Glossophobia - Cannibalism

Cannibalism – the usually ritualistic eating of human flesh by a human being.

There are many reasons why people fear public speaking and some of them unbelievable. The life and death experiences of biological organisms become encoded in their DNA for future survival of the species.  Humans have instinctive fears.  Children who have never seen a snake, a nasty looking insect, or animals with large incisors react in terror and concern. 

Modern people never give a thought to cannibalism.  They are not conscious of cannibalism.  However, their DNA never forgets and vividly remembers the past when cannibalism was a risk anytime there was contact with an unknown tribe hundreds of thousands of years ago or in 1961.  

We don’t know much about the social structure of prehistoric people.  They didn’t leave any written records, but they did leave garbage.  When anthropologists find human remains discarded with garbage, with human teeth marks and a disrespect for the dead humans then it is an indication of cannibalism.

In the Atapuerca Mountains in Spain, there is evidence that prehistoric humans from the species Homo Antecessor were the first confirmed humans in Europe about 800,000 years ago.  There is evidence they practiced cannibalism.

There are very graphic and gruesome displays of prehistoric cannibalism in the Museo Nacional de Antropologia in Madrid and the Museo de la Evolucion Humana in Burgos, both in Spain. 

In the Paleolithic world, the worst that could happen to a human would be voted out of the tribe.  Banishment from the tribe meant certain death either from starvation, being devoured by carnivorous megafauna such sabretooth tigers or the worst, contact with rival human tribes with cannibalistic practices.

Paleolithic individuals quickly learned not to antagonize the moderators of communication in the tribe or risk banishment.  (Just like in modern Toastmaster Facebook Groups where unpopular or politically incorrect comments are quickly censored and banished.)  In ancient times it was best to be quiet and survive.

Michael Rockefeller was unavailable for comment on this blog post.

(A sad note:  Michael Rockefeller disappeared in Papua New Guinea in 1961. Michael was 23 years old and went missing while collecting primitive art.  He was the privileged son of New York Governor (and subsequent Vice President of the United States serving with President Gerald Ford) Nelson Rockefeller.  He was the great-grandson of John D Rockefeller perhaps the richest man to ever live and Michael extremely wealthy via trust funds.  Tragically, it is believed he was tortured, killed and eaten by the Asmat people.  His body was never found. The details of this story not for the weak of heart.

                                    

                                             Respect and Free our Toastmaster Members.

(Reprinted with permission from "A Paleolithic Toastmaster)

The Smedley Rule

Over one hundred fourteen million people cried or cheered while watching Super Bowl XLIX between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks.  The average ticket price per seat  was $4,600 making it the most expensive in Super Bowl history. 

Few people are old enough to remember when the NFL almost went bankrupt in the early 1960’s.  Several franchises were on the verge of financial collapse, few games were aired on television and most NFL stadiums were half empty.

Super Bowl I, between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs was played in January of 1967.  It was held at the Los Angeles Coliseum with over 33,000 unsold tickets as fans were outraged at the $12  ticket price.   

During the 1960’s, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle revitalized the NFL with policies of revenue sharing, league negotiation of television contracts and the player drafts in an attempt to create competitive parity among all teams.

As a result of the competitive parity, some people used the term the “Rozelle Rule” in regard to an old adage that “On any given Sunday, any NFL team can beat can other NFL team.” 

This rule applies to Toastmasters.  We’ll call it “The “Smedley Rule” in honor of Ralph Smedley who founded Toatmaters.

The Smedley Rule: at any given Toastmasters meeting, you will either, and, or learn something new, meet someone new,  laugh, cry, or be amazed  at the speeches and if you’re lucky, your life or someone else’s life will change for the better. 

No matter how tired or weary I might be, whenever I leave a Toastmaster meeting, I am fully energized. 

Get Up and Grow! How Effective Evaluation Changed My Life

You know, public speaking and fiction writing share a common thread.  Sure, they’re both platforms you can use to share a message, tell a story, drive a point home, inspire your audience. . . but beyond that, they are also two of the most terrifying, nail-biting experiences you could possibly put yourself through.  Sharing your pen-scratches and speaking on stage are particularly gripping, heart-palpitating  experiences because when you share your work, you’re sharing. . . well, a piece of you!  That’s no easy feat.

So how do we go from being a terrified heap to a cool, calm, collected speaker?  The old adage of “practice, practice, practice” certainly rings true.  But I’d like to take a minute to look at the other side of the coin—when you are an evaluator.  As an evaluator, you have the special task of helping a speaker to grow by providing effective, quality feedback. 

This is nothing to sneeze at.  A good, honest evaluation can help a shaky speaker grow by leaps and bounds.  A bad one can send them running for the hills.

Last month I completed an online course hosted by the Houston Spectrum Writer’s Guild called “Imagination Boot Camp.”  This is a 10 day program in which you’re tasked with writing 1,000 words per day—and you e-mail your messy, first-draft work to the organizer each night by 12:01 a.m.  No edits.  At the end of the course you participate in a one-on-one phone session to discuss what you have written.

So here’s a snippet of the text I produced on Day 3.

“A busy man who traveled often, the doctor was sheltered from the knowledge that Laurel had been missing since her wedding day.  The story was huge amongst the locals.  Some called Laurel a runaway bride, suffering from cold feet.  Others spun a more sinister tale of kidnap.  One of the shopkeepers swears she saw the infamous Lieutenant Corcoran lurking near Laurel’s bedroom window at dawn.  It was well known that he was wanted for treason, and kidnapping a soon-to-be member of the wealthy Brighton family seemed a good way to negotiate with law enforcement.”

I showed this piece to a number of people, and I received feedback on it—or, as we call it in Toastmasters, evaluation.  Two types of feedback stood out to me—because these are things we want to avoid when we are in the evaluator role in Toastmasters.

 The Whitewash:

“It’s good.”

How many of us have received this as feedback?  You wait with baited breath for more—but it never comes.  I used to enjoy whitewashes.  I viewed them as positive affirmation that I was on the right track and doing a good job.  But over time, as I heard those same two words over and over, I grew frustrated with them. 

I wasn’t learning anything.   This evaluation means nothing to me.  It’s just a generalized statement that says “you opened your mouth and said words, and I acknowledge that I heard them.” 

Let’s talk about another type of evaluation:

The Two-by-Four to the Face:  

“It’s not that bad, but you need to make Lieutenant Corcoran less stupid.  You shouldn’t make him kidnap a girl on her wedding day.”

This one can deflate someone.  It always catches me by surprise.  Believe me, I’ve learned to develop a very thick skin over time, but the two-by-four always gives me pause.  At first blush it may seem like there is real information here—a helpful suggestion for improvement.  But you dissect it—it’s like a pair of pants with those fake pockets—there’s nothing there.  “Make your character less stupid.”  How?  And what does that even mean?  This isn’t useful to me, because there’s no takeaway; it’s just a flimsy, generalized statement—similar to the whitewash.    

