Starting a New TM Club in Kirovograd
by Lily Nabochenko, AGD

With this letter I am glad to share with you some minutes of the first demonstration meeting in Kirovograd Institute of Human Development "Ukraine" which took place on March, 13th.

I would like to pay a special attention to people who put their soul and efforts to make this meeting happen - Lucy Povaliy, Timur Berezhnoy, Mila Nezlina, Yuliya Nosach, Vasyl Khokhla and Mikhail Meshkantsev. Thank you, Friends, for volunteering and doing such a great job!

We arrived to Kirovograd at 4:35 AM. Despite of this early hour a friendly representative of the Institute was already waiting for us at the railway station. It took us 15 minutes to get to the hotel where we had a chance to have some rest. At 9:15 AM a Pro-rector of the Institute - Galyna Viktorivna came to accompany us to the meeting with Rector - Olexander Mykolayovych who briefed us on their lifestyle, some unusual traditions and innovations of the Institute. After a walking tour around the building and a tasty breakfast we came in a big room with around 40 students who were waiting for us ready to discover more about Toastmasters.

 

 
The meeting started with a brief story of Toastmasters prepared by Mila. Then the meeting was called to order and the Toastmaster of the meeting (Lily) introduced Ah-Counter (Mikhail), Timer (Yuliya) and Grammarian (Vasyl). The agenda was beautified with two excellent speech prepared by Lucy and Timur. The Table Topic session conducted by Vasyl was devoted to foreign languages and linguistics. To make it even more exciting for our Kirovograd friends we set up a Best Table Topic Speaker contest - the winner received a Toastmasters ribbon “The Best Table Topic Speaker” and a TM magazine. Evaluations finalised the meeting. After a 15 minutes break we introduced the Competent Communicator and Competent Leader programmes.

And finally the brain storming session began. During this session we:
a. found leaders who will drive and promote idea of Toastmasters among students and professors
b. filled in agenda for the next two meetings (it was decided to have the first meeting in Russian and the following meetings in English language)
c. determined the date of our next visit to Kirovograd - 15 or 22 of May (please save this date in your calendars to be able to join us the next time)

After a nourishing lunch we had a walking tour around the city which was ended up in a cosy café with some tasty cakes and aroma tea…

It was a beautiful day, full of positive communication, nice people and pleasant surprises. I am already looking forward to visit this Institute and city again. It will be a true pleasure if you join us too.

 

Carnival on January, 30 – in Chicago 30s!
by Masha Chebotareva, ЕВА VP Е

One day I asked myself a question. What is the
main purpose of the Toastmasters for me?
I quickly found the answer.
That was not studying English;
that was not leadership skills…
That was playing roles!
The life is so short and we can be only one person:
either careful or reckless, either serious or emotional.
In Toastmaster we can be anything we want.
Each year we have an opportunity to become
a different person during Winter Masquerade.
          

On January, 30 the Chicago party was held at Purity Hall. Our manual says that Toastmaster wears many hats – this time everyone was dressed in black hats of gangsters, which were popular in 1930s. For me such masquerades are not only wearing strange clothes, but also acting as a character, which you want to present. That’s why Svitlana Stavska and I decided to sing a song “And All That Jazzz” from the musical “Chicago”.

There were a lot of people acting that night. Timur Berezhnoy with his
song “All I Care About Is Love” (Chicago musical) persuaded us that
the only purpose in his life was sincere relationship with women.
Levon Petrosyan playing a role of Mafiosi was so natural that
it seemed he surely must have had ancestors from Italian mafia.

And of course, the girls were charming. Each lady prepared her costume in advance in order to be unique during the party.

I can describe the evening as 5 hours of pleasant communication that were brightened up by little performances, boogie-woogie dancing, discussing the best photos of each club, playing poker and mafia, again dancing, eating, drinking and the most important – playing a role that you have never plaid before.

Toastmasters Masquerade

To continue on the winter holiday season we decided to have fun at Toastmasters Winter Masquerade which took place in late January in Purity Hall. Alex Sheremet, the President of Lemberg TMC shared with us the reminiscences of this wonderful event:

I love parties in general, but masquerade is always really special.

Mask and costume make us unleash all the fun we are sometimes too shy to express normally in public.

All guests in costumes play role of their character, as if it's not them who is brave and spicy, of course enriching it with their own bright features and shining smile.

Great music, fun contests, sparkling remarks from compere, fruits and drinks, many new people, open and communicative. This is definitely the way to celebrate a new year.

