Distr ict 26 Dia logue Page 1

Region 1__Serving Colorado, Wyoming and Western Nebraska

WHERE LEADERS ARE MADE Volume 41 , Issue 10

Apr i l 2014

D ISTRICT 26 D IALOGUE

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Calendar of Events 2

News & Notes 2

District 26 Marketing Activities 3

Boosting Employee Success with Toastmasters

3

Why go to the District 26 Spring Conference?

4

Are you a Leader Enabler or a Godfather?

5

Spring Conference 2014 Breakout Session

5

What about the children? 6

Club Membership Dues 6

We appreciate your $UPPORT! 7

HELP WANTED 7

Spring Conference 8

Conference Registration Form 9

Musings from the Editor 10

Find a club

The District 26 Dialogue is published monthly to keep the members informed about events in the district and to present educational and motivational material to help in the maintenance of clubs and the service to our members. Unsolicited articles are encouraged. Submissions should be newsworthy, informative, thought-provoking and of district-wide appeal. Include web links if available. For more details go to http://d26Toastmasters.org/WP/news-events/district-26-dialogue/.

Pass it on!

Let the rest of your club know the April Dialogue

is available.

I f you had been with me this past week you

would have witnessed a very strange

expression on my face. I visited a club and I

thought I knew what to expect. All

Toastmasters Clubs operate on the same

structure and principles of a safe

environment to build Communication and

Leadership skills in. As I witnessed a guest,

how they were greeted and made welcome, I

started making notes. Even after visiting

over 93 clubs I still learn a lot of new ideas.

As the meeting progressed I stayed out of the

way of the club officers who sat with their

guest. I soon remembered that I too was a

guest. I was welcomed but never explained

the club culture. Why there were snacks but

we weren’t told when we could eat them.

The timer announced that she just turned

lights on for the speakers but never

explained what the colors meant or that

times were different for each speaker.

Grammarian gave a word of the day and

forgot to tell us to try to use it whenever we

spoke that night.

The prepared speeches were excellent. They

stretched their skills and took greater

personal risks. The evaluators matched the

presenters adamant styles. When “Table

Topics” began I saw the fear grow on the face

of the other guest. The Table Topic Master

walked to the front of the room and said

“Who wants to volunteer for an embarrassing

question about Valentines Day?” I could tell

they weren’t joking. That was the actual

series of questions they planned to ask! Then

waited for someone to come forward as a

“volunteer”.

The meeting soon ended and I visited with

the guest too. They planned to visit 2 other

clubs and join the 1 that was the best fit.

Yesterday I got an email telling me they

found the perfect club. They were so

impressed that they wrote a check out during

the meeting and signed up for their first

speech too.

“What was the difference in the clubs?” I had

to ask.

“The club had a printed agenda for us to

follow. It was clear where we were going in

the meeting. There were names and titles for

each step. Also, I didn’t feel like a “Victim”

when table topics came around. I wasn’t

confused. I recommended the group to my

daughter & 2 coworkers.”

Yes I have seen it many times in business.

When a client was confused they didn’t buy

my services. I challenge you to look at your

club meeting from the “Guest’s eyes”. If you

are trying to save money by not printing

agendas I question, is it worth the loss of 4

new members?

A CONFUSED MIND DOESN’T BUY Tom Hobbs, DTM District 26 Governor

Page 2 Volume 41 , Issue 10

SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30

SCH E D U LE O F E VE NT S

Apr 1 – April dues renewals

due to TI

Apr 1 – Initial Nominating

Committee Report to

District Governor

Apr 7 – 43 Minute District

Leadership Conference

Call 1st Mondays

Apr 9 – DG Announce

District Officer Candidates

Apr 30 – Area Governor

second round visits should

be completed (reports due

5/31)

See the district calendar

for more details

April 2014

NEWS & NOTES

YOUR Story Needed

Many people have heard of Toastmasters

and most believe it to be a “public speaking

group” and while it’s true we have all

spoken publicly in our clubs, Toastmasters

is much, much more than that.

Toastmasters has help many of us in ways

we never imagined. I have heard

Toastimonials of Toastmasters who learned

how to give evaluations at work; who have

gotten job promotions because of meeting

participation; who have given eulogies they

never would have been able to; and the list

goes on.