If you can’t do anything with it, it isn’t valuable feedback.

So what does an effective evaluation look like?  What better way to explain than to show you?  At the end of my bootcamping experience I got on the phone with someone who gave me one of the best evaluations I’ve received in my life. 

The lightbulb turned on—he helped me reach that “aha!” moment that has taken me to the next level.  Broken down into four parts, here’s how it went:

INTRODUCTION:  PROMOTION OF SELF-ESTEEM

 

“Daniela, your tendency toward scene work and strong dialogue skills make you a natural for novel writing. It’s like you decided to be a tightrope walker one day, and you already have good balance and are comfortable with heights.”

 

BODY:  AREA OF IMPROVEMENT

 

“You recognize description is not your strong suit. I see some overwriting, overtelling in your work.  You want your readers to be active participants in your story.  Without descriptive elements, they become passive observers.”

BODY:  HOW TO IMPROVE THIS

“Practice using your whole body when you write. Visualize a scene in your head—is it day? Night? Raining? Cold?  Hot? What do you hear?  What do you see to your left?  Don’t pick up a pen to write until you can clearly see the scene in your head.”

CONCLUSION:  POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT

 

“The most important thing is to keep going.  Keep up the regular practice.  You have a strong vision and the self-discipline to write every day.  That’s huge.”

All in all—the perfect evaluation.  Honest, positive feedback that gave me something to work toward.  But evaluation doesn’t end there.  As a speaker, you aren’t doing yourself justice if you sit down and let it roll off your back.  If we truly want to grow, we must challenge ourselves to take our evaluator’s words to heart—and act! 

Immediately after boot camp I picked up a book on descriptive writing.  I read it.  I practiced visualizing things before I wrote.  And finally, last week, I sat down and rewrote the scene I’d originally drafted in boot camp—from scratch. No edits.  It looks very different now.

The doctor rounded the corner, picking up his pace as he walked through rows of identical tents.  Two women clad in eclectic colors glanced in his direction.  They perched close together, shaded by a dusty awning, furious whispers firing back and forth between them.  Amidst their pointed hisses the doctor’s ears picked up one audible word:  “Laurel.”

 

He slowed his pace, craning his neck slightly as he hovered past their shop.  He felt somewhat embarrassed to be eavesdropping, but he itched to know.  Why were these women discussing his patient?   They were much older than Laurel—clearly not friends of hers.  And he’d never seen them at the inn before.  The few clips of conversation he was able to decipher sent his heart careening to his knees.

 

"Wedding...missing.."

“Kidnapped…”

“…yes, Corcoran.”

Thursday Night Lights - "Balance Between Family and Work"

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Jeff Morrical, CC

Our Toastmaster for this meeting, Jeff Morrical,CC, chose the theme of this meeting "Balance Between Family and Work". This is always an intriguing conundrum. This theme was successfully woven in throughout the meeting by our members and guests.

Our President, Debbie Gregori, DTM opened the meeting with her usual reminder to our members to be certain that they were evaluated in their CL manuals for the contributions they would make during the meeting.

"Get Up And Grow" is her chosen theme. A subtitle may be "The Job Isn't Finished Until The Paperwork Is Done!!"

New Business:

None. How bout that?

Old Business :

Peter Gregori, CC Sergeant-At-Arms reminded our members that we are abandoning Yahoo Groups as our conduit for group communications and migrating the Katy Toastmaster membership to the free website http://katy.toastmastersclubs.org/.

Jim Harrington, DTM gave us all some very significant information regarding the upcoming District 56 Fall Conference that will take place on Saturday, November 8, 2014.  On the District 56 Website the start time is listed as 7:00 AM.  What they meant to say is that registration begins at 7:00 AM. The activities will commence at 8:30 AM.

Theme and Explanation of Duties

Balance Between Family and Work

Jeff started the meeting with an anecdote about his new status as a newlywed, self employed and working from home. It seems his wife grew weary of his interruptions and breaks throughout the day and locked the door. Jeff did not say which door.

Jeff  presented us with an egregious lie about the General Evaluator, Walt Butler, while introducing him. Had he not given us a clue it may have been unforgivable. Walt? Caterpillar? Oh Deere.

Walt's Evaluation Team:

Grammarian: Michelle Perzan - her words of the day were STABLE and STABILITY.
Ballot Counter: Amy Duncan
Ah Counter: Floyd Spencer
Listen Master: Linda Goldberg, DTM
Timer: Vrushali Patil
Greeter: Bryan Clark

Prepared Speeches

Neha Sinha - CC Manual #4 How To Say It

Fear of Failure

Neha offered us insights into lessons learned through the process of competing in the "Humorous Speech Contest". She had taken first place at our club contest and the area contest. She competed in the Division N contest this past Saturday and won third place.

Neha had some keen insights into the subject that were fresh in her memory. Some of  her observations that are particularly noteworthy;

"success does not give the lessons that failure does." Neha Sinha referred to the two first place finishes and compared them to the results of the Division contest.

"success does not give the lessons that failure does." Neha Sinha

Neha took and gave us lessons from Thomas Edison. When asked about the many failures that led him to some of his inventions he replied that they were not failures but that he had "found 10,000 ways that do not work."

Debbie Gregori, DTM - Speaking to Inform #2

"I Am The Toastmaster !?"

Debbie, as a DTM, has fulfilled this role, that is of Toastmaster, often. What she offered tonight was something for the experienced members as well as the newer members who have never filled this role in a meeting.

She opened with the exclamation and played the role of a newbie. "Oh my gosh. I am the Toastmaster!!"

uh-oh ?

"Oh my gosh I am the Toastmaster ?????"

The guidelines for this role are sorely missed in the Competent Leader manual. Debbie pointed this out. The good news is there are other resources for someone seeking information on how to do it. 

There are two pages devoted to this role in the Competent Communication Manual. Besides these

she pointed out that Toastmasters International does have a wealth of information as she referred us to this page:

http://www.toastmasters.org/Members/MemberExperience/MeetingRoles/Toastmaster.aspx

And again on Katy Toastmasters website there is a checklist of sorts, built around a Meeting Agenda, that points out exactly when and where, during  a meeting, that a Toastmaster would speak. The file is named "Toastmaster_Check_List.xlsx.

http://katy.toastmastersclubs.org/downloads.html

Madame President let it be known that there are a host of resources available to us. Especially the people maybe sitting right next to us. Experienced Toastmasters. Our mentors. It was not said but she held true to her theme: Get Up and Grow.

Table Topics

Our Table Topics Master was the one and only Ni Bashir. Somehow shopping did not make it as one of the topics. She was well armed and prepared. That was a good thing since one speaker dropped out and we had additional time. (What is that?)

