Gift Baskets for Toastmasters
Congratulations to the first place winner of the baskets: Bernardo Torres. Also congratulations to the other winners.
District Champion Roger Caesar visits Glen Abbey Toastmasters
On May 8th, 2019, Glen Abbey Toastmasters had the pleasure of welcoming guest speaker Roger Caesar to our club.
Roger Caesar is a 4-time District 86 Speech Champion, a 3-time international award winning speaker and a 3 time semi finalist at the World Championships of Public Speaking. He is also a motivational speaker who helps others to develop their speaking skills and maximize their greatness. In 2018, he was the recipient of the City of Brampton Volunteer Award for helping start up entrepreneurs.
Roger wowed our club with his inspirational message in a speech titled “Didn’t See it Coming!”. He talked about the personal struggles he has gone through, and how we all need to look past the “small picture” failures and focus on the “big picture” – what we truly want out of our lives – in order to keep pushing forward and succeeding.
Congratulations 2019/2020 Club Officers
President – Krista Rowan
VP Education – Rose Ford
VP Membership – Muraad Shah
VP Public Relations – Tamur Shah
Treasurer – Janet Newcombe
Secretary – Bahareh Tehrani
Sergeant At Arms – Zehra Raza
Past President – Gordon Vuong
2019 Mary Heary Tall Tales Contest
On April 24th, the club organised the Mary Heary Tall Tales Contest. It was a great chance for participants to use creative ways to add some fun and exaggerations to their stories. We had three contestants and one winner!
Participants:
– Krista Rowan
– Gordon Vuong
– Bahareh Tehrani
And the winner was: Krista Rowan
Krista will be competing against the best tall tale-tellers from Toastmasters clubs in the Oakville area. Congratulations Krista!
2018 Humorous Speech Contest
Glen Abbey will be hosting it’s Club Humorous Speech Contest on November 21st, 2018.
What is A Humorous Speech?
Humorous Speeches are 5 to 7 minutes long. They should be thematic in nature (having an opening, body, and close), contain original content, use clean humour, and not be a series of one liners. Vocal variety, gestures, and speech content all play a part in a successful humorous speech. They should be substantially original. Any quoted material must be identified during the presentation.
What is the Judging Criteria?
| Content (55%) | Delivery (30%) | Language (15%) |
| Speech Development | Voice | Appropriateness |
| Effectiveness | Manner | Correctness |
| Speech Value | ||
| Audience Response |
Parliamentary Procedure
2019 Area 83 International Speech & Evaluation Contests
On Thursday February 7th, members of the Glen Abbey Toastmasters club competed in the Area 83 Evaluation and International Speech Contest. The competitors were selected from 4 Toastmasters clubs in the Oakville area: Horizon, Sheridan Bruins of Oakville, Own the Moment, and of course our very own Glen Abbey Toastmasters!
Zehra Raza and Richard Kitney represented Glen Abbey in the Evaluation Contest. Yas Sakka and Zehra Raza represented us in the International Speech Contest.
Zehra was selected as the winner of the Evaluation contest and was second place finalist in the Evaluation Contest. Zehra will go on to compete in the Evaluation Contest on March 19, 2019.
Congratulations to all the Area 83 Speech and Evaluation Contest Competitors and Winners!
2019 International Speech & Evaluation Contests 2019
International Speech Contest & Evaluation Contest 2019 was held on January 16th, 2019 at Glen Abbey Toastmasters Club. The Winners of the first and second places will represent our Club at the Area 83 International Speech contest and Evaluation contests.
Congratulations to all the winners, listed below.
INTERNATIONAL SPEECH CONTEST
1st Place: Zehra Raza
2nd Place: Yas Sakka
3rd Place: Sema Sajedinejad
EVALUATION CONTEST
1st Place: Zehra Raza
2nd Place: Keith Rabey
2018 International Speech & Evaluation Contests
Area 83 International Speech Contest & Evaluation Contest 2018 was held on February 21, 2018, and was hosted by our very own Glen Abbey Toastmasters Club. We are excited to announce that our members did very well in the contest. Congratulations Mikael Gatje who placed second in both the Evaluation and International contests, and Zehra Raza who placed third in the Evaluation contest. The Chair for the Evaluation was Sean Connor, who did a great job at running the contest and bringing energy to the evening.
Congratulations to all the winners, listed below.
INTERNATIONAL SPEECH CONTEST
1st Place: Esmy Jensen (Trafalgar Toastmasters)
2nd Place: Mikael Gatje (Glen Abbey Toastmasters)
3rd Place: Silke Lambert (Horizons Toastmasters)
EVALUATION CONTEST
1st Place: Renata Noronha (Trafalgar Toastmasters)
2nd Place: Mikael Gatje (Glen Abbey Toastmasters)
3rd Place: Zehra Raza (Glen Abbey Toastmasters)
Congratulations 2018/2019 Club Officers
President – Gordon Vuong
VP Education – Alisha Braund
VP Membership – Krista Rowan
VP Public Relations – Yas Sakka
Treasurer – Araceli Hernandez
Secretary – Muraad Shah
Sargeant At Arms – G. Merei
Past President – Rose Ford
Congratulations Keith Rabey – Distinguished Toastmaster
Glen Abbey Toastmasters Club Member Keith Rabey recently achieved a big Toastmasters milestone – his Distinguished Toastmaster designation.
What is a Distinguished Toastmaster?
