On Monday evenings, people all over the country tune their TV sets to ABC TV to watch the popular show “Dancing With the Stars” where celebrities are paired with professional dancers to the delight of the audience. There is emphasis on the music, the artists, the panel of judges; even the skimpy costumes!
Not everyone tunes in. There is a dedicated group of men who are incarcerated at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution who prepare a meeting room by heating water for coffee. They hang a banner and its accompanying ribbons. One will find an interesting new word for increasing vocabulary and they will prepare a list of duties to be performed at the gathering; they match names to duties in an organized, well orchestrated manner.
When it is time for the Toastmaster meeting to begin, men stream in across the yard from their housing units to come for a couple of hours of education and social time. The men are not the only ones who attend. There are three women who arrive through the Gatehouse to be a part of the meeting. Technically, the women are considered to be guests. None of the three considers herself a guest, however. We all three think we are just “another one of the guys.”
While Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris host their program, we have a Toastmaster who also serves as a host, with the help of his General Evaluator, Parliamentarian, Timer, Table Topics Master and, of course ,Speakers and Speech Evaluators.
As the panel of judges on Dancing With the Stars-Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, and Bruno Tonioli-doles out numbered scores, the evaluators in the meeting of LibOrators are diligently offering helpful, thoughtful, constructive evaluations to help others improve their speaking skills. By doing so, the evaluators are incrementally working their way through Leadership Manuals.
Having said that, the reality is--there is little comparison to the two activities. One is sheer entertainment. The other has much more value and that value is for the long term.
“Our” guys will take the speech projects, one at a time in any order they choose, and they will build a skill set that will serve them in their daily lives FOREVER. They will use their leadership to influence other prisoners in positive, constructive, helpful ways. For the Toastmaster members who make it to the streets, they can hold membership in clubs and continue their personal development for as long as they live! That is a long term plan!
As for Monday nights, our Area Governor, Irene Jones, and new member Velda Koehler and I will continue to wait patiently at the Gatehouse to be escorted to the meetings. When we are returned from the club’s activity, we will continue to gather outside to brag “our” guys up, note their progress and whether their shirttails were tucked in or their pants were pressed…and we will continue to be their motherly-or grandmotherly-cheering squad.
We could be anywhere on Monday nights. We could park on our sofas with big bowls of popcorn to be entertained by ballroom dancing. But that would never do for any of the three of us. We think the REAL entertainment lies in participating in the Monday night meetings of LibOrators 986233 at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution. We are so proud of our association with this club and we laud its members, as well as the Club Coordinator, for all the personal growth and development it has been our pleasure to witness over the past few years.
In our considered opinion, for Monday night’s lineup, the REAL STARS appear on TSCI-NE, not ABC-TV!
Connie Baum
Showing posts with label Toastmasters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Toastmasters. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
An Iota of Forgiveness
Escorted by a uniform officer, the three of us from the streets arrived at our meeting room at the prison amidst cheering and clapping. Every week we are greeted by this magnificent welcoming committee as we join our fellow LibOrators for the regular weekly meeting of Toastmasters, LibOrators at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution.
The Sargeant-At-Arms brought the meeting to order. There was a joke to bring the house down; there were the requisite reports from the officers, which included the word for the night: "iota" and any synonym which could be substituted to mean small. Then a hush fell over the room as the educational portion of the meeting got underway.
The first speaker was a seasoned orator. He has held every office, he has gone through every manual and he hopes to hit the streets soon. This was billed as his last speech to this club. He spoke eloquently of forgiveness. As he talked, I thought to myself how glad I was NOT to be his evaluator. His evaluator found himself in a place where it would be difficult to find anything in this speech to correct. He got a standing ovation when his 7 minutes were up. He was modest but you could see by his face that he was pleased to be recognized for his abilities to charm an audience with good content and confident presentation.
Speaker #2 was amazed to discover that Speaker #1 had chosen the same topic, unbeknownst to one another. He approached forgiveness in a completely different way. We felt his nervousness; this fellow is a novice who accepts responsibility for club leadership and prepares carefully for each speaking project in his manual.
There were other speeches, too; each was unique. We heard a man's first speech, The Ice Breaker, and his story wrenched our hearts. A veteran talked about the Viet Nam war-this man is very close to earning his first Competent Communicator Award. He made me so proud.
Even the evaluators did a great job of lovingly pointing out where improvements could be made and they impressed the Timer by using their alloted time but not taking too long!
The Table Topics Master invited some seasoned speakers, then some visitors and those visitors were positively inspiring to those of us who have done those nerve-wracking 2 minute thinking-on-your-feet exercises!