I am looking for YOUR story to add to these

and others for the upcoming D26

Toastimonials Page. Some will be in print,

some will be video but all will help visitors

understand the variety of benefits that

Toastmasters has to offer.

Send me your story of how Toastmasters

has helped you to

pro1314@d26leaders.org. Deadline for

submission is May 15th, 2014.

Maura Thompson, CC, CL Public Relations

Officer

Celebrating 10 years or

more in April!

Fort Collins Toastmasters Club, 375 – 68 yrs.

Titan Club, 2368 – 57 yrs.

Pioneer Toastmasters Club, 2932 – 55 yrs.

Dawn Yawn Club, 3218 – 49 yrs.

Boulder Early Riser Club, 3022 – 44 yrs.

Thrill Speakers Toastmasters Club, 871 –

43 yrs.

South Suburban Toastmasters, 1399 –

38 yrs.

Sunrise Toastmasters, 619 – 35 yrs.

FACCMasters Toastmasters, 5086 – 31 yrs.

Currently Speaking Toastmasters Club,

5481 – 30 yrs.

Rocky Mountain Eagles Toastmasters Club,

2396 – 26 yrs.

UCCS Toastmasters Club, 4829 – 26 yrs.

HP Rise 'n Shine Club, 8695 – 22 yrs.

Out To Lunch Bunch Club, 8676 – 22 yrs.

Ayres Associates Toastmasters Club, 8533 –

13 yrs.

Please see the D26 website for a

complete list.

Contest Schedule

Apr 1 – D3 International Speech and Table Top-

ics Contests

Apr 5 – Eastern Division International Speech

and Table Topics Contests

Apr 5 – M1 & 2 International Speech and Table

Topics Contests

Apr 8 – D6 International Speech & Table Topics

Contests

Apr 10 – D1 & D2 International Speech and Ta-

ble Topics Contests

Apr 12 – Foothills International Speech and Table

Topics Contests

Apr 12 – Southern Division International Speech

and Table Topics Contests

Apr 16 – D5 International Speech and Table

Topics Contests

Apr 24 – M5 & M6 International Speech and

Table Topics Contests

Apr 26 – Northern Division International Speech

and Table Topics Contests

Distr ict 26 Dia logue Page 3

DISTRICT 26 MARKETING ACTIVITIES Deborah Frauenfelder, DTM, Lt. Governor Marketing

Late February and early March the district

held several kickoff meetings in the Metro

and Denver Divisions. Thank you to every

Toastmaster who assisted with the kickoff

meetings.

The Department of Energy (DOE) held their

kickoff meeting on 2/27/14 sponsored by

two DOE employees. What a gathering! We

could feel the energy in the room! Forty one

people attended the kickoff meeting to learn

about Toastmasters. Those trailblazers who

participated in Table Topics had the club

members laughing. The following week 32

people showed up for the second club

meeting. Alan Swartz and Pat Moore agreed

to mentor the club. Additionally Dennis Ryan

will help the club as they move toward

chartering sometime in April.

Fidelity Finance, sponsored by Brent Clark,

held their kickoff meeting on 3/5/14. Fidelity

Finance started up a new call center in

Greenwood Village late last year. Brent has

worked with the call center management to

bring in Toastmasters for their employees.

Pat Brodbent, M-6 Area Governor, will help

sponsor the club to help members learn the

Toastmasters processes and help new

officers lead the club pre-charter. Did you

know that sponsors work with club before the

club charters and mentor work with the club

for 6 months after charter? The Fidelity

Finance club which meets at 5:30 PM could

use two mentors if you need the Advance

Leader Silver credit. Brent and Pat have an

ambitious goal of chartering by the end of

March to get double membership payment

credits for District 26.

Xcel Energy was the second kickoff meeting

the first week of March on 3/7/14 in

downtown Denver. At the Xcel Energy meeting

our District Governor Tom Hobbs was the

Toastmaster for the day – he brought with

him 703 gallons of energy! The small but

engaged group will meet twice a month at

noon if you are looking to sponsor or mentor

a club in downtown Denver. They are on track

to charter by the end of April.

