Speaker 1 0:03

good old tea. Where would we be with that tea? Are you drinking tea or coffee?

Speaker 2 0:08

I'm drinking tea. Sorry, that was my phone, let me oh, no worries so we don't get things in the middle it's always the way.

Speaker 1 0:19

all righty, okay, we're recording. All right, well, I'll start in, so just do a brief introduction and then welcome you, so okay. So welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to episode 53 of the Talkative Toastmaster podcast this week. It's my absolute pleasure to have Dale Rees-Bevan on the show. Dale is a professional speaker and trainer, the president of Speakers Bank Australia and author of the Speaking Formula. She's currently a member of three Toastmasters clubs Durrell Toastmasters, stage Times Toastmasters and Keystone Toastmasters and has achieved her Distinguished Toastmaster Award. She was also a semi-finalist in the 2017 World Championship of Public Speaking and last year, dale became one of just two Australian-based Toastmasters who have been designated with the accredited speaker status. She's also the founder of ChatterCamp Dale. Welcome to the show. I can't wait to hear all about all of this.

Speaker 2 1:24

Thank you so much. Lovely to the show. I can't wait to hear all about all of this. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 1:27

Lovely to be here, excellent, well, thank you again. And you have such broad experience which I can't wait to delve into, but can you perhaps start by telling us when did you join Toastmasters and what drove that decision?

Speaker 2 1:41

I participated in a youth leadership program when I was a teenager and when I got to university I couldn't wait to join Toastmasters. So I joined in 1989 and I haven't looked back since.

Speaker 1 2:03

And have you been in Toastmasters throughout that entire time or have you woven in and out?

Speaker 2 2:10

I did take a little break when we moved from South Africa to London. I'd been very heavily involved in South Africa, as had my husband, and I felt like we needed just a chance to catch our breath and regroup, but very quickly realized that the best way to make friends in a new country is to join Toastmasters. So we did that and still in contact with some of the members from our London days, and it was the best thing we could have done. It really opened our world up again.

Speaker 1 2:49

Absolutely, and just touching on a couple of things that you said there, I also started my Toastmasters Journey at a Youth Leadership Program and I also lived in London and joined Toastmasters clubs there and have always used it as a way of meeting people. But great to hear that you and your husband are doing it together. I think if you're doing it with someone that can understand the level of passion and time it can consume Does that help.

Speaker 2 3:17

Yeah, it's definitely a wonderful basis for a relationship. I'm going to take a little pause here and I'm not sure when you're going to be releasing this. My husband and I are actually separating, okay. Okay, I'm happy for you to leave all that in. It's okay, it's fine. We're very good friends and we're still doing a lot of things in Toastmasters, okay, but just probably worth noting and I might, as I say, I don't know when you're planning on putting this out.

Speaker 1 3:55

It'll be about the first week in December.

Speaker 2 3:58

Okay, I might have changed my name by then, okay.

Speaker 1 4:03

Alrighty my name by then. Okay, all righty well, I can put that in the in the show notes too.

Speaker 2 4:08

If, if, yeah yeah, I mean, if you wanted to, um, at the end you could even do a another recording of. We've got Dale Ann Clark with us, formerly known as Dale Reese Bevan or something. Oh, okay, if you wanted to add that just as a placeholder. Yeah, I've got a few things. Sorry, I'm sidetracking now. No worries, I've got a few things I need to line up before I do it officially, but I'm hoping it'll all happen within the next few weeks. Okay, all right. Sorry to hear you're going through weeks.

Speaker 1 4:44

Okay, all right. Oh, sorry to hear you going through all of that. Thank you, yes, I've been through that process. I understand the moving parts. Yeah, especially when your name is so tied up with SEO and websites.

Speaker 2 5:07

Oh, it's a big decision, but I feel like it's what I want to do. You know, we're so known as a couple and I feel like my identity in Toastmasters needs to be individual.

