Arizona's Toastmasters International |
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District 3 Toastmasters Spring Conference |
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MAY 21-23, 1999, GRACE INN, AHWATUKEE, AZ |
Conference Agenda FRIDAY, MAY 21
SATURDAY, May 22
OPENING CEREMONIES 8am
EDUCATIONAL SESSIONS
EVENING BANQUET
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Six Evaluators will compete to determine who can give
the best evaluation of the test speech. These six evaluators have previously
won evaluation contests at the Club, Area, and Division levels. Now, they
will compete for the District 3 Best Evaluator title.
The Evaluation Speech Contestants will be judged by a team of trained judges
using the following criteria:
• Analytical Quality of Evaluations (Clear, Focused)
for a possible 40 points.
• Recommendations (positive, specific, helpful) for
a possible 30 points.
• Technique (sympathetic, sensitive, motivational) for
a possible 15 points.
• Summation (concise, encouraging) for a possible 15 points.
Here’s the test speech. How would you evaluate it?
HOLD ON TO YOUR DREAMS
By: Susan Wallace
"I HAVE A DREAM." Mr. Toastmaster, fellow Toastmasters,
and most welcome guests, I was only a child when I heard Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. say those words. Even as a child, I knew that I was hearing one
of the most inspirational and stirring speakers of our century. His face
glowed with promise when he described his dream, and when he gave the sweet
invitation, "Won’t you come and dream with me?", hundreds and thousands
of people said yes, "I’ll dream that dream". Hundreds and thousands of
people worked to make the dream a reality, and hundreds and thousands of
people still do dream that dream, and work to make it a reality long after
the dreamer is gone.
Do you have a dream? Perhaps your dream is as big
and beautiful and noble and worthy as the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. Perhaps your dream is smaller, more personal, but I’ll bet you have
a dream. Do you remember what your dream is? Do you remember wanting to
be a fireman when you were 5 years old? Or a movie star, or a teacher.
Do you remember the dream that you held when you were a teenager and were
forming the plan for your life? Do you have a dream now?
I’m here to encourage you to blow the dust off of those
dreams. Remember them, examine them, and determine if any of them are worthy
of becoming goals. As a manager in my company told me only a few days ago,
"A goal is only a dream with a schedule assigned." As I spell the word
"DREAM", won’t you come and dream with me? Hold on to your dreams.
D Dispel your Delusions. I have a friend
who is a Zen Buddhist. Years ago, I asked him what Buddhism is all about.
He said that there are 4 great vows, and the second is, "However numerous
my delusions are, I vow to extinguish them all." I said that I’m fond of
my delusions and don’t want to extinguish them. At that time, I didn’t
know the difference between a dream and a delusion. The dictionary definition
is very similar for both. A delusion is defined as a "false belief". A
dream is "a fantasy, a reverie, a series of thoughts by the unconscious
mind." Don’t they sound similar? Here’s a story to illustrate the difference.
I knew a young man who dreamed of becoming an Astronaut.
A noble and worthy dream. Instead of obtaining a degree in science, as
an Astronaut must do, and getting the physical training that an Astronaut
must have, and learning to fly an airplane, as an Astronaut must, the young
man spent all of his time playing Atari. He thought that because he played
Atari so well, the Government was going to snatch him up and admit him
into the Astronaut program. Most people would agree that this was a delusion.
Dispel your delusions, pull them up like weeds from your
garden so that there is room for the flowers to grow. Dispel your delusions.
Hold on to your dreams.
R Take the Risk of Ridicule. When you tell
other people your dreams, you take a risk, a risk that they will laugh,
or tell you that you can’t do it, or even come against you to stop you
from fulfilling your dream. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., took the risk,
even of death. Is your dream worthy of taking a risk for? Examine your
dream, and if it is worthy, Hold on to your dreams.
E Expend the Effort. I have a friend who
wanted to become an author. He wanted to write historical novels like James
Michener. He took a series of small steps to realize his dream. He obtained
a degree in history. He read historical novels and studied their form and
style, the way they were put together. He joined a writer’s guild so that
he could receive the evaluations of other people on his writing. He wrote
outlines of the books he would like to write and researched those outlines.
He contacted a publisher and sold his concept to the publisher. Today,
I hold in my hand his twelfth published historical novel. It’s a dream
come true for Jack Cavanaugh. As the old Southern saying goes, "Sometimes
you have to put feet to your prayers." Expend the effort. Hold on to your
dreams.
A Get the Agreement of Others. Do you think
that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s dream would have ever come true if he
had not sweetly asked, "Won’t you come and dream with me?"? He got the
agreement of others. And hundreds and thousands of people dreamed that
dream and worked to make it a reality, and still do. If you’ve examined
your dream and it is a worthy dream, you will need the help of others to
make it a reality. Get the Agreement. Hold on to your dream.
M Meditate on your dream. The book, "Creative
Visualization" by Shakti Gawain supports the theory that words and thoughts
have energy. She says to give energy to your dream. Tell your dream to
others. Write it down. Visualize it in vivid detail. Put it in a pink bubble
and let it float into the universe. Give energy to your dream. The Bible
lends support to this practice when it says in Phillipians 4:8, "Whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just,
whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things
are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise,
think on these things." Meditate on your dream. Hold on to your dream.
Dispel your delusions. Hold on to your dreams. Take the
risk of ridicule. Hole on to your dreams. Expend the effort. Hold on to
your dreams. Get the agreement of others. Hold on to your dreams. Meditate
on your dream. Hold on to your dreams. If you follow these steps, someday
you may well wake up to realize that your dream has become a reality. I
have a dream. Do you have a dream? Won’t you come and dream with me? Hold
on, hold on, hold on to your dreams.
Please feel free to send comments on this speech to
our test speaker, Susan Wallace, at ButterflyBzz@msn.com.
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