“Disruptive movement must come from within” – Leo Tolstoy This week I had the opportunity to attend a conference near Washington DC, and the guest Keynote on the first evening was delivered by author Whitney Johnson. Whitney’s trademark phrase is Disrupt Yourself, and in her keynote she gave some eye-opening thoughts about Disruption as well […]
How’s the Pepsi tasting?
I’ve had the opportunity to hear Dan Rex, the CEO of Toastmasters International, speak this weekend at the District 26 conference in Denver Colorado. In speaking about the importance of serving our member clubs, and supporting our members through Club Excellence, Dan made an interesting comparison between the brand of Toastmasters and another well known […]
2018 – is it too late to resolve?
A friend of mine threatened to unfriend anyone who wished her a “Happy New Years” because “it’s singular”…”New Year!” That made me think, why do some people do that? One reason, I think, is because of the New Year’s Resolution. Of course you might say “new year resolution”, but that wouldn’t be grammatically correct. New […]
2017 Toastmasters Convention Prep
The Toastmasters International Convention is coming next week, and once again I can’t wait to be there! There will be great speakers, awesome contests and lots of seeing good friends again for four full days. Here’s the schedule of events – https://www.toastmasters.org/Events/2017-International-Convention/Schedule If you can’t be there, there will be some live streaming options (Did you know there’s a photo contest […]
Shoshin – Beginners Mindset
“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few” – Suzuki Diana Kander gave the opening keynote at the Gartner PPM Summit in Orlando and spoke on The Expert Trap. In this, she talked about the importance of Shoshin, which is a concept in Zen Buddhism meaning Beginners Mindset. […]
Don’t tell me how I’m not getting the whole thing
I was sitting in a session recently where the duration was scheduled to be 4 hours, and the introducer let us know this was normally a 6-8 hour program they run. By itself, I thought this was okay. Telling me you normally run a longer program but cut it down to 4 hours for this […]
Job Hunting – Using Toastmasters to Prepare for the Interview, Part III
For Part 1 of this series, I discussed valuable lessons that came from using prepared speeches to better develop my skills for the job interview process. In Part 2, we looked at how to Get to the Point to further practice and prepare for that next interview. In this segment, we’ll discuss using CC Speech #3, […]
2017 – It’s a New Year
If there’s one resolution I can keep year in and year out, it’s my resolution to read. Here are some of my favorites from 2016, and some on my list for 2017: Read in 2016 Start.: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters, by Jon Acuff – as it says […]
Toastmasters: Getting your DTM through Pathways
Recently, I added an update to the District 22 blog on Pathways. That FAQ has some useful information on the new program, and it has led to a number of questions about completing your Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) award before Pathways rolls out. Specifically, should you finish in the existing system or, if not, how do you decide […]
Job Hunting – Using Toastmasters to Prepare for the Interview, Part II
For In Part 1 of this series, I discussed valuable lessons that came from using prepared speeches to better develop my skills for the job interview process. In other words, determine my content and practice that content in the club. In this segment, we’ll discuss using Speech 2, Get to the Point to further practice […]