Speaker 1 5:23

Yeah, anyway, there we go, All right. Well, do we want to? I mean, do we want to start again and just sort of do no, no, I mean I'm very happy for that to go in.

Speaker 2 5:38

We still have a great relationship, so it's all good, all righty relationship.

Speaker 1 5:49

So it's it's all right. Good, all righty. Well, I won't. I won't ask any more questions along, uh, along, uh, that path, but, uh, all right. So, um, okay, all right. Well, I'll count us back in on on three, two, one. And so, having been hang on and so having been a Toastmaster for quite some time now, what do you most enjoy now about being a Toastmaster?

Speaker 2 6:14

I love meeting people and I'm always amazed at how much there is to learn, finding out what people do. You obviously get to delve a lot deeper with interviewing people and creating podcasts, but even just hearing icebreakers and speeches about people's hobbies and the things that they're trying out, I think Toastmasters, by definition, tend to be very dynamic people. They're involved in personal development and growth, so they tend to not only be Toastmasters, they try workshops and courses and then you get speeches about the workshops and courses that they've been doing. So there's constant learning and exposure that I just find fascinating.

Speaker 1 7:07

Yeah, it's certainly a unique group of people like that. Everyone's committed to growth and to supporting each other, which it's hard to find. That I mean that exists elsewhere, but it is hard to find all of that in one organisation. Now, one of the things I love about Toastmasters is the sometimes weird and wonderful traditions that some clubs have, and you mentioned that you take part in the annual lifeboat debate that Dural Toastmasters runs, and I was watching a few of the older videos on that. Can you talk about that tradition and what it's about? It looks very funny what it's about.

Speaker 2 7:50

It looks very funny. The Dural Lifeboat debate was something that I started about 10, 12 years ago In fact longer. I think it would have been my first year at Dural. I think it was about 2006 or 2007. And it was quite small then. What we did was we contacted four other clubs and said send a contestant, and you have to send five people to support them, and so that was the evening. I think we ended up with about 40 people total, and then some other club members said we could actually make this really big.

Speaker 2 8:26

It's a great idea, and, and so we grew it and grew it and grew it, and now we typically have close to 100 people attending every year and our club goes all out with the decor. And, honestly, I think I enjoy setting up more than the event itself. I love that everyone. You know paper mache and carvings and sticking things together. You know everyone just gets so creative and so excited about it, and then everyone posts their pictures in the WhatsApp. This is what I made this weekend, and so our collateral, our decor store, for it and we change the theme each year.

Speaker 2 9:17

So we've had the love boat, we've had Pirates of the Caribbean, we've had what else? We've had Titanic, anything goes this year, this coming year we're going to be doing the Vikings. So, yeah, it's just a wonderful community club bonding activity. And then, obviously, with the wider community, we have regulars who come every year and participate. So, yeah, I love it.

Speaker 1 9:53

Oh, that's great. And so non-toastmasters come to the event too. Is that what?

Speaker 2 9:58

often. Yes, we've had people who have seen it advertised on Facebook and decided to register. Most of it's Toastmasters, but they'll bring their extended family. So people who wouldn't normally go to Toastmasters meetings tend to come to that. But the participants typically are Toastmasters and it's a wonderful stretch activity because speaking but it's thinking on your feet, it's being funny, it's a little bit thank God you're here. Meets whose line is it anyway? You know it's what can I say? That's funny and retort to that and really challenges people.

Speaker 1 10:46

Yeah, absolutely Sort of like well beyond table topics on steroids. But yeah, I think those kinds of activities are just another example of how Toastmasters can continue to push us, and you can get as creative about it as the imagination of the organiser. Really, yeah, the video certainly made it look amusing. And so how did your path into professional speaking evolve, you know, from Toastmasters into professional speaking, did one? Yeah, how did that happen?

Speaker 2 11:27

Oh, it definitely dovetailed into it. I would. I would. It would be highly unlikely I would have gone into it without Toastmasters.

