Project Management Toastmasters Clubs - Tips and Discussions

Project Management Toastmasters Clubs - Tips and Discussions

Quote: "Those who tell the stories rule the world” – Native American Proverb
Toastmaster International's "90 Tips From 90 Years"

40. Encourage honest evaluation.
The best speakers learn from each experience. Encourage your audience or interviewer to give you their honest critique of your presentation.

Telling Stories in CODE (Content, Organization, Delivery, Effect)
To deliver a message that strikes a fundamental human cord, tell a story involving personal experience.

• Content: For business content, try one of the following three plots:
  • Overcoming a monster/business problem: such as (Software issue, Impossible deadline, Complexity)
  • The journey> Did you visit another country for a business purpose? Travel provides out of the ordinary situations with story potential.
• Organization: A classic five-step story organization is very powerful:
  • Introducing the Hero: Every human interest story has actors, introduce them.
  • Introducing the challenge: Conflict makes the story interesting.
  • Encounter # 1: The Hero and Conflict have their 1^st encounter, then 2^nd, then 3^rd
  • The final Encounter: During the final encounter it is not yet clear how the story will end.
  • Releasing the Hero: During this resolution we find out how things play out
• Delivery: The way we tell the story
  • Best advice is to tell the story like you are talking to a friend in a Conversational Tone.
• Effect: Special Spice for your story
  • Adding an unexpected twist that switches gears in a story can leave the audience inspired.

Inviting Audience Interaction in a Presentation (From Monologue to Dialogue)
Modern technology now makes it possible for a speaker to develop thoughts and ideas together with the audience in real time.  The following interactive technologies facilitate live audience interaction:

• Google Forms: Available free to anyone with a google account. Shows live responses to questions.
• Mentimeter.com: Turns opinions into data with an Audience Response System. Initial accounts are free.  Word clouds are a simple way to provide immediate prioritization of ideas.
• Sli.do: Allows the presenter to Crowdsource the best questions from the audience.
• Polleverywhere.com: Collect live responses, creates customer interaction with competitions.
• PigeonholeLive.com: Crowdsourcing of questions, allows us to address the questions of highest interest first.

“Talking in CODE” Excerpted from Lars Sudmann’s The Business Story CODE [www.lars-sudmann.com]
“Inviting Audience Interaction” Excerpted from May 2019 Toastmasters Magazine article by Lars Sudmann

You can learn more about telling your stories at a Project Management Toastmasters Club! 

Project Management Toastmasters clubs are open to all, but members are predominately professional project managers. Houston Area Project Management Toastmasters Clubs are sponsored by PMI Houston and aligned with the goals of PMI International.   Certified PMPs receive Professional Development Units (PDUs) for participation.   

Project Management Toastmasters Clubs - Tips and Discussions

Quote:"Those who tell the stories rule the world” – Native American Proverb
Toastmaster International's "90 Tips From 90 Years"

41. Use quotes, stories and anecdotes. They will help reinforce your message and entertain the audience.

Handheld Help: Apps for Speakers: Technology lends a hand

Give Customers, Members and Guests a Compelling Customer Experience

• The Deming Loop (Plan, Do, Check, Adjust) used in project management is also a key tool in improving the customer experience. Planning a compelling Customer Experience can be treated as a project.
• If you create an experience that melds education with entertainment, learning with laughter, people will want to repeat it. All business is Show Business.

“Handheld Help: Apps for Speakers” Excerpted from May 2019 Toastmasters Magazine article by Dave Zielinski
“Give Members and Guests a Compelling Customer Experience” Excerpted from May 2019 Toastmasters Magazine article by Craig Harrison

You can learn more about telling your stories at a Project Management Toastmasters Club! 
Project Management Toastmasters clubs are open to all, but members are predominately professional project managers. Houston Area Project Management Toastmasters Clubs are sponsored by PMI Houston and aligned with the goals of PMI International.   Certified PMPs receive Professional Development Units (PDUs) for participation.   

Meet the PMI Houston Programs Committee

Meet the PMI Houston Programs Committee

Evening Venues

The Programs Committee of PMI Houston is currently operating seven evening venues across our area, ranging from Brazos Valley in College station, to South West in Sugarland. Details of all the venues can be found under the “Meetings” tab on the landing page of pmihouston.com.

All the meetings are run for our members, by dedicated teams of volunteers. Leading the venue teams are:

•         Brazos Valley – Jayant Palkar
•         Woodlands – Janis Warner
•         North – Edwin Jabbour
•         Energy Corridor (Our newest venue) – Wendy Valot
•         Galleria – Mohammad Ali Minhas (Our newest Venue Lead)
•         Downtown – Tim Powell (Who will be stepping down)
•         South West – Ndubuisi (Nd) Nebo

Lunch-N-Learns

In addition to the evening venues PMI Houston operates four quarterly Lunch and Learns.

• L&L West – Larry Short

o   BP Energy Corridor Lunch and Learn

o   Shell Lunch and Learn

• L&L Central – Bruce Garrett, transitioning to Kathy Kest at the end of March.

o   Stage Stores Lunch and Learn

o   Texas Medical Center Lunch and Learn

Toastmaster Clubs

The programs group also works with our affiliated Toastmaster clubs. We currently have four clubs which are associated with specific venues:

•         Woodlands PMIH Toastmasters
•         North PMIH Toastmasters
•         Galleria PMIH Toastmasters
•         South West PMIH Toastmasters

This month our Toastmaster colleagues will be running a demo Toastmaster meeting at the Downtown venue on the 30^th, with the intention of forming a Downtown PMIH Toastmasters club. So, if you work downtown and are interested in Toastmasters please come along.

I would like to ask that you join me in thanking Bruce and Tim, who will be standing down after several years of selfless volunteering, and to wish them well in their future endeavors.

We are planning changes this year and will be requesting feedback from you the members, regarding what you would like to see, and how we can deliver stimulating programs that will meet your needs. Please speak to your venue directors or myself, at the meetings; you can also e-mail me at [email protected] if you have any comments or suggestions.

I am looking forward to meeting you all during our 2017 program!