Tandem Toastmasters Newswire
December 1993

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Table of Contents

What were our club's most memorable events of 1993 -- for the club as a whole and/or for you personally?

Newswire Masthead (General Information)

Welcome to the December 1993 edition of Tandem Toastmasters Newswire, the on-line newsletter of the Tandem Toastmasters club. This newswire is intended to inform and inspire both club members and potential club members.

If you are an "inspired" nonmember and would like to experience a Tandem Toastmasters meeting firsthand, please come to a meeting -- as often as you want -- as a guest. We will ask you to introduce yourself and ask for your comments at the end of the meeting. We might invite you to participate in Table Topics (the impromptu part of our meeting). We will not pressure you to participate or to join the club.

Tandem Toastmasters meets Wednesdays, NOON to 1:00 PM, in room 2004 of building 201. Building 201 is at 10501 North Tantau Ave. (between Pruneridge Rd. and Vallco Parkway). Room 2004 is upstairs in the main hall -- look for the sign that says "Tandem Toastmasters meets here." Watch third class mail for our weekly agendas (but note that they are subject to change).

Tandem Toastmasters is part of Toastmasters International. In the Toastmasters International organization, Tandem Toastmasters is club #4658, in Area 6, Division G, District 4, and Region 2.

Give NEWSWIRE INPUT to Sheila Moore, Vice President of Public Relations, by e-mail (MOORE_SHEILA), "snail mail" (Loc. 252-30), or phone (285-5234).

For MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION, contact Tom Lawson, Vice President of Membership, by e-mail (CHEN_FRANK), "snail mail" (Loc. 201-01), or phone (285-4194).

To send E-MAIL to the Tandem Toastmasters club and interested persons, address it to LAWSON_THOMAS.TM-DL @TSII. To send e-mail to Tandem Toastmasters club members only, address it to LAWSON_THOMAS.TM-MEMBERS @TSII.

For a list of NETVIEWABLE FILES related to Tandem Toastmasters, see \PRUNE.$FACE.TM.README. Send any corrections to Sheila Moore.

Ray Tanaka Finally Gets His CTM!

On December 15, Ray Tanaka finally gave Speech #10 and got his CTM! It had been approximately a year since his last speech, and several people were leaning on him to do that last basic manual speech and get his CTM! His speech was titled "My CTM at Last." Congratulations, Ray! Now, when are you going to get your ATM? :-)

New Officers Elected for January-June 1994 Term

At our December 8 election, we elected these new officers:

* Newswire editor

Messages From Incoming Officers

From incoming EVP Tom Lawson

Tom was out sick on election day. Here are the campaign and acceptance speeches he had prepared:

Campaign Speech

If elected, I promise: A return to BASICS!
No frills! One functionary!
No Timekeeper with a watch!
No Grammarian with a pad!
No Ah Counter tallying away!
Just one person standing behind the speaker with a big STICK!
No evaluation forms, just rocks --
if the speaker screws up, we'll stone him!
We don't need no evaluators badgering us!
We don't need no stinkin' badgers!
I believe in the BASICS -- Basic Training!

Acceptance Speech

I want to help all of you achieve your leadership and public speaking goals, but I need your help. What can you do?

• Do your homework--read the manual, prepare, practice, and utilize your mentors.

• Be proactive. Things will happen if you make them happen.

• Pace yourself--set a realistic speaking goal. One speech every two months is a good rule of thumb.

• Be responsive when I ask for scheduling input.

• Watch the experienced speakers for the basic skills--eye contact, vocal variety and volume, gestures and body language, and organization.

I look forward to working with all of you.

Cheers,
Tom Lawson, EVP

From incoming VPPR Sheila Moore

I don't know whether I'm coming or going -- I was VPPR last term too. (And there are other reasons, but we won't get into them :-) I'm glad I get to stay in this office and keep producing the newswire, which I am anxious to submit to the 1993-1994 Top 10 Newsletter Contest. TI might not appreciate the layout (compared to all those newfangled ones done with PageMaker and FrameMaker) but they'll have to admit that our newswire does have the dirt on our members (thank you, Grumpy Grandpa) and they'll still have to give us 300 points toward the Distinguished Club Program. I'll tell you more about the contest in next month's newswire.

Sheila

From incoming Secretary Sandy Allen

I am excited about being elected Secretary of the Tandem Toastmasters Club. This club is noted on a continuing basis for its ENTHUSIASM and non-stop spirit. I look forward to practicing my secretarial skills and being part of a great team under the leadership of Ann Hsu. I look forward to hearing what Ann's motto will be and to achieving it.

