Okefenokee Toastmasters

Club #8269, District 14,

Area 11B

Swamp TALK

Chartered in 1991 Volume 4 Issue 3 March 2012

Mission: The mission of a Toastmasters club is to pro-

vide a mutually supportive and positive learning envi-

ronment in which every individual member has the op-

portunity to develop oral communication and leader-

ship skills, which in turn foster self-confidence and per-

sonal growth.

Meetings: We meet every Wednesday morning at

7:00am at Quality Inn, 1725 Memorial Drive, Way-

cross. Click here for map.

Membership: Open to anyone 18 years old and over.

. Officers for Okefenokee

Toastmasters 2011-2012

President: Bud Montero

VP Education: Kathy Odam

VP Membership: John Conger

VP of Public Relations: :

Janice Williams

Treasurer: Addie Crews

Sergeant of Arms: Larry Kear-

son

GRAMMARIAN’S CORNER

A pun is a “play on words”. Speak-

ers and writers have fun with puns

because a word may have more

than one meaning and some words

may sound alike.

“The duck said to the bartender,

put it on my bill.”

“He bought a donkey because he

thought he might get a kick out of

it.”

“Sign at a deer crossing: The Buck

Stops Here.”

“The flock of doves staged a coo.”

Upcoming Events

March 24, 2012: Division B Int’l Speech

and Table Topics Contest, 10:00AM,Quality

Inn, Waycross, Ga.

May 4-5, 2012: Spring Conference, “The

Leaders Network”, Georgia Tech Hotel &

Conference Center, Atlanta, Ga.

Quick Facts on St. Patrick

Born of wealthy parents in Britain.

Captured by Irish raiders. Escaped

after years of enslavement.

Rose from slave to Patron Saint of

Ireland.

Considered a secondary Patron

Saint in Nigeria, next to the Virgin

Mary.

Venerated in Roman Catholic,

Episcopal, and Orthodox

Churches. Feast day is March

17th, the day of his death.

Public Relations

Corner These are the District 14

Public Relations (PR) Incen-

tives that our club will be

working on for Spring 2012:

Club Newsletter Contest

Club Website Contest

Club Media Contest

The submission deadline is

April 1, 2012. In the mean-

time, check out the winners

for the Fall 2011 PR incen-

tive contests:

Testimonial Video: 1st Place: NS Toasters on Track Media: 1st Place: Okefenokee Toastmasters Club Website: 1st Place: PB & J Toastmasters 2nd Place: Technology Park 3rd Place: Rockdale Toastmasters Club Newsletter: 1st Place: PB & J Toastmasters 2nd Place: Speaking Solutions 3rd Place: Toastmaster 2.0 of Norcross

Role of VP of Membership

Greet guests and have each guest

complete a guest card or book.

Report on current membership,

promote membership campaigns,

and welcome new members.

Ensure that each new member is

formally inducted after being voted

in by the club.

Help guests to complete the

membership application form. .

Follow up and keep track of guests.

Speak with fellow members to

determine if their needs are being

met.

Connect with Us

Follow Okefenokee Toastmasters on

Twitter: http://twitter.com/oketoast

Check out the new Okefenokee Toast-

masters website:

http://okefenokee.toastmastersclubs.org

Browse the Virtual Toastmasters Mu-

seum: http://bit.ly/ukFQb4

Invest in Your Dream

One hour wisely invested each day,

quickly adds up. If you just used 3 lunch

breaks per week to really focus on building

your dream, at the end of a month that’s

about 12 hours that you have dedicated

towards your dream. So use your lunch

hour to research, attend a networking

function, write, listen to a tele-class, par-

ticipate in a webinar, be coached by a

mentor in your field, watch a training on

YouTube about a topic that is relevant to

your dream, read a book by a guru in your

dream industry, or attend a presentation

given by experts in your industry.

Delatorro McNeal, Speaker & Author

of “Caught Between A Dream and a

Job”. Read more: http://bit.ly/x8tsZj

.

Quality Meetings = Quality Clubs

Forbes Magazine: Leadership Tip

Want to become a better leader? Stop talking and start

listening. Being a leader should not be viewed as a license

to increase the volume of rhetoric. Rather astute leaders

know there is far more to be gained by surrendering the

floor than by dominating it. In this age of instant communi-

cation everyone seems to be in such a rush to communicate

what’s on their mind, they fail to realize the value of every-

thing that can be gleaned from the minds of others. Show

me a leader who doesn’t recognize the value of listening to

others and I’ll show you a train-wreck in the making. Read

more: http://linkd.in/w83mNt

Photo: Toastmaster members Deborah Kinlaw,

Ahs-Counter & Grammarian; John Conger,

Timer.