Congratulate District 26’s newest club RRG

Rocks! Riverstone Residential Group (RRG)

held their kickoff meeting on 3/10/14 as the

second half of a new training program they

instituted for the residential property

managers along the Front Range. They plan

to host their Toastmasters club at the end of

the bi-monthly training sessions. The club is

the brain child of Justin Van Landschoot who

started a club Parker CO in 2005. The day of

the RRG Rocks kickoff meeting 21 people

signed up to be charter members. RRG Rocks

chartered on 3/18/14 March (eight days

kickoff to charter), bringing in double

membership payment credits for the district.

This closed club, which meets at 2:00 PM not

far from Tamarac Square will be mentored by

the Denver Division Governor Joan Janis.

Send requests to sponsor or mentor the new

clubs to Deborah Frauenfelder at

LGM1314@D26Toastmasters.org.

Thank you District 26 Toastmasters for

continuing to market Toastmasters within

your communities!

BOOSTING EMPLOYEE SUCCESS WITH TOASTMASTERS Hillary Walker, Property Manager Riverstone Residential Group

Riverstone Residential Group is one of the

largest multi-family management companies

and oversees apartment rents nationwide.

With today’s rental market booming and

many management companies competing to

be the best, offer the best, and provide the

best, Riverstone has creatively found a way to

surpass the competition by investing in the

growth of current employees. Under the lead

of Justin Vandlandschoot, Vice President of

Operations for Riverstone, the Central

Mountain Region (CMT) has taken the

initiative to find innovative ways to outdo the

competition and the property management

industry as a whole.

In September of 2013 Riverstone’s CMT

region decided to invest in the growth of

current employees by creating outlets for new

experiences, challenges and opportunities to

produce engagement and involvement from

some of the top-preforming Property

Managers in the region. A collaborative group

was formed to help facilitate these initiatives

which is now referred to as Opportunity Rocks

and consists of 18 managers looking to take

their careers and knowledge to the next level.

While most of the involved Property

Managers are well–versed in management

skills, financial skills and customer service

skills; one imperative skill seemed to be

lacking, public speaking.

To increase knowledge and confidence in

public speaking and set a competitive edge,

the Opportunity Rockers decided to reach out

to Toastmasters and charter into District 26.

It took only 8 days from start-up to charter.

The Rockers were eager to get involved and

are now committed to gaining knowledge and

developing essential skills for future public

speaking circumstances that will likely arise

with owners, clients, investors, and

competitors. By using the skills that will be

developed by the program, participating

associates and Riverstone will have one more

reason to prove they are the best-of-the-best!

Page 4 Volume 41 , Issue 10

WHY GO TO THE DISTRICT 26 SPRING CONFERENCE? Mitch Krayton, DTM, Evening Stars Advanced Toastmasters Club 7448

When people join any organization, they have

a reason. For Toastmasters it is generally, "I

want to be a better speaker." "I want to

overcome my fear of speaking to groups."

Perhaps you had a similar reason.

After being with the organization a short

while, most new members will have attended

club meetings, learned about the

organization, gained new friends and

delivered some manual speeches. This is

great, but they are just scratching the surface

of their membership value.

The sad truth is that after completing the

Competent Communication manual, more

than half of the club members leave. The

reason is they thought Toastmasters was a

course and they finished it, or they felt they

got good evaluations and are 'good enough'.

Toastmaster never promises instant results,

it is a process that must be experienced over

time.

Here is a statistic that may shock you. One

third of our members will leave the club every

year. Some will relocate, some will have

scheduling conflicts, some will have health

issues, but if we did not continue to actively

recruit new members, our organization would

soon disappear.

We have been going strong since 1924, In

light of the major attrition in membership,

what still keeps us growing? It is that the

organization is much more than what

happens inside a club meeting. And for those

who discover the wealth of opportunities

throughout the district, they are kept inspired

and challenged. They have new friends and

access new opportunities to exceed

expectations. For the same dues, these

members reach outside their club and get far

more value from their modest club

investment.

Many members will go to area or division

contests, and that is a good place to begin

reaching outside a club. The biggest

opportunity, however, comes from attending

the twice a year district conference. Here you

meet hundreds of like-minded folks whose

sole mission is to be a better leader and

communicator. These folks are just like you.

They are happy and enthusiastic and offer

models of participation that will change your

life permanently. It has mine, and I have been

a member for more than 26 years.

People from throughout District 26, will

assemble this Spring to meet, learn, lead,

and communicate, All Toastmasters are not

just welcome, but encouraged to participate.