Participating were:

Wil Delgado - "If work allowed you more free time how would you spend it?" Wil, currently being pressed into 55 hours a week, would seek more time with his family.

Lalit Patel - Lalit expressed a desire to spend more time with family.

Jing Zhao - "it's good to be a little bit of a workaholic"

Heleane Stabeneau - Mused about the conniving of a controlling employer.

Jesika Nimmo - Our youngest member "What is most important?"  "My boyfriend !!"

Matt Nimmo

Craig Coussons (guest) Empty nest is not really empty.

Ed Shaw (guest)

Cynthia Westbrook - Empty nest? "it's a wonderful feeling when you get them off the payroll"

Evaluations and Awards

Walt Butler delivered a brief but concise evaluation of the meeting and was assited by his evaluation team. We did fairly well. Out meeting began and ended on time. Our Topics Master, Ni Bashir, was very well prepared. This author would point out some things that he could not have been aware of. The Reception team, or "Greeter", performed exceptionally well. A huge shout out to Bryan Clark and Floyd Spencer for making that happen.

The myriad members that make the Sergeant-At-Arms role so much easier. People that set up, pick up and clean up. He does not really see everyone that is doing something. It is all very much appreciated.

Cynthia Westbrook

Best Table Topics

Cynthia Westbrook owns this. The "Phrase That Pays" in this weeks Table Topics was:

"it's a wonderful feeling when you get them off the payroll"

By The Numbers

In Attendance: 27

Guests: 8

Know Your Audience: Five Golden Rules

Here's the drill:  You check your e-mail and find a message with next week's Toastmasters agenda.  You open it, realizing that you've signed up as a speaker.  Okay.  No sweat.  You've got this.  You take your manual home, spend a few days drafting up your speech and practicing.  Before you can even blink, it's Thursday and the Toastmaster is calling you up to the lectern.  You step up....and let 'er rip.

Happens all the time, right?  We craft our speech, get up in front of our fellow Toastmasters, and 'thar she blows.  Sometimes it goes well, but other times we leave our listeners with a big question mark over their heads.

Last month I did exactly this: I performed a speech from the "Storytelling" manual loosely based on material from my work-in-progress novel.

It was the worst-received speech of my entire 8 year Toastmasters career.  As you might imagine, I was pretty bummed out when I received my verbal and written evaluations.  After all, I've poured my heart and soul into my manuscript for the past ten months. I went home that night downtrodden, and my husband, Derek, asked how my speech went. "They hated it!" I cried, "I don't get it; what did I do wrong?"

He asked me to perform the speech for him, and I did - a silly, dramatic scene in which two siblings quibbled over a game of chess.  When I finished, I asked Derek what he thought, and he described the speech as "watching a five minute clip of 'Lord of the Rings' where the hobbits are stealing carrots from a farm and you have no concept of anything else going on in the movie."

Ouch!  It was tough to hear.  Honest, critical feedback when your dearly cherished work flops is always hard to listen to.   But Derek wasn't telling me this to be mean.  He's a Toastmaster, too, and one of the most charming people I know.  After many, many flowers were purchased, I thanked him for his feedback.

You see, he was right.  Everyone who evaluated my speech was.  In my fervor to craft a speech under a tight deadline and share my ideas with others, I had completely failed to consider my audience.

Audience is our life blood in the business of storytelling.  And yet, it's so easily overlooked, such an underconsidered factor when we are preparing our speeches.

As a result of this experience, I developed a new speech two weeks later.  Using the material from the Toastmasters "Better Speaker Series," I presented "Know Your Audience - Five Golden Rules."

It was very well-received.

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE:  FIVE GOLDEN RULES:

1.  Consider Your Audience!  Age, gender, education, career, interests, etc., are all very important.  These factors act almost as a picture frame for you put around a panoramic.  How do you frame your message?

2.  Target Your Audience!  Imagine you are giving a speech about how to take precautions against the coming down with the flu.  Your audience is a classroom of 4th graders.  Now, take that same subject and let's change your audience to a conference room of medical professionals.  The message would be very different.  We must learn to use different "voices," depending on who we are speaking to.

3.  Don't Lose Your Audience!  Make sure you understand your audience's level of knowledge on a topic before you step up to the lectern to ensure that it's neither too basic nor to complex.  If you can, try to avoid distracting gestures, as these can become an unintended focal point of your speech.  You don't want to be the guy they only remember because he jangled his keys in his pocket for half the speech.

4.  Choose the Right Audience!  Putting good work in front of the wrong audience won't give you quality feedback.  Just as there is no one book, one movie, one TV series that every person in the world is a fan of, so, too, does this apply to a speech. Make sure you put the right work in front of the right people to achieve maximum impact.  Sometimes who your audience is can be unpredictable, so don't fret if your speech doesn't go as well as you envisioned.  We live to see another day!

5.  Don't Lose Your Message!  There is such a thing as catering too much to your audience and losing your purpose.  You want to think about your audience, but be wary of overanalyzing.  Stay true to yourself and your purpose while telling your story in a a way your audience can appreciate.  That's the goal.

Get Up And Grow - Competent Leadership

Who is this guy? And why is he smirking? You think he is smiling? Really? Take a closer look. Go ahead. Now you see. No really. That is a smirk. It is a condescending. He can't really talk. Just a pretty face.

We attend almost every meeting. We invest time and hard earned money .That is to say $$$$$. This guy puts on a suit and smirks.

We are chasing a CC or a ACLB or a DTM or WKW.

And there he is smirking. Competent Leadership. What else do you guys want???

Nice suit Toastmaster guy. Oh and a vest. I can forgive him for being young. I console myself. "Youth is wasted on the young". Just a model. All form and no substance.

One of the things that is too easy too neglect in the hustle and bustle of our meetings is our progress through this Competent Leadership manual. We have things to do. We have deadlines. We really care more that they get done. And that they get done on time.

But we are doing things we should be getting some kind of credit for. I am well aware of the tendency of this army of volunteers to just get the job done. We are not a self serving entity. Either individually or as a group.

I believe we have to dedicate some time and focus toward getting the credit for what we do. This helps us, our club, Katy Toastmasters, achieve our Distinguished Toastmaster goals. It also helps you advance toward the recognition of higher achievement that you have earned. In short let's get "paid" for the job we are already doing.

With that in mind please take the time to examine your Competent Leadership manual. Have you already completed some of these projects but have not documented this fact? You can still get credit for them. Have someone in the club fill out the evaluation portion.

I am well aware of the tendency of this army of volunteers to just get the job done. We are not a self serving entity. Either individually or as a group.

I believe we have to dedicate some time and focus toward getting the credit for what we do. This helps us, our club, Katy Toastmasters, achieve our Distinguished Toastmaster goals.

