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The University of Alberta’s Department of Surgery, which is ranked sixth globally for transplantation, is preparing its first Communications Strategic Plan – with a lot of Toastmasters International input going into it.
District 99 PR Manager Nick Wilson, who heads the department’s communications, authored the plan using knowledge gained from his experience as a journalist and TM leadership and communications programs. “Everything I’ve learned in Toastmasters: delegation, performance measurement and accountability, the High Performance Leadership Project and the advanced series it comes from, including speaking on video and public relations, is pouring into the strat plan,” Wilson says.
“In fact,” he adds, “I wouldn’t have landed this job without the confidence and impromptu speaking skills I needed for the interview – when I first joined Toastmasters I was even nervous about introducing myself at meetings.”
The University of Alberta is no stranger to the program. It has three clubs, and Toastmaster volunteers have been teaching speech craft at The Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences – ranked number three in Canada and 15th in the world for research – for more than three decades.
News
Back from the Brink – From Facing Closure to Closing in on Distinguished Club Award
By Nick Wilson
Drayton Valley’s Derrick Toastmasters, located west of Edmonton, have just hosted their area contest for the first time in 15 years. It was an extremely high-quality competition, which is driving the club towards distinguished club status for the third time in almost three decades, and powered its champion speaker into the Division B contest with his eyes on the District contest at the Convention.
This energized team’s roll call of success is now: four CCs, three CLs, one ACB and an ACB-ACL pair of awards on target for end-April. Furthermore, it takes a leadership role supporting other widely dispersed clubs in this rural area: Derrick’s president is the dynamic Area 6 Director Von Eric Tandoc.
But it wasn’t always like this. Four years ago the club was down to one member and faced closure – until the then Area Governor Marc Haine put a team of toastmasters from Beaumont and Devon together, who built great camaraderie while traveling for more than a two-hour round trip on long, bitter winter nights to breathe new fire into the embers.
That same year the rejuvenated, now double-digit-member club celebrated its 25th anniversary. The mayor, MLA/government minister, and guest speaker – the semi-mythical club founder Peter Kossowan aka “Mr. Toast” – attended to celebrate its Phoenix-like success. Peter’s torch, sputtered but never went out and now burns as brightly as when he first lit it in Drayton Valley in the previous century.
Today, it’s Von who carries the Derrick torch on visits to clubs up to two-hours away. Of his frequent visits to different clubs and Toastmasters-related activities he says, “It’s rewarding and satisfying to be part of such a dynamic club and help its members reach their potential as I grow with them – I want to help grow the club that is responsible for my growth.“
And as for “Mr. Toast” – the serial founder, who in 2016 became the first Albertan on the cover of Toastmaster magazine for holding the world record for starting most clubs (164 at the time). He’s taken his total to 171, and says “there’s another on the way hopefully before the Convention.”
There will always be more torches to light.
Finding Their Voice
By Penny Nilsen and Tanya Turner Toastmasters shared the benefits of the program with more than 200 Saskatchewan Government Employees Union (SGEU) members at the union’s Saskatoon convention recently. Penny Nilsen and Tanya Turner proved by successfully speaking to such a crowd that Toastmasters does indeed help to grow confidence [...]
In Memoriam of Ben Waldron DTM
Ben was born in Loverna, Saskatchewan. He worked as a projectionist in theatres for many years as well as a stage-hand with I.A.T.S.E. He was a 50-year member of Toastmasters in Saskatoon and active in the community. His favourite pastimes were gardening, biking, cross-county skiing, dancing and teaching people [...]
Diamonds are Forever
Wayne Jones and friends provide entertainment By Nick Wilson More than 100 toastmasters across three generations recently cheered The Y Club – Edmonton’s second-oldest Toastmasters Club – at its Diamond Jubilee celebration in the Radisson Hotel. Impromptu comedy from local improv troupe Die-Nasty on the night matched the [...]