VIEWPOINT TOASTMASTER Publisher DONNA H. GROH Editor SUZANNE FREY Associate Editor BETH BLACK Editorial Assistant JAMIE REYNOLDS Graphic Design SUSAN CAMPBELL TI OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS Distinguished! Founder DR. RALPH C. SMEDLEY (1878-1965) 2006-2007 OFFICERS International President JOHNNY UY, DTM This month, all our current-year recognition Cebu City, Philippines Senior Vice President CHRIS FORD, DTM programs come to an end. How fares your club? Ottawa, ON, Canada Second Vice President JANA BARNHILL, DTM Have you attained your personal goals? Lubbock, Texas Remember that to be Simply Amazing is to be Third Vice President GARY SCHMIDT, DTM Clackamas, Oregon so remarkable as to elicit disbelief. This means Immediate Past President DILIP ABAYASEKARA, DTM Camp Hill, Pennsylvania we need to do such a remarkable job in work- Executive Director DONNA H. GROH ing through our educational programs that Mission Viejo, California Secretary-Treasurer NANCY LANGTON change is evident and provokes astonishment. That’s the mark of success. Mission Viejo, California That’s the key to being distinguished! That’s being Simply Amazing! 2006-2007 DIRECTORS I once visited a club where a member asked me, “Why do we have to VAL ALBERT, DTM JOHN MOFFITT, DTM chase after points and goals by getting members to finish their manuals? Why Saratoga Springs, New York Houston, Texas CHARLES ALBRIGHT, DTM GARY MULL, DTM can’t we just have fun at meetings, do what we want to do and not worry Chattanooga, Tennessee Riverside, Ohio about giving speeches?” CHRIS EMOND, DTM MICHAEL NOTARO, DTM Rockville, Maryland Alameda, California I guess that person had a point – that is, if he belonged to a club whose JAMES FAIR, DTM SUEZY PROCTOR, DTM sole purpose was to socialize with others. Toastmasters, while offering fun Athens, Georgia Tacoma, Washington ANN HASTINGS, DTM MARTHA TINKER, DTM and fellowship during meetings, is an educational organization. We use fun Santa Monica, California West Des Moines, Iowa and fellowship as a means to an end – as a way to learn communication and CLIFF HEINSCH, DTM DIETMAR WAGENKNECHT, DTM Brooklyn Park, Minnesota Lake Bluff, Illinois leadership skills as well as enhance members’ confidence and self-esteem. LAUREN KELLY, DTM RALPH WALLACE, DTM The bottom line in a Toastmasters club meeting is still the member deliver- Trabuco Canyon, California Albuquerque, New Mexico JOHN LAU, DTM MARGARET WAN, DTM ing manual speeches or performing leadership projects and getting evaluated Kuching, Malaysia Saint Petersburg, Florida for them. Counting the number of Competent or Advanced Communicator TAMMY MILLER, DTM GEORGE YEN, DTM State College, Pennsylvania Taipei, Taiwan awards and Competent or Advanced Leader awards – as well as counting the number of members – is the only way we can determine if clubs are meeting their mission of providing a positive learning environment for members. TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL P.O. Box 9052 • Mission Viejo, CA 92690 U.S.A. If members are given every opportunity to deliver their speeches or per- (949) 858-8255 • Fax:(949) 858-1207 form leadership projects and are receiving positive evaluations for them, then Voicemail: (949) 835-1300 www.toastmasters.org they’ll do more projects, and other members will be inspired to do the same. Club meetings will become interesting, educational and yes, fun. Members CONTACTING WORLD HEADQUARTERS For information on joining will feel good about themselves and about their clubs. When that happens, or building a club, visit: www.toastmasters.org they will be more than happy to invite guests to their meetings. Guests who Article submission: [email protected] join the club continue the cycle by working through the program and bring- Letters to the Editor: [email protected] ing in other guests. The result? A Distinguished club! To change mailing address: www.toastmasters.org That same person also said, “We have very high standards for speeches in our club, so it takes us months, even years, of preparation in order to meet • ADVERTISING INQUIRIES ONLY • those standards.” For information about advertising, please contact: Melissa Austin Associates We are in Toastmasters to improve ourselves, not to be as good as – or 2600 Ladybird Dr. • Calabasas, California 91302 Phone: (818) 225-0466 • Fax: (818) 225-0675 better than – others. Most of us will never be World Champions of Public [email protected] Speaking, and most of us will never attain the eloquence of a professional The TOASTMASTER Magazine (ISSN 00408263) is published monthly by Toastmasters International, Inc., 23182 Arroyo Vista, Rancho Santa Margarita, speaker. But guess what? Most of us don’t want to. We are in Toastmasters to CA 92688, U.S.A. Periodicals postage paid at Mission Viejo, CA and additional mailing office. POSTMASTER: Send address change to The TOASTMASTER learn and to develop our own skills. It’s not a question of me being better Magazine, P.O. Box 9052, Mission Viejo, CA 92690, U.S.A. Published to promote the ideas and goals