Sandy

From incoming Sergeant at Arms Scott Townsend

I joined Toastmasters about 10 months ago. During this time I have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge and personal experience in the area of public speaking. I feel that the other members of the club have helped me in so many ways. Consequently, I feel it is a real privilege to be an officer in a club that works very hard to help others. I hope to give something back to a club that I have received so much from. I also look forward to being part of our club's board and participating in board meetings.

My goal as Seargant of Arms is to involve as many people as possible in the activities of preparing our room for meetings. I will be doing the setup for the first 3 or 4 meetings so that I have a good feel for what needs to be done for each meeting. After those early meetings in 1994, I will be asking for your help in being the "Seargant of Arms for a Day". Please say yes when asked to help out. My goal is to have each member serve only once in this capacity during the next 6 months. I believe that we have a great group of officers and that 1994 will be a good year for all of us in Toastmasters!!

Scott

New Members in December

Judy Roberson works for CRE Site Management in building 248. Prakash Ramchandran works for Trusted Systems in building 251.

Highlights of December Meetings

December 1 Meeting

* Used Word of the Day

December 8 Meeting -- New Officer Elections

* Delivered speech that Tom Lawson wrote (he was out sick)

December 15 Meeting

* Used Word of the Day

December 22 Meeting

* Used Word of the Day

Minutes of December 17 Toastmasters Board Meeting

Advertising TM DL in Newswire

Sheila will put the name of the Tandem Toastmasters distribution list in the nonmembers edition of the newswire so that interested persons can write to the club if they want to.

Who Puts Weekly Ad in Third-Class Mail?

This term, Tom (VP of Membership) has advertised our weekly meetings in third class mail. Next term, Sheila (VP of Public Relations) will be responsible for this. Each Monday, she'll ask that week's speakers if either of them wants to send the ad; if she doesn't get an affirmative reply by noon, she'll send the ad herself. We didn't decide who would write the ad if both speakers wanted to write it, but if they do, they can send their material to Sheila and she will incorporate it into a single, coherent ad.

Speakers Exchange Program

Officially, the EVP has responsibility for the Speakers Exchange Program, so the current EVP (Ann) will turn it over to the incoming EVP (Tom) in January; however, Ann might stay involved with the program as a volunteer.

Changing Meeting Format --Should Everyone Without a Speaking Role
Answer a Table Topics Question?

Unfortunately, we don't have time for this. We will try to allow more time for Table Topics by:

• Having a Table Topics clinic soon (responsibility of EVP)

• Trying harder to keep meetings on schedule so that introductions, speeches, and evaluations do not cut into Table Topics time. Reminding us of the importance of time falls to Timekeeper and Master Evaluator: at each meeting, Timekeeper can stress the importance of time when he or she introduces himself or herself, and Master Evaluator can comment on how well we kept to our schedule.

Ribbons -- Required or Toastmaster's Choice?

Sheila's newswire survey on whether to eliminate ribbons showed that most people want to keep them. One respondent suggested that we leave the decision up to each Toastmaster, but no formal decision was made. We decided to vote on this at our next board meeting.

Success Leadership Program

Frank would like us to present three Success Leadership modules:

• Leadership 1
• Leadership 2
• High-Powered Leaders

Each module would take approximately two hours and sessions would be open to persons outside the club and outside the company, as they are another way to recruit new members. Frank, Tom, and Ann are interested in leading these modules.

Welcoming/Processing New Members

Frank will talk to Sandy and Anup (incoming Secretary and Treasurer, respectively) about our current procedure for welcoming and processing new members, suggest a way to streamline it, and summarize the procedure at our next board meeting.

Sheila will diagram her impression of the procedure for Frank, who will correct it if necessary. When the diagram finally reflects the procedure we want to use, Sheila will distribute copies of it to the officers.

New By-Law from Toastmasters International

TI has a new by-law (which we can incorporate into our club charter or not) restricting the use of club funds to educational (rather than political or social) purposes. We decided to give educational expenses priority over social ones, but not to rule out spending money on club parties.

Room Reservations for Next Term (January-June 1994)

Incoming Sergeant at Arms (Scott) will reserve room 2004 in bldg 201 for our weekly meetings.

Incoming President (Ann) will reserve the room of her choice for our monthly board meetings.

Associate Membership, Revisited

We will vote on whether to keep it at the next board meeting.

Speechcraft

As she had promised Area Governor Clare Mullin, Ann (EVP) considered our club's giving a Speechcraft. A Speechcraft is an 8-session series of TM-like meetings for nonmembers. Its purpose is to recruit new members. Ann decided that, right now, our time would be better spent mentoring the new members we already have. We might give a Speechcraft some time in the future (it will be the EVP's decision).

Youth Leadership Program

"Maybe in a few months," said Ann.

