Friday, July 13, 2012

Blitz Post #5: Live Long and Prosper

I have a passion for public speaking.  Or, maybe I just like the sound of my own voice.  Either way, I am a member of the Wilkes Toastmasters club.  We meet every Thursday at 6PM at the Addison Inn in Wilkesboro, NC. Please check out our website:  http://wilkestoastmasters.org/.  We'd all love for you to join us!

Every week our meetings have a theme.  Tonight's theme was, "Star Trek".  Star Trek is a pretty gutsy call if you are not sure of your audience.  To start off with, many people still roll their eyes and laugh at you if you make the odd "Spock" or "Captain Kirk" reference, to say nothing of DS9, Voyager, the Borg, the Dominion, Quark, "Q", Holo-decks, 10-forward, Jefferies Tubes, mind melds, and Orion slave-girls.  However, if you can pull off Star Trek, and do it well, Star Trek has a lot to teach us.

What does public speaking have to do with Star Trek?




At Toastmasters we like to say it's a safe place to fail!  But seriously, There are several key points you can learn about making a good presentation from the Starfleet Captains:(1)
  • Make an Impact
  • Do no Harm
  • Celebrate Diversity
  • Entertain a flair for the Dramatic
  • Engage... [your Audience]
  • [Seek action and commitment] ...and make it so
  • You will return to the Alpha Quadrant someday [this, too, shall pass]
  • You canna break the laws of physics! [the equipment WILL break]
  • The Away Teams [first ones to a situation] take the most risks and get the most praise
  • The Red-shirt dies first [Be a permanent and contributing member of the team.]
  • When presenting as a team, use everyone’s strengths to your advantage
  • Maintain your Ethics
  • Dress appropriate to your audience
  • Keep your phasers on “stun” [Be prepared for difficult situations.]
  • Boldly go where no one has gone before [Challenge yourself and be the one in front.]
What can we learn about leadership from Star Trek?


This boils down to which Captain you prefer.  Do you like Kirk's style: a shoot-from-the-hip, cocksure, arrogance, that would cheat death and cut corners but never violate his principles?  Do you prefer Picard's style: aloof, administrative, and over-analytical.  Taking a more positive viewpoint, both captains earned loyalty and trust from their crew by being 100% committed to the crew and their mission.

There are several key elements that you can take away: (2)

Never Stop Learning
Have Advisors with Different World Views
Be Part of the "Away Team"
Play Poker, not Chess
Blow up the Enterprise [Do whatever it takes to forge a new path that is fulfilling.]



But what about tonight's meeting?

Tonight was FUN!  Joyce was our Toastmaster and she did an excellent job of weaving the theme through the entire meeting.  Many of the members who had roles, and some of the speakers, even incorporated the theme.  Our word of the day was "Prosper", and all three of our Table Topic questions had a Star Trek theme to them.


Joyce also provided refreshments, in the spirit of the day - it was Green.





If you enjoy Star Trek, and Science Fiction in general, and you are in the Hamilton, Ontario area you may want to check out the new Galaxy Toastmasters club.  Galaxy Toastmasters is unique from other Toastmasters clubs in that this club is a science fiction, science fact & fantasy themed club.

For Information: http://toastmasters86.org/joomla/ OR
Contact: pro.d86tm@gmail.com
Phone: 289-696-3167

If you haven't checked out Toastmaster's head out out to the Toastmaster's International website
http://www.toastmasters.org/ to find a club that meets near you

Finally, thank you to my followers who have been patiently waiting for my return.  I have been here, but a new position at work has forced me to temporarily reallocate some resources.  There will be more blogging to come.  I have a major project to come and I'm counting on YOUR help!

Until next time, I wish you peace, love, and Hollandaise sauce!







(1) WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT PRESENTATION SKILLS I LEARNED FROM STAR TREK(TM) CAPTAINS; http://www.springboardtraining.com/uncategorized/presentations-startrek-captains

(2) About Leadership and Lessons from Star Trek; http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/node/5940