BNT's Night out at the Rocci Café...

Rocci Café…
The down side? The place was cramped…
The up side? The place was cramped!

Last October 23, Butter n’ Toast decided to hold it’s meeting outside of the usual MSE Building; perhaps to, somehow, break the monotony of always holding it in the same place. We picked a quaint little café on Jupiter Street called Rocci to hold our meeting.

When I arrived at the Café, I had two initial reactions… the first was that I liked the ambiance; the second was that it was cramped! The second worried me. I kept thinking thoughts like; “Where is the stage? How will we fit the guests? Oh no… A Powerpoint Presentation! I hope we don’t break anything!”... But when they started to serve the crispy, tasty and oh so heavenly sandwiches, I started to calm down. It just goes to show you that my stomach… which is already infamous amongst BNT’s long-time members… actually dictates the way I feel!

When we started the meeting, however, my initial fears disappeared! As in true BNT Tradition, our meeting was all about fun and learning and learning to have fun… and we had an abundance of it that night! Here’s why…

The Table Topics Session…

In an amusing twist, Table Topics Master (and our club President), Gege Sugue, came up with an activity that involved each and everyone in the meeting that night… much to the dismay of the Table Topics Evaluator (me) who would, later, simply chose to evaluate the entire session rather than the individual speakers.

Gege’s little twist was to have us all complete a story she started by contributing one sentence each until we reach the last person in the room; who will, in turn, wrap up of the story. The story, which started out about a King who wanted to have a sex transplant, took many funny twists and turns as it got passed around from person to person. It finally culminated in an ending that had absolutely nothing to do with the beginning… and we all had a good laugh!

The Speeches…

The first speaker, Ton Villanueva, made me feel a little guilty, initially, when he spoke about “Software Piracy”; yet he left me feeling inspired to try to do more to stop this ever growing threat! Ton’s point? If we don’t stop the piracy, we may end up with no new software anymore; and in so doing, hinder the world’s growth altogether. This, for me, is a valid point indeed!

Christine Dapa’s speech, which asked the question “Are you Brave Enough?” left me with a “lump in my throat”! I honestly didn’t expect this type of a speech from Christine… it was a pleasant surprise! Christine had built up a reputation as a cerebral and oft times humorous speaker, so this speech about her friend who spent his birthday on a charitable cause… and her inability to follow suit… left me feeling sad for my own inability and inspired me to, at least, try to follow the example of her friend.

The most difficult speech of the night was given by Judith Jarabelo. Yes, you guessed it! This was the Speech with the Powerpoint. Initially, due to the cramped conditions, setting up the presentation was becoming a challenge for everyone. But accidentally, something unexpected happened… Teamwork! During her speech someone manned the laptop, someone held the projector steady, someone manned the lights… and… the waiter (who is not a club member) held a picture frame steady so as not to obstruct the projector. Teamwork at it’s best!

Though what was happening around Judith’s speech caught my attention, it did not diminish the power of Judith’s delivery or the message she wanted to send to us about “Diligence”! Judith, like many of our newer members, is the type of speaker who likes to speak about self-improvement and improvement in the workplace. This is good since we usually get to take home a lot of practical learnings from these types of speeches… and in Judith’s case; she diligently drove home her message! Hmmm… maybe I can borrow your Powerpoint one of these days, Judith!

Another pleasant surprise for the evening was Ed Ebreo’s “Tirad Pass Story #2”. Many of Ed’s antics on stage are usually humorous, but, when he gives a speech, he can be very inspiring! Such is the case of this speech! In his incisive retelling of General Gregorio H. Del Pilar’s historic confrontation with American forces in Tirad Pass, Ed actually brought a tear to my eye… and then… in typical Ed Ebreo manner… he spoils the moment by saying that it may have been all a lie! But… towards the end of his speech… he again rebuilt the reputation of the Country’s youngest General (which he tarnished in the first place)… by saying that details don’t matter… General Gregorio H. Del Pilar is still a hero, not because of the manner in which he died, but because of his decision to stay and fight against tremendous odds…

The Evaluation Session…

We were treated to a true showcase in our Evaluation Session! Perhaps by mere coincidence were they selected to be the night’s Evaluators… but, in my opinion, with the likes of Jazz Encarnacion, J-jay Letargo, Tisha Timbang… and Division A’s Champion Evaluator… Carmel Valencia, we may as well have witnessed a District-Level Evaluation Contest! All the evaluators were right on the money! In fact… I, as General Evaluator for the night, had hardly any suggestion to give them… at all!

