West Austin II Toastmasters

Words matter! Don't mess up an important presentation by poorly choosing your words. Come join our Toastmasters Club and mess up in front of us! 😀

Seriously, we're your safe space! And we'll help you improve.

Our next meeting is Thursday, 7:00 -8:15 AM. We meet in the back room of the IHOP restaurant, 707 E. Cesar Chavez in Austin, TX.

Yes, there is caffeine. There is a link to our website in the comments if you would like more information.

Just a reminder that West Austin II Toastmasters meets again at 7:00 AM at the IHOP restaurant's back room. The address is 707 E. Cesar Chavez (SW corner of I-35 and Cesar Chavez.)
Our theme will be "Good News."

We'll have two speakers working on improving their skills and opportunities for all members to sharpen their impromptu speaking skills. Guests are not required to participate if they're not comfortable.

C'mon out and join us. Yes, it's early, but we do have caffeine. Pictured here is our club president, Amy on the left, accepting the award for 1st Place in the District 55 International Speech Contest.

Despite thunderstorms, we had 11 members, including three guests, attend our meeting, with Lee as Toastmaster. His theme was "What are you chasing after?"
Glenn gave a speech telling a story about the time he learned that there is a fine line between over-arching anger and overwhelming joy.
Fei was the Topic Master and came up with excellent topics for us to practice speaking off the cuff.
Jayden was our General Evaluator and shared some excellent insights, then introduced Scott, who evaluated Glenn's speech. (Good storytelling, vocal variety, and body language. Still needs to focus on better eye contact.)

This week's tip: When you sit down to plan a presentation, your first step should be to write down the most important point you want your audience to remember the next day. Then add in your secondary points. Next, ask yourself what is the best way to communicate those points to your audience? Note that the first step is not to open PowerPoint and start throwing bullets on the screen.
For more tips on improving your presentation and speaking skills, come be our guest at our next meeting, Thursday, January 19, 7:00 to 8:15AM at the IHOP restaurant at 707 E. Cesar Chavez in Austin. That's the southwest corner of I-35 and Cesar Chavez.

We have all joined Toastmasters to improve our speaking skills, but a second benefit is that we often learn something as we listen to others' speeches. Today, we heard a speech on dealing with anxiety called "My Loudest Critic Lives In My Head." The speaker is a new Toastmaster and shared his story about dealing with anxiety and offered some strategies for dealing with it.
Our second speech, given by a long-time member, discussed her role as the co-founder of a start-up company. In her speech, she discussed the importance of self-awareness and three ways we could improve our own.

In her evaluation of the first speaker who discussed anxiety, Amy mentioned that West Austin II club member and 1990 World Champion of Public Speaking, David Brooks, likes to say, "The audience wants you to succeed." This is a helpful reminder when we are nervous before speaking.

We weren't expecting to walk away learning tips on dealing with anxiety and becoming more self-aware, but we did. And we had a good time learning.

Guests are always welcome at our meetings. We'll be back next Thursday from 7:00 to 8:15 a.m. at the IHOP restaurant at 707 E. Cesar Chavez in Austin. Come visit us.

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