Fraenkly Speaking 2022/2023
March 2023
Following our Advanced Club's mission of supporting our Area Clubs, Fraenkly Speaking invited contest winners from Areas D4 and D6 to speak and get feedback in preparation for the Division Contest on 1 April.
Anatoly (International Speech, English), Benjamin (Table Topics, English), Luise (Speech, German and Evaluation, English) and Yvonne (Evaluation, German) each honoured us with their champion-worthy rhetorical skills and the entire audience of Fraenkly members and guests provided valuable feedback to help them up their game even further.
None of this could not have happened without the brilliant team of club members Peter, Daniela, Gaby, Jean and our President Guenter. They conducted the meeting on par with the Oscars!
Good luck to our contestants and many thanks to all that participated.
Educational Awards
Level 1
Peter: PM1
Steve: PI1
Margaret: MS1
David: PM1
Jean: VC1
Level 2
Guenter: DL2
Steve: PI2
Level 2
Jean, VC2
Morag
Level 3
Guenter: DL3
Jean, VC3
Steve: PI3
Level 4
Axel: TC4
Level 4 or 5
Axel / Jean / Ronald
Outside Fraenkly
Balaji: Mentor Program
David: VC1
Gaby: PI1, PI2
Guenter, DL4
Jean: EH5, DTM (#2)
Margaret, MS2
Morag: VC5
Olga, MS1
February 2023
Toastmaster Olga hosted a Fasching / Carnival celebration for Toastmasters with ties to 12 different countries around the world.
Three diverse speeches from Marc (Communication Style), Jean (Leadership Style) and Guenter (Change Management) were the main events. And with those speeches, Jean completed Level 2 in Visionary Communications and Guenter in Level 4 in Dynamic Leadership!
Our Topics Master Balaji challenged four of us with some thought-provoking questions around philosophies and irksome situations. Faschin-ating (!) to listen to the responses.
We also took the opportunity to provide each of our speech evaluators feedback on their evaluations. Stronger evaluations lead to a stronger club and more confident Toastmaster.
And sprinkled throughout, we had music, poetry, sparkles, balloons, streamers, and, of course, traditional Franconian Krapfen, to bring the spirit of Fasching to life!
January 2023
Same procedure? Well, yes and no!
What stayed the same? The quality of the meeting was high, with challenging Table Topics, two well-presented speeches, two solid evaluations. And Toastmaster David regaled us with some of his corny jokes!
How did we up our game? Topics Master Peter offered multi-stage questions related to German soldier slang. Speaker Daniela (project: Writing a Speech with Purpose), after a two-year break in speaking, shared her tips on maintaining identity and strengthening belonging. Speaker Monika (project: Understanding Your Leadership Style) used a few PowerPoint slides to orient us to her work project on increasing participation, then turned off the projector to tell her story. Grammarian Olga quizzed us, rather than reported to us. Ah Counter Morag prepared a fun Ah Counter virtual background.
We always have the same procedure of running fun, challenging, quality meetings. And we always shake things up a bit. Precisely what an Advanced Club is for!
December 2022
Toastmaster Monika masterfully led us through Christmas traditions around the world as she introduced the international members that took part in our holiday meeting. We heard about foods, gift giving, and days of celebration in countries such as Czechia, Mexico, Scotland, England, and, yes, even Germany!
A micrometer? Cookie jar? Candelabra? Salt and Pepper Shakers? Topicsmaster Guenter used the tradition of White Elephant gifts to let us exclaim how thrilled a grateful we were to receive such magnificent presents!
Speaker Peter (project: Introduction to Toastmasters Mentoring) erzählte uns von seinen unerwarteten Erfahrungen mit Der Kaiser und der Rubel. And Speaker Morag (project: Connect with Storytelling) connected us with how her relationship to Santa Claus changed during her life.
General Evaluator Gaby gave us pointers on how we can deliver stronger evaluations and be more mindful of time. She also praised us for truly 'owning the roles' both before and during the meeting.
It was a festive way to end 2022. Not only another memorable meeting - we also enjoyed Christmas goodies, online and in-room decorations, and Christmas Cracker jokes from funny man David!
Happy Holidays, everyone!
November 2022
Toastmaster Marc was both entertaining and educational with his theme Achtsamkeit/ Mindfulness, peppering the meeting with passages and personal lessons learned from the book Achtsam Mordern. which tells the journey of fictitious lawyer Björn Diemel on his way to bringing more mindfulness into his life.
Topicsmaster Morag used thoughtful quotes related to mindfulness as the basis for questions such as "What is silence for you?"
Speaker Kevin (project: Writing a Speech with Purpose) reminded us of the value of feedback in all areas of our life as key to self improvement. And Speaker Steve (project: Leading in Difficult Situations) introduced a plan to host a virtual World Cafe in 2023, with club members challenging him to address possible disruptions to the plan.
General Evaluator Olga encouraged us to be more mindful of the timing guidelines associated with our roles and of experimenting with matching the energy level in the hybrid room when performing our roles. This is an example of putting Kevin's message to immediate practice! Improvement through feedback!
Thanks for reading, and now, take a couple of deep breaths, be mindful of where you're at right now, and note what a difference that makes!
October 2022
Toastmaster Guenter chose Perseverance / Ausdauer as the theme for the meeting, giving us examples of the value of perseverence in our everyday lives. Topicsmaster Olga asked questions giving us the opportunity to share how we demonstrate perseverence, cleverly alternating the questions between English und Deutsch!
Speaking of Deutsch, Rednerin Jean hat ihrer ersten Rede auf Deutsch gehalten! She brought us along on her journey with the German language from time in Switzerland as a child, through school and university, to professional applications, to her latest chalenge: Fraenkly Speaking!
Club Treasurer Axel creatively used the Pathways Q&A project to present the club's budget for 2022/23, which was ultimately approved by the members. And General Evaluator Marc showed perseverance by,among other things, facilitating a round robin evaluation of Axel's session.
But, all in all, no perseverance, no exceptional effort, was necessary during the morning, as it was a most delightful meeting!
September 2022
Toastmaster Gaby, celebrating the Mexican 'Grito de Delores' holiday, led us through an educational, thought-provoking, entertaining meeting having 'perceptions of culture' as a thread. Topics Master Peter introduced us to tidbits of Mexican culture as a launching point for his impromptu questions. And Facilitator Guenter guided us through a look into our our club culture.