southern cross - toastmasters internationald73.toastmasters.org.au/southerncross/sc_1208.pdf ·...

AUGUST 2012 - SPECIAL EDITION

SOUTHERNCROSS

TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL

DISTRICT 73WHERE LEADERS ARE MADE

SERVING CLUBS IN VICTORIA, SOUTH AUSTRALIA AND TASMANIA

SPECIAL EDITION: MEET AND GREET YOUR NEW DISTRICT 73 DISTRICT OFFICERS

TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL

DISTRICT 73WHERE LEADERS ARE MADE

SERVING CLUBS IN VICTORIA, SOUTH AUSTRALIA AND TASMANIA

Southern Cross - Special Edition, August 2012

EDITORIAL

Southern CrossThe Newsletter of Toastmasters InternationalDistrict 73

August 2012 - Special Edition

Published monthly. Editions will be availableonline from the District 73 website on the15th day of the month.

Editor:Andrew Breeden [email protected]

Publisher:Catherine MacGillivray [email protected]

The views expressed in Southern Cross are not necessarily those of the editor, DistrictExecutive or Toastmasters International.

To submit articles and photos for inclusion inSouthern Cross, email them to the editor. Contributions can be articles that are of interest to Toastmasters, reports on Toastmasters events or advertising Toastmasters events.

The editor would prefer that contributions be in a Word.doc format, not Word.docx.

Graphics and photos would be preferably inthe smallest memory size but clear enoughto see.

The deadline for contributions is two weeksbefore the first day of the month the editionis to be published. We urge all Toastmastersto contribute to Southern Cross.

SOUTHERN

CROSS

It has long been our goal to bring Southern Cross back to amonthly publication; and with this special edition, we’reworking towards achieving that goal.

Southern Cross is about and for you - the Toastmasters ofDistrict 73. So we urge you to submit articles, photos andeven anecdotes relating to your club and/or personal experiences. Bear in mind that we are all here to learn fromeach other, and Southern Cross is intended to be a tool toassist with and help facilitate that learning.

So, given it is now the start of a new Toastmasters year, wehave a swag of new District Officers; and we’re takingadvantage of this special edition to introduce them to you.

All District Officers, from Area Governors up to our DistrictGovernor, Catherine MacGillivray, are here to serve you - themembers; and every one of them is only too happy to readyour emails or chat with you about what you think canmake District 73 an even stronger and more effective Toastmasters District.

EditorialA Message from the District GovernorA Message from the Lt. Governor Education & TrainingA Message from the Lt. Governor MarketingMeet our District Public Relations OfficerDistrict Officers We Simply Couldn’t Do Without:

Joanne Philippe, District SecretaryKeith Isaacs, District Treasurer

A Message from the District ParliamentarianDistrict Officers We Simply Couldn’t Do Without (cont’d):

Jeremy Hill, District Sergeant At ArmsHelp Wanted: Speechcraft Course Coordinator

INSIDE THIS EDITION

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A Message From The 2012-2013 District Governor

CATHERINE

MACGILLIVRAYDTM

We are about to start the beginning of the end – theend of a great year with many successes we have acknowledged and celebrated, and the start of afresh and wonderful new Toastmaster year.

As your newly elected District Governor, I am looking forward to bringing you new challenges andassisting you to achieve your Toastmasters goals.

2011/12 was the first year that District 73 was set toachieve our goals with the combined efforts of ourmembers from Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.As a reformed District we said farewell to our friendsin Western Australia and continued to build on thefoundations set by the previous executive team.

In the past year, the educational achievements ofmembers of District 73 exceeded the goals set byToastmasters International. We celebrated a total of16 new DTMs - a 100 per cent increase on 2010/11.

I hope the District can see at least another 16 newDistinguished Toastmasters in 2012-2013 and manymore members achieve their first and subsequentawards this year. Setting a goal now and givingyourself a timeframe to complete your goal is thefirst step, writing your goal down and sharing yourgoal with your friends starts you on your way to

success. I wish you good luck with your goals and Ilook forward to sharing your successes with you.

The District continued to grow, and saw an the basenumber of clubs, finishing the year with 124 clubs.Unfortunately we lost a number of clubs due to lowmembership numbers, resulting from redundancieswithin corporations or key members leaving.

This meant the District was not distinguished thisyear even though we worked hard to fulfill our goalsand came close to achieving them. We will workhard this year to aim for each club to be distinguished,introduce Toastmasters to members of the communityand start at least 10 new clubs this year.

We have a new Distinguished District Program starting this year, which affects Areas, Divisions andthe goals of the District. I believe it is a fairer andeasier program to track the goals and success of the District. The Distinguished Club Program remains the same.

