John F. MacDonald, DTM

District Governor

If you are like me, when you joined your club, members at your club helped you to overcome some of your apprehensions ( Fear ) around Communications and Leadership. No matter what your ability when you started: Members gave you feedback to help you to grow and become more effective. Soon you began to feel more confident. The fear begins to go away.

Join us this year as all of our members focus on “Discovering the Best Others”.

From New Member to Advanced Speaker / Leader; this theme serves us all. When you are “Discovering the Best in Others”: you are focusing on the best that people have to offer.  

Generally this theme is about positive reinforcement of the things people do well. When you “Discover the Best in Others” you help others to create a better world.   

There are three main components to “Discovering the Best in Others”

Positive regard

In Toastmasters, when a person offers you feedback. You assume that the person has your best interest in mind. This is positive regard and is the basis to the respect that we foster in our clubs and between each other. 

Possibility Thinking

When a group of members work together in a common purpose it is amazing what we can achieve. Think of the possibilities. What have you decided to accomplish this year in your Club / Area / Division / District.                 

Ask for Help

Toastmaster’s is a club oriented volunteer organization. As a result, all of our leaders are volunteers. As a member, when you ask for help, your club will help you. As a volunteer leader you learn to become part of a team to develop opportunities for others to lead. This experience becomes much more valuable when you empower others by asking for help.

The 2007 / 2008 year is a historical year. There are many things to celebrate.

Due to our success at sharing this experience with others, our District has blossomed into a large successful District. Our District 60 will become two districts in the 2008 / 2009 year. The 2007 / 2008 year also marks the 50^th year of the formation of our District.