Speaker 2 11:33

My background is teaching, so I started off as a French and English teacher in high school and set up youth leadership programs for the students and then the staff asked me to run sessions for them, which I did with my husband, who was then my boyfriend. But we ran that together and I just thought you know, this is much more fun than teaching. I got a little more satisfaction doing that. So when I moved to London, um, I got involved with an organization called Speakers Bank and became one of their trainers and and ran some programs there and then, when I moved to Australia, just carried on with that. So a lot of. When I was in Speakers Bank in the UK it was much more focused to high schools, so I was liaising with schools and doing the programs there. When I moved to Australia, I didn't get quite as much traction with the high schools, so I ended up focusing more on adult education and that's been predominantly what I've done since, although I do still occasionally run programs in schools.

Speaker 1 12:59

Okay, all righty, and what does Speakers Bank do do like? What's the nature of that organization? What do you do so?

Speaker 2 13:09

speakers bank was originally set up in the uk as a network of speakers and trainers specifically targeting the not-for-profit sector and and they allowed me to take the name and kind of like a social franchise, use that for Australia. They subsequently changed it to Speakers Trust in the UK, but it's part of that was what it was originally and yeah, that's the philosophy behind it is providing affordable, accessible training to organisations that can't pay what the corporates pay.

Speaker 1 13:53

Oh, interesting. I might have to have a chat with you about a contact I received through our club inbox the other day. It's always interesting when you manage a club's inbox, the questions you get about from organisations like that about, hey, can you help us, what resources are there. So I might have to have a chat about that, but certainly demand for it because, yeah, I guess it's an interesting differentiation from the pure corporate speaking space, which is quite different in my experience as a marketer, just from what you're talking about.

Speaker 2 14:33

I love that. It's the charity sector. The third sector, as it's often referred to, is a very warm and fuzzy environment to work in. A very warm and fuzzy environment to work in and you've got people who need to be able to advocate for very worthy causes, so to be able to help them give a voice to their cause, to the issues that they're trying to address, it's a wonderful privilege.

Speaker 1 15:04

Yeah, absolutely. And so how did you find those first few years and that transition, I guess, between speaking professionally and speaking in front of the Toastmasters audiences although you said you had been in training anyway, so you're obviously used to training people. But yeah, was there a difference in the nature of the audiences?

Speaker 2 15:29

But yeah, was there a difference in the nature of the audiences the Toastmasters audiences and your client-related audiences? That's an interesting question I think people are people. Often frustrated me about Toastmasters is the nitpicking nature of the way we listen, to the extent that I do think sometimes we teach ourselves not to listen we're so busy focusing on. Did that person say um once in the seven minutes they were speaking, or did they actually have a message or some information that might have been worth paying attention to? So I'm very averse to the um, our counter role that's controversial, isn't it?

Speaker 2 16:21

yeah, that's a personal bugbear of mine.

Speaker 2 16:25

I understand the rationale and there's a place for everything. I get it. I feel that there's more positivity to be gained from saying just keep practicing. As you get more confident, those ums and ahs will fall away rather than highlighting you did this wrong. And as I say, when I've had people say, oh, you said um once, I say you died. So that is one of the things that stands out as a differentiator. But generally I think it's fair to say people are people. Toastmasters are potentially slightly more critical listeners than the real world and that can be a benefit. That can be helpful. If someone says I think you can fine-tune your message a little more tightly or this is really working, then obviously that's valuable information and what about the difference between training kids about communication and adults about communication?

Speaker 1 17:34

I mean, you mentioned before that kids are a tough crowd. How, how do you find that sort of experience?

Speaker 2 17:42

I I think I've learned so much from Chattercamp. Their primary school children do not have a great attention span and you've got to be top of your game to hold their attention and communicate clearly, make sure the instructions are absolutely clear for them and also, bearing in mind children are quite literal, so you've got to phrase things quite carefully. Yes, or they'll take it and run with it and be silly with it. But they're also a lot more discerning and a lot more empathetic in their listening than you might imagine for the age. I think we were doing storytelling at the last chat camp and one of the kids said said you tell us a story. And I was trying to get the point across that you, you need to share your feelings and you need to talk about when you got into trouble, when you made a mistake, so that you can show the learning. And someone said share a story with us. And I was kind of caught on the hop, because they don't normally ask me to say something.

