Workshop on Mental Flexibility

Key Speaker: Dr. Pieter Kark, ACS, ALG, Coach, Area C3 Governor 2008-9
Location: Synopsys, Inc., 455 North Mary Ave., Building #2, Room: Lovelace — Sunnyvale, CA
When: Wednesday, May 4′th, 2011 – from 5:30pm to 8:30pm
Cost: $5.00
Seating: 20 max
Extras: Light supper and soft drinks will be served

Registration

RSVP by contacting Stephen Buckhout

stephen.buckhout@synopsys.com
(650) 584-4754

What You Will Learn

• Free yourself from unrecognized, subconscious, rigid attitudes
• Interpret information in flexible, open-mined ways
• Let go of snap judgments and labels that impede flexibility
• Develop semantic (verbal) flexibility
• Increase ability to think strategically, to have “conceptual fluency” and to think on your feet
• Build proficiency with practice during the workshop

Flyer

(click image below to enlarge)

Workshop Flyer

Technorati Tags: Mental Flexibility, Pieter Kark, Synopsys, Toastmasters, Workshop

To create short flexible videos like this one, go to LectureMaker’s design and purchase page

Ron Fredericks writes: “Redemption” is a short story by Megan Leney about Commander Michael Abrashoff’s tour of duty on the USS Benfold (DDG-65). Megan is the president of Securely Speaking Toastmasters club located inside Symantec’s Mountain View headquarters.

The video was directed by Ron Fredericks and produced by Alex Gershowitz in LectureMaker’s Sunnyvale Video Studio: http://www.lecturemaker.com/

I enjoyed watching the video because of Megan’s ability to highlight several key Annapolis leadership skills:

• Abrashoff followed first: he worked for William Perry, United States Secretary of Defense, before assuming command of his own ship;
• Abrashoff applied the three D’s of empowerment in building his crew’s competence and confidence (Decide, Delegate, and Disappear): so his crew and ship could pass inspection without having to be onboard himself;
• Abrashoff was able to build unity by prizing diversity: He called offending members of his crew and officer staff to task for not respecting racial diversity on one notable occasion which resulted in a lasting loyalty to him and his ship.

I invite the viewer to watch the full video presented by Megan to discover the true meaning of redemption. For those wanting to adopt leadership skills taught by the U.S. Naval Academy, I suggest reading W. Brad Johnson and Gregory P. Harper’s book “Becoming A Leader the Annapolis Way”:

Contact Mike Abrashoff

Technorati Tags: leadership, LectureMaker, Megan Leney, Michael Abrashoff, Naval Academy, Navy, Ron Fredericks, Securely Speaking Toastmasters Club, Toastmasters, USS Benfold

Area C5 Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contest

Date: September 28, 2010

Time: 6:00 to 9:30 pm

Price: $5 with online registration by 5pm Monday Sept. 27 ($7 at the door), includes light meal

Location: Hacker Dojo in Mountain View (see flyer and registration links for more details)

Photo Gallery

Registration link: Contest Registration Link

Flyer link: Contest Flyer

The Hacker Dojo
The event will be held at the Hacker Dojo in Mountain View. This is a great place to visit if you are interested in using your public speaking skills. There are many opportunities for public speakers at this non-profit facility:
The Hacker Dojo

Trophies for the Winners
This is what the contestants are going after!

Spicy Leaves Indian Cuisine
The event will include food provided by Spicy Leaves

4546 El Camino Real, Suite 5a Los Altos, CA (650) 948-9463 www.spicyleaves.com

Are you a Toastmaster?

Mention that you are a Toastmaster and bring this coupon to ask for a 20% discount on your next dinner at Spicy Leaves…

Event info also posted on district 4 web site:
http://www.d4tm.org/Events/contestSchedule.php

Technorati Tags: Area C5, District 4, evaluation, Event, Hacker Dojo, Humorous Speech, Ron Fredericks, Toastmasters

Ron Fredericks writes: Blue Cube Toastmasters Club recently held an open house to attract new members: Blue Cube Makes a Movie. The agenda for the open house was to make a movie. I directed, produced, and published this movie as a demonstration of what Blue Cube Toastmasters Club is all about.

Watch this movie to:

• Learn about Toastmasters International,
• Demonstrate how Toastmasters’ self-help public speech and leadership training works, and
• Show potential future guests and experienced Toastmasters what makes Blue Cube unique as a club worth visiting/joining.

Blue Cube Toastmasters Club presents: the movie

Background Notes

LectureMaker hosts the Blue Cube Toastmasters Club in its conference room. LectureMaker owns a professional video studio down the hall from its conference room, so it was only a matter of time before the club members got together to make a club movie.

The movie includes:

• Short prepared speeches in a virtual environment, by our club president, Gopal Patil
• Spontaneous “in your face” testimonials from Blue Cube members and Toastmaster dignitaries including Birgit Starmanns, District 4′s Public Relations Officer for 2010-11
• Extract from “What’s On Your Resume” prepared speech by our Division C Governor, Elaine Lung,
• Extract from “A Talk Show Interview” with expert advice from our Blue Cube’s club coach, Dr. Pieter Kark,
• Suzanna, a Bay Area open air musician, holds the diverse video segments together with one of her songs performed live at the Sunnyvale Farmers Market.

For more information on Blue Cube Toastmasters Club: http://bluecube.freetoasthost.com/

For more information on other clubs and activities in Toastmasters’ District 4: http://www.d4tm.org/

For more information on Toastmasters International world wide: http://www.toastmasters.org/

Special thanks to our VP of public relations for designing the original story board used to make this movie (back in 2008)

Special thanks to Suzanna, a Bay Area open air musician, for letting me adapt my filmed performance of her at the Sunnyvale Farmer’s Market back in August of 2009 for this video.

Technorati Tags: Birgit Starmanns, Blue Cube, Elaine Lung, Gopal Patil, LectureMaker, open house, Pieter Kark, Ron Fredericks, Suzanna, Toastmasters