Heading into Hybrid
Last week our Toastmaster and Treasurer, Rubette Cowan, led a meeting about “CHANGES” and how frightening it can be to move out of one’s current comfort zone and take on a new environment. But in order to grow one has to take on that new environment and focus on moving forward.
That is exactly what Rockridge Toastmasters is doing. Starting May 3rd, the club will transition into hybrid meetings. We are happy to announce a new venue, the Scottish Rite Center.
The in-person meetings will be held in the Gold Room. It's a large space that comes with the amenities to allow us to continue using our online meetings. Hopefully this provides flexibility for our current and future members.
Offering the choice of in-person, is something that we hope entices members to return to a meeting “in real life” to develop their public speaking skills.
Join us on a Tuesday evening at 7:00 PM!
Scottish Rite Center
Gold Room, 4th Floor
1547 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, CA 94612
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new,” from Dan Millman’s book Way of the Peaceful Warrior
Welcome a New Member
Brandon Haydu has joined our club. We are so glad to have you part of the Rockridge family.
Achievements!
Megan Pratt has achieved Level 1 Completion—Presentation Mastery and won 3rd place at the Division D Evaluation Contest.
Top Rate Evaluations
Rockridge Toastmasters is so proud to have been represented by Megan Pratt in the recent Division contest. Last month Megan achieved third place at the Division D contest. I got to sit down with Megan and learn a bit about her experience.
Deciding to take the leap of participating in the club contest was motivated by the love of competition. Another factor was that the prep for the evaluation contest concentrates on the same day. The most important consideration is that giving evaluations is something Megan enjoys because she likes to help give people good feedback to help them improve.
This year is the second contest experience for Megan and the difference this time around was that she was much better prepared and much more acquainted with Zoom. She did note that this year gave her the insight of different perspectives from a variety of evaluators for the same speaker. Each evaluation includes different noted points. For example, listening to fellow Toastie, Muriel Taing, introduced Megan to noting unique phrases expressed during a speech.
And what does Megan advise other Toastmasters regarding contests? She says. "Go for it! Try participating in a competition when ready or “mostly ready." The great thing about contests is that you can start at a small safe level (that is your club) and then grow from there. You might surprise yourself!”
Make an Impact on the Club!
It's that time again! New club officers will be elected in June for the July 1 - December 31, 2021 term. There are 8 officer positions, plus the Immediate Past President:
President
Vice President of Education
Vice President of Membership
Vice President of Public Relations
Secretary
Treasurer
Sergeant at Arms
Pathways Ambassador (VP of Pathways)
Serving the club is a very rewarding experience. It's a wonderful way to give something back to the club, and to be an integral part of shaping the club and keeping it healthy and thriving. Some roles are more of a time commitment than others. There's probably something that's just right for you!
You can read about the roles in the Member Handbook, and feel free to reach out to our President Laura Patino, or any of the current officers for more information (see sidebar with officer names).