Speaker 2 19:07

It's you know they wanted to share their stories.

Speaker 2 19:11

So I told them a story about how I nearly decided to throw in the towel with my speaking business because I wasn't getting enough in, and the day I was about to start looking for a job, I received an email from someone who I'd coached in interview skills, saying that thanks to all the help I'd given her, she'd got the job and she was so grateful.

Speaker 2 19:39

And in that moment I decided you know what I can help people and this is what I want to people, and this is what I really want to do and this is what I meant to do. And so I carried on with it and ended up getting quite a lot more work fairly soon after that, and while I was telling it, I in my mind it was like these are little kids. They're not going to appreciate this or or understand what I was going through or anything. And then the next day we went and we're sharing stories with a different group and one of the the kids from the other group said tell that story you told yesterday, tell it again, tell it again. And I it was a big learning for me just because it's out of their you.

Speaker 2 20:23

You know the world of work is out of the realms of their experience. It doesn't mean they're not capable of understanding what it feels like to almost give up and change things. So big learning for me.

Speaker 1 20:37

Yeah, yeah, oh, what a great story. I mean that. And how old were these kids?

Speaker 2 20:44

So these are the treasure. Camp runs for years four to six, so you're looking at between the ages of nine and 12. Okay, that range.

Speaker 1 20:55

Yeah, yeah, I was at a gavel club quite recently and did a podcast even more recently on the gavel clubs and yeah, as you say, they, they're so perceptive, these, these kids and and not necessarily shy in coming forward and no filters, and they're quite strongly, have quite strong opinions about certain things and and, yeah, I guess, in giving them that, helping them to find the voice to get that confidence across as well, I mean it's just setting them up for such amazing futures. But I'll come back to ChatterCamp in a sec. So, in terms of the again, the pathway for the professional speaking, so you, you got into all of that. And then at what point did you decide to apply for the accredited Toastmaster program or the accredited speaker program?

Speaker 2 22:04

mentioned it to me in about 2014, 2015 maybe I can't remember and it was a sort of vague, distant goal yes, one day I'll do it. And at that point I was running a lot of workshops and running training sessions, so I may well have been in a position to to start applying. And then a friend of mine, maria Pedivoli uh, she's, she's part of district 70, she's the club growth director, I think. Uh, she found out about Keystone Speakers, which focuses specifically on helping people get the accredited speaker designation. So she joined and she said why don't you come along to that? So I did, and it was worthwhile just to meet all the people there and find out what they were doing and share ideas and tools and that sort of thing anyway. But they were very encouraging. They let me run through a couple of keynotes. They said you've got what it takes and you need to be applying. And then they started taking me through the actual application process, which is not that hard if you are speaking already.

Speaker 2 23:29

Because, really all it is is collating your evidence. It's documenting what workshops you're giving, how many people are in the audience, how long for all of that sort of thing. So yeah, once I sort of understood that it's a relatively simple process. The hardest part about getting the accredited speaker is getting the video footage that they ask for, because certainly some of the clients that I work for they would not want the content filmed or have their staff in the audience.

Speaker 2 24:08

So, it's finding someone who's willing to say sure, you know you can afford this and you're welcome to use it. So that was one of my challenges, but yeah, got there, awesome.

Speaker 1 24:22

And so can you just sort of talk a little bit about that program and the process, because I know there's a? There's level one applications and level two and and different levels of qualifying and processes and judging and yeah, how does that all work or how did it work for you?

Speaker 2 24:41

So, level one you fill out an application form documenting 25 speaking engagements over the last three years and all the details that go with that. I won't go into that now because you can read it up on the handbook. Yeah, uh, and you send in a video of an unedited video 20 to 60 minutes, start to finish, and it also needs to show them introducing you as a speaker.

