Episode 26: Recap of the 2024 District 69 Conference - from a first-timer

You'll hear from my fellow Toastmasters and I how this global organisation has impacted our lives for the better and how it could impact yours . Now let's get talkative . Welcome , ladies and gentlemen , to episode 26 .

This week I'm going to do a wrap-up of the District 69 conference which ran earlier this month in Caloundra on Queensland's Sunshine Coast , and this event is part of the annual Toastmasters contest and education program which I outlined in detail in episode 24 . Now I also apologize for my voice and sounding a bit nasally .

I've picked up a bit of a lurgy , so I'm pushing through with a recording Now . The conference was an amazing experience for me , notably because it was the first time I'd ever attended a district conference and seen so many Toastmasters in the same place .

Secondly , because I was competing in the evaluation contest on the Sunday morning and this was the highest level at which I'd ever competed . And thirdly , because I was on the conference organizing committee through my Leading Edge Club and had spent some 10 months on regular calls where we discussed every minute detail of the planning and execution of this event .

So I kind of knew exactly what to expect in Caloundra , and yet I got to experience it all as a complete newbie . So this week I'd like to share a bit of an overview about the conference itself , its themes and some of the highlights of the main sessions that I took away .

Then I'll do a bit of a recap on the District 69 contest that ran throughout the weekend and I'll finish up with some key takeaways from the conference . So what did the conference actually look like ?

Well , it was a weekend event held over a Saturday and Sunday , although there was a opening drink session on the Friday night and for those who wanted to stay , there was extra activities on the Monday morning .

But the main conference took place on the Saturday and Sunday at the RSL Club in Caloundra , and it's worth noting that we're currently commemorating the 100th year anniversary of Toastmasters . So this event had to both respect the traditions of past district conferences and Toastmasters protocols , while driving the conference experience forward .

As I talked about in episode 19 , with Kate Norris Leading Edge , advanced Toastmasters Club won the bid to host this particular conference a couple of years ago and Kate stepped into the role of conference convener , so this meant that Kate was in charge of leading the team and delegating the many , many , many responsibilities in the lead up to the event and during

the event . So the Leading Edge Club supported everything that was going on , as did the district team and a whole bunch of Toastmasters from different clubs . So it was a massive , massive effort , as all of these types of events are Now .

The theme for the event was Grow by Design , and this theme focused on the fact that growth is intentional and that we're all responsible for taking control of our personal journey rather than leaving it to chance . And this theme really flowed through the keynote speeches throughout the weekend and the breakout sessions .

So I'll just talk through a couple of the highlights for me in terms of the content and some of the takeaways , because I feel like these points can really apply within my own Toastmasters journey , but outside of it as well .

So first up was the very first keynote speaker , rana Saini , who is a performance coach , and his theme was about the inner game of growth . This speech really focused on the importance of our own mindset in really determining the quality of our life . He talked about various drivers and how we're either acting on impulse or inspiration .

They're acting on impulse or inspiration . Then he talked about four lenses through which we can either retract or repel the type of future that we want for ourselves , and how we need to be conscious about how , every day , the way we interact with those lenses , can determine the quality of the experience that we have .

And then he talked about five resistances , which again is whenever we say that we want to make change or that we find ourselves resisting the will to change , we're looking at it through different resistances , so that can be around the voice of comparison , the voice of perfection , the voice of fear , the voice of doubt and the voice of judgment , and he gave us

some ways of reframing those elements . So that kicked off the entire conference in a powerful way .

And then we got to choose a breakout session , and the breakout session I attended was run by another performance coach by the name of Vaughan Painter , and he talked about how to identify and engage with your unique voice , which is a fantastic topic for Toastmasters , who are all about crafting our own voice , our own messages and our own story .

And what I really liked about Vaughan's presentation was the way he gave us a four-point scale about how to plot our own speaking style . So there were scales like funny and serious , casual and formal , sassy and respectful , enthusiastic and matter of fact , and by using a combination of these particular elements in speaking we would craft our own style .

His main warning was do not sit right in the middle because that becomes the wishy-washy generic zone . He asked us to really think about how we use tactics like humor and formality and the way we address people , and it was just a really interesting lens .