You will learn how our wonderful organization

functions so well. You will meet members

who have great success stories to share. You

will be able to share your experiences and

learn how to overcome issues that you and

your club need to re-energize. You will gain

new and lifelong friendships.

This year you will meet Mark Brown, a World

Champion of Public Speaking, who now earns

his living as a speaker and mentor. His

speaking ability and message will inspire you

to new heights. You will meeting Tom Jones,

our Region 1 International Director. He will

tell of new changes and opportunities in our

worldwide organization. You will witness the

District speech contest finals and participate

in our District Council Meeting. You will

socialize with fun people. You will smile a lot.

You will learn about opportunities for

leadership growth and personal recognition

that will build your character and give you

confidence to succeed in your life's path.

There is a small extra fee to attend, because

the costs of putting on this magnificent event

must be shared by all. I assure you that you

will get more than you put in. We are non-

profit and all those who help put this event

together, do so as willing volunteers. We

passionately contribute back because we

have discovered that the many facets of

opportunity in our district and want them to

be shared with as many members as

possible.

If you have not yet registered, do so now. It is

May 16 & 17 at the Embassy Suites in

Loveland, CO. You can register here:

http://bit.ly/1pBgecT.

Register before May 1 and get early pricing.

First timers get a special price, too. If you

have registered, I look forward to meeting you

personally. I hope you have signed up to

volunteer. There are many conference roles

waiting for you. My fellow Distinguished

Toastmasters and I will be happy to share

with you our path, listen to your needs and

encourage you to pursue your Toastmasters

path for you personal gain and happiness.

Why do you go to the Toastmasters District

26 Conference? It is where communicators

and leaders flourish. You see the real reason

people join Toastmasters is not to be a better

speaker, it is they have a message inside of

them that they are compelled to share and

they want to do it greatly, they want validation

and respect. It is the reason we are all part of

the largest non-profit educational

organization in the world. Toastmasters

International, Where Leaders are Made.

The District 26 Nominating Committee placed the following Toastmasters on the ballot:

District Governor – Linda Rhea Lt. Governor Education & Training – Deborah Frauenfelder Lt. Governor Marketing – Darryle Brown and Keith Horowitz Denver Division Governor – Eric Dunham

Eastern Division Governor – Stacey Williams Foothills Division Governor – Rhea Thompson Metro Division Governor – Lori High Northern Division Governor – Stephanie Jensen Southern Division Governor – Michelle Mras

Clubs should determine whom their representatives will vote for before the district business meeting on May 17th. Bios will be available in the Candidates Corner of the May Dialogue.

Distr ict 26 Dia logue Page 5

ARE YOU A LEADER ENABLER OR A GODFATHER? Maura Thompson, CC, CL Public Relations Officer

Where Leaders are Made. We have all seen

this and we know that Leadership is half of

Toastmasters mission statement “We

empower individuals to become more

effective communicators and leaders”. But

are you a Leader Enabler or Godfather/

Godmother?

Here are few question to ask yourself:

Do you correct members during

meetings to ensure they are doing it

right?

Do you step in and help members as

they fill their meeting roles so there are

no mistakes?

Do you do things for members instead of

allowing them to do it for themselves so

nothing goes wrong?

Do you help the Sergeant at Arms call

the meeting to order so the meeting will

start on time?

To you send emails to help the Treasurer

collect funds so deadlines can be met?

Do you voice against any changes to

club culture to ensure the club stays

strong?

Do you make sure that the Club officers

are doing everything exactly the way it

should be done to protect the club?

If you answered Yes to any of these

questions, you most likely are not a Leader

Enabler but the Godfather/Godmother that

Lance Miller spoke about at the

Toastmasters Leadership Institute in January.

The one who makes sure everything is going

“right”. While your intentions are good, you

might be doing your fellow members and club

a disservice.

OK to Fail. Lance Miller also pointed out that

Toastmasters is a safe place to fail. Mistakes

are made at meetings, that is what

Toastmasters is all about, a safe environment

to try something new. New to you, new to the

meeting, whichever. It is through our trying

new things that we can fail and learn. Or

succeed and soar.

Godfather/mothers may feel they are

protecting the member or the club from

“failure” but in reality failure can help

cultivate success as you can read here.

If you are a Godfather/mother, ask yourself

before helping, are you serving others or

serving yourself so that you don’t feel

uncomfortable by the error? Maybe you have

a fear of failure or fear of the club’s failure.

