Stuttgart Int'l Toastmasters Club

The district 59 newsletter is out !

In this edition, you will learn about the new leadership team for the Toastmasters organization in Europe and read about interesting stories from clubs in Eastern Europe !

Another Toastmasters year has begun on July 1. The Stuttgart International Toastmasters Club has entered the 41st year of its storied existence.

On June 30, 2011, the club has elected the following new officers:

President: Gisela Plieseis
Vice president of Education: Rudy Moralez
Vice president of Public Relations: Max Dynin
Vice president of Membership: Joerg Marquardt
Secretary: Dominique Lutzke
Treasurer: Wolfgang Ulmer
Sergeant at Arms: Herve Marcy

The club would like to express its thanks to the outgoing officers, who so ably led the club last Toastmaster year:

President: Herve Marcy
VP, Education: Kelly Brown (acting VP Education: Rudy Moralez)
VP, Membership: Monique Raster
VP, Public Relations: Joachim Schwarz
Secretary: Dominique Lutzke
Treasurer: Gisela Plieseis
Sgt. At Arms: Greg Stephens

The Clarion is the half-yearly newsletter for the Toastmasters of Continental Europe. The volume 13 is out now. Enjoy this interesting and inspiring newsletter !

The Clarion is the newsletter of the District 59 Toastmasters. Enjoy the last edition !

The Division F Contest will be held May 8th. It will take place in the Wiesbaden area (a specific location was not yet
announced) with a scheduled start time of 11:00.

We will keep you informed as soon as we will receive more details.

You can now find at the bottom of our Program page to which District, Division and Area our club belongs. This means that the Division F contest will see the best speakers from a large and very populated area from Düsseldorf to Stuttgart. This will be an exciting event !

The Clarion is the e-magazine of the district 59 Toastmasters.

A special edition has been published at the end of this year 2009. This edition will introduce you all the people who make Toastmasters run as an organization in the district 59, such as area governors, division governors, etc. and who are the persons behind these roles.

This past weekend (Nov 20-22) our Club President Kelly Brown and VP of Education Amy S. Hamilton were able to represent the Stuttgart International Club at the District 59 Conference held in Hamburg.

First, to cover business, our club did not support the new incentive programm, feeling the incentive program gives advantages to the stronger clubs and the weaker clubs with fewer members will continue to fall behind.

The competition in Hamburg was amazing and the level of speakers outstanding. On Saturday night John Zimmer of Zurich made a sweep and was first place in both the English Table Topics and English Humerous Speech contest (which he won for the second year in a row).

The educationals at the conference both Saturday and Sunday were excellent and very informative.  There were a variety of topics and something for everyone.

Hamburg itself is a great city with a lot to see and do. It was fun to go around and see things like the Fish Market and St. Michaels church.

The next District Conference is 2-4 June in the Hague Netherlands – sign up early.

The conference hotel is right on the beach — it should be entertaining as well as educational.

Olivier is one of the club’s most active members. He has accepted to answer our questions and give some insight into what Toastmasters has changed in his life.

Stuttgart International Toastmasters Club: Please, introduce yourself to our readers !
Olivier: My name is Olivier, I am 33 years old and work as a project manager. I am French and have been living  in Germany for more than a year now.

SITC: How have you heard of Toastmasters ?
Olivier: By word of mouth: A German friend asked me to come with him to a regular meeting in the Freiburg Fritz Club. I followed him… and came to the following meetings afterwards!

SITC: What has been your Toastmasters track so far ?
Olivier: I joined Toastmaster for the first time at the Freiburg Fritz Club, in Germany. This was in 2003. I had a 2 years’ break and came back in 2006. For professional reasons, I had to move  to the Stuttgart area for a couple of months in 2007 and visited the Stuttgart Club. Then in 2008, I returned to my home club in Freiburg, but not for a long time…. because I had to move once more to Stuttgart, but this time for good! So logically, I joined the Stuttgart Club where I am now.

SITC: What are your goals for this Toastmasters year ?
Olivier: In my job I don’t speak so much English now. So we could say, Toastmasters helps me to maintain my level, although this is not the main aim of this organization. I would also like to finish my Communication and Leadership Program before the end of this year, so that I could earn the Competent Communicator (CC) Award.

SITC: What were your expectations when you joined ? Have you filfulled them ?
Olivier: There were no real expectations. I’d rather say a discovery.

SITC: What do you like best in Toastmasters ?
Olivier: When you speak at Toastmasters, risks are non-existent. You are allowed to make mistakes. This helps you a lot if you need to build up your self-confidence, which is essential for public speaking.

SITC: Have you made significant progress ? In which field?
Olivier: Curiously enough with Toastmasters, I have definitely overcome my fear of speaking  in a foreign language in front of other people. I really worked on my self-confidence. It was the most important thing for me. The next step will be my pronunciation.

SITC: Do you have an example of a real  situation in your life where your Toastmasters skills were helpful ?
Olivier: You have got 10 minutes to convince an Austrian, a Japanese and an Englishman in front of you that you are the best choice for the job they offer. I didn’t get the job, but I got my message through! Without Toastmasters, it wouldn’t have been possible.

SITC: What do you think is required to become a successful Toastmaster ?
Olivier: Nothing special. Just preparation, self-confidence and willingness.

SITC: What do you like best about the Stuttgart International Toastmasters Club ?
Olivier: The Stuttgart Club is a very good group, homogeneous and very dynamic. People come from all over the world with different backgrounds and different objectives. It is very motivating.

SITC: What would you tell a person reading these lines and hesitating to come to a meeting as a guest?
Olivier: You have nothing to lose but everything to win. So just try!

SITC: Do you want to add anything?
Olivier: Hmm… No, not really!

Thanks Olivier for this great interview ! We are sure that you will become Competent Communicator this year !