For example: Did you serve as an Ah-Counter? Then get evaluated. Take your CL manual to another member and ask them to evaluate you. Of course ideally you would do this the same meeting that you acted in this role. But if you neglected this at the time it can still be done. Have our Vice President of Education sign off on the portion that says "VPE INITIALS". It is that simple.

Some questions?

I have been a "Listen Master" I don't see anything in my manual about that. How do I get credit for that?

Project Six. "Assist the club's webmaster". As the Listen Master if you turn your notes over to the clubs webmaster then you have fulfilled 1 of 6 of the "Organization and Delegation". You are only required to assist on 1 of the 6 projects. Just one. Mission Accomplished.

I have been a "Greeter" I don't see anything in my manual about that. How do I get credit for that? You may. Let's look into this:


Project Six "Help Organize A Club Membership Campaign or Contest"

We have a year long membership campaign in progress. As the Greeter you are welcoming guests and visitors. You are also distributing the "Guest Packet" that contains vital information about our club to these visitors and guests. If you serve as a Greeter you are eligible to be credited for this project.

Project Seven: Facilitation: One is charged with the task of completing 2 of 4 projects. Not all four. One of them is "Befriend A Guest". To fulfill this project one must:

• Help the guest overcome his or her fears and influence them to join the club or attend another meeting
• Discuss the guests goals and concerns.
• Describe how the Toastmasters program would help the achieve their goals.
• Make yourself available to the guest outside of the club meeting.

Most of us have done this as a matter of course. A casual "give me a call" or "send me an email" if you have any questions qualifies for the last point. Get credit for it.


Some advice for members new and old. A bit of strategy.

For the newer members.

Start with Project One. Volunteer for the "Ah Counter" role. You need only to do it once to begin filling in the projects of your CL Manual.  The same is almost true for the "Grammarian" role. You can count on being called upon within a meeting or two to address the "Table Topics" criteria.

For the more experienced members.  More often than not it is a matter of us paying attention to what we have already done or things we do without thinking too much about the CL Manual period.

In summary I hope that the reader is more aware of the processes involved. I hope to follow this up soon with a more thorough examination of some paths we might choose to get us all there faster. Get credit for it.

Introducing Daniela Freeman

Daniela Freeman

 Fellow Toastmasters we would like to introduce a new contributor to this blog. She shares a love of Toastmasters with us all and is a member of Park Ten Talkers. Fortunately for us she also enjoys writing.
 
Daniela Freeman graduated Summa Cum Laude from University of Houston in 2006 with a B.A. in English Literature. We are grateful to have such talent contributing here and we eagerly anticipate her contributions.


Daniela has been a member of Toastmasters since 2007. She joined fresh out of college, with no public speaking experience or formal leadership training. Toastmasters has helped her soar; she has since earned her Advanced Leader Bronze and an Advanced Communicator Bronze.

She has served in a number of club officer roles, and was Area Governor for N-26 this past year, working with the Westlakers, Speak Up 900, Talking Heads, and Gulf Pipeline Speakers Toastmasters clubs.

"I am currently in the process of writing my first book, a combination science fiction and fantasy tale about the ambiguous nature of “good” and “evil” in human beings. "

Daniela works at NACE International, a nonprofit association dedicated to corrosion prevention and control.  She works with their publishing team as an Audience Development Manager and has been in this position for about a year.

Prior to that she worked at NACE as Manager of Technical Committees. During this time, she worked for Linda Goldberg, a DTM who is a member of both Katy Toastmasters and Park 10 Takers. Daniela will testify that Linda is an excellent mentor professionally and as a Toastmaster.

Some more items of interest about Daniela in her own words:

"My hobbies include cooking, drawing/painting, and I am going to be trying my hand (or rather, my foot) at kickboxing soon.  The love of my life (besides my husband) is writing—I am currently in the process of writing my first book, a combination science fiction and fantasy tale about the ambiguous nature of “good” and “evil” in human beings."

Welcome aboard, Daniela !

I Tweet, Therefore I Am #confused

Toasmasters. Okay - we tried. For better or worse here we are.

We now have a Twitter account in the hands of an old dog. New tricks ahead. The message is still meaningful despite the typo.
Nothing ventured. Nothing gained.

Follow us on Twitter: Katy Talker

Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contest - Winners

Neha Sinha and Michelle Perzan

Neha Sinha and Michelle Perzan proudly pose with their 1st Place Trophies. Neha took the honors for the Humorous Speech category. Michelle was the consensus winner for Best Evaluation.

Allen Prescott took home a 2nd place trophy in each contest.

The evening began when Jody White - DTM delivered a heart speech for the Evaluation contest participants to review, critique and of course Evaluate.

The title of her speech was short and simple: "I Have Learned". Ms White's speech was anything but simple. She brings over fifteen years experience as a Toastmaster to the lectern. She is a Distinguished Toastmaster. That experienced was showcased in a "from the heart" style that was presented with grace, ease and confidence. The audience and the contestants were treated to a range of ideas and concepts that chronicled the impact of the Toastmaster experience on her journey through life.

Jody began with a recent inspiration from one of our members, Lola Jewesimi, that pertained to diet and the chemistry of diets. The speech then moved through more examples of how other Toastmasters inspired her, taught her and continue to do so. The speech was, as they say, food for thought. Pun intended. This author may overuse the phrase but he found it to be profound in its simplicity.

The Evaluator Contestants 

Our contestants were Jeff Morrical CC, Michelle Perzan, Amy Duncan ACB, CL, Allen Prescott, DTM and Shalba Gupta. Jody maintained the same grace, ease and confidence (that is probably among the other things she has learned) as the Evaluators took the stage one by one and offered their appraisals, suggestions and encouragement.

Michelle Perzan walked away with a well deserved First Place Trophy for offering an evaluation of substance and value to Jody. Allen Prescott, DTM took Second Place honors.

The Humorous Speech Contestants

Bryan Clark, Neha Sinha , Peter Gregori, Heleane Stabenau, ACB and Allen Prescott, DTM.


Bryan Clark has positioned himself as a dangerous speaker and seems to relish taking things to the edge. His speech took us somehow through acorns and what to say when your pants are down.

Neha Sinha, with a speech entitled "I Had A Dream" was the winner of this contest. Neha presented a devilish farce, comedy and satire of a Hindu girl standing before the Pearly Gates and reasoning, arguing and persuading with St. Peter !! Free food is mingled in here somewhere.

Peter Gregori insists his lack of recognition in this contest is part of a vast conspiracy to suppress the Revolutionary, Evolutionary Ronco Speech O Matic Speech In A Box.

Heleane Stabenau, ACB shared some of the wonderful moments she has enjoyed while traveling. Her story of the exceptional service and accommodations she experienced while interned, enjoying the life of leisure in Motel Hell.

Allen Prescott, DTM made the case for a Toastmasters version of Miss Manners. His Miss Manners seemed to have a very sharp tongue and a volatile disposition. At times though Allen's Miss Manners seemed to have just the right answer. Allen walked away with the Second Place trophy.