Here are some steps to help you identify and

help, if that is the case.

OK to Help. Lets be clear though, help is not

always a bad thing, there are plenty of times

and opportunities when it is appropriate to

offer help and suggestions. When someone

asks; when you are General Evaluator; when

you are a Mentor or Coach etc. Just keep in

mind that there are only a few things that are

critical in how Toastmasters meetings are run

and if you are disrupting a meeting to point

out an “error” that can be damaging to the

psyche of a member and is disruptive to the

rest of the meeting members. So before

helping, stop and ask yourself, is it really that

important? To the member? To the meeting?

Or just to you? If the only yes is to you, then it

is better to not help.

Story. As a new member the fear of making

mistakes as meeting Toastmaster prevented

me from taking that role for a long time.

When I finally took the role, I made many

mistakes. I forgot to call the Evaluator to read

the objectives, I forgot to ask for time for

written evaluations. I forgot to introduce the

General Evaluator and called up the 1st

evaluator. The only thing that I was corrected

on during the meeting was to allow time for

written evaluations. I realized my other

mistakes when my nerves calmed down after

the meeting. Those mistakes were made and

yet the meeting was still a success.

If I had been corrected during all those

mistakes, I am sure I would have made more,

been humiliated and might not have come

back. I am so thankful to my club for allowing

me to be empowered by my mistakes and to

realize that it is OK to make them and as a

result I have grown from them.

Path. We all have our own path in

Toastmasters ,and we go at our own speed.

We all have different goals and different ways

to accomplish them. I am willing to guess that

these paths are like snowflakes and no two

are alike, so never assume that the help you

are given is the help that is needed and

remember that when you take over

someone’s work for them, you are not helping

them but hurting them as you have taken

their empowerment and leadership away.

Enable. When we keep our feet on our own

path, we stay out of the way of people on

theirs and we empower them to grow, fail,

learn and strengthen their leadership skills.

This helps us all stay focused on our steps

and helps us all be the most empowered

Leaders we can be.

SPRING CONFERENCE 2014 BREAKOUT SESSION SPEAKERS Below is a partial list of presenters for the Spring Conference.

David Dye Train the Trainer – How to train, facilitate and leave them wanting more

Pamela Hertzog Writing a Speech of Mythic Proportions – Using screenwriting tools to energize your storytelling

Chrys Withrow High Performance Leadership – A high value for us ALL!

Maura Thompson FaceBook – How to grow your club for free Devorah Uriel Listening to Connect – How listening will make you a better speaker!

Joe Sabah & Deborah Johnson How to Speak Outside Your Club for Fun and Profit

Page 6 Volume 41 , Issue 10

CLUB MEMBERSHIP DUES Deborah Frauenfelder, DTM, Lt. Governor Marketing

Club membership dues were due to Toast-

masters International by 31 March. If for

some reason your clubs officers did not sub-

mit your club’s dues on time, then know the

grace period ends 10 April. After 10 April, the

payments are late.

You may ask why is paying dues on time im-

portant? Three reasons come to mind.

First, to have access to club management

tools on the Toastmasters International web-

site, clubs must stay in good standing. Good

standing means at least 8 members must

pay dues and the club officers submit the

dues for the club.

Second, when club officers submit dues pay-

ments for 8 members, the club earns credit

toward the Distinguished Club Program. The

Distinguish Club Program is our club goal

system within Toastmasters. Distinguished

clubs typically are vital healthy clubs with

engaged members. These dynamic clubs

effectively facilitate fun learning experiences

for the membership body.

Third, your members can compete in contests

outside the club. Contest season is upon us.

For members to compete outside the club the

members and the clubs must be in good

standing on the day of the event. If either the

member or the club is not in good standing,

the member cannot compete in Area, Divi-

sion, District contests (or beyond).

Help your members compete by paying a

minimum of eight members’ dues to include

the people competing.

WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN? Tom Hobbs, DTM District 26 Governor

It was not exactly what I had expected. Two

16 year old kids walked in to the room. Each

wearing well fitting black suits with ties and

NO tennis shoes! Two more came in with

knee length dark business skirts and their

hair wrapped into a tight bun. I felt like I was

in a court house with shrunken lawyers. With

brief cases, legal pads and excellent posture

they set up for a “in my face cross

examination debate”. In 40 minutes they had

presented a case about: If the government

should fund a research project to develop a

program to stop a disease that could destroy

the banana crop in South America creating a

potential economic crisis.