I've found this very practical , very useful and definitely something I can use in my own assessment of my communication style going forward . So I will definitely be paying attention to this in my own assessment of my communication style going forward . So I will definitely be paying attention to this in my future speeches .

The afternoon keynote speaker was by an amazing guy by the name of Kevin Humphreys who , through his military career as a Blackhawk helicopter pilot and subsequently flight instructor , flight examiner , chief pilot and subsequently flight instructor , flight examiner , chief pilot and ultimately director of operations .

He spoke about mental illness and a really poignant experience he'd had with mental illness , ptsd , anxiety , depression and his journey of how he handled all of that and found himself in a place where he was able to get back on track and to be inspiring people . He had everyone in the room entirely captured the whole time . He captured everyone's attention .

You could hear a pin drop . It was such a powerful speech and really testament to his own resilience and also testament to the power of a fantastic speech .

Certainly , judging by the number of people that wanted to go up to Kevin after the speech and speak with him about either how it had touched him or their own experience with mental illness was again testament to the power of his story as well and his storytelling abilities . So that ability to connect with the audience was very much demonstrated .

On Sunday we got to choose from a number of educational breakouts and one of the first ones I chose was about stage presence and demystifying the it factor by Katrina Roberts , who I knew through Leading Edge Toastmasters and had heard her speak before , but not in a particular capacity like a breakout session .

And this session was a perfect compliment to the presentation from Vaughan the day earlier , because it also helped to look at where your communication comes from Is it coming from a place of ego or is it coming from a place of heart , and Katrina gave us some excellent strategies for working out where we were actually communicating from and , again , once you're aware

of frameworks like this , you can adjust your style .

She wasn't at all saying go out and change exactly what you do , but through some fantastic practical examples of how you could change a speech and how the way you present and the way you communicate absolutely connects with your audience and the way you communicate absolutely connects with your audience , she just gave us some tools to help us look at that in a

really critical way , in a way that would help us to again improve how we spoke and through which lens we spoke with . And in the afternoon I got to hear Kevin Ryan , who I interviewed in episode nine .

Kevin spoke about the opportunities for Toastmasters as professional speakers , and Kevin has been doing professional speaking for over 20 years and has established a long and successful career , so to hear Kevin talk about this in person through his own experience was extremely motivating and is definitely a path that a lot of Toastmasters may think about or could potentially

think about . I love that Kevin highlighted that it wasn't all unicorn farts and rainbows .

Being a professional speaker , you know that you ultimately have a product to deliver and it's not just about appeasing your audience like we might do in Toastmasters , but it's about appeasing your paying client and that in doing that , you know getting the audience to get engaged , getting the message across and ensuring that it's delivering the message your client needs

is a way that you will be rebooked as a speaker . So I thought it was a very practical way of helping Toastmasters to take that next step , or at least getting them to be thinking about the types of things they may need to consider if they want to become a professional speaker .

So the educational sessions interspersed throughout the weekend really provided a solid framework for education and , each in their own way , provided excellent tips and strategies that we could take away .

Of course , there were breaks and networking opportunities in amongst the breaks , so it was great to actually catch up and meet people in person or to reconnect with people perhaps who I knew the names of but were only just meeting for the first time . The next and probably most important elements of the entire weekend were the four competitions .

So this was the district level table topics competition , the international speech contest and then the evaluation contest and the humorous speech contest . Two contests were held each day and really showcased the skills of the speakers in our District 69 .

In episode 20 , I discussed in detail how the contests run , so I won't go through that again , but if you would like to review that , just check out episode 20 . But from a contestant's perspective , the room perhaps had 200 people in it at any given time and was on an elevated stage .

So this speaking environment was really quite different from most of our club and area and division level contests . So right away it put speakers into that realm of okay , we're somewhere new , it's a big stage , there's a lot of people . And a huge shout out to a couple of my Leading Edge club buddies .

Steve Bates from Leading Edge won the Table Topics contest . We had Colin Williams winning both the International and Humorous Speech contests , which was the first in a District 69 history .

Really To win both of those contests at that level is astounding and we'll be looking to get both Steve and Colin onto the show so you can hear about their contest journey in the coming weeks .

Also , a huge shout out to Heidi Deegan , also from Leading Edge , who didn't place in the international contest but gave a great speech and I know how much time and effort she spent refining that speech and so to be able to deliver it on that stage was a fantastic effort .

