Black Swan Newsletter February 2021
The official newsletter of Toastmasters International District 17.
February 2021
Contents
Events
Club Officer Training in 2021
Club Officer Training is essential in the development of every members’ leadership and communication skills. The District Leadership continues to work on developing your officer role and help you get the most out of your role to benefit you and your club.
When every club officer is well-trained to perform their duties, members are better served. This makes the member experience more positive, which leads to a quality club experience and increased member retention.
The topics which will be focussed on at the workshops are as follows:
- Back to Basics – know how to navigate around Club Central and the District Website
- Back to Basics Advanced – know how to master Base Camp and additional resources that are available
- How to Achieve Club Excellence
- How to Implement and Maintain Pathways Mentoring in Your club
Event Details
Round 2: Club Officer Training Schedule:
- Saturday 13 February 1-4pm. Location: Zoom. To register Click Here
- Corporate Club Training – Thursday 18 February 5:30pm-8:30pm. Location: The Atrium Conference Centre. To register Click Here
- Saturday 20 February 1-4pm. Location: Technology Park Bentley. To register Click Here
- Sunday 28 February 9am-12pm. Location: Zoom. To register Click Here
Please register for one of these sessions.
For any questions please contact: timbtoastmasters@gmail.com or ProgramQualityDirector@toastmastersd17.org
Confused about Pathways? Pathways Help is Here!
Are you frustrated with Pathways? Confused about how to access your projects? Unsure how to complete a level? Not sure even which path to do? Or which path you’re on? Are you a new Base Camp Manager and unsure what to do next?
Don’t give up – help is at hand!
Starting on the 9th of February a new Pathways Pop In Zoom Session will be run to help answer these questions and any others you may have.
Drop in any time using the zoom link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2356893717 (Passcode Pathways) to receive one-on-one help and support.
The sessions will run on the 1st Monday of the month, the 2nd Tuesday, the3rd Wednesday, the 4th Thursday, and when applicable, the 5th Friday of the Month.
The session time is 7 pm – 8 pm.
The Zoom session will be staffed by Toastmasters with a passion for Pathways, who will be able to work with you to answer your questions in a one-on-one breakout room. We will also provide, when we can, resources to assist with your Pathways journey.
If you’re Pathways savvy and keen to help others, we also want to hear from you. Please email Julie Dall at julie_dall@outlook.com to find out more.
Event Details
Date: 1st Monday of the Month, 2nd Tuesday, 3rd Wednesday, 4th Thursday and when there is one 5th Friday
Time: 7.00 – 8pm
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2356893717
Password: Pathways
Contact: julie_dall@outlook.com
Julie Dall
Central Division Director
Do you need help to achieve your DTM award?
Knowing how to achieve your DTM award and actually completing all that needs to be done are two separate things.
I remember arriving home one wintery evening back in 2017 to find a package at my doorstep. Upon opening the package there was a letter and a beautiful plaque from Toastmasters International recognising me as a Distinguished Toastmaster.
All the years in giving speeches, leading at toastmasters club, helping with Speechcraft, serving as a club officer and a district officer countless times have all been acknowledged and rewarded.
If it was not for the mentoring support I received at DTM Pathway Toastmaster Club I would not have achieved this award. In return, I really enjoy mentoring and supporting others in their own journey to DTM.
Where are you at with your DTM Award?
Come join us at the next DTM Pathways and gain insights into:
- What is the Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) Award
- How to achieve your DTM
- Hear from other DTMs how they achieved their award
- Assess where you are at and what you need to do to complete the DTM Award
Event Details
Date: Thursday 25 February 2021
Time: 6:30 – 8.30 pm
Venue: Balmoral Hotel 901 Albany Hwy East Victoria Park
Cost: Free
RSVP: Wed 24 Feb 2021 to dtmpathway@gmail.com
Contact: timbtoastmasters@gmail.com
Do you want to be a Professional Speaker?
At WA Speakers Bureau our mission is to connect our members with speaking engagements that add value to the community, promote Toastmasters and advance your speaking career.
WA Speakers Bureau assists members at two different levels; those who want to develop keynote speeches and those who are qualified speakers.
In order to become a qualified speaker, there is a Qualifying process whereby you prepare a 20-minute presentation just as if you were going to speak in the community. Dress appropriately, choose your topic, and practice! You’ll speak before a group of judges. They will qualify you on their perception of how well you will represent D17 Toastmasters in the community and how much value you will bring.
Speaking engagements arranged through the District 17 Toastmasters Speakers Bureau are a complimentary community service. If you wish to make arrangements on your own for a subsequent presentation to the same group, there is no restriction.
Member Benefits
- Develop your signature speech in a supportive environment that challenges you to bring out the best in you;
- Work with accomplished Qualified Speakers who will mentor and guide you;
- Connect you to speaking engagements throughout the state of Western Australia;
- Bridge the gap between speaking for free and speaking for a fee;
- Expand your personal and professional network and networth!;
- Receive training on how to promote yourself as a professional speaker, coach, consultant, trainer;
- Gain access to valuable resources to develop great speech materials and a speaker’s biography;
- Opportunities to promote your expertise and professional services to your target market/community you want to serve;
- Free advertising that enhances your visibility and social contact with the local communities;
- Access to a pool of presenters for training, Speechcraft, club meetings, your other organizations;
- Promote District 17 Toastmasters.
