La Conférence de Printemps 2015 du District 61 s’en vient et l’équipe de la conférence vous prépare un événement bien spécial !

Ça se passera sous le thème “Country” au magnifique
Hôtel Fairmont à Montebello, le 24, 25, et 26 avril. 

Achetez vos billets dès maintenant en ligne et brisez vos chaînes. 

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Vous souhaitez développer vos talents d’orateur à Montréal dans un environnement bilingue? 

Venez nous visiter au Club St. Lawrence Toastmasters de Montréal ce mardi!

Voici le programme pour la soirée du 10 mars 2015.

The next speech and table topics area contest will be held at NDG Leaders Club on March 12nd. The contest will start at 6:30 PM. Entrance fee is $10.

St Thomas Church, corner Somerled / Rosedale, 4810 Rosedale

Église St Thomas, coin Somerled / Rosedale, 4810 Rosedale

Le concours de discours et d’improvisations aura lieu le 12 mars au club NDG Leaders à 18h30.  Le coût d’entrée est de $10.

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Vous êtes intéressés à découvrir Toastmasters? Visitez-nous ce mardi!

Voici le programme pour la soirée du 3 mars 2015.

Come attend the St-Lawrence Toastmasters meeting of Tuesday February 17 as it will be a special meeting not like our usual weekly meetings. We will be holding a club contest (i.e. Toastmasters International Speech contest and Table Topics contest).

Although it won’t be in the standard weekly Toastmasters meeting format, it will nevertheless be quite interesting to check out. For example, this is how the Table Topics contest usually unfolds:

Table Topics is about developing your ability to organize your thoughts quickly and respond to an impromptu question or topic (as described on the Toastmasters International website).

In this contest, the contestants will have 1 to 2 minutes to provide an answer to a topic given to them “on the spot”. Here is an excerpt of the rules:

1. All contestants shall receive the same topic, which shall be of a general nature.
2. The topic shall be of reasonable length, shall not require a detailed knowledge, and shall lead to an opinion or conclusion.
3. Contestants will receive no advance knowledge of the topic until the moment they are introduced by the contest chair.
4. When the contest begins, all contestants except the first shall leave the room.
5. Introduce each contestant by announcing the contestant’s name, the topic, the topic, the contestant’s name.
6. At the conclusion of each speech, the next speaker shall be invited into the room.

*** What makes it interesting for us as audience members is that we get to hear different answers to one same topic question. We will perhaps imagine, “If I had been asked that question, how would I have answered it?”, which can lead to an ever greater appreciation of how each contestant answers the question. We’ll probably also pick out the common points between each contestant’s answer, as well as marvel at hearing any specific or particular points that make each answer stand out. This is a great learning experience because it allows us to, in a sort of indirect way, “learn through osmosis”. ***

Here is the current program of the evening. Good luck to all the contestants!

P.S. And for the contestants, here is a useful post on Tips for preparing for Toastmasters Table Topics.

We would like to welcome Alejandro, the newest addition to the St-Lawrence Toastmasters Club.

Nicholas (club President) welcomes Alejandro to St-Lawrence Toastmasters

Are you looking for a bilingual Toastmasters club in Montreal?  Feel free to come visit us!

Here is the programme for the Toasmasters meeting of February 10, 2015.

La semaine dernière nous avons eu le privilège d’accueillir plusieurs invités à notre club Toastmasters.  À la fin de la réunion, notre webmestre a demandé à l’une des invitées comment elle avait trouvé notre club sur internet. 

Normalement nous aimons pouvoir être en haut des résultats de Google, par exemple lorsqu’on cherche par des mots clés tels que “toastmasters montréal” ou “parler en public montreal”.  Toutefois cette invitée a mentionné qu’elle avait eu de la misère à nous trouver parce qu’elle cherchait spécifiquement un club Toastmasters bilingue à Montréal.

Cela nous indique alors que nous devrions parler plus fréquemment du fait que notre club est bilingue.

Commençons donc dès maintenant…

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Cherchez vous un club Toastmasters bilingue à Montréal pour vous aider à mieux vous exprimer en public?

Venez nous rendre visite!

Voici le programme pour la soirée du 3 février 2015.

Since the theme of our next Toastmasters meeting will be “Teachers”, we felt it might be fun to post the following TED Talk. (We actually wrote a post about it a few years ago, but it continues to inspire us, just like many teachers do!) 

This is a wonderful talk given by Sir Ken Robinson at a TED annual conference (TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design):

How schools kill creativity
“Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity“.

The duration of the presentation is about 20 minutes, which at first may seem long but is well worth it, especially for Toastmasters looking to be inspired by what an inspirational speech can do.  Sir Ken gives such a remarkable talk that after the first few seconds you can’t help but be absorbed by his speech.

This talk has so many points that can inspire a Toastmaster: a great beginning and end, humour, story-telling, excellent choice of words, clear organization, great persuasion.  All this communicated in a most effective manner.  Enjoy!

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Are you interested in knowing more about how Toastmasters can help you prepare your own inspiring speeches?  Come visit our club located in Montreal!

Here is the programme for the Toastmasters meeting of January 27, 2015.

Do you sometimes get nervous preparing a speech, afraid that you will forget what you need to say?

Do you sometimes actually forget some of the things you wanted to say during your speech?

Do you sometimes wish there was an easy and effective way to remember the key points of your speech?

Here is an interesting video giving some tips and hacks on helping to remember your presentation before you give a speech.

This video podcast is from The School of Greatness, where founder Lewis Howe interviews Jim Kwik, a renowned memory coach and learning expert.

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Are you interested in finding out how you can improve your public-speaking skills?  Come visit St-Lawrence Toastmasters Montreal!

Here is the Toastmasters programme for the meeting of January 20, 2015.

The educational program of Toastmaster is comprised of 10 modules structured to improve your speaking abilities.

The correct use of words is especially important when crafting your speech. Module number 4 “How to Say It” focuses precisely on that topic.  Using the right words is an important component in the credibility of your speech. The following article will help you avoiding common English words: 

40 Incorrectly Used Words That Can Make You Look Dumb

Don’t hesitate to apply it for your next speech! 

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Don’t hesitate to join us at our Toastmasters meeting in Montreal this Tuesday. Here is the programme for the evening of December 9, 2014.

Vous souhaitez vous exprimer plus aisément en public? 

Toastmasters est l’environnement idéal pour vous exercer et développer vos talents d’orateurs à votre rythme! 

Pour en savoir plus, n’hésitez pas à visiter notre club Toastmasters à Montréal.

Voici le programme Toastmasters de la soirée du 25 novembre 2014.

The upcoming Toastmasters meeting will be in the form of a special debate night.

As described in a post by the Lagoon Toastmasters Club in the UAE:

“Debating is an art which provides an outstanding opportunity to develop the three basic abilities of the Toastmasters “Better Thinking, Listening and Speaking” motto.

In this regard debaters must listen to the opposing arguments, learn to think very quickly, and express ideas in an attractive convincing manner which, in part at least, forms the basis of an impromptu speech.”

“A debate is a friendly, enjoyable and beneficial argument between two teams – a stimulating battle of wits – which should entertain the audience.

A speakers matter, manner and method is important and they will be judged by what they say, how effectively they say it and how well their speeches are organised and inter-related.

A good speech is one which has excellent arguments and examples relevant to the team case and rebutting the points put forward by the other side.”

Here are some pointers that the participants will be following.

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Feel free to come join our Toastmasters meeting in Montreal for this interesting activity.  Here is the programme for the evening of November 18, 2014.