Speech Evaluator #2

Another Tuesday, another Toastmasters.

Last week there was no post because I did not attend Toastmasters due to my summer holidays; however, this week I did attend and I got my second crack at being a speech evaluator. I took a look back at first speech evaluation (July 20, 2010) because I remembered linking a speech evaluation template. But to my surprise, the document that I had linked had been updated!

The new document was exactly what I was looking for in a speech evaluation template. I used it tonight and it was easy to use and made the speech evaluation a snap.

The actual documents can be found linked in my July 20, 2010 post, but in case they change again I am saving the images in this post.

Table Topics Evaluation #2

Another Tuesday, another Toastmasters! This week was my second opportunity to evaluate table topics.

The first time I evaluated table topics, the individual who was assigned the role was unable to attend and I stepped up to fill the vacancy. It was probably my third or fourth meeting, and I had not participated in any evaluation roles up to that point. Luckily with the advice of a couple of the more experience members, I was able stumble my way through the evaluations.

Even though I consider my first kick at the can a success, I was bound and determined to be more prepared for this opportunity. Thanks to the power of Google, I was able to find a suitable table topics evaluation form with little effort. I literally typed in "Table Topics Evaluation Form" and clicked on the first organic link. The form itself has space for 10 speakers and even a few tidbits on what you can look out for during the speeches.

Additionally, I retained some of the good advice I had from my first table topics evaluation: rather than focusing on everything, I picked a couple specific points to follow. This week my focus was on eye contact, vocal variety and posture.

The table topics went well and so did my evaluation. I was able to find a couple of good points and an opportunity for improvement for each table topics participants.

All and all it was a good meeting and to top things off I was awarded best evaluator for the evening.

Speech Evaluator #1

Another Tuesday. Another Toastmasters meeting.

My toastmasters club is currently on our summer hours meaning that our regular two hour meetings are condensed into a compact, efficient one hour time slot. This is good and bad. The good being that one hour a week is a very manageable amount of time to attend toastmasters. The bad being that there is less time each week to participate.

In order to ensure I continue to improve this summer, I have been trying to take on a role each week. This week I was a speech evaluator for the first time.

Prior to the meeting I spent a bit of time researching a good checklist for a speech evaluator. I personally like checklists or organization in general so I don't feel like I am going in blind. I came across a thorough checklist on the Toastmasters New Zealand website. At first glance, I thought this checklist was everything I would need.

Nope. It was way too much!

During the speech I found myself scrambling through the document to check off things that the speaker was doing well. It was definitely difficult for me to focus on the speech while searching through the detailed document. I also made notes all over the document despite there not really being any places for notes.

When I went up to evaluate the speech, I found the document was a bit hard to read at a glance. A couple of times I had stop and look carefully at the document to see what I had checked off. I felt as if the pauses were a bit long and took away from my message. Perhaps I even came across as nervous.

Next time I evaluate a speech, I would like to take some of the elements from the checklist and make a smaller, easier to read document that is focused on the speaker's specific goals. I would definitely recommend this approach for any one evaluating for the first time.

Every week is a new lesson, and I doubt I will ever feel as if there is nothing more I can learn from Toastmasters.

About Speech #2

My second speech is about the first iPhone application that I ever developed. It is not a super robust, complicated extra awesome application, but it does work. My son does like to look at it when he is getting fussy.

I am a Windows Platform developer, but I have recently made the leap to try and program on a Mac! What an adventure that has been since I haven't used a Mac since grade three!

If you would like to purchase the application or become a fan of the Facebook page please visit the links below.

To purchase Baby Rattle!

http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/baby-rattle/id381232918?mt=8

To become a fan on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Baby-Rattle/130399776996833

To view a small demo on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bZ32T4egcs

Speech #2 - Organize Your Speech

Imagine yourself in line at the supermarket. Your cart filled over the top. Customers ahead of you. Customers behind you. The cashier appears to be completely incompetent and is showing more concern for her upcoming coffee break than the customer line that is moving at a snails pace. Trapped with no where to go. When all of a sudden, you hear one of the most dreaded sounds known to man kind, “Waaahhh! Waahhhh!”

Madam Toastermaster, fellow toastmasters and most welcome guests. Today I have the opportunity, no the pleasure, of presenting to you an opportunity of a lifetime. With the information I give you today, you can rest assured that you will never have to face another screaming baby unarmed.

You are trapped in longest line in the history of grocery shopping and the line is going no where fast. Your baby is screaming at the top of its lungs and you have forgotten everything that makes your baby happy. You forgot the soother. You forgot the baby toys. You forgot the security blanket. You forgot the FAVORITE stuffed animal! You even forgot the extra bottle.

It was just suppose to be a short trip. In and out. The baby just wont stop crying. You pick up your baby. You rock it. You bounce it. You shhhh it. But all you get in return is, “Waaaahhh! Waaahhhh!”

The other customers are staring. You can hear them whispering back and forth. You can’t make it out, but you know what they are saying.

“Will that baby ever be quiet?”

“Doesn’t that parent know what they are doing?”

“Can someone put a sock in that baby’s mouth?”

What are you going to do?

Well if you are one of the 50 million iPhone owners or one of the 35 million iPod Touch owners, then you have the solution at your fingertips. Simply go to the app store and search for the greatest iPhone application ever developed with your baby in mind.

Baby Rattle!

That’s right. Just download the application from the app store. Click on the icon on your iPhone or iPod Touch. Then BAM! Instant baby rattle. It looks and sounds just like that real thing! Your baby will never know the difference.

Don’t be fooled by cheap imitations! Baby Rattle! is the only true baby rattle application that offers the combination of rich graphics, moving balls and real rattle sounds. Using the Baby Rattle! application leaves you feeling as if you just played with a real baby rattle.