Our First Place winner, Neha Sinha , more than likely will persuade St. Peter if the occasion arises. For this night she had only to convince the judges. She did that very well.

Contest Organizers and Contributors

Our first thank you is to the judges that carefully weigh what is said and how it is said with fairness and impartiality. They do this anonymously. We are grateful for their help and contribution.

Toastmaster: Jonathan Goodwin, CTM.
Chief Judge: Andy Paultannis, CC.
SAA: Lois Rothrock, CC
Timer: Jing Zhang
Ballot Counters: Lorena Spencer, Vrushali Patil
Contest Chair: Debbie Gregori, DTM


Contest Committee

Vrushali Patil, Michelle Perzan, Sher Kadibhai, CC, Debbie Gregori, DTM


Thanks to everyone involved in any way. Let us all extend our congratulations to our winners Neha, Michelle and Allen and wish them the best of luck as they represent Katy Toastmasters in the upcoming area contest. Let's pack the room and cheer them on.

This will take place on Wednesday September 24, 2014 at Memorial City Toastmasters, 920 Memorial City Way, Suite 150 Houston, TX 77024.

Mentors R Us - Getting A Round Tuit

We had talked about instituting a mentoring program in our club. Everyone knows it is vital and important. We want our new members to be comfortable with the process and the environment. A mentor could facilitate this.

 Think this through from the perspective of a visitor or new member. Every organization has a language of its own. Ours is no exception. There are so many phrases and words that we take for granted. "DTM" "CC" "Competent Communicator" "Division" "District" "Area" and on and on it goes. These are all part of the nomenclature of Toastmasters.

Toastmasters encourages clubs to establish mentoring programs because they address these problems head on. What could be better than having someone invested in your success explaining and showing you the "Who, What, Why, Where and When" of Toastmasters.
 
"Most new members are not familiar with your club. They don’t know what a timer is or what an Ah-Counter does. Yet new members are expected to participate and give speeches – something many are terrified to do. Many clubs expect them to do all of this with a minimum of instruction and guidance. "  TMI - Mentor a Member

"Every new member is going to have a mentor assigned to them the moment they join." Debbie Gregori announced. With that announcement Katy Toastmasters implemented its mentoring program. She voiced the consensus that had been reached at the first meeting of the executive committee in June. They knew all the details were not complete. They also knew this could be paralyzed by planning. The enemy of good is perfect.

It is also noteworthy to observe the fact that simply because something is started is no reason to celebrate its accomplishment.


What are the qualifications of a mentor ?

One might ask "Do I have to be some kind of Super Toastmaster before I can contribute in this way?" The answer is an emphatic no. If you have given five or six speeches that means you have attended a number of meetings and more than likely you already know what is needed to orientate a new member. Furthermore you probably now understand how to find out about the things you do not know. The most important asset is that you care and are committed to helping other people grow.

The following list is quoted from an article by  on the District 25 website. It is written by Earl Hill, DTM, PDG entitled "The Magic of Mentoring". You can access the entire article here.

 "The mentor’s duties begin at the first meeting and are as follows:

1. Sit with the new member and explain the various parts of the meeting as they happen, such as the business session, Table Topics, prepared speeches, and evaluations. Answer any questions.

2. Orient the new member to Club customs and procedures.

3. Explain how to sign up. Ask the VP Education to schedule the new member’s Ice Breaker speech as soon as possible and encourage the new member to serve on a Club Committee. Also advise the new member what to do and whom to contact if he or she is unable to fulfill a scheduled meeting role.

4. Help with the Ice Breaker. Discuss speech ideas with the new member and offer suggestions if necessary. Listen to the new member practice the speech and offer feedback.

By the second meeting, a mentor should:

1.Make the member aware of resources. Point out material in The Toastmaster magazine. Also discuss Contests and District Conferences. Explain the roles of the Club officers and the information they can provide.

2. Provide positive feedback. The first few weeks of membership are critical. New members must feel they are already benefiting from the Toastmasters experience. Compliment them on their progress.

3. Explain responsibilities. Membership requires more than just giving speeches and receiving evaluations. It also means a commitment to helping the Club and its members be successful. Review “A Toastmaster’s Promise” with the new member.

4. Help with speeches and other assignments. As you work with the new member on speeches, be sure evaluation feedback is used to improve the next speech, then offer your own feedback. When the new member is assigned other meeting roles, explain the roles and offer tips for fulfilling them.

Eventually, mentors should:

1. Tell how you have benefited from the Toastmasters program. You are proof that they can achieve their own goals.

2. Invite the new member to other events. Toastmasters’ speech contests, conferences, and other Clubs’ meetings all offer new members the opportunity to extend their learning and participation.

3. Acknowledge progress. Ask for time during a Club meeting to mention the new member’s progress in the program. Such recognition shows that the Club cares about the new member’s progress, and motivates the new member to continue.

4. Explain officer’s duties. Describe how the new member can develop leadership skills by serving as a Club officer. Help the new member select a Club office in which to serve and discuss when to serve. Be sure these goals are reasonable.

5. Explain speech contests. Discuss the purpose of speech contests, the types of contests conducted by the Club, and how some contests progress to Area, Division, District, and sometimes Regional and International levels. Help the new member assess readiness to participate in contests.

6. Describe the TI organization. Acquaint the new member with Toastmasters International’s structure, including the Area, Division, District, Region, and International levels, and the purpose of each. Help the new member understand how the organization works, the new member’s role in the organization, and the leadership opportunities available beyond the Club."
  
At first glance this may seem like a long list and a daunting task. If you carefully examine this list again think about how many of these objectives could be achieved in one ten minute session before a meeting ?

For example the very first item on the list.  "1. Sit with the new member and explain the various parts of the meeting as they happen, such as the business session, Table Topics, prepared speeches, and evaluations. Answer any questions." This could be accomplished by simply reviewing our weekly agenda with the new member.

In conclusion this mentoring program is another valuable tool that we can use to grow individually as well as collectively. When we reach out to new members they will feel so much more a part of their club. People that feel they have been embraced and accepted will flourish and grow and our club will reap the rewards of retaining our members.

It is well said that a teacher will learn more than the student. In preparing and researching this article the author educated himself. When we reach out to other people we will grow with them.

Thursday Night Lights - Katy Toastmasters July 10, 2014

Pictured below is our new President, Debbie Gregori, DTM, inducting our newest Katy Toastmasters member, Kwang Kim.  Jeff Morrical, CC, stands to the right of Kwang as his mentor. With Katy Toastmasters each new member will be assigned a mentor to get them on the fast track for growth, answer questions and guide them along a successful path in Toastmasters.

 

New Business: "Every new member will be assigned a mentor and we will formally induct our members" This was President Gregori's edict and it was implemented this past Thursday.The Executive Committee had reached a consensus on this. The planning and process were left open to discussion. We will try to keep up with her.

