Category: District 83

Club Spotlight: Germinators

Club: Germinators (00927494)

Charter Date: June 27, 2006

Recent Awards: President’s Distinguished – Perfect 10 (DCP Points), Distinguished Toastmasters, 3 Triple Crowns, and more!

Club members in their own words:

“Being a part of the Germinators has opened my eyes to how a passionate group of people can work together to lift each other up and outperform as a team. My favorite part of being in the club is when an international colleague says, ‘Hey, aren’t you one of those Toastmasters?’ It brings me so much joy to get e-mails from all over the global organization asking what we do and how they can be a part of this thriving community.” – Danielle Mazza, ACB, ALB

“Before I joined the Germinators, I thought I was a decent public speaker. I quickly realized that Toastmasters is a lot more than a public speaking club. Germinators has taught me so much about leadership through my roles as VPE and now President of the club. I even had the opportunity to compete in a speech contest at division level last fall” – Sabrina Behnke, CC, ALB

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Meet the Area Directors: Kevin Lombardi

Name: Kevin Lombardi

Position: Area 44 Director

Club(s): Speakers of the House

Other positions: Immediate Past President of Speakers of the House

How long have you been in Toastmasters? Since July 2015

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Register for Upcoming Training Session: Mentors Mentor about Mentoring

Toastmasters is based upon the tenet of learning by doing and improvement via practice and evaluation. Throughout the Toastmasters journey we learn as we help others to learn. Nowhere is this more evident than in club sponsoring, mentoring, and coaching.

Please join District 83 on Saturday, September 23, 2017 at 1-2:30PM at the Clark Library, 303 Westfield Avenue, Clark NJ, for a session on:

  • How to Sponsor a Club and Help it Charter – Anne Gilson, Club Quality Chair
  • How to Mentor and Advise a New Club on Procedures— Manny Reyes, Program Quality Director
  • How to Coach a Club to Transform it From Struggling to Distinguished — Lynda Starr, Club Growth Director

    Please register on TM83.org before September 18.
    If you have any questions, please reach out to Lynda Starr by email at lbstarr@optonline.net or phone at 201-320-1752.

Reasons to Attend the Fall Conference

Why did you join Toastmasters?

If you became part of Toastmasters to expand and enhance your career opportunities, the Fall Conference may be a first-class, high-return investment of your time.

At our Fall Conference, you will see and hear some of the very best speakers in our District, and indeed, some of the very best speakers in our world-wide Toastmasters family. You will be able to spend one-on-one time with them, to learn how they put together an award-winning talk and how they developed the skills that have brought them to the level of communication excellence.

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Why I am a Toastmaster

Five years ago this week, after a lot of research and with a heap of trepidation, I visited Old Bridge Toastmasters for the first time. I felt a little awkward going to something where I didn’t know anyone, but the people were friendly enough.

They had this interesting program where you could earn awards for completing different sets of tasks. It appealed to me as a nerd, but there was no way I would ever be able to summon the courage to do all of this. 40 speeches? I couldn’t possibly have that much to say. Be a club officer? Maybe one day, I could build up the courage to run for Sergeant at Arms. Serve as a district officer? Terrifying! Mentor someone? I have nothing to offer anyone, I thought.

And yet, when we had an open house two months later, I offered to be the guinea pig and give my first speech. When it came time to elect officers, I took a deep breath and ran for Vice President of Education. As my confidence grew, I took on more. Metaphorically speaking, a crawl became a walk became a run.

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Meet the Division Directors: Rachel Nuber

Name: Rachel Nuber, DTM

Position: Division I Director

Club(s): Germinators Toastmasters in Area 93

Other positions: Various club officer roles and former Area Director

How long have you been in Toastmasters? 10 years

What are your plans for the district/area/division?

As Division Director, I plan to support the District, Division I, and its Areas in their goal of achieving distinguished status. And support the members of Division I to achieve their fullest potential.

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Toastmasters of Westfield Speech Contest

Toastmasters of Westfield will have a Fall Speech Contest on Thursday, September 7, 2017 at 7:45 pm at Sunrise Assisted Living in Westfield, NJ. The purpose of the contest is to allow people to accelerate growth as a speaker, leave one’s comfort zone and challenge our members.

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Toastmasters Gave Me Back My Voice

Marjorie holding her 1st Place trophy from the Division E humorous speech contest.

For most of us, speaking in front of two or more people can be uncomfortable, even frightful. For me, it was exceptionally so. When I was 30 years old, I left my native country, Haiti, and needed to learn to speak English. My accent made it hard for me to communicate and this new challenging world of the United States took my voice away and made me silent.

Despite my silence, I was always seeking for any opportunity to grow. I realized that I could not become a better version of myself if I did not overcome that fear of speaking. I knew I had to learn how to properly talk with others.

At my first Toastmasters meeting, I joined Impact 21. The club welcomed me and encouraged me to participate in Table Topic. Impact 21 was the place to be. They coached me and helped me leave my corner. After a few months, the club encouraged me to participate in the humorous speech competition, which was way out of my comfort zone. The challenge was thrilling. I even made it to the District contest!

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Club Spotlight: Impact 21

Club: Impact 21

Charter Date: March 29, 2002

2016-2017 Officers: Left to Right: Area 51 Director Oscar Ocasio, ACG, ALB, President Marjorie Nazaire, CC; VP of Education Manny Reyes, ACG, ALB, VP Membership; and Treasurer Cyndi Wilson DTM, VP PR Margarita Estrada, ACS, ALS; and Sgt. at Arms & Secretary Mario Lewis, ACG, CL

 

 

Club Members In Their Own Words:

I was painfully shy and could not even present my final graduate paper to my peers.  English as a second language also pushed me back to a dark corner.  My best friend told me about Toastmasters.  I visited Impact 21 in January 2016 and felt at home.  The club has given me my voice back and I realized that my accent should not be an handicap.  I shared my story with my fellow toastmasters and they gave me a confidence that I did not know existed in me.  Little by little I left my comfort zone, and volunteering for table topics allowed me to start and be part of any conversation. – President Marjorie Nazaire, CC

I joined Toastmasters because I wanted to be a better speaker and presenter. But I never thought I would find joy, friendship, camaraderie and passion for growth and personal development.  I started in Toastmasters by locating the Club that was closest to my house, where I have been a member for some time now. I have learned in turn that more than convenience you have to look for the Club that is the closest to your heart. Where you find that you can grow and help others in their own journey. A Club where you can see the type of leaders and speakers that you feel the closest to your own likes and needs. Where you learn and help others learn. Where every meeting is an adventure and a documentary of things that happened, things that are happening and things one hope will happen. Putting these goals and treasures together is how I ended up coming to Impact 21. – Manny Reyes, VP of Education, ACG, ALB

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