The Distinguished Toastmaster is the highest award Toastmasters bestows. The DTM recognizes a high level of achievement in both the communication and leadership tracks in the Toastmasters education program. To be eligible for the award, you must have completed / earned the following (links take you to details at Toastmasters International):
Communications Track
- Competent Communicator
- Advanced Communicator Bronze
- Advanced Communicator Silver
- Advanced Communicator Gold
Leadership Track
- Competent Leader
- Advanced Leader Bronze
- Advanced Leader Silver
Keith joined Toastmasters in 2009, and over the last 6 years completed over 75 speeches at Glen Abbey, at other clubs, and at District 86 events. In addition, he held roles as the Glen Abbey Toastmasters Club VP PR, Club President, and Area Director.
Thoughts On Toastmasters
I joined Toastmasters with the goal to improve my public speaking and particularly my interviewing skills. Table Topics was instrumental in helping me achieve that goal. Over time I have become much more confident and able to stand up and deliver speeches in many situations in my personal and professional life.
One of the surprises I found with Toastmasters was the leadership component of the program. I took on leadership roles on the executive of GATM and went on to become an Area Director serving and leading 5 clubs in Mississauga.
Many individuals have helped me along the way. I would like to say Thank You to all, who have applauded when I spoke, who have provided verbal or written evaluations. Thank you to all who have encouraged me with “good job Keith!” or a friendly pat on the back. This is what Toastmasters is all about, as safe supportive environment to learn and develop.
I actively promote Toastmasters when the opportunity presents itself and encourage everyone to sign up and take advantage of this fantastic program!
Halloween 2017
A fun halloween-themed meeting was held at the GATM on November 1st, 2017. Our members were dressed up in great Halloween costumes and shared ghoulsidh stories and spook-tacular evaluations. What a fun night!
2017 – Area 83, Division D – Table Topics & Humorous Club Contest
We cheered for Glen Abbey Toastmasters Humorous and Table Topics Club Contest winners, Zehra Raza and Srini Kesavan, as they represented our club at the Area 83 contest. After an exciting round of speeches, we are proud to announce that Zehra Raza was a 1st Place Winner in the Area Table Topics Contest and will be moving on to the Division level on October 18, 2017.
Congratulations Zehra!
Congratulations 2018 Humorous Speech Winners
Congratulations to the winners of the 2018 Humorous Speech Contests.
First Place: Krista Rowan
Second Place: Richard Kitney
Congratulations 2017 Humorous & Table Topics Speech Winners & Participants
Congratulations to the winners of the 2017 Humorous Speech & Table Topics Speech Contests.
Humorous Speech Contest Winners
First Place: Zehra Raza
Second Place: Srini Kesavan
Third Place: Keith Rabey
Table Topics Contest Winners
First Place: Srini Kesavan
Second Place: Frederique Herel
Third Place: Zehra Raza
2017 – 25th Anniversary Charter Party
Glen Abbey Toastmasters is celebrating it’s 25th Anniversary – 1992-2017
Join us for a celebration dinner on Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at Tavolo Restaurant in Oakville.
Dinner will include:
Complimentary Cocktail
Antipasti – Mixed Greens Salad OR Caesar Salad OR Soup
Entrée – Chicken Supreme OR Tagliatelle Bolognese OR Margherita Pizza
Coffee OR Tea
Celebration Dessert
Tickets are available at all Glen Abbey Toastmasters meetings or by emailing info@glenabbeytoastmasters.org
To current and past members – we’d love to have you join us to commemorate 25 years of learning, speaking, leadership, and great friendships.
Congratulations 2017 Mary Heary Tall Tales Contest Winners & Participants
Congratulations to the winners of the recent Mary Heary Tall Tales Contest – (left to right) Keith Rabey – 3rd place; Srini Kesavan – 1st place; Richard Kitney – 2nd place.
And To All Our Competitors – It Takes Courage To Compete! – (left to right) Keith Rabey, Richard Kitney, Zehra Raza, Srini Kesavan, & Chris Roode
Congratulations 2017 / 2018 Club Officers Elect
to our 2017/2018 Club Officers elect:
- President – Rose Ford
- Vice-President Education – Fatima Hussain
- Vice-President Membership – Lucy Martins
- Vice-President Public Relations – Zehra Raza
- Treasurer – Nancy Simonot
- Sergeant At Arms – Helena Karabela
- Secretary – Flora Sun
Congratulations Flora Sun
In November 2016, Flora Sun received her Competent Communicator designation. The Competent Communicator is the first speaking designation in the Toastmasters program and is achieved after creating, practicing and delivering 10 speeches with specific project goals. We asked her a few questions about her experience at Glen Abbey Toastmasters.
How long have you been a Toastmaster?
I have been a Toastmaster since January, 2015.
Why did you join Toastmasters?
Originally, I wanted to improve my English listening and speaking skills. With the help of Glen Abbey’s experienced club members, I improved my public speaking skills.
What have you learned from your Toastmasters journey?
I learned a lot from the Toastmasters. After every speech, I received constructive feedback from my evaluator and club members. Many experienced members took a lot of time to help me improve my tone and gestures and encouraged me to continue to practice my public speaking skills.
What surprised you about Toastmasters?
How really encouraging the environment is. After my first speech, I was waiting for the criticizing feedback, but instead – the evaluator was really encouraging and pointed out my strong points while gently and kindly mentioning areas that could be improved. This helped me a lot to continue to practice.
What do you like most about our club?
The really friendly encouraging environment. Many club members are not only excellent public speakers, but also the humorous performers.
Improv Night @ Glen Abbey Toastmasters
To close out 2016, Glen Abbey Toastmasters held an improv night – lead by Toastmaster Srini Kesavan. Lots of fun. Lots of laughs. Lots of antics.
There’s always someting fun happening here.
Maybe it’s time to join?