"Every new member will be assigned a mentor and we will formally induct our members" This was President Gregori's edict and it was implemented this past Thursday.

The theme of this Thursdays meeting was "Strength". Michelle Perzan served as our Toastmaster. Linda Goldberg DTM, stepped in and fulfilled the role of General Evaluator. Before anything started Justine Lim, as part of Linda's team was in the foyer as our greeter. To round out the Evaluation Team Omar De La Cruz was our ballot counter, Floyd Spencer was our Grammarian, Lorena Spencer our Timer and Peter Gregori our Listen Master.

Our Speakers

Vrushali Patel - CC Manual #2 - "Fear of Public Speaking" - Ms. Patel addressed this subject, in part, because it is something she wishes to confront. And she did this remarkably well. One may rent "Rambo" and witness make believe courage or one could have been in the audience when Vrushali lost her train of thought for a moment, kept her poise, and delivered one of the most memorable moments this author has witnessed in Toastmasters.

Francisco Grados - CC Manual # 4 "Asking the Right Questions: Market Segmentation"  - Francisco augmented his presentation with visual aids, slides, that drove point home. That is when one is marketing a product or service, one should be well acquainted with the mind and behavior of the target market. One does this by asking the right questions. Of your market universe and of your data.

Shalba Gupta - CC Manual #4 "Journey of a Mother" -  Shalba caught our attention immediately. She pointed out that a child from the womb comes into the world crying. However, when taken into its mothers arms, it recognizes and is immediately soothed by the rhythm of it's mothers heartbeat. A heartbeat it had known for nine months. She took us on a journey ,from a mothers perspective, of the progress of a child into adulthood. These moments in time were encapsulated in one particulary memorable moment.

She tells her child "Look a birdie!!".

"No Mom. That a bird."

We raise them so they can fly away.

Table Topics

Jody White, DTM presided over this segment and presented the participants with some very thought provoking questions regarding the the theme of the meeting.

Cynthia Westbrook walked away with the Blue Ribbon for Best Table Topics. Again.

Cynthia Westbrook

We were able to manage our time and allow seven members to participate in Table Topics.In addition to Cynthia Westbrook, Lalit Patel, Ni Bashir, our newest member Kwang Kim, Jonathan Goodwin, Deborah Cerkovnik and Heleane Stabenau all had something to say.

Evaluations

Neha Sinha, Jeff Morrical, CC and Amy Duncan, ACB, CL all presented our speakers with valuable feed back regarding the speeches that were presented.

Our General Evaluator, Linda Goldberg, DTM reminded us that we represent Toastmasters and our meetings should have the decorum that is appropriate to these occasions.

Visitors and Guests

We had five visitors Erik Brito, Juan Artiga, Aaron Perzan, Adrien DuPont and Bryan Clark. Bryan did not remain a visitor for long. He completed the membership application and will be joining us at the meeting next week !

Katy Toastmasters July Calendar and Events

One of the features of the Google Calendar that we have on this blog is a drop down menu that takes you to a field or view that Google calls Agenda. This is a list of Toastmaster events that have been scheduled in the Google Calendar. These are Club, Area, Division and District events.

The accuracy of the time, place, addresses are dependent on information available at the moment. Every effort is being made to make certain that they are accurate. You should confirm all of this with the appropriate parties when making your plans.

This coming week has two events on the calendar and they are both at the same time. The Division TLI at Mustang Engineering and our own weekly Katy Toastmasters club meeting. We need at a minimum one more officer to complete this training as part of our Presidents Distinguished Club Goals. To date three of our officers have accomplished this.

Our President Debbie Gregori, our Vice President Education Jonathan Goodwin and our Sergeant at Arms Peter Gregori have completed this training. After this Division TLI there are four more planned. One a week starting Saturday July 19 and successive Saturdays until August 2.

Speech A Thon - The Thursday dates July 24 and July 31 are tentative at this point. We would be surprised if they do not happen. Jonathan Goodwin our VPE will confirm as the dates grow nearer.

Below this is an image of the Google Calendar after Agenda has been selected. Try it. You'll like it. It is right here: Our Calendar

Toastmaster “Informal” Club Rankings 2013 -2014

Toastmaster International (“TMI”), to the best of my knowledge, does not “rank” Toastmaster clubs. 

I do rank Toastmaster clubs.  Within very specific and measurable parameters.  My rankings are unofficial, unsanctioned, unwanted, and unappreciated though it gives me a general perspective of where Katy Toastmasters fits in the world.   I have manually reviewed the statistics of about 14,100 clubs so I apologize if I missed a few significant clubs in the rankings.

A successful Toastmaster club is an intangible quantity.  A twenty member club may be more dynamic, organized, exciting, fun and productive than a hundred member club.

TMI maintains an excellent and impressive database to monitor two key club metrics.  The first is club membership size.  The second is to measure a club’s achievements in the Distinguished   Club Program. 

A club which has achieved all ten DCP goals is a “10 for 10” club.  These clubs have probably developed significant organizational membership depth.  Their structure probably consists of a balance between a strong core of experienced Toastmasters who mentor and inspire newer members to succeed in Toastmasters.  These are probably established clubs with several years of strong club officer leadership and member participation. Achieving a “10 for 10” is a huge long-term team effort.

A club with a large membership may be due to charismatic club culture, organized or exciting meetings or geographical factors.  In some instances, corporate sponsors may pay membership dues as an employee benefit.

All of the clubs in the ranking tables are “10 for 10” clubs.  Then they are ranked based upon membership size.  These two metrics make these clubs statistically unique in the Toastmaster universe. 

			District 56 Rank 6/30/14   "10 for 10"
Div	Area	Club	Club Name	Rank	Members	Goals
L	45	6918	Woodlands Toastmasters Club	1	62	10
N	25	2755	Katy Toastmasters Club	2	54	10
O	12	9951	Dining Out Toastmasters Club	3	40	10
M	30	5301	Sugar Speakers Club	4	38	10
M	30	6294	Sugar Land Toastmasters	5	37	10
Q	53	839	Daybreakers Toastmasters Club	6	33	10
P	1	621758	Diamond Club	7	32	10
Q	53	6659	Unity Toastmasters Club	7	32	10
M	32	1075139	Financially Speaking Toastmasters	8	31	10
P	5	4570	Anico Articulators Toastmasters Club	8	31	10
Q	51	684565	Tech Talk Club	9	29	10
R	60	1314186	North Houston Project Management	9	29	10
L	45	2789346	Pressure Talkers	10	28	10
L	45	8937	Spring Ahead Speakers Toastmasters Club	11	27	10
L	40	5941	City of Bryan Club	12	26	10
L	44	744683	Conroe Speaks Club	12	26	10
M	30	7666	Fluor Toastmasters Club	12	26	10
M	33	3041739	Blue Frog Toastmasters Club	12	26	10
L	46	5831	Successfully Speaking Toastmasters Club	13	25	10
N	24	799729	Memorial City Toastmasters	13	25	10
P	4	7610	Pearland Toastmasters Club	13	25	10
Q	54	5698	Medically Speaking Toastmasters Club	13	25	10
M	30	1903819	Sweet Talkers	14	22	10
O	13	2521	Firm Speakers Toastmasters Club	15	21	10
R	63	4037	Texas Trotters Toastmasters Club	16	20	10

Katy ranks number two in District 56 behind Woodlands.