They did this with amazing organization,

clarity in voice and supporting evidence. I was

placed in the difficult position of determining

who presented the best case and won the

debate.

In 4 days this was duplicated 47 times. In

addition there were impromptu speeches,

Extemporaneous Sales Pitches and Story

Telling sessions – over 213 students eagerly

competing in 13 different types of

communication events. This 4 day event was

not what I expected of the kids I often see

hanging out at the mall.

You should experience these kids doing what

most adults are afraid to do. Speak with a

voice of confidence and excitement. Well you

can, just like I did. They need you as an

objective judge at their competitions. This

was the 2nd year I was asked to be a judge at

the Rocky Mountain Classic Speech and

Debate Tournament. The NCFCA held this

regional event that drew students from South

Dakota, Texas, California & throughout the

west, all to Denver Colorado.

So why would they ask you to attend? They

need your feedback. You as a Toastmaster

are actively building communications skills

and developing the best speech evaluation

skills in the world. This is just one of the ways

you can take your Toastmasters trainings

back to the community. You can have fun,

help the youth and promote Toastmasters to

the world. Go help the children in your

community today.

Distr ict 26 Dia logue Page 7

The District has been recognized for some of

THE BEST DISTRICT CONFERENCES year after

year! It is an honor to showcase our

contestants and provide valuable training at

conferences.

Costs keep rising faster than the registration

fees we charge. The district absorbs some of

the costs to offer our members an affordable

price so more members to attend and share

ideas.

There are 3 ways you can help us continue to

keep costs low:

Donate a Silent Auction Basket. At least

35 creative baskets are donated by

clubs for the Silent Auction. Members

really enjoy socializing with other

members around the Auction tables.

Some popular baskets include wine,

chocolate, sports items, movie themes,

pets, children, holidays, cooking,

gardening and family time.

Ask your club to donate $25 or more.

Many clubs have donated $25, $50 or

more in the past to help defray the cost

for our members.

Help us Find Corporate Sponsors. There

are many corporations that would like to

support our mission by advertising in our

conference program. Many of our

members who are business owners and

some of our corporate clubs have

expressed interest. We are also

reaching out to community members

that may like to see their goodwill and

name appear in our programs and other

publications. We have packages that

include various “perks” starting $250.

This is a great way to promote your

business!!

Please contact Fundraising Chair PDG Julia

Davis, DTM; jkdolls@msn.com; PO Box 185;

Firestone, CO 80520 or LGET Linda Rhea;

LGET1314@D26Leaders.org for further

information.

WE APPRECIATE YOUR $UPPORT! Linda Rhea, DTM Lt. Governor Education & Training

BE at the PREMIERE

Toastmaster Gathering:

District 26 2014 Spring Conference

May 16 & 17, 2014

Embassy Suites Loveland

Room Block reservations due April 16

http://tinyurl.com/d26conferencerooms

Conference Early Bird Registration Due May 1

https://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1454680

Do you have what it takes to edit the Dialogue?

Regretfully, I must give up the job after the July issue is pub-lished. It’s been a great ride, but now it’s time to turn the reins over to someone else. Briefly the job consists of nagging the district officers until they submit an article or articles, collecting other articles, and assembling them into the document you see each month.

If you are interested and have questions, please contact me, Gordon Savage, at gordonsavage@msn.com or by phone at 303-646-0547. Or sign up directly with Bea Macliz at bea.garcia.macliz@gmail.com.

HELP WANTED

Are you ready to serve?

The following appointed positions on the district team need to be filled for the coming term:

Public Relations Officer, Secretary, Treasurer, and Area Governors.

These positions qualify for credit as a district officer and offer you an opportunity to serve your fellow Toastmasters. Please contact Bea Macliz before the spring conference at bea.garcia.macliz@gmail.com to volunteer.

Page 8 Volume 41 , Issue 10

Distr ict 26 Dia logue Page 9

Page 10 Volume 41 , Issue 10

A B O U T T O A S T M A S T E R S D I S T R I C T 2 6 , R E G I O N 1

Our Mission

We strive to create a bond

among all the clubs of the

district by sharing our

experiences, resources, and

knowledge through an

interactive media.