Speaker 2 25:13

Okay, so there's some very specific criteria around that and then they'll check your application. Some people, apparently, don't even pass that first level. In other words, they look at the application and go we're not even going to watch your video, but this is not enough, or you don't meet the criteria. Oh, and part of that application you need to get five clients to send in a form that they complete, which you don't see. They send it directly to the accredited speaker committee. So that's all part of getting to level one, and then, if they do want to see you through level one, they'll watch the video and then at that point they'll tell you whether you've made it there or not.

Speaker 2 26:01

First time I applied, I didn't make it. My video didn't pass the test. And then, when you do pass level one, you are then invited to present at convention, and that's two. So there are judges in the audience, judges who are also accredited speakers, so you're judged by your peers and in in my case, there were judges online as well, because it was a hybrid event. And, yeah, they they say yes or no was that nerve-wracking?

Speaker 1 26:38

I mean, that sounds like being a conference speaker on on steroids, because it's sort of that higher level again. What was more nerve-wracking? That experience or the World Championship of Public Speaking for you?

Speaker 2 26:54

Honestly, the World Championship was more nerve-wracking for me, but I think that was also a lot to do with where I was in my journey, in my growth, and I think I've matured and developed so much more since 2017. I know it sounds like not that long ago, but in my speaking, lifetime and development, huge change, huge change. So for me, the accredited speaker standing up there, I guess it was in the back of my mind that 5,000 people registered online and I'm not sure how many of them were watching the showcase, you know, maybe not that many, but a lot of people in the audience. It was huge. It was absolutely enormous. So I guess there is that like little part of your brain that goes if stuff this up, a lot of people are going to see it, yeah, but I, I think for me, I was just.

Speaker 2 27:54

I love the story you said you've watched the videos. You know what I'm talking about. I love telling that story. I I think it's just such fun. I really feel passionate about the, the message around mimicking behaviors. You can from watching and observing other people. If you like what you see, you can adopt it for yourself. I think that's something that we all do anyway and we can do more consciously to become the people we want to be. So I think when you feel that strongly about your material, it just becomes yay, I get to share this and that audience. Oh my gosh, they were so wonderful they were so warm and welcoming and responsive it was I don't?

Speaker 2 28:49

I mean, obviously I would have been disappointed if I didn't get it, but it was just more important just to be there.

Speaker 1 28:56

Yeah, definitely. Well, I'll put a link to that video in the show notes and people can check it out. But yeah, I definitely got the sense that the audience resonated and they were cheering and responding and engaging, which you know is great to see, and I mean some of your quick-witted humor through it. Yeah, it was, it was um. Yeah, I was having a bit of a bit of a giggle when I was was watching it. So, yeah, it's um, it's great that they record them as well, because I guess it lets other people know what standard they're aiming for and, yeah, what reception they might get when they wander out onto the stage. So, yeah, no, it was great. I'll definitely put that in the show notes. And so that was last year, 2023. So that was last year, 2023. Have you sort of seen any benefits in having done that now, or has anything happened as a result of becoming an accredited speaker?

Speaker 2 30:25

I wouldn't say my life changed overnight, but definitely I've had individual clients contact me and say they were looking for a coach and they noticed, of the people they looked at, I was the only one that had accredited speaker, which, even though they didn't know what that meant, obviously sounded like a better option. I've also noticed there's something about the scarcity principle when I've spoken with groups and said I'm the only woman in Australia to have the accredited speaker designation.

Speaker 2 30:42

Suddenly again don't know what it is, but wow, that's great. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're. You're unique, so that's good. But I think the most significant um story is recently uh, a Toastmaster friend of mine called me and said she's working for someone who's looking for an ad hoc trainer and she showed him my accredited speaker video and he loved it and wants to meet me.

Speaker 2 31:15

So I'm now doing work for him as a result of having seen the video and called me in. So yeah, I think definitely as a showcase piece, you know, then people can see you've got personality, you've got stage presence and presumably you can transfer that to their event or their training.