				Texas Rankings  6/30/14
Dist	Div	Area	Club	Club Name	Rank	Membs	Goal
55	K	51	4256	Austin Toastmasters Club	1	67	10
56	L	45	6918	Woodlands Toastmasters Club	2	62	10
56	N	25	2755	Katy Toastmasters Club	3	54	10
55	I	74	2207	Business-Professional Toastmasters	4	44	10
56	O	12	9951	Dining Out Toastmasters Club	5	40	10
50	T	61	4533	TNT Toastmasters Club	6	39	10
56	M	30	5301	Sugar Speakers Club	7	38	10
56	M	30	6294	Sugar Land Toastmasters	8	37	10
25	F	64	4987	Southlake Club	9	36	10
50	P	42	1995527	BCBSTX Toasties	10	35	10
55	F	24	9434	San Antonio Toastmasters Club	10	35	10
25	F	63	5537	Airport Toastmasters	11	34	10
55	I	73	2845	Randolph AFB Toastmasters	11	34	10
25	E	53	621025	Keller Communicators Club	12	33	10
50	P	44	5736	Verbal Expressions Club #5736	12	33	10
56	Q	53	839	Daybreakers Toastmasters Club	13	33	10
50	F	24	5569	Preston Persuaders Club	14	32	10
50	T	63	1244830	Timberglen Toastmasters	14	32	10
56	P	1	621758	Diamond Club	14	32	10
56	Q	53	6659	Unity Toastmasters Club	14	32	10
56	M	32	1075139	Financially Speaking Toastmasters	15	31	10
56	P	5	4570	Anico Articulators Toastmasters Club	15	31	10
25	B	23	3349691	Nationstar Speaks	16	30	10
50	V	74	9872	Addison Singles Toastmasters	16	30	10
56	Q	51	684565	Tech Talk Club	17	29	10
56	R	60	1314186	North Houston Project Management	17	29	10
55	I	72	1722	New Braunfels Toastmasters Club	18	28	10
56	L	45	2789346	Pressure Talkers	18	28	10
23	B	24	6220	Midday Madness Club	19	27	10
25	C	34	7694	MidCities Achievers	19	27	10
56	L	45	8937	Spring Ahead Speakers Toastmasters	19	27	10
25	A	13	1071	Abilene Toastmasters Club 1071	20	26	10
25	E	54	879088	BNSF Expressed Toastmasters	20	26	10
50	E	14	1412885	Blueprint Toasters	20	26	10
50	F	24	6071	Speak-Up Frisco!	20	26	10
55	M	30	2884053	Killeen Toastmasters	20	26	10
56	L	40	5941	City of Bryan Club	20	26	10
56	L	44	744683	Conroe Speaks Club	20	26	10
56	M	30	7666	Fluor Toastmasters Club	20	26	10
56	M	33	3041739	Blue Frog Toastmasters Club	20	26	10
25	A	12	6191	Afterburners Club	21	25	10
25	A	14	5788	Top of Texas Toastmasters	21	25	10
25	C	31	7514	Arlington Nooners Toastmasters Club	21	25	10
56	L	46	5831	Successfully Speaking Toastmasters	21	25	10
56	N	24	799729	Memorial City Toastmasters	21	25	10
56	P	4	7610	Pearland Toastmasters Club	21	25	10
56	Q	54	5698	Medically Speaking Toastmasters Club	21	25	10
23	B	22	1069037	Toastmasters @ TVC	22	24	10
50	P	45	4182	Toastmasters of Rockwall Club	22	24	10
55	J	64	1251598	Dripping Springs Toastmasters	22	24	10
25	E	51	3055	Denton Toastmasters Club	23	23	10
23	C	34	583535	Kirtland Club	24	22	10
23	F	64	1806342	Enriched Speakers	24	22	10
50	T	64	730163	St Andrew Speakers Club	24	22	10
55	I	75	4601	Talk of the Tower Club	24	22	10
55	J	65	3338503	Swab the DEC	24	22	10
56	M	30	1903819	Sweet Talkers	24	22	10
23	C	31	4357	Daybreakers Toastmasters Club	25	21	10
23	D	43	2812	Northeast Toastmasters Club	25	21	10
25	D	44	825	Top Notch Toastmasters - TNT	25	21	10
25	E	55	1082726	Bethesda Toastmasters	25	21	10
55	I	71	5166	North San Antonio Club	25	21	10
56	O	13	2521	Firm Speakers Toastmasters Club	25	21	10
23	B	21	1384827	Sandia Sunrisers Toastmasters Club	26	20	10
23	B	23	5731	Honeywell Sunrisers Club	26	20	10
23	C	32	6881	Marketing Masters Toastmasters	26	20	10
25	B	25	3692	Lakeside Club	26	20	10
25	D	43	897575	Out On The Town	26	20	10
50	E	11	7036	University Club	26	20	10
50	P	44	1176575	Eloquent Orators	26	20	10
50	P	45	845547	Wylie Wisecrackers	26	20	10
50	T	64	1036600	3C's Toastmasters Club	26	20	10
55	I	70	1314310	Stone Oak Toastmasters	26	20	10
56	R	63	4037	Texas Trotters Toastmasters Club	26	20	10
50	F	22	1581643	Speak Up Allen	27	18	10
50	T	61	3318	Metrocrest Toastmasters	27	18	10
23	F	61	6145	Articulate Club	28	17	10
23	C	33	5835	Taylor Ranch Toastmasters	29	15	10
23	D	42	7183	Eastside Club	30	12	10
25	A	11	5496	Cowtown Toastmasters	31	10	10

Katy ranks number three in Texas behind Austin and Woodlands.