Carmel, in particular, showed us just what a Champion Evaluator was supposed to do! Her concise, practical and inspiring evaluation of Ed’s speech brought thunderous applause! Her performance is actually giving me second thoughts about joining in the Evaluation Contest again next year… Great job Carmel!

Not to be outdone, however, are the Technical Evaluators! Again, they read like a “who’s who” in Technical Evaluations.

We couldn’t have picked a better person to be our night’s Grammarian than Sheila Dela Cruz! She simply loves this role! Even when she’s not the Grammarian, she still takes notes of everyone’s grammatical germs and gems! So, make her the official Grammarian and what do you get? A class act!

Our Timer is no push-over as well. I believe that Marlito Sy is one of the few persons I know who actually takes the Timer job seriously! It shows in his detailed reports of our timing and when he constantly reminds us when break’s over… Strict guy! Mars epitomizes William John Bennett’s saying that “There are no menial jobs, only menial attitudes!”

But the star of the Technical Evaluators would have to be our Area Governor, Alvin Tan! Alvin took another underrated role… the Ah-Countant Role… and turned it to gold! He not only counted the Ahs and Hahahas… he added a new category… another BNT first… and another Alvin Tan original… the “Awww” count! Yes people! Alvin also counted the number of times we made the audience feel all “fuzzy” inside! The moments when we all went “Awww”… Now ain’t that just the cat’s meow…

The Toastmaster of the Evening…

Aha! I’ll bet you thought I forgot this again! Well I didn’t… so there!

Our hard working Sgt.-at-arms, Christopher Siena must’ve taken lessons from Alvin Tan! I mean he is so animated in his speech and movement that you can’t help but keep your eyes on this guy! But being animated isn’t his only strength! What I liked about Chris that night was that he came prepared! He showed us how to do it! He didn’t just wing it!

I saw him take a few small notes with him and read them while he wasn’t on stage. He had obviously written down his intros and lines and basically what he needed to do that night and delivered them perfectly on stage! The meeting may have been chaotic if he hadn’t handled it well! Good job Chris!

The Entire Night…

Looking back at it all, I’d have to say that the cramped situation at Rocci’s brought out the best in each member of BNT! I didn’t see individuals that night… I saw ONE TEAM! I saw people… on stage and even seated… waging a kind of battle against the obvious logistical obstacles in that meeting so that everyone could enjoy and learn! Did we win? Resoundingly! For, of all the nights we’ve met, this was truly a night where we proved that we were… TEAM WARRIORS!


By: Enrique Salvador E. San Agustin

Table Topics Session Tips

Here are often heard tips for successfully participating in a Table Topics segment:

• Listen carefully to the question.
• Try to present sensible, worthwhile ideas that add to the knowledge of others.
• Keep your remarks brief and to the point.
• You can refute or elaborate on ideas and information already presented to others.
• Do not apologize. This weakens your speech. Avoid lines like: “Well, that’s all I can say.” or “Sorry, I don’t know much about the subject.” or “I hope I didn’t bore you.”
• You can talk comfortably on virtually any subject – even those about which you know little – if you have several mental outlines to follow. Here are some outlines you may want to remember.
• When the question asks for your opinion, use the PREP outline. State your Point or opinion, and give a Reason why. Illustrate your point with an Example. Conclude by restating your Point.
• When you want your listeners to take action, use the AIDA outline. Draw their Attention to the issue you wish to address. Create Interest by showing how this affects them. Instill a Desire in your audience to take action. State the Action(s) you recommend and call them to join you.
  

