15 Minutes a Day

Archive for December, 2009

I joined a local Toastmasters club about a year-and-a-half ago in an effort to learn how to become a better public speaker. I have to say that I have been very impressed with BOTH of the education programs that Toastmasters offers. Most people know about the program to help members become better public speakers. However, most people don’t seem to be aware of the Leadership program as well. I’ll address the Leadership program in another blog posting…

The Communication Education Program works so well because it starts with the basics and builds on each speech after that. The first speech is called the “Ice Breaker” and the idea is to introduce the new member to the club. What does a speaker know more about than themselves after all?

I’ve heard experienced Toastmasters say that if a new member gets up in front of the group and tells them a bit about themselves, then the Ice Breaker is a complete success! I agree. The first barrier to overcome is the fear of the unknown. The unknowns in an Ice Breaker situation are how the members will react to the new member, and how the new member will make it through the 4-6 minutes. Once they see that green card signal that they have made the minimum 4 minutes they can stop talking and sit down and be considered a success. This does not apply to all speeches given in Toastmasters however…

Every Toastmaster gets an applause for giving a speech!

Each successive speech adds to the member’s experience level, arsenal of speaking techniques, and most importantly, adds to the member’s confidence level and expertise as a speaker. I’ve given 10 speeches at Toastmasters meetings and have seen a vast improvement in my presentation skills. Do I consider myself an expert yet? NO! I still have a long way to go, but Toastmasters provides a good course of action that can help me get to where I want to go.

Here’s an overview of both Toastmasters Education Programs >>>

Tomorrow – Building on the Ice Breaker…

Image Credits:

1. Cartoon found on The Top 10 Ways to Feel Confident About Public Speaking using Google Images.

2. Photo found on Salt Lake Toastmasters using Google Images.

The world’s smallest snowman…

My head is starting to clear after my concussion last week. My husband, Mom and Grandma all say I sound clearer (I guess I was slurring my words last week) and Mark (my hubby) says my eyes look clearer. I find this amazing considering how congested I’ve become in the last couple of days. As if a concussion & seizure wasn’t bad enough, life hands me a cold to deal with too!

I went to visit my neurologist on Monday & he ordered me to be off work until January 4, 2010. As I mentioned in my earlier post, my boss has been great about this. However, I now have a TON of paperwork to fill out and submit. Along with the stuff I can fill out for myself, there is also paperwork my neurologist has to fill out too. Too bad I didn’t have this with me on Monday. Oh well…

Image Credit: Photo found on Montgomery County, PA using Google Images.

I re-launched this site last Tuesday with the intent of making daily updates when life threw me a curve ball. The very next evening I was a suddenly chauffered (aka one ambulance ride later) guest of the Sutter Roseville Medical Center Emergency Department after having a grand mal seizure at a Wal Mart. I left the ER that evening with a goose egg on the back of my head, a concussion, and admonishments not to drive until checked out by a neurologist.  Since then I’ve been dealing with headaches, dizzy spells and sleeping a LOT.

Today was my appointment with my neurologist. He’s suspended my drivers’ license for six months (because of the grand mal seizure – it’s a state law that I actually find reasonable if hugely inconvenient) and put me on anti-seizure meds for the first time in 15 years. Ah well… mass transit is currently free for me and better for the environment. Right?

The bottom line is that I’m fine. Nobody else was hurt in my little healthcare crisis and an unknown good Samaritan was able to contact my husband (using my own cell phone) and tell him what was happening (Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!).

The other things that I’m grateful for are my WONDERFUL and supportive husband, Mark who has been nothing but positive all week; my very very good and comprehensive health insurance provided to me by my employer – Sutter Health; and last, but certainly not least – my incredibly understanding boss, Kathy Lummen, who has also been amazing over the past week (including trying to contact Mark on the night of the incident when the good Samaritan called her)! I’m a very lucky woman to have such wonderfulness in my life!!!

P.S. On top of everything above… I woke up congested this morning! I’m more irritated by the stuffy nose than by everything else!

I haven’t been blogging for most of 2009 for different reasons. First, it was just a crazy year between work and school and time just got away from  me. Second, I needed to re-think what I wanted to do with this space. Third, I had issues with my former web host and needed to get over my anger with that particular company. All I will say here about that is don’t host your site on HostPapa.com. They have the world’s worst customer service!

I’m sure that if I sit and think about it some more I’ll come up with other reasons, but that’s not important. What is important is what is going to fill this space going forward…

I am on my doctoral journey and have decided to get back to writing about that journey. Not everyone pursues a doctoral degree and it is an intense experience that I plan to share here with you. I will not only be talking about school. I will also talk about work, family, and my social activities. All of these are part of the journey and contribute to the experience – both good and bad.

In the meantime, please follow me on Twitter or look me up on Facebook. I’ve also been working on some new projects. Please check out Student Tech, Good-to-Great Toastmasters, and GO Speakers! Toastmasters. I’ve got some other stuff in the pipe as well and will share with you as time marches on.