Speaker 1 31:42

And I believe there's something like only 90-ish 93 accredited speakers. Oh, 96 now. Okay, there were another.

Speaker 2 31:51

Was it 96? No, 95.

Speaker 1 31:54

Ah, so another two added this year. Yeah, okay, okay, all righty.

Speaker 2 32:00

I think so. I'm just trying to think. There was Maureen Zapala, Lauren Parsons. I might be missing one, but I think that's it.

Speaker 1 32:12

Okay, so it's under 100 globally. There's not many of you. Yes, and I love how Toastmasters has its own section on the website for the program and it showcases you and I mean that's how I got in touch with you. I wanted to find an accredited speaker who might be willing to speak and, yeah, I just went down through the list and I saw there was two based in Australia. Yeah, I mean, I think it definitely helps to highlight, you know, some of the very best speakers in our organization and I also recently saw you and a number of the other accredited speakers in the 20-hour what was it? Speech fest hosted by the World Travellers Toastmasters group where you spoke second in a line-up of how many speakers were there altogether? Like 100? A lot.

Speaker 2 33:10

A lot, a lot, a lot, yeah To celebrate Toastmasters.

Speaker 1 33:15

I mean, what a wonderful event that was round the clock. Seven-minute speeches had you participated in anything like that before?

Speaker 2 33:26

Nothing on that scale. I'm so impressed that they managed to organise that. It really was an incredible feat. Yeah, to get that together around the world Amazing. Yeah, it was fun and such a nice atmosphere online, which is not easy in that environment.

Speaker 1 33:51

Yeah, especially with people dropping in and out and what 10 or so different teams running rosters and managing their batch of speakers and emceeing. And yeah, I know I dropped in a couple of times in and out through that 24-hour period and I was still going, still giving speeches. Yeah, I mean, toastmasters have no shortage of things to say, right? So in going back to Chattercamp, and how did that come about? Like what was the driver to begin that? I mean, was it also the fact that you'd started your speaking journey as a, you know, in high school and did that was that sort of echoing in your mind when you decided to start Chatter Camp?

Speaker 2 34:42

I think there was a little bit around that. I think I also just always had this idea that it'd be such fun to have a camp. You know that it's like. Well, you hear the word bootcamp bandied around a lot and I know that there were courses you could do in the UK where you go away for a few days and you have public speaking bootcamp for adults, you know, for professionals. And I just had this idea that a boot camp for kids would be such fun. And obviously you can't call it boot camp because that sounds like hard work and painful.

Speaker 2 35:25

And while I had this idea and was toying with it, my son was in year five, I think, and not an extrovert, not someone unlike his parents didn't get a thrill out of standing up in front of people and speaking. And anyway, I floated the idea with some people who were working with me, with Speakers Bank, and there's a lovely lady by the name of Julie Aykroyd and I said I'd love to start a camp for kids and she said well, a goal without a dream is just a wish. Put a date on it and make it happen. And I went okay, and she made me. She made me pick a date there it and make it happen. And I went okay, and and she made me, she made me good, and I went home and I I said to my husband, um, apparently, uh, we're going to be running a kids camp for public speaking, a holiday camp, and he nothing fazed him, so he just said, yeah, okay, I'll set up a website that was it, and often racing our first camp was only friends and, yeah, their kids.

Speaker 2 36:43

And then we didn't have enough numbers. So we we figured well, what do parents want they? They want time to themselves. So we contacted them and said send the younger siblings as well and we'll look after everyone. So we did have kids that were way too young and put a lot of strain on our volunteers, but we had 24 children, great testimonials, good photos and it grew from there, and how often does that run?

Speaker 1 37:12

Is it an annual event? Yeah, annual.

