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?
Congratulations Reema Duggal – Distinguished Toastmaster
Glen Abbey Toastmasters Club Member Reema Duggal recently achieved a big milestone: the
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:
Communications Track
- Competent Communicator
- Advanced Communicator Bronze
- Advanced Communicator Silver
- Advanced Communicator Gold
Leadership Track
- Competent Leader
- Advanced Leader Bronze
- Advanced Leader Silver
Achievements
Reema joined Toastmasters in 2010, and over the last 6 years:
- Completed over 75 speeches at Glen Abbey, at other clubs, and at District 86 events
- Held the roles of:
- Glen Abbey Toastmasters Club Vice President Public Relations
- Glen Abbey Toastmasters Club President
- Toastmasters District 86 Area 35 Governor
- She also led the Toastmasters District 86 Member Communications and Engagement Committee, and received the District 86 Legacy Award for her vision and foundational work in designing the District 86 communication strategy / channel.
Thoughts On Toastmasters
Reema says “Toastmasters is one of the best things I have ever done. The program is exceptional and the peer2peer format creates a very supportive and positive environment for everyone to become better at public speaking and leadership. I encourage everyone to come to a meeting to see what it’s all about.”
Next Steps? “I’m thinking about what I have to do to become an Accredited Speaker, but that will take another few years. I’m in no rush. In the meantime, I hope to be able to mentor new club members and help the club celebrate our 25th Anniversary in 2017.”
2024 Update
Reema left Toastmasters for a few years, but returned in 2022. I missed the opportunity to speak and get feedback. So I am here again – and I started the Toastmasters Program from the beginning. The curriculum is new – it’s now called Pathways. But more importantly, I missed the mentoring of new speakers as they embark on their journey.
GATM Workshop: The Art Of Effective Evaluation
The Art of Effective Evaluation is a workshop designed to help Toastmasters develop the knowledge, motivation, and skills you need to become more effective evaluators.
- Don’t understand all the parts of an evaluation? This workshop willl help.
- Don’t understand how to evaluate to motivate? This workshop will help.
- Uncomfortable about giving an evaluation? This workshop will help.
Over two hours, we will work through these objectives:
- Recognize the purpose and value of effective speech evaluation
- Discover ways we can improve our evaluations skills- individually, professionally and with Toastmasters
- Understand how effective evaluations help everyone – the speaker, the evaluator, the audience, and the club
Presenter
- Reema Duggal, DTM
Congratulations Tony Corrie & Srini Kesavan
Congratulations Tony and Srini. You made Glen Abbey Toastmasters very proud by taking first and second place in the Area 35 Speech Contests. Good luck at District finals!
President’s Message
At Glen Abbey Toastmasters, people with similar communication and leadership goals and interests come together to support, guide and encourage each other. We are a welcoming, diverse community where you can make connections with friends and mentors.
With 2017 as the 25th anniversary of our founding, the club’s continued success has been the result of the contributions of talented and dedicated members and the energy and leadership of executive committee members through the years.
I’m very excited and honoured to be President for 2016/2017 year. I invite you to explore what we to offer you through our website and discover what sets us apart from other Toastmaster clubs. Want to experience one of our meetings for yourself?
Join us at an upcoming meeting as our guest and don’t hesitate to contact us with your questions.
Best Regards
Wendy Rintoul
President, Glen Abbey Toastmasters
Congratulations To Our 2016/2017 Executive
Glen Abbey Toastmasters recently held Club Elections for the 2016/2017 season. Congratulations to the following members who ran for election and will be leading our club next year:
- President – Wendy Rintoul
- Vice-President Education – Rose Ford
- Vice-President Membership – Tariqul Islam / Liz Akey
- Vice-President Public Relations – Sushila Pereira / Beverly Roberts
- Treasurer – Kevin Chisholm
- Sargeant At Arms – Flora Sun / Maha Mansoor
- Secretary – Helena Karabela
2016 International Speech and Evaluation Contest
2016 Area 35 Contest Winners – Evaluation Contest: Reema Duggal (1st place) and
International Speech Contest: Tony Corrie (1st place)
2016 Glen Abbey Toastmasters Club International Speech Contest Winners
Srini Kesavan (3rd place), Tony Corrie (1st place), and Frederique Herel (2nd place)
2016 Glen Abbey Toastmasters Club Evaluation Contest Winners
Sean Connor (2nd place) and Reema Duggal (1st place)
2016 Glen Abbey Toastmasters Club International Speech Contest Participants
Srini Kesavan, Kevin Chisholm (Chair), Chris Roode, Tony Corrie, Jack Jagernauth (Chief Judge), Frederique Herel, Mike Kozak, and Wendy Rintoul
2016 Glen Abbey Toastmasters Club Evaluation Contest Participants
Jack Jagernauth (Chief Judge), Nicole Wong (Chair), Sean Connor, Reema Duggal,
Danny Zhang, and Mike Kozak
2015 Holiday Meeting – Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Glen Abbey Toastmasters will be hosting their annual Holiday meeting again this year – Chaired by Toastmaster Tony Corrie. This year, we’re going to be doing a spin on the popular tV series “Whose Line Is It Anyway” – the ultimate impromptu speaking event. If you’re not familiar with the program – check out these videos on YouTube
Major Achievement
Congratualations to Toastmaster Reema Duggal on achieving her Advanced Communicator Silver award.
The Advanced Communicator Silver is the second highest award in the Advanced Communication Series and requires the Toastmaster to complete the Competent Communicator manual, as well as four other advanced communication manuals.
It is truly a difficult and long path that Reema Duggal has travelled!
Next stop: Advance Communiator Gold. Good Luck!
A Beginning and An End
Cheers to new Toastmaster Nicole Wong as she delivered her first speech and began her journey towards Competent Communicator. Wish you the best of luck and hope you enjoy your journey.
Congratulations to Toastmaster Roberto Fazio as he deliveried his tenth speech and achieved Competent Communicator. Cheering you on as you work towards the next level of certification: Advanced Communicator Bronze.
Halloween 2015
We held out annual Halloween themed meeting – Monster’s Ball – on October 28, 2015. Everyone got into the spirit wearing their orange, black, purple, and masks. As always, it was lots of fun with spooky tales, haunting music, candy – and of course great speeches from great Toastmasters!.
Toastmasters Experience – Ross Cree
This is what Toastmaster Ross Cree, winner of the 2015 Club Humorous Speech Contest and runner up at the 2015 Area B-35 Humorous Speech Contest has to say about his Toastmasters experience:
“Just wanted to share my experience competing in the Humorous Contest 2015 at our club and area levels. I have to say that if you asked me when I joined GATM in 2013 that I would actually be competing in any speaking contest, I would say that you were crazy. Through the Toastmasters program and the support of a great club like GATM I had soon mustered enough confidence to sign on to compete. It was quite a surprise to myself to place first at the club level and second at the area level. I could not have done it without the encouragement and coaching of the members at this club!”