And no masquerade can go without dances! For those, who think that they can not dance: either not taught to, or not in a mood, there is a twilight intimate atmosphere loaded with all fun of public dancing school.

Who knows, maybe there is a Cupid among them?

Toastmasters’ Speech Contest. Time to Win!
One Toastmaster’s Memories

By Anton Stetsenko, All Ukrainian Speech Contest Winner, 2009

What is the difference between a brave and an extremely brave Toastmaster? Right! Extremely brave are not afraid of participating in the All Ukrainian Speech Contest! Actually I do not have huge experience of taking part in the contest; therefore my experience will be especially useful to those young speakers, who are intending to take part in the contest for the first time, especially for the first time.
Let’s count the things, which all of us know about the contest:

1. Contest is something really great, because everyone is speaking about it all the time
2. Contest is withheld on the yearly basis
3. Contest winner receives the Prize!
4. In the contest the best only wins

What we usually do not know about the Contest:

1. It is the a greatest event in the Toastmasters community
2. It is very funny and guarantees good mood for the rest of the week
3. The winner aside the Prize, also gets authority in the eyes of other speakers
4. AND (read carefully) THE WINNER IS NOT ALWAYS THE MOST EXPERIENCED SPEAKER!!! No prejudice, everyone has equal chances to win.

  How it was…
I personally remembered the Contest as the marvelous, exciting trip full of unforgettable experiences, exciting impressions and wonderful people. Everything began at the local contest level, when I, having a bit more than 3 speeches behind my back participated with a speech, which I finished a few hours before the contest. At the appointed time I came and saw a lot of people, nicely dressed and smiling. Our officers organized a great event that time inviting a lot of guests and experienced Toastmasters for the Contest. However I didn’t have much time to notice all of this, as I was so nervous that I was sure: when I come in front of the audience, I’ll forget everything! I think most of us had such a feeling at least once in their lives. Besides I knew that in agenda there were some very experienced speakers, so I had almost no chance to succeed. I knew almost nothing about the contest, so when I took second place I didn’t get that I will go for the Ukrainian Contest too.
This time I decided to win the Contest at any price. I rewrote my contest speech several times, I gave it to some more experienced club members to edit, I worked out all the moves I should do, all gestures to the smallest detail. I visited the stage a few days before the Contest to check the acoustics and a lot of other things. I accepted any help of other Toastmasters. I used an opportunity and practiced with Mark Taylor, our past Area Governor. I know that he offered help to all contestants and only few of them have taken advantage. And finally I’ve really put my soul into the speech and filled it with the Message: “Dear Men, value the Women, because they mean everything to you!”. At the very end my only wish was simply to deliver the speech, whatever place I’d take.
I tell this all to you so that you had no light-minded thoughts in your head. The Contest deserves serious attitude and preparation (I can repeat this word for several times: prePArATION, PREparaTION, PrEpARaTiOn).
I won the contest. I won it because neither was I the most talented, nor was I the luckiest one. I was simply ready to spend my time (a lot of it) and mental efforts to achieve this goal. What I got in exchange? A lot of things: happiness, wonderful experience, satisfaction and the PRIZE of course.
Was it worth taking? YES! It is worth every effort you make.

   How it WILL BE…
Every contest is, first of all, a challenge. So be ready to prove that you are best, firstly, at the local level, then at all-Ukrainian.
In winter all the local contests will
be finished, the best of participants
chosen and you will be given the time
till spring to prepare the best speech
in your life. There will be 12 of
you (participants) then, who will make
the greatest ever Toastmaster live show 2010.

I hope that this year the level of organization will be even greater than it was before and we will have a wonderful opportunity to see our best speakers in their full beauty.

I also strongly recommend everyone to visit the Contest at least as spectators. You will, for sure, enjoy it. Besides, you can see how the best of Toastmasters DO IT, support your club members and take part in wonderful Speech Contest banquet.
I invite every one of you in advance to visit this wonderful event and wish to see you there!

