Toastmasters

The Toastmasters year is quickly coming to an end. June 23rd is our last meeting until sometime in September. Being only 3 speeches away from finishing my requirements for the AC-B award (Advanced Communicator Bronze), I jumped at the opportunity to squeeze in these last few speeches before the last meeting. Yes, I gave a speech last Monday evening, and I am down for a speech on the 23rd, and I'd thought that I would be 2 speeches short of my AC-B and have to finish it off in September. However, Carol couldn't be there tonight, so she sent an email out telling us she couldn't be there and could someone else fill the positions she was booked for on the schedule. Yes!! I grabbed that opportunity! Then Sharon has to cancel her speech for next week, so I jumped in there too. Awesome! I'm going to get my last 3 speeches in after all. Last night and today I wrote, then practiced my 5-7 minute speech and presented it this evening.

Last week, I finished the advanced manual Speaking To Inform, so the last of my projects are from Special Occasion Speeches. The one I did tonight was Project #5 (they don't have to be done in order) Accepting An Award. One suggestion made in the manual is to accept a Volunteer Of The Year award (of course, the award you are accepting will most times be a 'fake'.) I wrote a speech that followed exactly the requirements set out in the manual. Well, some people thought I did a very good job... and some really got their tail feathers in a knot!! Firstly, the evaluator of my speech gave me a very good evaluation, for the most part, but she accused me orally and in my manual of "Blatant sales job for membership". I totally disagree with her assessment here. Obviously she and some others felt it was such, however, the manual states "The speaker is to acknowledge those who helped him or her and recognize the importance and work of the presenting organization." In another place it says "Recognize the organization giving the award. Tell about its work and its importance to others and to you. Show your appreciation, but don't grovel." I did what was required, and that was taken as a blatant sales job. I also said the 'G' word... yup, right up in front of everyone I said it... I said God!

So now some people are upset with me... and the VP Education said she's going to check into the Toastmaster International rules on sales pitches and promoting our religion. Okay, so maybe I was already a little pissed 'testy' even before those jerks nearly ran me off the road on my way home. I can see clearly that we are not to preach or try to sell products to people through the meetings... and I don't feel that I did either one of these things. I followed the requirements of the project. Grrrr, some days I really have troubles with 'stupid people' people jumping to negative judgment and reading things in that aren't there. A guest there from another club said that if I'd tried to present this speech in that club, they would have stopped me and not let me give it. How nasty and narrow minded!!! If our club becomes like that, I will quit. They will loose a good member as well as the incoming VP of Membership.

No matter what some people think... I know I met the requirements of the project in the manual, and I know that I gave an awesome speech!!

I will post my speech in the next post, so as to keep this from becoming a book, haha.
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