Nonmeeting Activities

Frank will give a speech on Toastmasters activities that we can have outside of our weekly meetings.

Survey Results

What were our club's most memorable events of 1993 -- for the club as a whole and/or for you personally?

Thanks to everyone who replied. No replies were left out.

Sandy Allen said:

The most memorable speeches for me this year were the ones given by Joann Cobb (about nature), Renee Harris (about life is like a piano) and Jeff Iswandhi (about words of encouragement).

Each speaker shared their talents of organization and delivery, but their ability to have content that was both entertaining and valuable was memorable for me.

Ray Glasstone said:

Best TM moments for me	- Winning the Tall Tales
For the club	- The homecoming meeting
Non TM for me	- Having a baby - Starring (!) in my first play - Getting a hole in one at golf

Betty Snedaker said:

My most memorable event was winning a trophy for the first time in my life at the area evaluation contest. I also achieved a goal which was entering a contest in the first place, let alone placing!

Clem Molony said:

Jimmy's visit was a great meeting!

Ann Hsu said:

The most memorable event for our club as a whole, in my opinion, is split between Jimmy's visit and the Homecoming meeting. The most memorable event for me personally was my "All Chinese People Look Alike, Right?" speech. Memorable because of the number of guests we had, because of the controversy it generated, and because of the timing mix-up which prevented me from delivering the conclusion.

Robin Maybury said:

I enjoyed the home-coming meeting most of all, this year. It was made very special by Jeff Iswandhi giving his very inspiring seeds of greatness speech.

Member-to-be Victor Gutierrez said:

The most memorable event of 1993 for me was the meeting in October when it was done backwards. This meeting was very enjoyable and displayed the club's creativity and improvisational skills. This was a turning point for me, not backwards but forward in making a decision to join the club.

Scott Townsend said:

Here are the most memorable TM events for me in 1993:

• Tom Lawson's first Grumpy Old Toastmaster's speech.
• My Ice Breaker speech. I did IT!!
• Ann Hsu's controversial China speech.
• Jimmy's speech to our club.
• Our Halloween Meeting.
• Sheila's Fantastic Job as Seargant of Arms.
• Betty's 30 pound weight loss.
• Robin's speech on the Mexican Earthquake and his ensuing "pajama" party.
• Lots of great Table Topic sessions.
• A great year of personal growth for me.

Jeff Mann said:

The alumni/homecoming meeting. Tom Lawson's speech at the Divisional Humorous Speech contest. The layoffs and loss of so many fine people. Dave Vanpoppelen winning two table topics awards at Ray Glasstone's Backward Meeting. The Evaluation Clinic. Sheila Moore's wonderful newletters.

Tom Lawson said:

For the club, I think the most memorable event was the alumni meeting. It was great to see old friends (and hear Jeff speak again). For me personally it was taking second at the Division Humorous Contest.

To answer my own question, I (Sheila) say:

Since this was my first year in the club, almost everything was a "first" and therefore memorable, but these stand out:

• Seeing Tom's "Grumpy Grandpa Toastmaster" evolve from a cute, almost-impromptu club speech to what I considered a hilarious, perfect performance in the Division G Humorous Speech Contest.

• The reaction to Ann's ad for her "controversial" speech -- a warning from the mail police, "hate mail," and NINE GUESTS!
• Seeing Betty win her "No-Belly Prize!"
• Winning the Best Speaker ribbon over two CTMs on my second speech, "StairMasterpieces"
• Having two or three guests from various other clubs congratulate us on our friendly, supportive atmosphere.

Extracurricular Activities

December 10

Tandem Toastmasters Holiday Party, a potluck hosted by Ray Glasstone. Several of us and one Post Toastie, Suzanne Zazzi, enjoyed talking and stuffing our faces by the fire.

December 17

Tandem Holiday Party at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Not as fun as Ray G's party, where we could easily find everyone we wanted to see and hear ourselves talk (Toasties do love to hear themselves and each other talk, after all), but I (Sheila) did eventually manage to find Toasties Tom, Ann, Ratan, Jeff, Betty, Garry, Mike, Ray T., Sandy, Robin, and Scott -- and Post Toasties Jeff Iswandhi and Suzanne Zazzi. Too bad we couldn't get a table together, but then, we do that every Wednesday, don't we?

Ann Hsu Gives Her "Controversial" Speech to South Bay JETs

On December 8, Ann Hsu gave her "All Chinese Look Alike, Right?" speech -- whose title brought the mail police down on her when she advertised it in third class mail -- to the South Bay JETs, a bilingual Japanese-English Toastmasters club that meets at Adobe in Mountain View. The JETs liked Ann's speech, but they didn't award ribbons, so she didn't know if they like hers best or not.

