District Officer Training (DOT) – June 12, 2009

What a better way to spend Friday night than with fellow toastmasters.
And what better gift to compliment that than looking at your perfectly spelt name tag lying on the table, awaiting for us to claim possession.
It was a great start to our toastmaster journey of as we take office cum 1 July 2009.

The District Officer’s Training concluded last Friday was a great success with about 50 Area Governors, Division Governors and Senior District Officers attending the session which was held in MAS Training Centre in Kelana Jaya.

The training kicked off with the opening speech given by DG Joseph Gomez, DTM. Joe, as some calls him, was the epitome of the typical modest leader. He started off his speech asking the governors to begin the journey strong and maintaining that momentum to make an impact up until the end of the tenure. Governors were also asked to enjoy the fantastic next 12 months journey and assist the current team to finish strong towards the end.

The DG-elect, Ritchie Chong, ACG, ALS then briefly talked about the incoming President, Gary Schmidt, DTM and the new motto for the year, ‘Confidence, Leadership, Service’. He then continues on to present the topic of ‘Achieving Success Standard’. Sharing from his previous personal experience as an Area Governor, he mentioned how the experience was a challenging but very fulfilling moment for him, and ensured us that it will be a journey that we will enjoy.

The LGET-elect was up next presenting the topic of ‘Building a Successful Team’. He went to explain that a super team must be mission-focused, service-oriented, know the goals, dedicated to quality, committed to overcoming barriers to success, visible and accessible and most importantly, have the quality to exudes energy, excitement and commitment. He even shared his personal experience of failing in his bid for the position of Area Governor, but determined to try again and successfully securing the job a year after. To him, the right determination complimented with a strong steam will indeed make the challenges ahead be a great journey all together.

Francis, DTM who gave one of the most powerful speech during the last convention to eventually earn his post as the LGM was the next speaker; sharing his passion in ensuring every club is a great club. In his presentation of ‘Maintaining Strong Clubs’, he shared the 4 key factors also as known as CARE (C-CCs, A –ACs, R-Retention of members, E-Extension of clubs) for toastmasters, and with his previous credentials of Area Governor of the Year and Division Governor of the Year, he was indeed one of the most committed toastmaster around.

We were swept away with the next presentation given by Leann, DTM with the topic ‘Building New Clubs’. She even gave away tips on the quest of prospecting new clubs. She mentioned that one must be able to do their very own research on current clubs, target a community with more than 10’000 people, pursue a major corporation with more than 150’000 employees and even use up any possible leads that they could gain. It was indeed a great inspiration to all of us listening to this very first TLI chair, who even shared with us her passion of speaking when she said, ‘Each time I speak, I learn something’. I think it was mutual.

Ramdas, DTM may have taken 10 years to complete his CTM, but the years were all well spent. We were all ears when he took us through the last topic of the evening, ‘Conducting Quality Contest’. With his vast years of experience serving as Chief Judge in many contests before, he shared his many encounters with problem contestants and even provided the many scenarios to test us (which we ace!). He even sound like one of the ones who actually memorize the Contest Rule Book from cover to cover! Well done!

The event may have well wrapped up at about 11 pm, but it was indeed a commendable session organized by the Senior District Council.

What’s more interesting was the fact that all the presenters talked about the Toastmasters mission, which is to enhance the performance AND extend the network of clubs. Even DTM Leann relates it to the story of Alice in The Wonderland. When Alice was lost and asked the white rabbit for direction, the only reply she got was ‘Any road is fine if you don’t have a direction to go’. See, how true it is coming from a ‘white rabbit’? So, start memorizing your mission and make it your toastmaster statement!

15 Division Governors.
79 Area Governors.
‘Confidence, Leadership, Service’.
Together we make it happen!

P Div & Area Governors (From left: Hakim, Sabariah, Suhana, Choi San, Dr Caren)

Reported by:
Suhana Sidik
AG P4 Elect 2009/2010
13/6/09