Our goal is to make every

Toastmaster feel empowered,

appreciated and connected.

Please send your questions, tips, com-

ments, and articles to the editor, gordon-

savage@msn.com, by the 15th of each

month in order to appear in the next

issue. Visit the web site for submission

guidelines. All articles are subject to

editing to fit allotted space and submis-

sion does not guarantee publication.

District 26 Dialogue © 2014 All rights reserved.

Publisher / Governor

Tom Hobbs, DTM

Phone: 303-671-0469

Email: dg1314@d26leaders.org

Editor

Gordon S. Savage, DTM

36923 Forest Trail

Elizabeth, CO 80107-8126

Phone: 303-646-0547

E-mail: gordonsavage@msn.com

Public Relations Officer (PRO)

Maura Thompson, CC, CL

E-mail: pro1314@d26leaders.org

Title & Design

Carol A. Harris, ACB

E-mail: thewriteniche@aol.com

WHERE LEADERS ARE MADE

MU SI N GS FROM TH E ED I TOR G o r d o n S . S a v a g e , D T M

District 26 includes Colorado, the Eastern Slope of Wyoming, and the Nebraska panhandle. It was formed

in 1948, with Gordon Merrick serving as its first district governor.

Four past District 26 governors have risen to the international level:

Don Paape was international director, 1966 - 68 and international president 1972 -73. It was during his

term that women were first admitted to Toastmasters International. Watt Pye was district governor from

1969-70 and international director from 1970 -72; Dorothy Chapman served as district governor, 1989-90

and international director from 1990-92; and Beth Boaz was D26 governor from 1995-96 and internation-

al director, 1997-99. Marilyn Boland served as the first female District 26 governor in 1975 -76.

In 2000, Ed Tate, a member of Cherry Creek Toastmasters, won the World Championship of Public Speak-

ing. Ed is now the principal of a professional development firm that provides keynote and endnote presen-

tations, workshops, and other training.

In 2007, Rory Vaden, also a member of Cherry Creek Toastmasters, was the first runner-up in the World

Championship of Public Speaking. He has since co-founded a multi-million dollar public training company

and been featured on Oprah Radio with Dr. Oz and in SUCCESS™ Magazine.

Byron Embry of Pikes Peak Toastmasters was a major league baseball pitcher before he became a finalist

in the World Championship of Public Speaking in 2009. He later founded Closing Remarks and has be-

come a keynote speaker and author. Ian J. Humphrey of Simply Speaking was in Toastmasters little more

than a year when he progressed to the final round of the World Championship of Public Speaking in 2010.

Ian is now an inspirational speaker who reaches out to youth at risk. ▪

VISIT US at

d26Toastmasters.org/WP/

Service Leadership Normally I write my musings

about the lead article, but this

time I want to discuss a

different topic. Toastmasters is,

as you know, a volunteer

organization. I can think of three

things this does for us: It keeps

the cost down. It offers the

opportunity to learn leadership

by hands-on experience. And it

gives us an opportunity to repay

other members for their service.

Keeping the cost down should

be obvious. By limiting the paid

staff to the folks that run world

headquarters, we keep our

operating costs down. Thus we

can offer high quality training at

a significantly lower cost to the

members.

As far as I can tell, the

leadership aspect was a by-

product of the structure of the

organization. Dr. Smedley

recognized the educational

value of serving in club and

other organizational offices, and

specific training soon followed.

Later the various jobs were

reorganized to offer more

opportunities and level the load.

More recently Toastmasters

introduced a leadership

educational track to add focus

on specific leadership skills and

encourage members to develop

as leaders. By bringing

leadership training more in line

with communication training,

International made it more

accessible.

This all leads up to that third

observation. Toastmasters

leadership is service leadership.

The men and women who lead

Toastmasters are serving all of

us. They don’t get paid to do

their jobs, but we all owe them a

debt. We can repay them in a

number of ways, but the most

important is serving them back.

We are currently putting

together the team that will serve

the district for the 2014 – 2015

term. We have candidates for

the elected offices, although

additional candidates can run

from the floor. We still have

appointed positions to fill. We

never seem to have enough

area governors to go around,

and that is both the most

important job and the most

satisfying.

It’s time to look into where you

can contribute. Where do you fit

in? What are you going to do

about it?