During our break I had a most interesting conversation about forgiveness with a man who is serving a life sentence. His attitude is remarkable. His life is a complete lesson for others to emulate, if they want to become their best selves. I marvelled to myself that I would hold in such high regard a man who will never leave the prison. At one time I would not have dreamed it to be possible. This man has decided to change the way he thinks, the way he behaves, the way he lives his life. He told me that it took a tragedy and this trip to prison to bring him to this place in his life. Now that he is IN prison, he can be a role model for other incarcerated men. How noble is he?
Even one iota of forgiveness could help any of us.
One way of addressing forgiveness is with The Healing Codes . If forgiveness is an issue for you or someone you love, I offer to you that you might seriously consider The Healing Codes .
Connie Baum
The Sargeant-At-Arms brought the meeting to order. There was a joke to bring the house down; there were the requisite reports from the officers, which included the word for the night: "iota" and any synonym which could be substituted to mean small. Then a hush fell over the room as the educational portion of the meeting got underway.
The first speaker was a seasoned orator. He has held every office, he has gone through every manual and he hopes to hit the streets soon. This was billed as his last speech to this club. He spoke eloquently of forgiveness. As he talked, I thought to myself how glad I was NOT to be his evaluator. His evaluator found himself in a place where it would be difficult to find anything in this speech to correct. He got a standing ovation when his 7 minutes were up. He was modest but you could see by his face that he was pleased to be recognized for his abilities to charm an audience with good content and confident presentation.
Speaker #2 was amazed to discover that Speaker #1 had chosen the same topic, unbeknownst to one another. He approached forgiveness in a completely different way. We felt his nervousness; this fellow is a novice who accepts responsibility for club leadership and prepares carefully for each speaking project in his manual.
There were other speeches, too; each was unique. We heard a man's first speech, The Ice Breaker, and his story wrenched our hearts. A veteran talked about the Viet Nam war-this man is very close to earning his first Competent Communicator Award. He made me so proud.
Even the evaluators did a great job of lovingly pointing out where improvements could be made and they impressed the Timer by using their alloted time but not taking too long!
The Table Topics Master invited some seasoned speakers, then some visitors and those visitors were positively inspiring to those of us who have done those nerve-wracking 2 minute thinking-on-your-feet exercises!
During our break I had a most interesting conversation about forgiveness with a man who is serving a life sentence. His attitude is remarkable. His life is a complete lesson for others to emulate, if they want to become their best selves. I marvelled to myself that I would hold in such high regard a man who will never leave the prison. At one time I would not have dreamed it to be possible. This man has decided to change the way he thinks, the way he behaves, the way he lives his life. He told me that it took a tragedy and this trip to prison to bring him to this place in his life. Now that he is IN prison, he can be a role model for other incarcerated men. How noble is he?
Even one iota of forgiveness could help any of us.
One way of addressing forgiveness is with The Healing Codes . If forgiveness is an issue for you or someone you love, I offer to you that you might seriously consider The Healing Codes .
Connie Baum
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Healthy Impact?
People are one of my passions. I crave people the way some crave chocolate or potato chips. Each person on the planet is unique, special and evolving.
To fuel my passion, I volunteer as the Sponsor for a Toastmasters Club at the local State Prison. Toastmasters is an international club and its purpose is to help men and women all over the globe to speak well, think on their feet, keep to a time frame, and express themselves well in business, in private conversation, and in the public eye. It is well structured and formulated to take any person through a series of manuals from the most basic skills to the most advanced, even professional, levels. Education is Toastmasters' cornerstone. New members quickly and simultaneously travel both the Communication and Leadership tracks.
Every meeting is delightful, entertaining, informative and exciting. Mondays are special because Monday is the regular meeting time for LibOrators 986233 at the Tecumseh State Correctional Facility.
But last night knocked our socks off!
The membership crowded cheerily into the small meeting room. The Sargeant At Arms and his assistants had arranged tables and chairs brought from other meeting rooms and set up everything in an orderly fashion. There was a pair of rosters to be signed as the members and guests entered the meeting, there was a pot of coffee and a cooler full of water. I am always impressed at how hospitable these inmates are! Hanging proudly from the ceiling at the front of the room was our club banner with all our hard-earned ribbons. The lectern and gavel were at the ready.
There were three of us from the streets, all women. One woman is our Toastmasters' Area Governor, another is a new member, and there is yours truly. Each of us is old enough to be these fellows' grandmothers. They treat us like royalty, bringing us coffee or water and refills and reminding us how glad they are we came for the meeting, asking about our weekends, smiling broadly and pumping our hands with firm handshakes.