Event Details
Date: Tuesday 16 February 2021
Time: 6:30 – 8.30 pm
Venue: Hybrid: Zoom and at Blackburn Accounting 931 Albany Hwy East Victoria Park
Cost: Free
RSVP: Monday 15 Feb 2021 to waspeakers@hotmail.com
Contact: timbtoastmasters@gmail.com
Club News
Less Talk, More Action – Canning Vale Toastmasters Deliver Support
Every December Canning Vale Toastmasters Club has a goal of completing a community project to give a hand to a needy community group. Just before Christmas, the club accomplished their 2020 goal by presenting gifts for children who would be spending their Christmas in one of the two Starick Services refuges.
One of the club members, Sanjeev Saran, needed to complete a leadership assignment “Manage a Project Successfully”. Together with club Vice President Education, Robyn Richards, he determined that the most appropriate community project for his assignment was to work with Starick Services. Starick is a charity supporting women and children escaping domestic and family violence, working predominantly in Perth’s south-eastern metropolitan region.
Sanjeev and Robyn from Canning Vale Toastmasters club with Danita and Dannia from Starick.
The aim of this project was for Mr. Saran to encourage and co-ordinate donations from club members which would be presented in time for Christmas and Back to School gifts. “The generosity of our members was absolutely amazing!” Mr. Saran said. “When we asked how we could help Starick, they advised back to school items were always in short supply, as the children arrive with nothing and may be beginning the new school year at a new school. To have school supplies was imperative to give the children a sense of optimism and confidence. The other items always in short supply is Christmas gifts for the children aged 14 – 17 years.”
The target set by Saran was at least fifteen school bags complete with all necessary supplies such as books, water bottles, lunch boxes, pens, pencils, erasers, rulers, tissues, and other stationery items. Club President Christina Ng said of the project “We are so proud of Sanjeev, our club members, their families and friends that we achieved beyond the set targets. On top of the sixteen bags donated, many other gifts for children up to 18 years old were donated. These items included make-up kits, skincare packs, and perfumes for girls, and sleeping bags, toiletry sets and games for boys.”
Many weeks of promoting and encouraging the members to donate what they could afford went into the process. Once all items were received, a team, overseen by Mr. Saran, organised and packed the bags. At the last club meeting, Canning Vale Toastmasters Club invited two representatives from Starick Services, Danita and Dannia to present the donated items. Danita, the Coordinator of Starick House, shared the vision of Starick Services and revealed how important these donations were to providing dignity to the families during this extremely demanding and emotional period of the year.
“On behalf of Starick, I would like to thank Canning Vale Toastmasters for their warm welcome and generous donations. The children will be able to start the new school year, proud of their new back packs containing all the supplies needed to have a fresh start that they so deserve,” she said. Danita hopes the two organisations can work together in the future.
“I had a great sense of accomplishment about the project achievements as we all came together as Canning Vale Toastmaster Club members and were able to help some of the children who were affected by domestic and family violence. This sense of achievement was particularly because I was the one instrumental in developing this project and seeing it through to completion. I want to thank our club Vice President Education, Robyn Richards, for her support and guidance throughout the project.” Sanjeev said on the completion and handover of the collected donations.
Canning Vale Toastmasters Club members and the goods donated.
Canning Vale Toastmasters is proud to have played a part in this community project. Canning Vale Toastmasters meet every Tuesday beginning again in 2021 on February 2. For more information contact the President, Christina Ng on 0487 200 201 or at president@toastmasterscv.net
Starick is a registered charity and not-for-profit organisation providing services to women and children escaping family and domestic violence. The vision is to build futures free from violence for the women and children who use their service and for the community. Starick provides a range of services for women and children. Further information about Starick can be viewed on their website: www.starick.org.au or call on 94785300
Artwell Dhliwayo
Canning Vale Toastmasters
Touch of Gold Hits Huge Milestone!
Touch of Gold Toastmasters Club celebrated its 300th meeting on the 30th and 31st of January. The epic weekend-long celebration started with members and guests hopping on a bus to head out to the historically famous Kalgoorlie Two-Up ring, where founding and former member of the club Danny Sheahan enlightened the tour group of the history and rules of this much-loved game. Danny’s stories of outrunning the Police, the characters of the game, and why the two-up ring is situated where it is today had everyone in stitches.
Program Quality Director, Tim Blackburn presenting a certificate for the club to President Nathan Ellis and former presidents Paul Browning and Ivan Henderson.