Toastmasters Autumn Ball

By Mila Nezlina

One of the reasons why I love Toastmasters is that it brings together interesting, active and simply charming people. Autumn Ball is a perfect opportunity to meet Toastmasters from other clubs and I am sure that people who came to the House of Scientists in the evening of Saturday, October, 31 enjoyed the company of smart people and simply had lots of fun. 
Despite the so-called swine flue epidemics, all places in the room were taken - we had a full house, in addition not a single guest has been seen in a mask, so with our own example we showed how courageous and brave the members of Toastmasters Ukraine are.
The Toastmaster of the meeting was Mykola Latansky, Past Area Governor and to tell you the truth I can hardly imagine a person who can fit this role better. His imagination, witty humor and of course excellent public speaking skills were cornerstones of Mykola’s success that evening and helped him to conduct captivating and smooth event.
The beginning of the meeting was simply marvelous – Timur Berezhnoy, VP Education of Toast Crackers Club, a professional singer and actor showed us the power and beauty of his voice by performing the Toast of  Orlovsky Duke from operetta The Bat and with it he plunged the audience in artistic mood. Another reason to say thank you to Toast Crackers Club is their wonderful premises - The house of Scientists which was kindly provided for our Ball and which created a special atmosphere of joy that evening.
At the Autumn Ball we tried to find out which club has the best sense of humor. As you have already guessed, we made it through Humorous Speech Contest where 3 representatives from 2 clubs told funny stories and amazed us with their ability to make people burst into laughter.
Surprisingly, all speakers chose the same topic for their speeches.  Wonder what this topic is? I’ll give you a prompt – this topic is eternal, it has always exited minds of men and women and it inspired the greatest artists and poets to their masterpieces.  You are right – all speeches were about LOVE in its various forms.

Anton Stetsenko from AmCham, the winner of All-Ukrainian speech contest who opened our contest with his speech “It is all about raisins” taught all men 3 ways to find your beloved second half. As it always happens the best way turned out to be the most difficult. Want to know more techniques how to find a woman of your dream? Turn to Anton, he will gladly share his secret with you.
Eugenia Poluektova, VP Membership from AmCham club loves to visit weddings (as a bridesmaid, of course!) She unveiled the secret why women want to get married so much - because when you marry it means that finally you have found someone you can annoy for the rest of your life. Eugenia showed us that if you want to get your happiness, than “Jump for it!” and as an example she made all ladies compete for getting married soon by throwing wedding bouquet in the audience.
Dmytro Odnorogov, VP PR from Dnipro Hills conducted a master class called “How to drive women mad” and he is definitely an expert in this field, at least because all women were really crazy about his extremely funny speech.  I guess soon you will hear lots of quotes from Dmytro’s speech, my favorite one is: “What is the thing which makes a man different from a monkey?  – The Wallet.” See, this speech was really funny, so no wonder why Dmytro won Humorous Speech Contest. Congratulations!
For the dessert at our speech contest we had Timur Bereznoy who performed a remake of his well-known speech “911in the House of Scientists” and told us extremely funny  story about brave rescuers who tried to save everybody and had lots of fun during this process.

 

 

 

 

 

Guys and Girls from Art Talkers showed their artistic talents by performing a funny sketch “Toastmasters forever!”
which included singing, dancing and simply telling jokes. Does everybody remember Ghostbusters cartoon? Our creative members went even further and founded Toastbusters-Toastmasters agency, where Mr Eye Contact, Madam Vocal Variety and  Doctor Gestures, will gladly help everybody who want to improve their public speaking skills.

After the contest we enjoyed tasty refreshments, prepared by Art Talkers Club and I want to express my gratitude to ladies from this club and also to Graham, who offered his apartment for this cooking invasion. You made a great job, all hungry Toastmasters will remember your cooking talents.
Dnipro Hills members Ruslan Zhakupov and Dmitry Daniluk organized a game for smart and fast-thinking Toastmasters “What? Where? When?”, while Lily Nabochenko, Mark Taylor, Mykola Latansky, Eugenia Poluektova,  Anton Stetsenko and Gleb Krivenko participated and managed to answer some tricky questions like: where women have the most curly hair? (of course in Africa!). In the end of this game Mark Taylor delivered a Toast and explained why do we have TM Autumn Ball on Halloween night - because TM teaches us public speaking and leadership skills helps to combat the ghosts of fear and shyness we have inside.
The event  was crowned with ball dances
which soon turned into having great fun! 
Special thanks should be expressed to EBA Club for decorating the premises (I love that autumn ikebana on the piano!), Top Talkers officers VP E Lena Krivoshapka  and President Antonina Malokhlib, who filled the agenda, AmCham Club who printed the tickets and Nastya Lenda and me (yeah, I’m modest) for taking the photos to make our memories from the Ball last longer, while Dnipro Hills organized the lottery with funny prizes.
 The biggest and the most special thank you goes to Area Governor Yulia Dmytryshyn, who coordinated the work of all clubs and managed to create a great event!  
Thank you, everybody for coming! I am sure that you have enjoyed this very special event and I am definitely looking forward to see your smiling faces, dear Toastmasters, at the Winter Masquerade!