of Toastmasters International, a non profit educational organization of clubs throughout the world dedicated than anyone else. It is a matter of me being better than what I was yesterday! to teaching skills in public speaking and leadership. Members’ subscriptions are included in the $27 semi annual dues. Deliver your speech and leadership projects in your club, measure your The official publication of Toastmasters International carries authorized notices and articles regarding the activities and interests of the organization, progress and discover your talents and potential. If you do that, then you can but responsibility is not assumed for the opinions of the authors of other articles. The TOASTMASTER magazine does not endorse or guarantee the consider yourself Distinguished! Even more, you’ll be Simply Amazing! products it advertises. Copyright 2007 by Toastmasters International, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Not responsible for unsolicited material. Toastmasters International, The TOASTMASTER, and the Toastmaster International Emblem are trademarks of Toastmasters International registered Johnny Uy, DTM in the United States, Canada and many other countries. Marca registrada en International President Mexico. Printed in U.S.A. Printed on Recycled Paper 2 TOASTMASTER June 2007 J u n e 2 0 0 7 Volume 73, No. 6 TABLEOFCONTENTS FEATURES Want to Become a Wedding Speechwriter? How to write wedding ARTICLES speeches and get paid for it. &DEPARTMENTS By Laura Yeager PAGE 8 2 Viewpoint: Distinguished! By International President Johnny Uy, DTM 4 Letters to the Editor 5 My Turn: Landing My Dream Job Chartering the Thank you, Toastmasters! Corporate Club: a Survey By Timothy J. Matson Tips for success from corporate clubs around the world. 6 Toastmasters Serve the Poor on Mercy Ship By Shelia Spencer, DTM Floating hospital benefits from crew’s PAGE 16 improved communication skills. By Mike Osborne 12 How To: The Toast: That Other Proposal A good wedding toast inspires laughter or tears, but a great toast evokes both. By Sandra Miller Communicating with Authenticity 14 Board Report: Out of the Past, Q & A with Barbara De Angelis, Ph.D., Into the Future Toastmasters’ 2007 Golden Gavel Recipient. A summary from the minutes of the PAGE 22 February 2007 Board of Directors meeting. 20 Looking at Language: Get the Quote Right! Don’t just pin it on Twain, Shaw or Churchill. The Toastmasters Vision: Toastmasters International empowers people to achieve their full potential and realize By Fred R. Shapiro their dreams. Through our member clubs, people throughout the world can improve their communication and leadership skills, and find the courage to change. The Toastmasters Mission: 24 Your 2007-2008 Officer Candidates Toastmasters International is the leading movement devoted to making Be sure your club votes for Toastmasters effective oral communication a worldwide reality. International’s future leaders. Through its member clubs, Toastmasters International helps men and women learn the arts of speaking, listening and thinking – vital skills that promote self-actualization, enhance leadership potential, foster human understanding, and contribute to the betterment of mankind. It is basic to this mission that Toastmasters International continually expand its worldwide network 26 Financial Report: Financial Activities: of clubs thereby offering ever-greater numbers of people the opportunity to benefit from its programs. January – December 2006 June 2007 THETOASTMASTER 3 LETTERS Special Humor Issue inspiring and underline the great me most about the story is the sim- My club is full of extremely enthusi- work many Toastmasters are pre- ple fact that these Toastmasters gave astic new Toastmasters. And while pared to undertake. a gift to perfect strangers – good we have a mentor program set up, They also reminded me of the men who made poor choices. many members still wonder, “How great work done by Arthur Gorrie, It is not simply the fact that these do you learn all this stuff? How DTM, for 20 years here in District volunteer speakers invested their about some training?” 69. Arthur conducted dozens of time, energy and talents. They We had some new Toastmasters Speechcraft courses in Brisbane jail showed these incarcerated individu- asking just what is the right way to and was ultimately honored by the als that they mattered! They impart- add humor to a speech and – poof! – State Government of Queensland, ed the skills so many of us have there was the March “Special Humor which named the Arthur Gorrie learned from Toastmasters – tools Issue” of the Toastmaster magazine. Correctional Centre after him. that lead to future success. The Let me suggest the next special Arthur was District 69’s Toast- underlying story of acceptance is issue topic: Speechwriting! How to master of the Year eight times and encapsulated in the statement at the turn any topic into a speech, and helped his club earn many awards end: John plans to join their club how to decide what really isn’t nec- until he passed away in 1992.