Talk to the Human™

Carolyn. Kepcher. Delivered.

What an amazing evening. Toastmasters International 2010 Golden Gavel recipient, Carolyn Kepcher gave a keynote speech to be remembered at our dinner on Friday evening.

She started off with the story of how she began working for the Trump organization, and how she ended up on the TV Show The Apprentice. Her descriptions were quite interesting, including the references to running in heels (with visual). She gave an additional insight to those of us that saw the first season of that show.

It turns out that her fame on that TV show led to her receiving mail from women around the globe. That probably isn’t surprising, but Carolyn said this wasn’t fan mail she was receiving, but letters from working women everywhere looking for advice from her on how to handle difficult workplace situations.

This led her to the realization of how she could make a difference to those women, and others as well. She started http://www.workherway.com, to provide amswers for working women. By creating a strong network of experts, they are able to provide trusted advice to women to successfully navigate their career path.

She went on to redefine work-life balance as work-life integration. She told vivid stories of telling Donald Trump about her pregnancy 6-months in and how her daughter, at age four, told classmates that “Mommy goes to a board room and fires people.”

This was another case where the speaker was so good I had to go ahead and buy her book, Carolyn 101, Business Lessons from The Apprentice’s Straight Shooter. Although I had her sign it for my wife (who also respects her), I have to admit I will read it myself as well. Look for my review on the 22nd of August.

Toastmasters made another fine choice for the Golden Gavel recipient, and I know from the long line of folks picking up that book, seeking autographs and getting pictures that I’m not the only one who feels that way. 

Tomorrow…Business Meeting (Go Bash!) and that contest thingee, oh, the Toastmasters 2010 International Speech Contest. Stay tuned…

Friday morning was reserved for the Candidate Showcases. This morning those of us serving as delegates (meaning we are carrying votes) for the business meeting were treated to a steady stream of candidates telling us why they should be elected to the leadership of Toastmasters International.

If you haven’t already clicked away, here were a couple of notable comments I heard (bold means I’m intending to vote for them):

Region 8
Patricia Gann – spoke about how we need an Advanced Leadership Manual (not a bad idea)
David Hollingshead – Said “When I am elected”… twice

Region 10
Roberta Perry – Spoke about “Operation little bit” (people not willing to take on bigger roles, give them one thing for one week) – Disney method for resolving conflict (lock people in a room) – assign a “coach” at speech 8 to help members see the advantage of the advanced manuals. All really good thoughts and useful ideas. She swayed me.
Lois Sicking – She was good, but she did not sway me.

The President, President-elect and First Vice President Candidates came next – all unopposed.
Pat Johnson – A very polished speaker. Easy vote.
Michael Notaro – Also sharp.
John Lau mentioned a fact I hadn’t heard before (I like when that happens). Toastmasters International has a target ratio of 1 club to every 20,000 people. In the US the current ration is 1:40,000 and overseas it is 1:1.7Million. wowser.

Second VP
John Rich – Talked about better marketing training – then, what a blunder: He was asked which of the four Toastmaster values (Respect, Integrity, Service, and Excellence)  is the most important to him. He responded “It’s a tough question because I have to try to remember the values.” To which I said “ouch.” a little too loudly. He did work his way to Integrity, but he could have made that point without implying that he didn’t know the values. Note: I’m not saying every member should memorize the values, but past International Directors running for second VP should know them cold, and not try to endear themselves by “not remembering” them. Later, John did make an interesting corollary to the golden rule: Communicate to others as they would want you to communicate with them. I think that was a really good line.

Bash! – Integrity was Bash’s most important value, and he also mentioned the need for Excellence as part of his response to two other questions. Unfortunately, as great as Bash is, I think that he came off as a bit more nervous than the other candidates. While that doesn’t speak to his capability as a board member, I say it’s unfortunate because I think that could have a negative effect (I heard a few murmurs in the audience) when he is such a strong candidate overall. If you speak to him, you’ll see why I’m voting for him.

Ralph Wallace – Service was his most important value – He is a polished speaker and would do a good job. He would be my choice if Bash! was hit by a meteor or something.

George Yen – I like his take on the international aspects of our organization.

And then, like many of you who have already stopped reading, I took a break and skipped the other ID candidates (I’ve spoken or will speak to all of them anyway).

More fun. On to the World Champions Edge Lunch with the Champs!

Editors Note: This report is my unofficial take on the proceedings at the board meeting today. Check TI’s Site for more information later on.

Today the Toastmasters Board of Directors gave a briefing to the general membership to announce the decisions and recommendations that the board had made this last week.