I am aiming for District 73 to be President’s Distinguished District in 2012/13. I encourage youto set goals for the new Toastmasters year and tocontinue following the Toastmasters program, workingthrough both educational and leadership programs.

If you continue to further your skills , you can gainmore from Toastmasters than you ever imagined. Write down your new goals for your new Toastmaster year today!

About Catherine MacGillivray

After moving to Australia in 2005 and joiningToastmasters the following year, Catherine isnow a member of Brimbank, Hume and Toast of the Country clubs. She served as Area Governor N28 in 2009/10 and President of Brimbank Toastmasters club during the sameyear. Among her goals for this year is earning atotal of 12 educational awards.


A Message From The Lt. Governor Education & Training

I still vividly remember my first Toastmasters meeting. At the time I never realised members could achieve educational goals or how many opportunities Toastmasters had to offer.

As I didn’t know any better, I kept putting my handup to deliver speeches. I entered contests and wentoutside my club to deliver one of the speeches thatwould allow me to achieve my Competent Communicator (CC) in less than a year. I never questioned any of this. It seemed normal to me and I had my mentor constantly challenging me.

As Lieutenant Governor Education and Training(LGET), I want other members to have the opportunities I had. I believe that achieving an educational award is one of the highlights of Toastmasters. There is nothing more exciting thanseeing a member deliver their tenth speech and witnessing their growth. Watching the club recognise this person for their hard work is inspiring.

Through the help of Area and Division Governors, Iwant clubs to know how rewarding it is to achievean award. Some clubs complete a Toastmasters yearwithout achieving any educational awards. Havingspoken to some Area Governors, they have told methat some clubs rarely achieve a CC and don’t knowwhat it is like to achieve success. I want Area Governorsto challenge members of a club to keep workingthrough their CC. I would love an Area Governor todeliver a speech that motivates a member and encourages them to want to achieve their CC.

I also want members to understand the benefits ofbeing a leader. In my first year as a member of Toastmasters I didn’t take on a leadership position,even though my club was crying out for me to be onthe committee. It didn’t matter that I had only beena member for two months, they wanted me.

I politely declined as I didn’t feel I had enough tooffer. The beauty with leadership is that you don’tneed to have years of experience. I think that enthusiasm is just as important.

Taking on an Area Governor position is one of themost rewarding things I have done. I travelled tomany different clubs and often shared my experiencewith members. I learnt so much along the way andthe support that we see at all Toastmasters meetingis extended to these leadership positions.

When things got tough or I didn’t know the answerto something I had half a dozen people I could call. Iwould like members to fight for these Area Governorpositions. On the one hand they do count towardsachieving your Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM)award, but this shouldn’t be the main reason why you do it. For me, it’s about the member and being able to change their lives and have a positive influence.

DAVID MURPHY DTM

About David Murphy

David Murphy, DTM, is a member of The HappyHour Toastmasters Club, Ivanhoe ToastmastersClub and Yakety Yaks Toastmasters Club. He hasbeen President and Vice President Education forHappy Hour and an Area Governor for M22. Lastyear he was Lieutenant Governor Marketing forDistrict 73 and is affectionately known as theSlice Man.


A Message From The Lt. Governor Marketing

ANTHONY MURRAY DTM

I always look forward to the new Toastmaster year;it’s a time of excitement for everyone and I see thisfirst in my home club, Tea Tree Gully. The new committee is full of ideas and goals to make the clubstronger than previous years. It’s a time change and challenge.

This year is especially exciting for me because I’mtaking on the role of Lieutenant Governor Marketing for our District. And just like the committee in my home club, I see this as a timechange and challenge.

How did my Toastmaster life begin?

In 1996 I was working as Quality Assurance managerfor a Government Department. One day my bosssaid “I want you to present a training talk to thestaff”. My immediate reaction was panic but a week later I met a friend who asked me to comealong to a Toastmaster meeting. Going to that meeting was the best decision I made and my journey began.

The following year I took on the role of VPE, whichwas my year of learning and the year after I did itagain to “practice” what I learnt. I believe it is themost challenging and arguably the most importantcommittee position in a club.

Since then I have taken on every Club Officer roleexcept Treasurer, an Area Governor and DivisionGovernor twice. I gained my DTM in 2010 and I realise I could have done it sooner if I had knownmore about it. One of my personal goals is helpToastmasters achieve their DTM.

My first District Convention was “The Grape Escape”in the Barossa Valley, South Australia and from thatmoment on I became a Convention Junkie, I lookforward to next year’s ‘Mind Alive’ Convention inAdelaide.

Having been a contestant in a District final I understand the nerves contestants go through, butit gave me a passion for contests and I have alsojudged at all levels.

Since joining Toastmasters, I have presented manyworkshops and other presentations, but my biggestenjoyment is watching new members develop andimprove their public speaking, presentation andleadership skills.

