Tag Archives: April

April Newsletter

Newsletter, ,

Speech Contest Update

Our club speech contest was held March 6, 2017 together with the Annapolis Valley Toastmasters club. The speech contest included an International Speech Contest and a Table Topics Speech Contest.

From our club, we had great participation: Chris Kasza and Jackie Benedict participated in the speech contest, with Jackie moving on to the Area 21 Speech Contest on April 8th. Jared Jordan, Kathleen Jagoe,  and William Luton all competed in the Table Topics Competition, with William Luton moving on to the Area 21 Speech Contest.*

*William will not be able to participate in the Area 21 Speech Contest and therefore Jared Jordan will be participating in his absence.

Halifax Health Hackathon
Hacking Health Halifax Hackathon is a weekend-long hackathon that breaks down barriers to healthcare innovation by bringing together interdisciplinary professionals to collaborate, dream up & design apps, devices and solutions for patient-centric care

This year, two of our club members participated in the Hackathon: Chris Kasza, CC, ALB, and Laura Toole. Chris and Laura were part of a team that placed 2nd with Determined for Change.  

Determined for Change is a tool for healthcare service providers to help facilitate conversations with their patients about the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH). Through this program, providers can complete a short assessment of their patients to determine how the SDoH impact their healthcare journey. With the results of this assessment, providers will have a quick glimpse if this patient is negatively affected by the SDoH. The next step of the program will suggest formal and informal referrals to make for this patient. To engage patients in this program, they will receive a print out of the challenges they are facing and the referrals made. 
 
For quick reference, this program has a resource page to connect patients with local resources.
 
The overall goal is to improve individual health, gather information on the challenges in the area and to give healthcare providers the tools to become involved in Being the Change in their communities.

TIP OF THE MONTH
Submitted by Ed MacKinley, CC, ALB

7 Quick Leadership Tips

  1. Choosing sincere and positive language will ultimately earn the respect of the entire team. Avoid negative metaphors and clichés in your efforts to motivate others.
  2. Keep your promises. Failure to keep your word may lead to people questioning your integrity and distrusting you. If you can’t pull it off, explain why.
  3. Be transparent and truthful at all times. When something happens that disrupts your plans, paint a positive and realistic picture of the life of the organization to keep your people steady. Transparent, truth-telling leaders, who explain the context of who, what, where, when, and why in their decision-making, will win the whole-hearted support or those they lead.
  4. Practice active listening skills. Keep an open mind to other people’s ideas. Allow people to feel safe if they disagree. Listening to other people’s needs tells the person that you value them and their opinions.
  5. Strive to reach a team consensus.  This will enable each member of the team to commit to the objectives they all want to achieve as a team.
  6. Avoid fear-based reactions and responses.  By modeling appropriate and effective communication, you set the example for others to follow. If something is pushing your panic button, choose a “keep calm” approach as you process your emotions for a more tactful and effective response.
  7. Give mostly positive feedback to encourage people in their efforts. If you have to give negative feedback on performance or a specific behavior, back it up with detailed examples, ask questions for further clarification. Make suggestions for improvement. Do it in private, if possible.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS
April 8
Area 18/Area 21 Speech Contest 8:30 am – 1:00 pm
St. Ignatius Church Hall
1288 Bedford Highway, Bedford

May 6
Division D and Division F Speech Contest 9:30 am – 3:00 pm
Port Wallace Church Hall
263 Waverly Road, Dartmouth

May 20
District 45 Speech Contest To be held at the District Conference (May 19-21)
Sunday River, Maine, USA 

June 3 & 17
Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI) Greenwood & Dartmouth

Feedback and Submissions Welcomed
Any feedback, comments, ideas and/or submissions please contact:
Emily Konrath, Vice President Public Relations at vp.public.relations@wolfvilletoastmasters.com