite! All 3 of our contestants go on to the Division E Contest on April 8. Come to the contest and show your support to our contestants!

Glen

Helping Outside the Club! 

Our members continue to polish their skills at other contests. Jey was a Chief Judge, Jessica test speaker, and Maninder and Yvonne helped out as contest officials. Keep Igniting Spirits!

Hybrid Meetings - Flexible Growth!

Yes, we are moving to Hybrid meetings every two weeks! You choose how you want to grow - in person or Zoom. We start March 22.

 ** Guests are welcome - send us an email info@igniterstm.ca to visit 

10 Tips for Speaking Like a 

Ted Talk Pro

By Katherine Lee

Advice from the experts on how to make any presentation sing

1. Know Your Audience

2. Keep it simple

3. Emphasize Connection over Content

4. Be Authentic

5. Diversify your Delivery

Want to know more?  It's a 5 min read to learn more tips.

Link: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/02/tips-speaking 

See you Tues for another fun night.

Way to go Igniters!

March 8 Full House again! There were 29 members including 5 guests. President Vicky led a business meeting. We will be moving ahead with Hybrid Meetings starting March 22. Membership Team Ksenija, Yvonne, Jey, and Marvin along with VP Membership Nandini welcomed five new members and inducted Tracey, Tyler, Fola, Sylvannus, and Samuel. Great to have you!

Drew, Tracy H, and Ksenija have all stepped up to train other leaders and share tips. Petra a new member was a test speaker at another club Contest for the first time.

Recognition & Awards

Congrats! Recognized by District 42 leaders.

* Distinguished Club already by Jan. Keep working on your goals.

* Talk Up Toastmasters - first club to achieve 5 new members for Feb - Mar

* Igniters and After Five Club Contest Our first joint contest on Mar 1. Huge thanks to Contest officials and  supporters. Congrats to all the contestants. Keep stretching :)

Evaluation Contest

1. Trevor    2. Ellen   3. Ksenija

International Contest

1. Diane

** Area Contest: March 25. 6pm - 9pm

Speaking Tips: Ashish Arora is the co-founder of SketchBubble.com

1. Know your audience inside and out
2. Stop using filler words
3. Leverage the power of silence
4. Keep things simple
5. Bring your passion
6. Make it about the other person
7. Tell stories 

Every week we are developing skills to help us persuade, inspire, and encourage others.

Inspiring Igniters!

Looking for inspiration? Humor? Fun?You will find it in this dynamic club! Full House again Jan 25! Welcome new member Maninder! Great to have guests visiting and finding out how to go after their goals. 

Newer members Jessica, Petra, Jeff K all stepping up - leading the meeting, giving first speech, and offering an evaluation. The theme was Learning and we shared our interests including French, Japanese, Computer language Python, Yoga, Writing short stories, and Running. 

Devon made us laugh with a joke! Even Snoopy joined us as Vicky creatively used him for timing lights. Ksenija gave an inspiring speech about Team Collaboration, struggles and her experiences at work. Mary shared about the advantages of  having Diane as a mentor. Our club is filled with mentors and mentees working on their goals. 

**Tips: Marjorie North (Consultant specializing in Public Speaking)

1) Nervousness is Normal! Practice and Prepare 

The best way to overcome anxiety is to prepare, prepare, and prepare some more. Take the time to go over your notes several times. 

2) Know Your Audience. Your Speech Is About Them, Not You.

Before you begin to craft your message, consider who the message is intended for.

3) Let Your Personality Come Through

You will establish better credibility if your personality shines through

See you next Tues for another inspiring meeting!

Hybrid Meeting! Yes, we had our first demo meeting on Jan 18 with a few members in person at the Nifty Fifty Center and the rest on Zoom. Terrific turnout! Overall it went well. The feedback from members from two earlier test sessions helped. Practice and feedback help us all grow.

Vicky our President gave us updates about the Hybrid meeting. ** Only Zoom meetings will continue for now. Yujin a new member gave her first speech and key lessons in being an author. Ellen gave an entertaining speech about Negotation with a car salesman and her husband. We all need to develop negotiating skills! We had a fun round of Table Topics - answering questions spontaneously. Practice does make you better!

** Tip to Negotiate Like a Boss! Sean Kelly (CEO SnackNation)

Connect on a personal level

Human connection is paramount in negotiation, and your attitude and energy going in will set the tone and affect the outcome. It starts with a mindset. You need to set aside the idea of negotiation as contest between two adversaries, and instead realize that you’re working with the person.

Igniters on Fire!

Wow! Igniters are sizzling in the New Year. Tuesday Jan 4, Trevor encouraged members to share their goals. Yvonne gave an inspiring ice breaker on her 2nd Path, learning to walk again and being a bit fearful to take on leadership roles and still doing it! Chatting with guests about our strong Mentoring program and the support to reach your goals.

Jan 11 - Full House! More Guests. Guests seeing the value and joining! Ellen led the meeting where members shared their quirks and the challenge word was eccentricities. It's a safe place to be you. New Members Petra took on ah counter, while Yujin shared about the value of attending Pathways workshop - the online Educational Program. Next one Jan 22. Registration: Pathways Workshop

New member Jeff K, gave a terrific ice breaker - being an engineer and his ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro and despite altitude sickness keep moving forward. Congrats Mona! Finished Dynamic Leadership Path and shared her lessons and the impact within Toastmasters and how it benefitted her business. Devon as Table Topic Master asked questions and both guests were willing to try. Glen, Jessica, Diane, Ksenija, Nandini gave helpful feedback as evaluators. Igniters helps members tap into and build on their talents.  Can't wait to see what happens next week!