Although the District has goals every year, I havealso set myself personal goals as LGM. My aim is tobuild club membership throughout the District sothe District becomes Distinguished or better.

Some of my plans are to:• Support challenged clubs with low membership. • Establish a District register of Club Sponsors and

Mentors.• Work closely on a one to one basis with the

Division and Area Governors and Club Presidents• Start a membership building contest between

clubs.

Toastmasters is like a giant football team, no matterhow good one player may be, they can’t win thegame on their own. It’s a team effort and I know ifwe all work together we will achieve a great deal.I’m looking forward to the challenge of LieutenantGovernor Marketing. In the words of Bruce Hill, “I'm excited”.


Meet our District Public Relations Officer

Our new Public Relations Officer is Claire Richardsonwho is also the Vice President of Public Relations forher home club, Adelaide Toastmasters Club.

Claire is relatively new to Toastmasters joining aftercompleting a Speechcraft Course held with heremployer in May 2009. During that time she hasachieved her Competent Leader (CL) Award and Advanced Communicator Bronze (ACB) award.

Claire attended her first Toastmasters Conventionthis year at Inspiration on the Lake and found it tobe transformational for her speech delivery.

“The learning from Craig Valentine’s keynote presentations and having the opportunity to haveCraig critique one of my stories was incredible andalready the speeches I have delivered since havebeen much better,” she said.

“I can’t believe it took me so long to attend a Convention given what I got out of it which makesme more determined to encourage Toastmasters toattend our next one in Adelaide next year.”

During her time as Public Relations Officer, Clairewill be focusing on the following priorities:

• Encouraging and assisting clubs with their PublicRelations through the Positive Promotions Program.

• Working with the Webmaster to improve the District 73 website.

• Working with the Convention Team to promotenext year’s ‘Mind Alive’ to Toastmasters and using it and other key District events and activities to promote Toastmasters to the wider community.

“I am sure there will be other priorities for myselfand the District Council, but these areas have stoodout to me so far,” Claire said.

“I am particularly excited about the Positive Promotions Program as I learned early in my careeris that it doesn’t matter how good or experiencedyou think you are, you will always get a much widerreach by working with a team of people dedicatedto the same goal and I know together we can getmore people into this outstanding organisation.”

Outside of Toastmasters Claire is an adjunct lecturerand teaching associate in Marketing at the University of Adelaide, has her own consulting business and is looking to start an online publicspeaking community - 4DPublicSpeaking - whichshe assures us is complementary and not competitive with Toastmasters as an organisation.

CLAIRE RICHARDSONACB, CL

About Claire Richardson

Claire completed a Bachelor of Business, International Business at Queensland Universityof Technology and lived and worked in Japan,the United Kingdom and Egypt before returningto Brisbane to do a Master of Business Administration (MBA) also at QUT. Followingthat she worked as a marketing and communications manager in the private sector,government and universities for eight years before going into business for herself. Shemoved to Adelaide from Brisbane four years ago.

Joanne Philippe CCDistrict Secretary

My name is JoannePhilippe and I will be yourDistrict Secretary for2012/2013. For those ofyou may have seen myname around already, Iwas District Secretary forDistrict 73 in 2011/2013 -yes, I have decided totackle the role once again.

I joined Toastmasters inJanuary, 2005. It was a

decision made on the basis that I wanted to be a lotmore confident when talking in a group, as I was always the shy one who rarely took part in discussions. At high school and university I nevertook part in any oral presentations and I thought as Iam getting older I need to be a lot more active.

I am a member of Williamstown Toastmasters whereI have been Vice President of Education twice, President, Sergeant At Arms and am currently theVice President of Membership. I have been AreaGovernor twice for Area N13 and had the privilegeof being the District 73 Table Topics Contest Chairfor 2011/2012.

I have learnt a lot from being a Toastmaster member,even my friends and family have noticed a differencein me. I am becoming more confident in group discussions as well as in other aspects of life.

As I look at a new year in the Toastmaster calendarmy goal this year will be to achieve my CL, ALB andACB, and start on ALS and ACS.


A Message From The Lt. Governor Marketing

Keith IsaacsDistrict Treasurer

Hi. My name is Keith Isaacsand I am your new DistrictTreasurer for 2012-2013. I look forward to providing the same levelof excellence you havecome to expect from thedistrict team.

I am currently Vice President Education atHume Toastmasters, ayoung and exiting newclub which has, like any new club, had some strug-gles in its short life.

Over the last six months, however, it has made a lotof headway and membership has doubled. The clubcontinues to grow in leaps and bounds.

As District Treasurer, I will work closely with the District Governor to ensure that the district is making cost-effective decisions. In these hard economic times many organisations worldwidestruggle to survive.

