You Had To Be There

If you missed our 2012 Afterburners Holiday Educational Retreat tonight, you missed quite a gathering, and frankly, a rollicking good time!

Tom & Sue Brents graciously hosted in their lovely North Richland Hills home. We started with a holiday feast featuring ham and almost any delicious side dish or dessert imaginable, then moved on to installing our incoming officers for the January 1 - June 30 term.

We all gathered in the living room for a fun evolutionary story; that is, someone starts a tale, then passes off to another Toastmaster for additional embellishments. While the original premise of this year's story was debating the origin of sled tracks on a snowy roof, it didn't take long before the following elements were introduced: spiked egg nog, skid marks, Tralfamadorian aliens, Jack Daniels Black Label (soon shortened to "Black Daniels"), lactose intolerant Santas, turkey turbo jets, Big Wheel Transformers that can flatten under the door, zombie Santas, and a nicely bottled shot of "Holiday Spirits."

Whew! By the time we wrapped up our Christmas tale, everyone was laughing and applauding each other's creativity and ingenuity in tying everything together. We moved on to our Chinese Gift Exchange (or "Dirty Santa" as it is sometimes known) which started out tame enough but soon degenerated into a free-for-all of thievery and name calling. Let's just say "Ho! Ho! Ho!" has more than one meaning now!

Any hard feelings soon vanished like Holly's delicious secret-recipe fruitcake, however, and all the gift exchange participants went home with something satisfactory (or at the very least, re-giftable).

Please be aware in the coming weeks that if you hear a seemingly senseless inside joke about skid marks, lactose intolerance, or excessive references to alcoholic beverages during our meetings, it's nothing too serious.

You just had to be there.

Lonya's Toastmasters Goal: Confidence in Public Speaking

Hello Afterburners! First I would like to thank you all for allowing me to join this fantastic organization. Everyone is so experienced and helpful! I feel that this is a great way to grow and learn personally and professionally.

I have always been impressed by those who are able to get up in front of a room full of people and speak eloquently. Personally, public speaking has always been a challenge for me; in fact I would try to avoid it as much possible. I heard about the Toastmasters from a friend a few years back; he told me how well it helped him with his confidence when speaking in front of large audiences. It took me some time to join due to other obligations, but here I am, ready and eager to learn and grow with you all.

Here is a little bit about me. I am from Madison, Wisconsin. I’ve lived in the Fort Worth area for a little over three years now. Currently I am a program analyst in the Air Force stationed at Carswell Air Force Base here in Fort Worth.

Again I thank you all! I look forward to your feedback.

Lonya Foy

Yajaira's Toastmasters Goal: It's All About Having Confidence

I want to thank you for the opportunity to be a member of your club. I work at AutoZone as a store manager, a company that I’m very proud to be a part of. I enjoy helping and communicating with customers. The purpose of my job requires having a lot of communication skills.

I am a very proud mother of three kids, which are my reason for living and to surmount the obstacles that life brings me.

My goal in Toastmasters is to improve the ability to speak with a higher vocabulary and to have confidence when I’m in front of a group of people such as at meetings and conferences. I get very nervous, tense, and I also get speechless; so I want to overcome the fear of speaking in front of an audience.

Yajaira Olvera

Opinions are like belly buttons!

You've heard it before; perhaps you've even said it yourself. "I'm a new Toastmaster, how can I possibly evaluate or mentor a DTM?"

The truth is that there is none among us so poor that we cannot afford to learn from someone else. (I wish that were an original quote of mine, but it isn't.) Your opinion is absolutely as valid and valuable as anyone else's in the club, or in the area, or in the District... Do you see where I'm heading with this?

Opinions are like belly buttons: Everyone has one! Some are innies, some are outies, and some are even flat, but they're all belly buttons and they serve a purpose. So does your opinion!

When you evaluate an advanced Toastmaster, your opinion should provide insights into improvement. Maybe he or she has developed a habit of pacing aimlessly during the presentation, or (like me) holding arms in an imitation of a tiny T-Rex instead of using them for purposeful expression. Long-time Toastmasters can benefit from your fresh perspective on speech habits developed over the years.

If you are asked by an experienced Toastmaster to serve as a mentor, accept it as the honor that it is. You have demonstrated some innate quality that he finds valuable to his personal growth. Express your feedback the way you would like to receive it. Be specific, be kind, be helpful, be encouraging. Most of all, be yourself, because that is the most valuable asset you bring to the relationship.

You may be a brand new Toastmaster, but your feedback and your opinion are essential to the growth and future health of our club. Please share generously with us old-timers, so that we may continue to grow and improve along the way with you.

But keep your belly buttons to yourselves.

Jeni's Toastmasters Goal: Learning How to "Smoothly Navigate That Moment"

Hi there Afterburners! Thanks for the opportunity to join your club. I’ve really enjoyed it so far, and am looking forward to getting to know each of you.

One of my former colleagues always raved about Toastmasters, so when I began to have more speaking requirements at work, I decided to sign up! From April through October I was in DC for detail with EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities, so I joined Toastmasters for the first time there, in the Dupont Circle of Speakers Club. I gave my Ice Breaker there, and am now preparing for my second speech! 

My goal in Toastmasters is to grow into a confident, articulate, polished speaker…sans uhs, likes, and ya knows. I want to learn how to smoothly navigate that moment when you realize you’re still talking, but quickly running out of things to say. In other words, I’d like to improve my ability to think critically while remaining fully engaged with my audience. 

Here in Fort Worth, I work for HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing. We administer the low-rent program and the voucher program to help low-income families find housing. Previously, my husband Andrew and I were both in the Army. Now we’re settling back into life in Fort Worth, moving into a house in December, unpacking, and hopefully finding the box with my Toastmaster manuals!

Cheers!

Jeni Webb