Perhaps you are not that parent stuck in line at the supermarket with your very own baby. Perhaps you are a bit younger – say in your teen years. You might not have a baby of your own, but that doesn’t stop you from being the best baby sitter in the world! You pride yourself on being the best baby sitter you can be – and bringing to the job everything you can, every time you care for a child.

Baby Rattle! is simply an extension of that greatness. It helps you distract that fussy baby. Its makes that happy baby smile even more. It makes you even better at your job.

You can trust the Baby Rattle! application works because it was tested on real life babies right here in Penticton! Baby Rattle! for iPhone and iPod Touch simulates a real life baby rattle, and the babies in our test group were completely amused and distracted.

Not a parent or a baby sitter? Still not convinced this is right for you?

Baby Rattle! isn’t just for babies and their guardians! In 100% on the test cases, the parents were also distracted by the application for minutes on end! That’s right – out of the 5 parents shown the application – all 5 thought it was “cool”!

Want to be that extra awesome Aunty? Want to be that grand father that is still cool and hip with the times? Or how about the big sister that just loves to help out with her newborn sibling?

All of these are made a little easier bit easier when you own your very own copy of the Baby Rattle! application.

Now, how much would you pay for your baby’s happiness? $200? $100? $50? Well you won’t be paying even close to those outrageous amounts. For just one easy payment of 99 cents, you will have instant access to peace of mind! Knowing that as long as you have your iPhone or iPod Touch, you have your Baby Rattle!

No matter who you are. Whether or not you have a child of your own. Whether you are trapped in the super market line from hell or you’re playing with you happy baby nephew who is visiting for Christmas. The Baby Rattle! application is right for you.

Madam Toastmaster.

Speech #1 - The Ice Breaker

Dr. Paul Pearsall wrote, “Our most basic instinct is not for survival but for family. Most of us would give our own life for the survival of a family member, yet we lead our daily life too often as if we take our family for granted.”

Madam Toastmaster, fellow toastmasters and welcome guests. I stand before you today tasked with the assignment of telling you about who I am. I am and will always be a family man. I am a son. I am a brother. I am a husband. I am a father. None of these roles have come easy, but I would not trade any of them for the world.

I was born in October of 1981 in Burnaby, BC. At the age of three, my path was forever altered when my parent’s got divorced. My mother moved back to Penticton, and my sister and I stayed in Burnaby with my father.

Growing up with a single Dad had many challenges. From the age of four to thirteen I attended eleven different schools - four in grade eight alone. Most kids have to make new friends once or twice through grade school. For me, making new friends was a yearly chore.

I had a distant relationship with my Mom. Don’t get me wrong, she was there for my sister and me. I talked to my mother on the phone a couple of times a week and I even got to visit with her monthly, but neither were a solid substitute for having her in my life every day.

Like so many other young children of broken homes, I longed for the day when my parents would put aside their differences and reunite. However, unlike so many of those children, my dream became a reality. At thirteen, after both of my parents had remarried and redivorsed, fate brought them back together. My family became whole again. Reunited and living in Penticton.

The universe had made it clear to me what was important.

After high school, I moved to Kelowna to attend university. In the winter of 2001, while I was home from for my winter break, my sister got sick. The doctors didn’t know what it was. On Christmas Day, she slipped into a coma and was rushed by air ambulance to St. Paul’s Hospital. That morning my family headed to join her in Vancouver.

January came along and I was do back at university. Despite still being in a coma, my sister was doing better and the doctors were optimistic. So off to university I went.

Three weeks later, I got the worst phone call of my life. “Daryl,” it was the family friend my parents were staying with, “your sister has taken a turn for the worse. You need to go to the airport and get on the next plane to Vancouver so that you can say your goodbyes.” He had already arranged the ticket.

When I got to the airport, the fog had rolled in. All flights were cancelled - I had to take the bus. On a seven hour ride from Kelowna to Vancouver I sat and waited, with nothing to do but get trapped in my own thoughts. When I arrived, I was greeted with the news that the swelling in my sister’s brain had gone down and should would survive the night. A few weeks later, she came out of the coma, and she eventually made a full recovery.

The universe had again made it clear to me what was important.

The next year at university I met Erin, the love of my life. Within a week of dating, I knew she was the one. Even then, I knew she would be a wonderful wife and an even better mother. In 2006, we got married and started trying for children. About a year later, when we had yet to strike gold, we went to the doctor to find out if there was a medical reason for our troubles. As it turns out, there was and we were hit with the news that we were very unlikely to conceive children through traditional means.

This was difficult news for my wife and me. Both of us had known that we wanted children for much of our lives. The stress of this challenge was unbearable, but my wife and I are determined people.

After three and a half years, tens of thousands of dollars and countless tears, our son was conceived. In March of this year, our greatest dream was realized with the birth of our son.

Once again, the universe had made it clear to me what was important.

Throughout my life, my family has always been important. If my family life had been without challenges would I appreciate my family as much? Maybe. Maybe not.

What I do know is that I must always remember the lessons of family that I have learned. I must appreciate the fact that I have both my parents and that they have each other. I mustn’t forget how close I was to losing my sister before I got to see her grow up. And I must forever cherish the gift of my wife and son.

Madam Toastmaster.

Make the Leap

About three months ago I decided it was time to make the leap and go check out the local Toastmasters. I have been putting this off for about ten years now, but I finally got pushed over the edge when one of my coworkers decided to join with me.

Since then I have participated by doing many the roles and my first two speeches. I thought the best way to share this experience would be to share my experiences and my speeches.