The most significant announcement was concerning changes to the recognition systems for the Area, Division and Districts. In 2012, Area and Division success will be more directly tie to club success, which is already tied to member success – You know…why we are here.

One of the most noted changes was the method for achieving Distinguished District status. Starting with the 2012 Toastmasters year, it’s going to be tougher to get to Distinguished, but now there is no limit on the number of Select and President’s Distinguished Districts. President’s Distinguished used to be limited to the top 6 districts in the world, and Select Distinguished was awarded to the next top 6 (7-12). The new requirements:

Distinguished
40% of clubs distinguished (new requirement)
3% membership growth (up from 2% in the current system)
3% club growth (no change)

Select
45% of clubs distinguished
5% membership growth
5% club growth

President’s
50% of clubs distinguished
8% membership growth
8% club growth

Later at the board meeting, there was discussion about the strategic plan, and the statistics used to monitor the organization’s overall health. The board also gave a report on branding, which I’ll paraphrase as “check with us next year.” Finally there were some changes to policy that were provided in overview, and we were told to expect them to be published later next week.

More details will be here shortly: http://www.toastmasters.org/Members/News/Announcements.aspx

The second day of training is over, and I think I speak for 248 Toastmasters when I say, “I am spent.”

Today’s sessions were really great, and over the two days, I easily absorbed enough material for 5 speeches. In fact, I should generate some working titles while I think about it:

How a free breakfast really motivates the team
The need for leaders
New ways to support ID (International Director) visits
Providing better communication and standards
Why Rory Vaden is the right choice for our Fall Conference

That last one is based on two things:
1. Rory Vaden is our guest speaker at our coming Fall Conference in Overland Park, KS
2. He gave a fantastic presentation at out leadership training on the advantages of self-discipline

Other cool things that happened – I ran into more friends from last year’s convention, including 1995 WC Mark Brown and 2001 WC Darren LaCroix.

Next, the opening ceremonies are at 7pm. I’ll have another segment ready to post later this evening.

The first day of District Trio training went well Tuesday. It was great to see some old friends (Srinivas from Chicago! – P27 if you are a member), and make some new ones. The best thing about the training is all of the different things we learn that other districts are doing. The best best part? Hearing what others are doing differently. The differences in what they are doing can be eye opening, especially when you were told your way was the only way.

Although I waited a week or so before ordering the new CL for myself, I now have a nice, new copy. On first look, I don’t mind telling you I like it. That being said, I wouldn’t recommend throwing away that current CL manual you are working on.

Side Note: For those of you with the existing manual (I’m working on one myself), I do recommend downloading the New Project Completion Record. It works for the old or new manual and makes it far easier to track the progress than the one in the old manual.

If you are wondering what the hubbub is, read on for a short synopsis of the changes:

1. The Project Completion Record moved to the front of the manual (maybe because it’s important!)

2. Pre-project evaluations are at on a 3-point scale and included in each project

3. The evaluation questions have changed. Now each role has a few questions (typically 3-5) that are rated on a 3-point scale. 3=outstanding, 2=Average, 1=Needs Work. After the scored questions, there are one or two open-ended “how did they do?” types of questions. 

4. The appendix includes additional on-line resources, including links to Manuals, Flyers and Toastmasters Magazine articles. There were some links even new to me (and you know I do my research!)

5. Ummm…they took out the mission of the club. That was odd…

One thing that didn’t change – There had been some feedback that TI should include some “beyond the club” projects to help encourage involvement outside the club (i.e. Area Contests, Conference Presenter, etc.)

I was a bit surprised that one or two of these weren’t added as optional tasks on existing projects. However, not having these doesn’t hurt the manual. There are still plenty of options for improving your skills and supporting your club. In fact, I believe that if every member of every club would open one of these books and work on it, three things would happen:

- Members would learn more about running meetings and activities in their real lives.
- Quality of club meetings would improve, as would member performance (speeches, contests, etc.).
- The number of clubs under 20 members would drop to almost zero.   

Verdict: If you are not currently working on a CL manual, you should be. Either the Current or New manual. If you’ve been holding off waiting for them to “fix” the manual, then you are in luck. It’s teed up to work better than before. Now’s the time…

I love hearing great ideas.

But more than that, I need to hear great ideas backed up with an action plan, a person to lead the charge and a team ready to support it. Bring me that, and I’ll say “Let’s Go!”

Do you know what is missing for your success?

Driving home from our District Toastmaster training (TLI) in Overland Park, I was talking to a friend of mine about a variety of topics. One that came up was about what we have learned in our studies of professional speakers, and if there was just one missing ingredient to make us more successful.