Speaker 2 37:17

It's something that's my volunteer work. Yeah, I know there's Toastmasters, but I don't really count that as volunteer work. That's my fun, but yeah, I put the whole thing together once a year and all our trainers are volunteers. Some take annual leave to be there, oh wow. Some have their own businesses and obviously you have to take time out from that. So, it is very much done because we believe in doing something for the community and helping this group of children.

Speaker 1 37:58

So oh it's, it's amazing. So when's the next next one? What are we? October now is? Have you already done one this year or have you got one coming up?

Speaker 2 38:07

we've got one coming up next April and I'm just opening my calendars. I can tell you what date it is well we can.

Speaker 1 38:19

We can put them at the dates in the show note. Show notes and I will link to the chatter camp website.

Speaker 2 38:24

So definitely 14th, the 18th, uh sorry, 14th, to the 16th of April. Yeah, set up so that parents can then go away for the long weekend straight afterwards and we can cover Absolutely.

Speaker 1 38:44

Yeah, no, I can definitely put the details on that. I just think anything that is helping to give kids that opportunity whether it's, you know, the gavel clubs or the chatter camps or just you know that engages kids in a world where they need to be engaged in something real, I think, and tangible and actual solid skills, rather than head in the phone or head in the computer. I think and tangible and actual solid skills rather than head in the phone or head in the computer. I think, yeah, I think it's awesome. And so what type of? Do you set yourself Toastmasters goals for the year? It sounds like you're a very goal-driven kind of person. Do you have any specific goals for Toastmasters for this year or?

Speaker 2 39:33

next, I've just taken on the TLI chair position for District 90, so I'm going to be coordinating the club leadership training for the next couple of rounds, which is all very new for me and quite interesting. So my goal for that is to do the best job I can and survive it. Yeah, in terms of sorry.

Speaker 1 40:04

Sorry, does that involve the district leader training and club officer training, both those levels?

Speaker 2 40:11

No, just club officer training oh okay, right, yep gotcha.

Speaker 1 40:14

Okay, there's still some acronyms I'm not across yet. Okay, so the club officer training.

Speaker 2 40:21

And like a lot of Toastmasters things, that's something that they just haven't let me know about yet.

Speaker 1 40:29

You might have been for a surprise. It is always interesting trying to get everyone trained up in time for the changeover each year.

Speaker 2 40:38

It happens every year and and it's like, are there any trainers are around, and yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, interesting work, work yeah, I've, I've had fun putting the materials together and, um, I suppose, like any of these things, you do the best you can and hope people appreciate your efforts and know that they'll probably be enthusiastically enthusiastically giving you feedback if they don't.

Speaker 1 41:09

Yeah, toastmasters aren't backwards in coming forward with feedback, but that's what we know and love. And what about speeches at your home clubs? Now, I mean, how do you find those? Do you create new material or are you reworking old speeches? Yeah, just what's your week-to-week Toastmasters activity looking like these days?

Speaker 2 41:36

I do like to try out new stories. If I come up with something and I think actually that could be useful for this message. I mean, I'm always looking for stories that have a communication angle. What's the message, what's the learning here? And I think that's where reading's so useful. I read a lot and find stories there and and then I tell those at club level and sort of experiment a bit and see where where I can incorporate those into training. I'm a little bit scatterbrained. I do think I would be well served by keeping a story register or portfolio or something and be a little bit more systematic about it. It will kind of swirl in my head but yeah, that's where I use Toastmasters for my professional development. I do. I mean it's funny what you say about being goal-driven. I am a little bit of a points chaser. I do like the idea of actually getting 10 out of 10.

Speaker 1 42:46

Me too, me too, and it's okay to say that out loud Me too, and it's okay to say that out loud.

Speaker 2 42:53

So if I recognize that I can contribute a level or something, then I will strategically line up assignments so that I can make sure that that happens and add to the mix. Yeah, obviously, working where I can to encourage other people to document their speeches and get their own awards. Yeah, obviously, working where I can to encourage other people to document their speeches and get their own awards.

