Thursday's well-attended meeting in the Hidden Hills Room might be characterized as the "Battle of the Long-Term Care Insurance Providers." In the far corner, Stuart Juggler with his sincere demeanor and elegant British accent, and in the near corner, Don West and his Depends diapers. Who would win? 

The meeting, helmed by Toastmaster Carolyn Goldman, was overflowing not only with newly inducted and veteran members but with five great speeches, including Soraya Deen, who, for her speech number 7, once again renewed her theme of having children and world peace (at the same time, no less!). And an Icebreaker from new member Mohnish Sharma described the challenges faced by an Indian professional in America. Rounding out the speech segment was Maisie Lee with her #5 talk about the country doctor who loves his customers, but dies when venturing out in the heavy rain to save another life. 

In a further overture on the theme of security, the beautifully handled table topics session on motherhood, led by Lois Coburn, was an interesting and evocative topic to which everyone could relate. 

Our beloved President, Vicki Vaughn, CTM, made her last appearance before hammering the books to complete her first year of law school. 

As General Evaluator, Dave DeFore, CTM led a crack team of critical speech reviewers, where Evaluator Rose Lane, DTM, took top honors when she deciphered the pros and cons of Don West's diaper-encumbered discussion.   

Be sure to drop in for our next meeting, when the topic of the evening will be "Amazing Self", under the dynamic leadership of Topicmaster Loan Carrison, ATMB.                     — JCG

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"Integrity simply means a willingness not to violate one's identity." — Erich Fromm
   
"I seem to have an awful lot of people inside of me." — Edith Evans
   
"My great mistake, the fault for which I can't forgive myself, is that one day I ceased my obstinate pursuit of my own individuality."  — Oscar Wilde

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Dear fellow Toastmasters, 

Ask any toastmaster or any professional speaker about how to overcome stage fright and you’ll probably get as many different answers as the number of people you ask. 

However, the one common trait all of us share is that no matter how many times you get up in front of an audience, you will have a few butterflies. For some, it may manifest itself as an inability to speak. For others, they may talk a little bit too fast. And, for the consummate professional, it may be a tinge of adrenaline. But, EVERYONE feels something before they get up to speak. 

Whatever category you may be in right now, realize that there are things that you can do to mitigate the effect your fears may have on your presentation. 

Probably the most important thing you can do is REHEARSE your speech! 

Not once or twice, but 20, 30 or even 50 times. I guarantee that by the time you perform it for the 50^th time, you’ll be without crib notes and you’ll be virtually butterfly free. You’ll have confidence in what you’re going to say and know that although you may still have 3x5 cards in your hands, they’re only there as a security blanket. 

What if you don’t have time to rehearse your speech that many times? Well, practice in front of friends, family or co-workers to get their feedback. Having a small, friendly, intimate group to try your speech out on first will be extremely beneficial in helping you get over those butterflies. You’ll realize that nothing bad is going to happen to you if you forget a point you wanted to make. After all, only YOU know everything that you wanted to say. 

So, rehearse, practice, and take a deep breath. You’ll see, it isn’t as bad as you thought it was going to be. 

Speak out, speak up, speak often. Toastmasters!