Last night's speeches were quite varied. There was a comical speech about a pair of lost glasses. One man spoke about perspective. Another man somberly retraced his life, starting with a tragic accident-he had been a tricycle riding 5 year old, struck by a milk truck. One young man explained that his drug habit had begun under the thumb of his own parents, who encouraged him to experiment with marijuana.
The courage of his sharing that story so publicly was remarkable. No wonder he is making such long strides in his life; he is working diligently with Toastmasters as well as the 7th Step program in order to rehabilitate his life. He has recognized and honored his need and desire for change .
The Table Topics portion of the meeting was pure fun. Everyone had a chance to speak. It was lighthearted and the men encouraged one another throughout. The General Evaluation was deemed to be quite good. We all need to improve our grammar and lower our use of 'um' and 'y'know' with a bow to Caroline Kennedy.
The KICKER was that one of the members who came for a time, fell away and returned, told several of us that he had met with the Parole Board. He declared that without his Toastmasters experience, he would never have had the courage to face the Parole Board. With a big smile, he said, "I would have had my face to the floor. But because I have had Toastmasters to help me, I could look the people on the Board in the eye with confidence."
This underscores the impact that can take place when one follows his passion.
Another of my passions is health. I want to stay healthy for a very long time so I can continue my Monday 'ritual' of attending Toastmasters and seeing this kind of progress. I'll do that, of course, by following the regimen I have mentioned to you so many times on this blog. By now you understand you, too, can enjoy the vibrant good health I do by doing some or all of the things I have done.
HERE IS AN EXCELLENT PLACE TO BEGIN YOUR HEALTHY JOURNEY: The Healing Codes
Connie Baum
To fuel my passion, I volunteer as the Sponsor for a Toastmasters Club at the local State Prison. Toastmasters is an international club and its purpose is to help men and women all over the globe to speak well, think on their feet, keep to a time frame, and express themselves well in business, in private conversation, and in the public eye. It is well structured and formulated to take any person through a series of manuals from the most basic skills to the most advanced, even professional, levels. Education is Toastmasters' cornerstone. New members quickly and simultaneously travel both the Communication and Leadership tracks.
Every meeting is delightful, entertaining, informative and exciting. Mondays are special because Monday is the regular meeting time for LibOrators 986233 at the Tecumseh State Correctional Facility.
But last night knocked our socks off!
The membership crowded cheerily into the small meeting room. The Sargeant At Arms and his assistants had arranged tables and chairs brought from other meeting rooms and set up everything in an orderly fashion. There was a pair of rosters to be signed as the members and guests entered the meeting, there was a pot of coffee and a cooler full of water. I am always impressed at how hospitable these inmates are! Hanging proudly from the ceiling at the front of the room was our club banner with all our hard-earned ribbons. The lectern and gavel were at the ready.
There were three of us from the streets, all women. One woman is our Toastmasters' Area Governor, another is a new member, and there is yours truly. Each of us is old enough to be these fellows' grandmothers. They treat us like royalty, bringing us coffee or water and refills and reminding us how glad they are we came for the meeting, asking about our weekends, smiling broadly and pumping our hands with firm handshakes.
Last night's speeches were quite varied. There was a comical speech about a pair of lost glasses. One man spoke about perspective. Another man somberly retraced his life, starting with a tragic accident-he had been a tricycle riding 5 year old, struck by a milk truck. One young man explained that his drug habit had begun under the thumb of his own parents, who encouraged him to experiment with marijuana.
The courage of his sharing that story so publicly was remarkable. No wonder he is making such long strides in his life; he is working diligently with Toastmasters as well as the 7th Step program in order to rehabilitate his life. He has recognized and honored his need and desire for change .
The Table Topics portion of the meeting was pure fun. Everyone had a chance to speak. It was lighthearted and the men encouraged one another throughout. The General Evaluation was deemed to be quite good. We all need to improve our grammar and lower our use of 'um' and 'y'know' with a bow to Caroline Kennedy.
The KICKER was that one of the members who came for a time, fell away and returned, told several of us that he had met with the Parole Board. He declared that without his Toastmasters experience, he would never have had the courage to face the Parole Board. With a big smile, he said, "I would have had my face to the floor. But because I have had Toastmasters to help me, I could look the people on the Board in the eye with confidence."
This underscores the impact that can take place when one follows his passion.
Another of my passions is health. I want to stay healthy for a very long time so I can continue my Monday 'ritual' of attending Toastmasters and seeing this kind of progress. I'll do that, of course, by following the regimen I have mentioned to you so many times on this blog. By now you understand you, too, can enjoy the vibrant good health I do by doing some or all of the things I have done.
HERE IS AN EXCELLENT PLACE TO BEGIN YOUR HEALTHY JOURNEY: The Healing Codes
Connie Baum
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