Christchurch Toastmaster Sheila Hailstone DTM placed 2nd in the 2021 Toastmasters District 72 International Speech Contest.
Congratulations to Sheila Hailstone, right, presented here with her Silver Medal. Sheila, founder and current president of Christchurch Women’s Toastmasters, which meets weekly in Papanui, placed 2nd in District 72 for the International Speech Contest! The medals were presented on 22nd June at a special meeting of Avon Toastmasters in Christchurch.
Become a better business speaker: free lunchtime seminar 26th March in Papanui
A local public speaking group is hosting a free seminar for business people.
The 40-minute lunchtime seminar by Christchurch Women’s Toastmasters in Papanui will help anyone who needs to do presentations at work, or speak about their business in public.
Distinguished Toastmaster Sheila Hailstone MBA, a former European Training Manager and CEO, will present this free seminar at Christchurch Women’s Toastmasters’ Open Meeting Friday 26th March from 12.30 to 1:30pm.
The workshop will be held at The Village, 460 Papanui Road at the corner of Frank St. Free parking is available at the rear of the venue. Everyone is welcome.
Attendees will discover tips and techniques to improve their effectiveness when presenting in a business setting, including how to capture your audience’s attention in the first few moments, how to structure your presentation, and how to ensure you are communicating something of value.
Registration is recommended and can be done via Eventbrite here.
Need to do a business presentation but have no time to prepare? Learn how to cut your preparation time and present a powerful, well-structured speech that your clients will remember.
Have something important to say at a networking meeting but the moment it’s your turn, your legs turn to jelly and you just want to sit down?
Come along to this 40-minute lunchtime session sponsored by Christchurch Women’s Toastmasters. You’ll learn helpful pointers that will change your approach and improve your results.
Distinguished Toastmaster Sheila Hailstone MBA, a former European Training Manager and CEO, will present this free seminar at Christchurch Women’s Toastmasters’ Open Meeting Friday 26th March from 12.30 to 1:30pm. The workshop will be held at The Village, 460 Papanui Road at the corner of Frank St. Free parking is available at the rear of the venue. Everyone is welcome.
Tickets are free but registration is recommended. Secure your place by booking via Eventbrite. Click here to reserve your free ticket: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/become-a-better-business-speaker-free-lunchtime-seminar-tickets-143906402925.
Congratulations to Esther Skinner, winner of the 2021 Christchurch Women’s Toastmasters club Humourous Speech Contest!
Esther was competing in her first Humourous Speech Contest. She wasn’t even a member when we held our previous one, in September 2019! Esther came along to her first meeting in May 2020, attending online via Zoom due to pandemic restrictions on on-person meetings.
Esther’s performance shows that even new members have a chance when it comes to taking part in speech contests. Well done Esther!
Congratulations to everyone who took part. Second place winner was Lovey Ratima-Rapson (below, second from left), and third place went to Steph McDade (left).
Thank you to all the contest officials, especially Chief Judge John Ballantine of Bishopdale Toastmasters (above, right).
Our next and final contest of the Toastmaster year is the International Speech Contest which will be held at our meeting Friday, 26 February at 12.30pm. Visitors are always welcome! 🙂
If you think Christchurch Women’s Toastmasters may be for you, please join us at one of our meetings. Click here for details.
Fancy flexing that funny bone? Friday’s the big day as Christchurch Women’s Toastmasters will hold its 2021 Humourous Speech Contest.
All members of the club are welcome to compete. The Humourous Speech Contest is a 5-7 minute prepared speech that is designed to entertain the audience with humour.
Wondering if it’s worth it to compete? Think again! Last year, CWC member Laura Bruce won the club contest, and went on to with the District 72 Championship!
Good luck to all the competitors!
In this blog post, our President Sheila Hailstone reflects on the launch of her book and how Toastmasters has helped achieve this success. Enjoy!
It’s been quite a month. After a highly successful book launch in July, at Turanga (Christchurch Central Library), I was delighted when the ensuing media publicity resulted in Turanga purchasing 4 of my books for the Canterbury community. It just felt right, as if I was in this amazing circular community bartering system.
I paid the library to hire a room. People came, which created publicity, which resulted in an article in the newspaper. The publicity resulted in people in the community asking the library to purchase the books. The library purchased the books and I sent the money to Breast Cancer Cure to support their work in research. My objective of helping make deaths from this disease history in your lifetime became one step closer. My oncologist purchased the last printed book left over from my book launch. Yes, true! I sent $1900 to Breast Cancer Cure.
No, that’s not going to result in world-breaking research. But as the little boy once said, as he threw one starfish back in the water, on a beach covered in dying starfish, “it made a difference to that starfish.” We have no idea what the smallest action can result in. My efforts are ongoing, I am figuratively picking up more starfish.
My book Dancing Around Canceris on the Amazon Website and both the paper and e-book can be purchased through the Amazon US website. All the profits raised will go to Breast Cancer Cure. A dear friend in Germany, and a fellow cancer sufferer, sent me a message to say her book group will buy digital copies for their next book discussion. So you see more starfish …
I am also investigating getting the book printed here to save the cost of postage. So do let me know if you are interested in getting a copy this way.
