Things to remember:

• Don’t ease up on your marketing.
• Smash down on the gas in order to make it up the hill of the “bad economy”.
• If you ease up on your marketing, you will get passed by.

I was the Model Speaker for the evaluation contest. The way it works is this: I give a speech, all the contestants then go into a room and have 5 minutes to tidy up any notes they took during my speech and construct a format to deliver an evaluation. The contestants are brought back into the main room, one by one, each one not able to hear anyone’s’ evaluation until theirs is given.

Since I was giving this speech to two areas, I was evaluated by 5 people (3 from one area and 2 from another). I once again gave the speech, “Do the Right Thing”. It’s been refined down to some new details now, and they went over well tonight.

If I can continue to improve this speech, I may use it in the fall to compete in the Humorous Speech Contest. We’ll see how that goes. For now, I’m celebrating my 12th week straight in my 52 Week Speaking Challenge. Only 40 to go.

They were also having their International Speech and Evaluation contest. I was once again the Model Speaker. I have been using this as an opportunity to get out there and speak as well as visit as many clubs as I can this year. I’ve been very impressed with all the groups I’ve visited, and this was no exception. The room was full and everyone there was fantastic. I had a chance to stay after the meeting and mingle with a few of the members and I have to say, some of them are involved in some pretty cool things.

The speech was once again, “Do the Right Thing”, the story of my escapades on Valentines night this year. It’s great to see a speech grow and get better as I give it multiple times and get feedback. Today, the feedback dead on. I got two tips that I’m going to specifically work into the next revision.

If you’re in the Beaverton area and are looking for a good noon-time Toastmasters club, you should definitely check out Timber Talkers. As for me, I’ve completed 11 weeks in the 52 Week Speaking Challenge and only have 41 to go!

This is the second year in a row I’ve come up to Seattle to present for Eventsbella. Last April I came up and did a workshop on “The Unbreakable Rules of Marketing” which this workshop was based off, it was just focused on the individual as opposed to general marketing for companies, organizations and individuals.

The trip up was interesting. I went up Jessica, a friend of mine, and we had to leave Portland by 4:30am to make it up there in time. She drove the whole way up while I rechecked my slides and exercises in the car to make sure I was ultra-prepared to give everyone the best personal branding workshop ever. We had fun. By 7:00am, we were already passing the Tacoma Dome and recorded a video of us singing one of the great songs from the ’70s, “Love Will Keep Us Together” by Captain & Tennille.

The workshop was fantastic. It was held at the Bellevue Golf Course, so we had a spectacular view the entire day. The participants were a group of phenomenal people, all whom of which are extremely intelligent and talented in their own fields. We got to know each other very well during the workshop as we went through some exercises to help each one of us explore the unique qualities that make up our own personal brand.

After the workshop was over, Jessica and I headed back to Portland and made it back before 11:00pm blasting music and drinking cold water, all the way down.

Things to remember:

• Be #1 at what you do. Because whatever it is that you do, you have to do it well.
• If you’re in business only for money, you should get out!
• Do what you’re good at. It’s the best marketing you have.

Clackamas Stepping Stones is a club that’s over 20 years old. It’s fantastic with lots of wonderful members. Including that of Past International President of Toastmasters, Gary Schmidt. The club meets every Thursday evening.

I was the Model Speaker in their International Speech and Evaluation Contest. I gave a speech called, “Do the Right Thing”. It’s a funny (and true) story about my escapades on Valentines Day this year. I had a lot of room to animate every single detail of what happened that night, and it was a hit. I was actually taping my speech from one of the tables, and the two people who were sitting next to the camera were laughing so hard throughout the speech that I wasn’t able to clearly hear my audio.

I also have to say that the contestants in the contest gave me some great feedback that I’m going to incorporate in the next time I give this speech. It was a great experience and a fun night. I’ll likely be back again to visit that club.

Things to remember:

• Every single thing you do is marketing.
• Nothing you do is immune from the impression you make.
• Sweat the small stuff and the big stuff will follow.

The experience was great from the moment I walked in the door. The facility is very modern and the people very friendly. The Toastmasters group I was speaking to was a small, yet fun and lively group. I gave my speech on Leadership again. It really seems to be a well-liked and highly receptive speech.

I tried a few new additions to “Don’t Be a Goldfish”, including the story of how I begged my parents to buy my a puppy when I was young, promising them that I would take care of it. I guess I wasn’t convincing enough because I ended up with a goldfish.

I gave the leadership speech, “Don’t Be a Goldfish” again. It was my second time. I think I delivered more depth and detail to the analogies this time. The club seemed to have enjoyed it quite a bit.

I personally enjoyed a few things that I heard during the hour and a half I was there. Here are a few:

1) During something that they called the “Educational Moment”, which is a 2-3 minute mini-presentation by a member educating the rest of the group about something in particular, the lady delivering it said she went on a Kristy-cation” in which she vacationed by herself. I liked that.

2) The word of the day was “Prattle” which is defined as meaningless sounds. It’s a great word for a Toastmasters meeting which can have lots of prattle if the participants aren’t careful.

3) During one of the speeches, I learned you can sleep with sharks at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. How cool is that? www.aquarium.org/education/sleep-with-the-sharks

1. Accountability
   Rising above the circumstances and taking ownership to achieve the desired results.
2. Growth
   Knowing what areas you need to develop in and always striving for improvement.
3. Professionalism
   The level of excellence that we must uphold at all times.
4. Integrity
   Doing the right thing no matter what. Even when it’s not the easy way.
5. Communication
   Conveying information clearly and effectively.
6. Focus
   Practicing self-discipline in attending to a task.
7. Confidence
   Being comfortable and sure in your knowledge and skills.
8. Initiative
   Self-motivation to do what needs to be done.
9. Engagement
   Being fully committed to the client, team and project.
10. Knowledge
    Striving to learn, expand and to turn information into insight.

The homework for the team was to create a 3-4 minute presentation and choose 3 qualities from The Leadership Wheel and…

–Describe the quality and what it means as a leader
–Describe what it means in their work
–Describe how the company demonstrates this

We will be meeting again in March and I get to hear everyone’s presentation and we’ll also cover the first leadership quality, “Accountability”.