Every Toastmaster has a role to play at a Toastmas-

ters meeting. Besides the host (Toastmaster of the

day), the speakers, and the evaluators of speeches;

there is a Grammarian who brings the Word of the

Day, evaluates the grammar used by each speaker,

and comments on the creative use of .language. The

Grammarian at our club meeting is usually the Ahs-

Counter; someone who keeps track of the distracting

filler words used throughout the meeting: you knows,

ums, ahs, and-and, but-but. The goal of every Toast-

master is to speak without using any annoying filler

words. There is a Timer who monitors each meeting

segment. He or she aids each speaker to stay within

time limits so that meetings start and end on time.

Past Meetings: Sharing the Memories

Start your Wednesday mornings with us. Come out of curiosity; stay for the fun!

Induction of new members, Joseph and Larry, by

Area Governor, Sharon Vickers. (April 2011)

Club President Bud Montero presenting Best

Table Topics Speaker award to Toastmaster Ad-

die Crews. (December 2011)

Surprise Kathy! This 2007 photo is still

around. This was a Table Topics Challenge

where participants had to pick a hat and

speak “off the cuff” for up to 2 minutes.

Shane wearing his “love glasses” to close his 5-7 minutes inspira-

tional message of love in February this year. Inspired by the lyrics

of pop artist Beckah Shae titled, “Put Your Love Glasses On”, Shane

urged us to see each other with loving eyes.

O

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CHARTER MEMBERS: John Penland (Sponsor), Andrew Slocum, Joe Gant, Harry D. Dixon,

Jr., Carolyn Morton (Akins), Phil Wysong, C.J. Broome, Paul O’Cain, James C. Bunch, W.F.

Stephens, Jeanette Stipe, Tom Strickland, Fred Barber, John Karew, Reuben Flanders, E.

Nash Williams, Jerri Davis, Doris Germano, Andy Spivey, Audrey West, and Margaret Park.

Edited by Janice Williams

Small Steps; Big Dreams by J. Williams

The Oprah Show always had an episode where Oprah fulfilled someone’s wildest dreams. Some

time ago on the show, there was a teacher, a single parent, who was working three jobs to help

pay off student loans for her college educated children. She had a picture of Florence, Italy on

her refrigerator. That was her big dream - to go to Florence.

Well Oprah fulfilled her dreams. On the show, Oprah pledged to send that teacher and her

adult children to Florence, pay off the student loans, and give her enough money for a year so

that she would not have to keep all three of her jobs. What happens if you do not have Oprah to

help you fulfill your wildest dream? Should you put off pursuing your dream?

I am a big fan of American Idol. Many young people dream of that big record deal so that they

can become famous like past winners: Kelly Clarkson, a former waitress; Fantasia Barrino,

once a struggling teenaged mother; and Carrie Underwood, a country girl from a small town

named Checotah in Oklahoma. Year after year, thousands of young people wait in long lines all

over the United States to get a chance to audition for the show, but guess what? A number of

them seem to have big dreams and no talent. They can’t sing a note that is pleasing to the ear.

If you are a fan of the show, you may have wondered as I have done, how could these young peo-

ple possibly think that they had any talent? Did they sing in church? Did they sing in any

community talent show before auditioning for American Idol? Seriously, what did they do to

prepare for their opportunity on American Idol?

Well American Idol got me thinking. I have concluded that many of those young people, with no

talent, did not really have a passion for music or for singing. They had a desire to be on televi-

sion for 5 minutes. If they truly had the passion, they would have spent some time learning to

sing in tune, learning the words of songs, and auditioning for talent shows in their local com-

munity.

If you are from a small town like Waycross and your dream is to be a Hollywood actress?

Shouldn’t you have a passion for acting? Shouldn’t you join the drama club at school? Shouldn’t

you be auditioning at the community theater right here in Waycross? If you want to write a

novel, shouldn’t you be competent in the English language? Shouldn’t you be writing short sto-

ries for your local newspaper or an online publication? If you want to be a public speaker or a

leader in your community, prepare for your big break. You really should be an avid reader of

ideas. You should hone your presentation skills. You should offer to speak at service clubs in

your community. You should volunteer to perform leadership roles.

Oprah may never be able to fulfill any of your wildest dreams but if you really have a passion

for something, you can certainly take small steps to pursue your dream. Be your own dream

maker. Prepare for your opportunity. The pursuit of the dream can be as rewarding as the ful-

fillment of the dream.