John Becker / Bald Head” Speaks

May 25th, 2010 by John Becker
Filed under:GCF-Toastmasters    

John Becker /  Bald Head” Speaks to EXIT Regional NC/SC Agents & Owner Brokers in Charlotte NC

 Thanks to all my Gem City Forum Toastmaster Colleagues… and their great encouragement and coaching, I was able to do this engagement with confidence!


It was a beautiful, crisp, clear day in Charlotte as EXIT agents, and Broker Owners from NC & SC  gathered for training and  to receive awards for stellar accomplishments in real estate for 2009!  John Becker – Bald Head was one of  three speakers on the roster for the event.  The others were Bob McKinnon, and Key Yessaad, both EXIT Trainers and experts in the profession of real estate. Bald Head spoke about the “Power of Belief and Application * Your Path to Success or Failure in any Market”.  During his talk, John Becker / Bald Head shared some timeless truths that have been passed to him from the standard bearers that are mentoring up ahead of him in the real estate profession.  Mr. Becker said that we are blessed to be able to stand on the shoulders of these Champions and to glean wisdom and know-how from  their priceless experiences in real estate.  John shared examples of how one’s belief system is directly responsible for their destiny and how to change it, should one not like what they see coming to pass. Approximately 125 people attended this event and were truly challenged by all the speakers to “kick it up a notch” as regards their personal development and business systems, with the end goal in mind, to better serve their customers and clients with extreme excellence. John received an EXIT award for being one of the Top 10 Producers in real estate sales for the entire state of North Carolina for the year of 2009.

Time is of the essence….

May 21st, 2010 by jimbo86wing
Filed under:GCF-Toastmasters    
To be a good speaker one of the skills you have to posses is the ability to express your thoughts within a specific time frame. This is one of the speaking skills that is monitored on a weekly basis at our Toastmaster meetings. There are several roles that are filled by members during a meeting for example: Toastmaster, Speaker, Table Topics Master, General Evaluator, Speech Evaluator, Grammarian, and Timer.

When you are assigned the role of timer you have several duties you are to fulfill. First you are responsible for timing each speech to make sure they are within the allotted time frames. Each speech from the Competent Communicator and Advanced Communicator series varies in length. You also time table topic speeches which are 1 to 2 minute impromptu speeches given on a topic at the meeting and speech evaluations which are 2 to 3 minute evaluations of each assigned speech given by an assigned evaluator. In addition to just timing and keeping record of the times, you are responsible for running the signal light to let the speaker know where they are in relation to their speech time frame. The signal light looks like a traffic signal light with a green, yellow, and red lights. The green light means you have reached the minimum time in your allotted time frame, the yellow light means that you are halfway between the minimum and maximum time allotted, and the red light means that you have reached your maximum amount of time allotted.

In a meeting there is no penalty for speaking under or over the time allotted when giving a speech, but it does help in becoming more conscience of your speaking time. However, when you participate in speech contest in Toastmasters International, timing is everything. If you speak +/- 30 seconds on speeches and evaluations or +/- 15 seconds on table topics you can be disqualified from the contest.

So you can see that timing is an important key to becoming a successful speaker and something that is not taken lightly by a Toastmaster. Always remember that when giving any speech that audiences appreciate those who are mindful of time frames.

Lacey W. Crowe  CC

Member | Gem City Forum Toastmasters Club # 296

A Big Change by Small Steps

May 8th, 2010 by jimbo86wing
Filed under:GCF-Toastmasters    
We had another great evening this past Tuesday at the Gem City Forum Toastmaster’s club! To start, Lacey Crowe introduced the theme “A Big Change by Small Steps.” Her theme centered on impacting the earth by making small changes in how you dispose of your trash.

She explained that the national average per person per day is five pounds of trash! Lacey gave us some good advice on how to lower our daily trash average through use of recycling bins in our homes. Her talk was quite informative and she made sure to cement her position by offering a handout at the end of the meeting.

All participants were prepared and ready to give a trenchant example of their roles. In fact, the grammarian, Andrew Robertson, presented the word of the day, “Trenchant.” We had first-time timer, Dwayne Phillips, who was steady in his duties and an “Ah-Um Counting General Evaluator,” Phil Drake, who displayed poise and proficiency with his dual roles.

Finally, the Joke Master, Jim Alvord, had us all laughing at his reverse blonde joke!

Kathy Clifton challenged us with some interesting objects for Table Topics volunteers. She presented small, medium, and large objects concealed in bags. The large item was a Galileo thermometer – Jim nailed his explanation of how it works. Next, the small object was the “shrunken head” of fellow member, John Becker. (Evidently, John has some toy figurines of himself lying around the office!) Nancy Porter explained that the head would be useful on an occasion when John is absent because he is always great talk too. Finally, the medium object was a packaged Hormel Chili meal. Loretta Newton, explained that she wouldn’t be likely to eat this meal because her husband is a champion chili maker.

Our only speaker for the evening, Bill Hanger, gave speech # 9 from the Competent Communication manual. The goal of the speech is to persuade the audience to adopt your point of view. His speech was entitled, “The Biblical Cannon.”

Bill was motivated by some friends to research the five aspects of the bible which give it authority. It was apparent that Bill was very comfortable with his subject and his research. He gave very smooth gestures and presented his list of points with ease.

Overall, it was another successful meeting – When I see our members improve and try something new, it keeps me motivated to keep coming back week after week. It is apparent that as communicators and leaders, we are making big changes for ourselves by following the small steps recommend in our TM manuals.

Barbara Cook

VP Education | Gem City Toastmasters Club # 296