Speaker 1 43:15

Yeah, Well, also being in three clubs is you tend to get through the pathways a little bit quicker as well. There's more speaking opportunities the more clubs you're in. So finding that just even being in two clubs just getting through pathways a little bit quicker, and then, yeah, working out which club may need the points, yeah, yeah, and with your is the Showtime. Is it Showtime? Stage Time, stage Time. Is it an advanced club?

Speaker 2 43:51

That's right. Yeah, we do 20 minute facilitations, oh wow, facilitated evaluations, rather for everyone's speech. So it's quite a deep dive and I love that because it tends to be the kind of comments. It's not around. My recommendation would be or whatever it's, someone will say what did you think the message was? How could we make that more impactful, or how can we focus in on that idea? And someone will say well, what if you did this? Or how about you did that?

Speaker 2 44:33

or an opportunity for humor, and and these suggestions will just fly back and forth and if you're the speaker, you'll come away with a million options and yeah, you can sift through them later and go. This really resonates with me.

Speaker 1 44:51

Or I'm going to try this and, and of course, some of it works, some of it doesn't, but you, you've got all these ideas that maybe you wouldn't have thought of yeah, yeah, I find similar things happen in the advanced club I'm in, just just, it's a different level of conversation, especially if a lot of those people have competed at various levels, even even to district level or beyond, and, yeah, you're just getting a different style of of feedback, which you know. I think also, you have to have a fairly tough skin because so many people finding so many ways to improve a particular speech. But I think when I've listened to the speakers that have gone to district or that next level, into the World Championships of Public Speaking, they are discerning what feedback to take on and what to keep, what to leave, what to try, what to refine, and it's that crafting I I think that ends up in the, the amazing speeches we end up hearing.

Speaker 2 45:55

Yes, yeah, it's and and that's it. That's exactly it, that word crafting. I think that's where you realize that things can be uh, it's. It's such little things quite often that it's. It's the difference between using this word or that word or shortening that sentence and just having a pause or replacing a word with an expression.

Speaker 1 46:21

And normal people out there sort of probably would be mortified about how much time we can actually spend about talking about one word or one expression or the nature of that expression. So it's nice being around other kind of tragics who are dedicated to the cause, because you sort of try explaining what goes on at that level to other people who aren't involved and you do this for fun.

Speaker 2 46:48

Yes, it's funny you say that. I remember my stepfather saying um, are you, are you relaxing enough? And I said, yeah, I'm going to Toastmasters tonight and you know, I know you enjoy it, but that is not relaxing it's.

Speaker 1 47:08

It's interesting the reactions you get like oh, oh, oh. How can that be fun, you know? Doesn't that stress you out? Like no, actually. So, yeah, it's stimulating, it is. It is indeed. I mean it's a wonderful organization. I think we're sort of both on the same page there. I mean in terms of people who aren't in Toastmasters and, you know, pondering whether to take that first step in the door or setting New Year's resolutions, thinking about their New Year's resolutions for next year. What would you say to them in terms of, you know, sitting on the fence or doing something about it?

Speaker 2 47:49

I would say it's the greatest step you could ever take for personal development. And if your first visit to a club doesn't convince you, shop around and find the club that does have your tribe. Yeah there, every club's got its own dynamic and you will slot in somewhere and it will be the most amazing journey of your life. Yeah.

Speaker 1 48:20

I agree, definitely, definitely agree. And is there anything else that you would like to share before we wrap up?

Speaker 2 48:28

No, I think that's it. Um no, I I think that's has. Has that given you enough material to work with?

Speaker 1 48:37

yeah, definitely, definitely. Thank you, um all righty well, dale, I've really enjoyed speaking with you and hearing about your toastmasters and and speaking experiences. So much so, so many gems in what you've shared with us today. So thank you so much for taking the time to come on the show.

Speaker 2 48:58

Thank you very much for having me.

Speaker 1 49:00

It's been a pleasure chatting with you and getting to know you Likewise and, yeah, all the best with whatever your next year of Toastmasters looks like. Thank you so much. All right, thanks, dale. Let me just