• The SMG outline can answer many types of questions. Begin with a Story that illustrates the point you want to stress. State your Message or the point you want to make. Expand your point with a Gain or moral of the story.
• Still another outline is PPF. Use it when your answer can be framed on a time-line or when you have three points to compare. Begin with your first points set in the Past. Move on to the next point, this time set in the Present. Lastly forecast your point set in the Future.
• The Two-point answer is the simplest outline. Here are some variations:

-Before and After
-Problems and Solutions
-Goals and Results
-Advantages and Disadvantages

You don’t need to have an encyclopedia of outlines in your head. Just remember one or two. Use them each time you are called in to answer an impromptu question and soon you will see the improvements in your impromptu speaking skills.

Get the Most of BNT - Get Mentored, Be a Mentor

Most new members join Toastmasters to work out problems related to public speaking. Research has shown that a majority of these men and women equate the self-improvement they seek from Toastmasters with career advancement or professional development. Mentoring is a program that aims to guide these new members by providing them support in reaching their goals. Mentors can give practical advice and psychic motivation. At Butter N Toast, the mentoring program is key to our goal of lifelong learning.

To know who's mentoring who, visit this page.

To get the most out of the mentoring program, please take note of your responsibilities:

Mentor:
1. Work with your protégés on a development plan, like when do they plan to finish their basic speech projects and draw a strategy and schedule on how to get there.
2. Encourage, motivate, help, cheer (force, coerce, threaten, harass) your protégés to deliver their speech projects as planned.
3. Help the protégés with their speech projects in terms of choosing topics, working with them on their delivery notes or rehearse with them if time permits.
4. Help your protégés take on more difficult roles like TM of the PM, Table Topics Master, Evaluation.
5. Build a good tandem with your protégés.
Doing these will help you as much it will help them.

Protégé:

1. Have a personal development plan and discuss it with your mentor. Know your improvement areas and communicate this as well. This will help both of you focus on what you need to work on for you to "Get the Most Out of ButterNToast.”
2. Deliver your speeches as planned. Have your mentor work with you on your speeches so that you are properly guided.
3. Call or go to your mentor if you need help with roles assigned to you or any questions you have that are TM-related.
4. Please know that you are the one who needs help; don't make it difficult for your mentor to reach and help you. Respond to email, calls, and text messages. If you are not hearing from them, call them and remind them of their responsibility to help you.

The Value of Values by BNT President Gege Sugue

Writer, speaker, and success coach Dr. Philip E. Humbert says that organizations succeed when values and goals are in agreement. In 2006, BnT officers and members worked together to craft its vision, mission, and values statements. It was an exercise that helped us define who we are and what we want to achieve as a club and as individuals.
And we have achieved much.

In BnT’s charter year, we earned a Select Distinguished Award. Since then, we have consistently improved, hitting more goals every year. Last year, we met ten out of ten DCP goals, earning President’s Distinguished honors for the second year in a row. All this while also doing well in the area and division contests. This current term, we reach district level as Boom San Agustin represents our club at the Bacolod midyear convention.

There are a number of factors that contribute to this good performance. And one of them is being clear about what we want and what is important to us. In other words, knowing our values help us reach our goals.

For example, the values of continuous learning and teamwork tell us that a mentorship program would help our new members have a headstart in developing their communication skills. Mentors also help develop their coaching skills. We do this because we want to help each other. But at the same time, this program indirectly contributes to the DCP goals in producing CCs. Valuing excellence to us means not sacrificing the quality of learning just to win awards. This means if somebody does not meet the objectives for a speech project, he or she does not move on the next speech. This may affect our ability to meet term goals, but in the long run, we are protecting our club. We are ensuring that BnT continues to be a club of excellence and continuous improvement.

Awww

Kudos to Ah-counter and the not-late Alvin Tan! I loved the Awww count. Good innovation. Great reactions from the audience.

One more reason to love BnT