Don’t pick on us introverts...

My upcoming Toastmasters project includes asking my club-mates to go to a website and read something, then go to another website and post comments so that I can compile information and give a speech on it. Someone posted a thought-provoking graphic, which I’ve added here (I don’t know where it came from, otherwise I’d credit it properly):

I appreciate the time and effort someone took to create this. A good amount of thought was put into it.

I believe that Toastmasters could use many of these in their meetings, some of which include:

• Never embarrass them in public. - Even though Toastmasters recommends the "Oreo" approach to evaluating a speaker (something good - something to improve - something good), many people feel that oral evaluations are embarrassing. What if we gave the speaker the choice of being evaluated orally at the meeting vs. orally in private?
• Let them observe first in new situations. - Toastmasters recommends that mentors be assigned and new members be nudged into speaking immediately. There are many who would be willing to take on a supporting role and not speak, and some have done just that... not doing a speech for months or even years.
• Give them time to think. Don’t demand instant answers. - This could be aimed at Table Topics (where a topic is given and you have to speak off the cuff for 1-2 minutes). People are supposed to be given the choice to opt out in advance by the Table Topics Master. Maybe this should be enforced more often by the Toastmaster (meeting conductor).

Well, I must get going. My guests are arriving... Have a great day!

Mother Nature’s not just PMSing... Take a hint

You know, there’s only so much that someone or something can take, let alone Mother Nature. The human race hasn’t been kind to her throughout our known existence. Take the recent Texas twisters.

Ron Krienitz on FaceBook shared the image above from The Weather Channel showing lightning surrounding a tornado as it touched down in Texas yesterday. The state saw 18 tornadoes, with as many as 13 raking the ground. The storm system that spun the Texas twisters is slowly moving east and expected to continue spreading havoc through Friday.

See the whole story here: http://news.discovery.com/earth/texas-tornado-throws-semi-trucks-120404.html?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews#mkcpgn=rssnws1

The 1996 movie Twister had fantastic visual effects, but I’ll bet downloads and rentals plummeted due to being able to witness “natural fury” firsthand.

Is the human race so self-centered and selfish (akin to the description of “locusts” from the also-1996 movie Independence Day) that we don’t see what’s happening RIGHT NOW to Mother Earth? How long can someone or something be abused before it turns on its attackers?

I know I’m not perfect. I’ve got a long way to go, but I do know how long it took me to wake up. How about you?