One of us commented that maybe, just maybe, the missing ingredient was us. Don’t get me wrong, we all have things to learn and we can all improve our knowledge. I’m talking about the “secret ingredient” that many of us think is out there; if we just buy this one self-study course or get a little more coaching, then things would be different.

Nope.

The missing ingredient is us.

I don’t mean to imply that those things can’t help, or that they won’t lead to improvement. What I’m suggesting is that those external items won’t spark a change, only you can do that.

Take the next step yourself: write that blog post, give that speech at Toastmasters, or create that product to sell. As Seth Godin says, ship something. Once you’ve done that, then look at how you can tweak the next version.

You are what’s missing. And it’s no secret…

Do you sometimes receive feedback that you don’t really want (or don’t even need) to hear? How does it make you feel to receive unsolicited feedback? 

In fact, does it matter if the unsolicited opinion comes from someone you totally respect or someone you don’t even know?

It’s human nature to notice perceived flaws and to look for ways to fix them. It’s even becoming a normal practice in society to go to that person with the potential flaw and offer up a suggestion just to help. I’ve seen this countless times at Toastmasters contests, and I’ve observed the facial expressions of the recipients (and yes, I have done it myself).

Last year I attended the Toastmasters International Convention in Connecticut. Early in the week, some of us were fortunate to be able to watch a finalist in the coming World Championship of Public Speaking (WCPS)  practice her speech.

I really like the rule that the World Champs used for this session: after the speech, we were encouraged to provide positive feedback to the contestant – one each. If any of us thought we saw some improvement that just had to be said, we were to hold that comment and provide it to one of the champs (5 were present). Then they would collaborate and work with the contestant to provide the improvements that in their experience would help her out.

That led me to a couple of good rules we can all follow, whether in our Toastmaster club environments, or in the business world:

1. Positive comments are rarely solicited, so be sure to offer them generously when they are deserved. Bonus hint: They are always deserved.

2. Unsolicited critiques are almost never appreciated. Avoid offering your evaluation unless you’re asked. Note: You are not the exception to this rule.

3. Consolidate improvement where possible. I don’t mean gang up (i.e. “12 of us thought you should pause longer, so I was elected to tell you”), but you should avoid a steady stream of 2-3 improvements from multiple sources.

In Good Guys, a new comedy/drama/cop thing on Fox, the lead character asks his boss why he can’t move into a more exciting job in the department. As an example of his behavior, She offers “You corrected the Captain’s grammar…in front of the Chief.” Instead of realizing his mistake and moving on, he responded “There is no ‘statue of limitations.’”

Giving a critique to someone, even if you are completely right, is not some sort of constitutional right. You’ll be more successful with your opinion if it’s solicited, and you’ll be more effective when the recipient is receptive. Remember to stay positive, and only give critiques to those who actively seek your opinion.

Just think…how powerful can three words be to a friend that hasn’t attended a recent Toastmasters Meeting? When they are the right three words, like “We miss you”, they can make all the difference in the world. There are three critical times that these heartfelt words can help define the success of your club and its members:

Toastmaster of the week – When you are filling those roles the week before your meeting, you will normally find yourself talking to someone who may have missed a meeting or two. Taking that opportunity to say “We miss you…I hope you can attend and serve as General Evaluator” (for example) can help to remind them that they are valued members of the club, and that you noticed their absence.

Vice President of Membership – Any member that misses three or four meetings in a row should get a call (not e-mail) from their VP of Membership. By saying “We miss you” combined with a reminder that we look forward to helping them achieve their goals can help remind them of why they joined in the first place and hopefully get them coming again.

Club President – Members have a plethora of reasons for why they leave the club. But remember, those reasons can (and do) change after they leave the club. That kid’s soccer practice that conflicted with the meeting could have changed days, people with college class conflicts graduate, and other life events change.

Every club president should look at the non-renewals from the last dues period (i.e October non-renewals in May) and send a note to each member that didn’t renew. Find out if their reason for leaving still outweighs the reasons to come back. Saying ” We miss you” could be the catalyst to get a friend back on track. And if the conflict is still there, don’t be afraid to offer alternatives. There could be an open club that meets a block away the next night.

If you ask, you’ll hear that many people join Toastmasters strictly for self-improvement reasons. Don’t underestimate the personal connection you have made to your fellow members, and the connection they have made to you and your club. Remind them that you are glad to see them, and when you don’t see them remember to say “We miss you”

P.S. This post is also on my District 22 Marketing Blog, along with other tips for Toastmasters Leaders.