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Editor’s Note Toastmasters International has more than 13,000 clubs in 116 countries. Despite the geographical and cultural differences, the Mission of a Toastmasters Club unites us. Clubs that fulfill the Mission of a Toastmasters Club are more likely to provide the benefits of Toastmasters: effective communication, improved leadership skills, better teamwork, well-run meetings and increased…

Editor’s Note Humans have an enormous capacity to learn. From our first breath, we learn our mother’s voice and to recognize her face. Later as a toddler, we learn by playing. In grade school, we continue our play and learn the tools that civilization has deemed indispensable: language, literacy, math and science. Adults who pursue…

Editor’s Note Add up every grain of sand from every beach, every desert, and you will get a very large number. Yet, it will be less than the number of ways to successfully coach a Toastmasters club. The unique personality, experience and expectations of the coach combined with the unique challenges facing each club ensure…

Editor’s Note An African proverb tells us that it takes a village to raise a child. If a Toastmasters club is like a child, then it certainly takes the efforts of each member to charter, maintain charter strength, and even rebuild. When Angela Geiger successfully coached the Achievers Club #7150, she employed a three-part strategy.…

Editor’s Note The groove is a moment when a group of musicians play together so that the music transcends the individual. With a little creativity, it is easy to conduct a groovy experiment. Gather some percussion instruments: real drums are ideal, home-made drums will do, even the hand clapping is a form of percussion. Group…

Editor’s Note The Little Engine That Could is a classic children’s book that teaches the value of optimism and hard work. Somebody asks all the engines in the train yard to pull a long, heavy train over the mountain. They all refuse except one. The Little Engine takes up the challenge and starts voicing a…

Editor’s Note Indigenous people throughout the world view the butterfly as a symbol of renewal, rebirth and regeneration. In a fascinating process, the caterpillar creates a pupa where it undergoes a profound metamorphosis to emerge as a butterfly. It is appealing that the butterfly preserves its heart and spirit, while the old body passes away…

Editor’s Note The Thorndike Barnhart High School Dictionary of 1968 defines a plan as a way of making or doing something that has been worked out beforehand; scheme or arrange- ment; or to think out beforehand how something is to be made or done; design, scheme or devise. Since then, astronauts have walked on the…

Editor’s Note Positive outcomes are like cheese and we are like mice in a maze. We try to find and eat the cheese. Life can be very simple once you find the route to the cheese. But, what happens when someone moves the cheese? You can continue to follow the well-worn path to the long-gone…

Editor’s Note Humans have an innate desire to accomplish great feats. Once such feat was the construction of the Empire State Building in New York City. The architects and builders overcame many design and construction challenges to complete this marvel of engineering five months ahead of schedule. It became the world’s tallest building and held…