In the evening the club held our official meeting at the Railway hotel with a buffet dinner. Founding club member Paul Browning was Toastmaster and sent us down memory lane with stories of the early years of the club and reading of letters from former members. Members and guests heard brilliant speeches from Tim Blackburn, Ian Pickens and Ivan Henderson. The club’s VP Education, Matt O’Neil, stole the show with an unbelievable Inspiration speech. Cherie Wallace, Ross Wilkinson, Maree Pickens and Juliana Kelly showed their experience with valuable evaluations.
From left, Marion Hand (Secretary), Cherie Wallace (Area Director), Veronica Chong (Hannans Rotary), and Nathan Ellis (President).
Many people who felt like kicking on wandered down to the Kalgoorlie town hall. Historian Tim Moore, another former member, finished the night with a Ghost/ history tour. Tim knows everything about Kalgoorlie: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. We learned about the ghost of the former caretaker and the lady in a white dress who walks down the halls. Spooky!!!. I bet you didn’t know that the electric stove was invented in Kalgoorlie, I know I didn’t.
The next morning was the last card up our sleeves: Breakfast at the Railway hotel. While Enjoying breakfast, the local Bush poetry club entertained the crowd with stories of yesteryear. With a few hours spare, Tim Blackburn, Cherie Wallace and Ross Wilkinson ran a workshop for club members covering mentoring, pathways and leadership opportunities in the club. It was great having experienced Toastmasters offer their time to help the many newer members within the club,
I extend Thanks to all that helped get the events organised. We were very lucky to have many guests travel to Kalgoorlie to help the club celebrate its milestone. Thank you all for taking the time to come to Kalgoorlie and hope you enjoyed your time in our wonderful town.
Nathan Ellis
President, Touch of Gold Toastmasters
Byford Toastmasters First Workshop is a Success
Byford Toastmasters held their very first Workshop in Byford on Saturday 16th January.
The workshop began with 2 engaging speeches. Graham Watson presented Speaking Confidently and Julie Dall followed with
Presenting Powerfully.
Pat King kept the meeting moving along as Toastmaster of the day and called for attendees to join in the impromptu speaking session. All agreed to participate and this led to an opportunity for everyone to show their potential.
Attendees also enjoyed the interaction of the Question and Answer discussion.
Toastmasters from other clubs, Pasan Ganegama, Sheri Donelan, Jim Veitch, Liz Sheridan, and Shaheer Muhammad offered their valuable assistance to fill roles and help the workshop to run smoothly.
Attendees were invited to attend the first pre-charter meeting on the 21st of January. Most attended the meeting and are now scheduled to present their Icebreaker Speech.
With many more events planned, Byford Toastmasters looks forward to a promising future.
Pat King
Club Sponsor and President
Byford Toastmasters
Member Stories
Brisbane working mom’s Public Speaking journey in WA
As a non-native English language speaker, speaking in public was one of the biggest challenges for me. I didn’t like my soft voice and my strange accent. I was also struggling to think on my feet when I felt nervous. I really wanted to improve my public speaking skills through proper education and practice, but I didn’t know where to start.
Until one day one of my colleagues told me that his Toastmasters club was testing online meetings due to COVID-19 restrictions. I heard about Toastmaster before, but I didn’t think that was the right solution for me. As a full-time working parent, I would not have time to attend any of the local Toastmasters club meetings between 6 pm and 8 pm.
However, I believe that “where there is will, there is a way”. Thanks to the internet, now we can attend Toastmasters club meetings online in different time zones. I just need to find clubs that are in a suitable time zone (preferably 2 or 3 hours behind Brisbane), so that I can attend their meetings after putting my little one in bed.
I found seven clubs that were using Zoom meetings in WA in June 2020, but I worried those clubs might not be interested in my request for joining their meetings. What surprised me was all the clubs were so friendly. They not only welcomed me to be their guest, but also gave me great advice and even invited me to join their clubs.
I was very lucky to find the Zoom Masters club, which is an on-going online club. I decided to join the club and start my self-improvement journey from there. This turned out to be one of the best decisions that I have made in my life.
I make sure the club meeting is on my top priority list. I could cancel other events on my calendar, but I don’t want to miss even one minute of club meetings. The reason is simple – I see a great value of being a part of the club and the meetings. I appreciate the opportunity to get to know so many amazing people that I can learn so much from. I’m always inspired by their communication style, leadership skills, and kindness.
Since I joined the club in July last year, I have learned so much through the online education resource and the constructive feedback given by other members. Now I feel more confident to speak in public while still enjoying learning more through my journey.
Lyn Beaumont (Brisbane, QLD)
Zoom Masters Toastmasters Club
Submitting Articles to Black Swan
Want to submit an article next month?If you have any news, stories and tips that would like to share with your fellow Toastmasters within District 17, write to us by the end of the month! Complete the Black Swan Submission Form and email to blackswan@toastmastersd17.org
- Articles must have a relevant news category
- Articles must be relevant or of clear interest to Toastmaster members.
- Articles must reflect the TI core values; Integrity, Respect, Service and Excellence.
- Length must not exceed 300 words
- Please supply images with the best picture quality available
- Supply names of people shown in images.
Mina Cho, DTM
Black Swan Editor
2020-2021