Ann really deserved a ribbon for finding the JETs' building despite directions that might as well have been written in Japanese. Sheila Moore, who was supposed to be a guest Evaluator, finally gave up after half an hour of looking.

Tom Lawson Gives His "John Todd Stewart" Speech to Orbiters

On December 16, Tom Lawson gave his speech about the importance of mentoring, "John Todd Stuart," to the Orbiters TM club in Sunnyvale. John Todd Stewart, Tom's most famous ancestor, mentored Abraham Lincoln. Tom won the ribbon for Best Speaker (over two other speakers), and his evaluator, District Governor Dianne Bryson, won the ribbon for Best Evaluator (beating two other evaluators, including Sheila Moore, who visited Orbiters just out of curiosity but ended up being a guest Evaluator).

Frank Chen Belongs to THREE Toastmasters Clubs!

Frank Chen, our outgoing Treasurer and incoming VP of Membership, belongs to THREE Toastmasters clubs -- ours (Tandem Toastmasters), the other Tandem TM club (South Bay Speakers), and a non-Tandem club, Orbiters.

Ann Hsu Sings With the Tandem Carolers

For most of us, getting up and speaking in front of a group is challenging enough, but Ann even has the courage to get up in front of a group and sing! She and the Tandem Caroleers sang holiday songs for their fellow coworkers, in Tandem buildings during December and at the Tandem Holiday Party at the Santa Clara Convention Center on December 17.

Favorite Speakers

Tape of Jimmy's "Speaking for the Ungifted" in Corporate Library

(Reprint of Tom's e-mail message)

The video of Jimmy's Speech "Speaking for the Ungifted" (and the rest of the Tandem Toastmasters Open Meeting) is now available in the Corporate Library. Call # is TOAST-0020-V.

This is a great tool to help you learn more about how to write, prepare for, and deliver a top quality speech. Jim Treybig's relaxed style and interesting experiences also make his presentation very enjoyable.

Cheers,
Tom

PC CP -- Politically Correct Christmas Poem

'Twas the night before Christmas and Santa's a wreck...
How to live in a world that's politically correct?
His workers no longer would answer to "Elves",
"Vertically Challenged" they were calling themselves.
And labor conditions at the north pole
Were alleged by the union to stifle the soul.
Four reindeer had vanished, without much propriety,
Released to the wilds by the Humane Society.
And equal employment had made it quite clear
That Santa had better not use just reindeer.
So Dancer and Donner, Comet and Cupid,
Were replaced with 4 pigs, and you know that looked stupid!
The runners had been removed from his sleigh;
The ruts were termed dangerous by the E.P.A.
And people had started to call for the cops
When they heard sled noises on their roof-tops.
Second-hand smoke from his pipe had his workers quite frightened.
His fur trimmed red suit was called "Unenlightened."
And to show you the strangeness of life's ebbs and flows,
Rudolf was suing over unauthorized use of his nose
And had gone on Geraldo, in front of the nation,
Demanding millions in over-due compensation.
So, half of the reindeer were gone; and his wife,
Who suddenly said she'd had enough of this life,
Joined a self-help group, packed, and left in a whiz,
Demanding from now on her title was Ms.
And as for the gifts, why, he'd ne'er had a notion
That making a choice could cause so much commotion.
Nothing of leather, nothing of fur,
Which meant nothing for him. And nothing for her.
Nothing that might be construed to pollute.
Nothing to aim. Nothing to shoot.
Nothing that clamored or made lots of noise.
Nothing for just girls. Or just for the boys.
Nothing that claimed to be gender specific.
Nothing that's warlike or non-pacific.
No candy or sweets...they were bad for the tooth.
Nothing that seemed to embellish a truth.
And fairy tales, while not yet forbidden,
Were like Ken and Barbie, better off hidden.
For they raised the hackles of those psychological
Who claimed the only good gift was one ecological.
No baseball, no football...someone could get hurt;
Besides, playing sports exposed kids to dirt.
Dolls were said to be sexist, and should be passe;
And Nintendo would rot your entire brain away.
So Santa just stood there, disheveled, perplexed;
He just could not figure out what to do next.
He tried to be merry, tried to be gay,
But you've got to be careful with that word today.
His sack was quite empty, limp to the ground;
Nothing fully acceptable was to be found.
Something special was needed, a gift that he might
Give to all without angering the left or the right.
A gift that would satisfy, with no indecision,
Each group of people, every religion;
Every ethnicity, every hue,
Everyone, everywhere...even you.
So here is that gift, it's price beyond worth...
"May you and your loved ones enjoy peace on earth."

Leslie Kasper
Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
Austin Sales Office
512-329-8690, Fax 329-0550
kasper@cadence.com