 

Toastmasters Officers Training

by Lena Kryvoshapka

 

New officer’ teams of each Toastmaster club in Ukraine are successfully elected. Moreover, since July 1 they are really in action providing their clubs with the dedicated service. But are they aware of their direct responsibilities? Do they know how to succeed while performing their roles?
They do! And the officers’ training was an additional chance to deepen their knowledge. So, thanks to a great dedication of our charming Area Governor Yuliya Dmytryshyn – the training was organized in the best way it could be. Based on educational purposes, the training became even more useful for the participants -- due to a good portion of socializing and a motivational course conducted by an outstanding coach Mykola Latansky. Finally, Area meeting provided a ground for brainstorming to make the plans for the future and share the responsibilities on the preparation for the upcoming Autumn Ball.
Here are the responses of the participants:
“The Seminar for VPs Education turned out to be very useful for me: we reviewed our duties, got some advice about its better fulfillment and where inspired to be better VPs Education. I learned a lot of practically useful tips and with the help of case-studies we found out solutions to the problems, which occur quiet often. This meeting was really inspiring and dawned several fresh ideas upon me”.
Mila Nezlina, VP E Dnipro Hills
“It was a really great pleasure for me to attend it. VP Education training (my area of interest), Mykola's performance and "after party" were organized and held perfectly! I enjoyed all the parts a lot (pizza in particular :-))) “ 
Yuriy Yurchenko, participant of VP E training, Chamber of Commerce
“I was very much pleased by the level of training organization: everything was well-prepared and within the given time. People were very eager to learn. Training session with Mykola Latansky was interesting, but I believe he could have prepared that session little better in terms of the stricture. On my mind it was a bit chaotic. Overall I really enjoyed it and considered it very useful to be a part of the event. :) Thanks so much for the opportunity.”
Lyuba Lazarenko, Past Immediate Lemberg TMC President, Trainer for Presidents
“I think it was a great idea to bring in Mykola Latansky. His talk (or training) was really inspiring for all officers. I am really ready to take 100% responsibility for my club now. It was also great to meet fellow officers from other clubs. We are all looking forward to the Autumn Ball now.
 Jenia Poluetkova, VP M Chamber of Commerce
These bright impressions make obvious the success of the meeting and its usefulness for all the participants. So, let’s get it started now, guys! Good luck!

 

Toastmasters Picnic
by Lyubomyr Ostapiv

On the wonderful sunny day all Ukrainian Toastmasters gathered for a traditional picnic. The place was usual: open air museum in Pyrogovo.
More than 60 Toastmasters started our traditional meeting and listened Ilona Postemska’s speech “God Save the Queen”. It was not about Her Majesty the British Queen, but about the queen of sports - Track and Field Athletics. Having strong sports traditions in her family Ilona shared with the Toastmasters community the insider-info, namely what does it mean to be a professional athlete in Ukraine.
Unexpectedly, the second speaker did not show up and third speaker was really late, so experienced Toastmaster Graham Seibert decided to proceed fast to the Table Topics session. It was held by Lyubomyr Ostapiv, who made Levon Petrosyan fire all the listeners from metallurgic plant and asked Sergiy Kotla to explain high condom’s prices. The constructive feedback for the speech and Table Topics session was provided by really skilled evaluators Levon Petrosyan and Lucy Povaliy.

After the meeting Mark Taylor was presented a bottle of champagne for his great service as Area Governer. The new Area Governer Yulia Dmytryshyn was introduced to Toastmasters community.

Unofficial part of picnic was as usual: smiles, games, pictures, food and drinks. The chocolate muffins became hot chocolate muffins on brightly shining sun. But nobody cared, as many interesting games went on. The most popular appeared to become wishes, where participants have to dance on the stone, sing National anthem and favorite song, tell anecdotes and kiss Mark Taylor. Beside that people played traditional “pokazuha” and innovative “writing story”. In the second female team showed faster and more romantic result (a story) than male counterparts.

Best pictures from that wonderful day you may find here
http://picasaweb.google.com/toastmastersukraine/TMPicnicInPyrogovoJune2009#
I hope to see you all at the next picnic in 2010!