		United States  Rank   6/30/14
Dist	Club	Club Name	Rank	Members	City	State
46	1876	SEC (Sales Execs) Roughriders	1	72	New York	New York
63	5925	HCA Creative Articulators	2	70	Nashville	Tennessee
55	4256	Austin	3	67	Austin	Texas
83	3187	Toastmaster of Westfield	4	66	Westfield	New Jersey
46	334	World Financial Center	5	65	New York	New York
1	1032	TM 90210 Club	6	64	Beverly Hills	California
56	6918	Woodlands	7	62	Woodlands	Texas
83	4646	Brunswick	7	62	North Brunswick	New Jersey
46	6138	Hunter	8	60	New York	New York
63	1429	HCA Artful Articulators	8	60	Brentwood	Tennessee
46	8685	Queens Best	9	59	Queens	New York
3	3527	Park Central	10	57	Phoenix	Arizona
48	1146909	DTCC Tampa	10	57	Tampa	Florida
3	4705	Dobson Ranch	11	56	Mesa	Arizona
46	6357	F.R.O.G. Club	12	55	New York	New York
47	7619	Brickell	12	55	Miami	Florida
83	6847	Art of Speaking	12	55	Edison	New Jersey
56	2755	Katy	13	54	Katy	Texas
44	1982265	Revenue	14	53	Altanta	Georgia
46	2895	Bryant Park	14	53	New York	New York
37	4922	High Energy Club	15	52	Charlotte	North Carolina
3	499	Gilbert	16	51	Gilbert	Arizona
13	1014683	Bayer	16	51	Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania
48	1810	Tampa	16	51	Tampa	Florida
47	5758	Weston	17	50	Weston	Florida

Katy ranks 13^th in the United States.

		International Rankings   6/30/14
Dist	Club	Club Name	Rank	Membs	City	Country
80	8833	NUS (National Univ of Singapore)	1	118	Singapore	Singapore
80	3567	TM of Singapore	2	110	Singapore	Singapore
20	1130743	GPIC (Gulf Petrochemcial Ind Co)	3	100	Manama	Bahrain
80	9104	SRC  (Singapore Recreation Club)	4	90	Singapore	Singapore
41	993448	Mumbai	5	89	Mumbai	India
59	641931	HanseRedner	6	80	Hamburg	Germany
71	1376237	1st London	7	78	London	United Kingdom
82	5324	The Colombo	8	77	Colombo	Sri Lanka
89	9567	Hong Kong Achievers	8	77	Hong Kong	China
82	1378886	Omega Line	9	76	Sandalankawa	Sir Lanka
82	9206	Bangalore	10	75	Bangalore	India
46	1876	SEC (Sales Execs) Roughriders	11	72	New York	New York
41	1141787	TMC of Pune	12	71	Magarpatta City	India
63	5925	HCA Creative Articulators	13	70	Nashville	Tennessee
82	665905	Chennai	13	70	Chennai	India
20	889574	ICAT TM Dubai	14	69	Dubai	United Arab Emirates
59	36263044	Taguspark	14	69	Oeiras	Portugal
59	1833481	TM Leaders	15	68	Warsaw	Poland
59	1138065	TM Pozan	15	68	Pozan	Poland
80	2092	Capitol	15	68	Bangkok	Thailand
55	4256	Austin	16	67	Austin	Texas
59	9754	Cologne	16	67	Cologne	Germany
82	1128480	Medley	16	67	Chennai	India
83	3187	Toastmaster of Westfield	17	66	Westfield	New Jersey
46	334	World Financial Center	18	65	New York	New York
59	3874	Esprit de Corps	18	65	Frankfurt	Germany
1	1032	TM 90210 Club	19	64	Beverly Hills	California
59	1361615	Young Entrepreneurs	20	63	Alges	Portugal
56	6918	Woodlands	21	62	Woodlands	Texas
41	61616631	TSC Maitree	21	62	Mumbai	India
70	2274	Parramatta Club	21	62	Sydney	Australia
83	4646	Brunswick	21	62	North Brunswick	New Jersey
60	1393193	Bay Bloob Speakers	22	61	Toronto	Canada
46	6138	Hunter	23	60	New York	New York
59	1548	Toastmaster Polski SA	23	60	Warsaw	Poland
63	1429	HCA Artful Articulators	23	60	Brentwood	Tennessee
46	8685	Queens Best	24	59	Queens	New York
82	642857	HNB	24	59	Colombo	Sri Lanka
86	585043	Meadowvale	24	59	Mississauga	Canada
20	7492	Dubai	25	58	Dubai	United Arab Emirates
59	906542	Top Careers	25	58	Warsaw	Poland
60	590213	Toronto Debate Club	25	58	Toronto	Canada
3	3527	Park Central	26	57	Phoenix	Arizona
48	1146909	DTCC Tampa	26	57	Tampa	Florida
59	9210	Amsterdam	26	57	Amsterdam	Nederlands
3	4705	Dobson Ranch	27	56	Mesa	Arizona
71	2451576	EMC Ireland	27	56	Cork	Ireland
71	2390	Berkely Square Speakers	27	56	London	United Kingdom
41	1246728	Mulund	28	55	Maharashtra	India
41	3700901	BMC Software	28	55	Maharashtra	India
46	6357	F.R.O.G. Club	28	55	New York	New York
47	7619	Brickell	28	55	Miami	Florida
51	7564	D'utama Advanced	28	55	Petaling Jaya	Malaysia
83	6847	Art of Speaking	28	55	Edison	New Jersey
56	2755	Katy	29	54	Katy	Texas
51	7086	Sunway	29	54	Petaling Jaya	Malaysia
59	1383882	Munich Media Speakers	29	54	Munich	Germany
59	3422260	Profesjonalni Mowcy i Liderzy	29	54	Krakow	Poland
71	835375	Early Bird Speakers	29	54	London	United Kingdom
87	4067	Jakarta	29	54	Jakarta	Indonesia
41	1135184	Bombay	30	53	Mumbai	India
44	1982265	Revenue	30	53	Atlanta	Georgia
46	2895	Bryant Park	30	53	New York	New York
59	965761	Oporto	30	53	Senhora Da Hora	Portugal
82	1548643	Express 2 Lead	30	53	Bangalore	India
37	4922	High Energy Club	31	52	Charlotte	North Carolina
60	1289	Toronto #1	31	52	Toronto	Canada
3	499	Gilbert	32	51	Gilbert	Arizona
13	1014683	Bayer	32	51	Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania
48	1810	Tampa	32	51	Tampa	Florida
82	1766	Daffodils	32	51	Bangalore	India
82	2148163	Coimabatore	32	51	Coimabatore	India
82	1361631	PrintCare	32	51	Kelaniya	Sri Lanka
89	2787	Victoria	32	51	Hong Kong	China
94	1373532	Emeraude	32	51	Cotonou	Benin
20	1940491	Omantel	33	50	Muscat	Oman
20	1021147	Saud Bahwan	33	50	Muscat	Oman
20	7148	DOHA Club	33	50	Doha	Qatar
47	5758	Weston	33	50	Weston	Florida
51	954221	Premier  Advanced	33	50	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia
73	3901	National Australia Bank	33	50	Melbourne	Australia
82	2360442	TCS Maitree Alpha	33	50	Chennai	India
82	2009282	Chennai Speaker Forum	33	50	Chennai	India

Katy is ranked 29th in the world among 14,000 clubs. 

Posted by Andy Paultanis