While District 73 is not in the danger zone, it is important that we remain fiscally responsible. In thecoming year we will face many new challenges andwill work closely with District to examine and refinefocus on where members’ money will be best spent.

One area which will see greater spending is the promotion of toastmasters to the general public, asthere are still many people who don't yet know whowe are or what we do.

District Officers We Simply Couldn’t Do Without

“Communications skills and leadership skills are not like learning to ride a bicycle, and then you never forget. Iknow that I have to stay on top of my game, and Toastmasters keeps me on top of my game."

Jana Barnhill DTM, AS


A Message From The District Parliamentarian

This year my role is District Parliamentarian for District 73. So what does the District Parliamentariando? Essentially, my role is that of being the District“Returning Officer”. This involves organising and ensuring that the Credentials Desk is effectively andefficiently managed prior to District Executive andDistrict Council meetings.

During the advertised periods when the CredentialsDesk is open, ballot papers for District ExecutiveMeetings are issued to District Executive Officers,they being:

• District Governor,• Lieutenant Governor Education & Training,• Lieutenant Governor Marketing ,• Immediate Past District Governor, • District Treasurer, • District Secretary, • District Public Relations Officer, • Division Governors, and • Area Governors.

Then, for District Council Meetings, to:

• District Officers (listed above),• Club Presidents (or nominated proxies), and• Club Vice Presidents Education (or nom. proxies).

The ballot papers are provided to those officers foroccasions during the meetings where formal votingis required. Based on the number of votes issued,the District Parliamentarian advises the Chair of themeetings as to whether or not a quorum is present.

The District Parliamentarian also oversees the countof ballot papers whenever a vote is required, including situations where there are contested elections at the annual District Council Meeting.

If a quorum is not present at any of these meetings,all those who were entitled to vote are canvassed by the District Secretary in order for the minutes of the meetings to be ratified, and the District Parliamentarian is the Returning Officer in these situations.

The District Parliamentarian also supports the District Leadership Trio (District Governor, LGET andLGM), providing advice when requested on issuesrelating to the application of Toastmasters International policies, procedures and guidelines orto matters of parliamentary procedure at District Executive and District Council meetings.

This role is one that is appointed by the District Governor, but is not officially recognised as a District Officer role by Toastmasters InternationalWorld Headquarters.

Whilst in theory I could compete in speech contests,I am instead making myself available to judge contests when I am able to do so.

BRUCE HILL DTM

About Bruce Hill

Bruce Hill is the District 73 Parliamentarian andPast District Governor for District 73 (2010-2011). During the 2011-2012 Toastmasters year,Bruce also served as Brand Ambassador, promoting the Toastmasters Internationalrebranding, as well as serving in the role ofPresident of three clubs.


District Officers We Simply Couldn’t Do Without (continued)

Jeremy HillDistrict Sergeant At Arms

This year I am happy to be the District Sergeant At Arms (SAA) for District 73, initially for a trial period.

My primary responsibilities are to:• store the District flags, banners, projector and timing lights;• attend District Executive and District Council meetings;• arrange for someone to collect the items and function as the SAA at these

meetings if I am unable to attend;• attend the changeover dinner; and

• set up and put down the items at each of these events.

I am a member of the PostMasters Club and, as many other Toastmasters, take every opportunity to visitother clubs.

We are getting a lot of enquiries regarding Speechcraft courses in Victoria and need someone to managethem. The person would be responsible for responding to the enquiries and also organising the courses. Todo this they must be able to try and get clubs on board to run them so that we can have at least one courserun every two months. You will not be on your own, there will be plenty of support from the District Executive team. This will also go towards getting your DTM.

What is Speechcraft?For those unfamiliar with Speechcraft, it is the program in which experienced Toastmasters present the fundamentals of public speaking to non-members in an atmosphere of a Toastmasters club meeting. It’s agreat way to promote membership in your community or company club, as Speechcraft brings prospectivenew members to a meeting to see, first-hand, what Toastmasters is all about.

Speechcraft has several benefits. Participants become a part of your club meetings. They come to know andenjoy the club's fellowship while gaining confidence and training in their communication skills. Many Toastmasters members indicate they joined their club because they participated in a Speechcraft program.Clubs that conduct a Speechcraft program at least once each year have few membership problems.

The program also gives club members new opportunities to exercise their communication and leadershipabilities. Members who become involved will be able to step out of their comfort zone and present to willing and eager participants and watch them grow in confidence before your own eyes.

If you believe you have the qualities to become a Speechcraft Co-Ordinator or if your club is looking for anextra challenge that will be highly beneficial please do not hesitate to contact District Secretary JoannePhilippe ([email protected]) or LGET David Murphy ([email protected]).

HELP WANTED!Seeking a volunteer to become Speechcraft Co-Ordinator in Victoria

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