We recorded my interview at the library book launch, with CWC Toastmaster and comedian Laura Bruce. I will be putting that on my website this week. So if you missed out you can still enjoy it on… www.cancer-cancan.com . (Remember the hyphen.)
If you’re not a member of our Christchurch Women’s Toastmasters group, why don’t you come and visit us? We meet every Friday at lunchtime. Meet my amazing team of women and find out why we were awarded top community-focused club in New Zealand for the past two years running.
Sheila Hailstone DTM
President CWC Toastmasters
Christchurch Women’s Toastmasters has welcomed a number of new members during the past few months. We’ve also had a number of visitors attend a meeting for the first time.
If you are thinking you may want to become a more confident speaker, you can be assured of a warm welcome at Christchurch Women’s Toastmasters Club. When you arrive someone will greet you, give you a name badge, ask you to sign the guest book, and then take you to a seat where you will find a meeting agenda. They’ll also ask if you are happy to speak if you are called upon, or if you would prefer not to speak just yet.
After the meeting, we like to go across the road for a coffee and a bit of conversation, and you will be invited to join us for this too.
If you have any questions about Toastmasters, please click here and send us a message. We will promise to give you a warm welcome, so don’t be afraid to come along. Try to arrive around 10 minutes prior to our 12.30 start time if you can, as this will give us time to get you properly settled in before the meeting begins.
We were delighted to get media coverage of our club’s recent achievements in the Nor’West News this week in Christchurch.
At the District 72 conference, our club won an award for having a positive impact on our community. It’s the second year we’ve won the Jack Duffy Memorial Rose Bowl.
Thanks to the Nor’west News for their interest in our community and our club!
Also at the conference, Laura Bruce won the District 72 Humourous Speech Contest with a speech entitled, “Smart, Helpful, and a Great Communicator, She’s the Ultimate Assistant”. Prior to this win, the best Laura had ever placed in the Toastmasters Humourous Speech contest was second place in her club contest in Scotland, in 2018.
“My experience with the Humourous Speech Contest should be an inspiration to all Toastmasters,” said Laura. “My first year in the contest [2014] I came second. The second year [2015], I went over time. The third year [2016], I came second. The fourth year, 2017, I was on the District Leadership Team and could not compete. In 2018, I placed again — but again, only second — and so could not progress to the Area contest.
“To finally make it to an Area contest in 2019 — now a member of Christchurch Women’s Club — was such a thrill! I was delighted to proceed to the Division Contest in April. But to win at District is the biggest thrill ever!”
“What I have learned from competing each year since I joined Toastmasters is that persistence pays off. I have also learned that it’s important that your speech be funny, and it’s good to get an early laugh to put your audience at ease.”
“It’s important to remember what you present in the Humourous Speech Contest still has to conform to the structure of a speech. It can’t be a series of one-liners, or a stand-up comedy routine,” she added.
“That being said, a funny story is an ideal starting point for the Humourous Speech Contest. I still remember the District 71 Contest at the Titanic Conference in Belfast in 2014. One of the contestants, a speaker from Ireland, talked about his trip to a water park in Italy. The imagery of his swimsuit making him stick to the water slide, together with the accompanying gestures, was hilarious. He had us in stitches — and he didn’t even win!”
Today marks our first meeting back and we can’t wait until lunchtime to resume our normal Friday meetings at Christchurch Women’s Toastmasters Club!
Toastmasters is a big part of our lives, and meeting our club members each week, sharing a laugh, and watching each member progress in their speaking and leadership journey is truly gratifying. While meeting on Zoom was a helpful stop-gap during the Covid-19 lockdown, we are really exciting to be meeting in person again from today.
Are you a woman in Christchurch who would like to develop your public speaking skills, your confidence in team meetings and social interactions? Would you like to develop your leadership skills? All these things are possible with Toastmasters.
Come along to a meeting Friday at 12.20 and see if it feels right to you. You can attend up to 3 meetings before making a decision about joining. Membership costs about the same as a fancy coffee once a week, so most people can afford to join Toastmasters.
Any questions? Just drop us a line! See you soon!
This Friday’s meeting will be the final online meeting for Christchurch Women’s Toastmasters Club, as social distancing measures have relaxed under Level 1.
Last week’s meeting (5th June) had the theme “Poetry in Motion”. Chaired by Toastmaster Sheila Hailstone DTM, there were two excellent prepared speeches from our club’s two newest members, Souhila Abdelazziz and Lauren Harwood.
We enjoyed a round of impromptu speaking during the Table Topics section of the meeting, and are grateful to special guest Helen Kelly of Livingston Speakers in Toastmasters District 71 for evaluating our Table Topics speakers.
We also welcomed guests — some were first-timers, Helen Kelly is a Toastmaster from Scotland, and another was a third-time visitor who has today made the decision to join our Toastmasters club!
To join our final online meeting, please look for the Zoom link which will be emailed to members, and posted to the club Facebook page Thursday. It will also be available on the top of the agenda on the Easy-Speak website.