And finally , graham Cairns , who I interviewed in episode 15 , placed third in the humorous contest as well .

I was representing District 69 in the evaluation contest and while I didn't place , I certainly got some great experience by participating and it was the biggest Toastmasters audience I'd ever spoken in front of and really thrilled to have had the opportunity to have even been on that stage . So now I know what to expect going forward .

I can probably better prepare , but having seen now a district level contest and my first district level contest , I can say that the caliber of speakers is fantastic and it's just one of the ways that anyone competing at that level is going to improve over time , because you're hanging out with amazing speakers and you can see what they do and you get the feedback

from people and it was just such a fantastic learning experience . So I'm really excited at the quality of the speakers in the district . And so what are some of the takeaways that I got from this first district conference ?

Firstly , it's about making the most of the networking opportunities , and the great thing about Toastmasters conferences is that you are amongst a group of people who generally love chatting . You can find common ground on at least one level with everyone in the room simply by virtue of the fact that you're all Toastmasters .

But I found that it's worth delving a little deeper into people's stories . You know , asking those second and third level questions to get to know them a little bit better , because you may never know who has done a speech project that you might be struggling with or that may be able to provide tips and strategies to do something in particular .

Toastmasters are , en masse , a very supportive group of people and are very much willing to share their resources , their advice , their experience , and it's an amazing organization . I know I talk a lot about this in each episode , but the conference really put all of that at the forefront .

For me personally , then , also , number two is to be prepared to learn and to implement changes and , as the conference theme of Grow by Design highlighted , simply attending a conference is great , but if you go with the intention of picking up at least one new tip that you could implement when you get back , then it ensures ongoing personal growth and development For

me . I will be looking at the four-point scale that Vaughan Painter discussed and using it to evaluate my own communication style and refining that in future speeches . I just thought it was such a practical framework that it's something I can and will execute .

And finally , you won't know unless you give it a go , and this is very much one of my mottos in life . You know , like anything , you can speculate about doing things or you can simply go and give it a go . Many Toastmasters don't make it to a district conference in their Toastmasters journey and until now I was one of them .

But having seen and met those people who go to the conferences year after year , I can absolutely see why and I will be joining them going forward . I think I'll like . It was a very worthwhile , educational , informative and supportive event that you know , if you couldn't take away something from each session , then you probably weren't paying attention .

Then you probably weren't paying attention . So as I start to wrap up this episode , I can absolutely say that , as a first-time conference attendee , I had a fantastic experience and I would highly recommend attending a district conference to all Toastmasters who haven't been to one , whether it's in District 69 or in other districts .

It's just such a great way of meeting with people and getting an experience of Toastmasters in a much broader capacity beyond the club . There is so much that we can gain within our Toastmasters clubs and outside of them at conferences like this that it's definitely worth exploring .

They mentioned that the 2024-25 conference will be held on the Gold Coast around next May , and I would again definitely recommend , if you can get to the Gold Coast , come and check it out . And finally , a bit of a shout out to all my homies in the Leading Edge Advanced Toastmasters Club . This club is such a high performance team that gets stuff done .

Nothing is too hard for anyone in this club . There is no challenge that members of this club can't overcome when they work together , and seeing that in action for the last 10 months which has really been 10 of the last 12 months that I've been a member of Leading Edge just makes me so proud to be a member of that club .

And even though I was a newbie and hadn't been to a conference , they listened to my feedback and my input and I felt like I was a valued member of the club the entire time and , yeah , just an amazing experience to be part of . So with that I'm going to conclude my wrap up of the District 69 conference .

If you're ready to unlock your potential , consider joining a Toastmasters club near you . Ready to unlock your potential ? Consider joining a Toastmasters club near you . Check out the Find a Club link on the Toastmasters International website at wwwtoastmastersorg . It's worth visiting a couple of different clubs as a guest to see which club best suits you .

If you do take the leap and visit a meeting , I would absolutely love to hear your experience . Feel free to message me at talkativetoastmaster at gmailcom or tag me in the comments if you found this podcast on YouTube , facebook , instagram or Twitter . Thanks for listening to today's show .

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Until next time , remember the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson speech is power . Speech is to persuade , to convert , to compel . Have a great week .