Mont-Co Toastmasters meet in Hillsboro, IL & Plan Upcoming SPEAKING SEMINAR

HILLSBORO, Ill. - Feb. 16, 2014 - PRLog -- The Montgomery County Toastmasters Club met on January 21, 2014 in Hillsboro. 8 club members were present along with Area 1 Governor Dan Filla of Springfield.  Dan announced that he has been assigned as the new "Club Coach".

During business it was also announced that Summer Robbins who spoke at the Mont-Co club meeting back on 8-31-10 as a guest (in an effort to practice her presentation prior to entering a then upcoming queen pageant) has just won the title of Miss Illinois County Fair Queen as of 1-19-14.  Congrats to Summer from the Mont-Co Toastmasters Club!

It was also announced that the club will be putting on a Speechcraft Communication and Leadership Seminar for the public starting in March 2014.  It will be on the 1st and 3rd Tueday evenings each month for a total of 6 sessions running through May.  The cost is only $20 for the course.  Contact either Jackie Rakers at (217) 494-6062 or Todd Austin at (217) 965-3100.  Only 8 Speechcraft participant openings remain as of the writing of this news release.  If interested please contact Jackie or Todd ASAP.   Participants will learn how to give prepared speeches, impromptu speeches, introduce other speakers and give constructive, helpful evaluations.


Two special speech presentations from the "Communicating on Video" Advanced Communication Manual were given by club members Todd Austin of Virden and Jackie Rakers of Ohlman at the meeting.  Austin has been a video blogger since August of 2009 when he started his chiropractic healthcare-related  YouTube channel.  He coupled his knowledge of 5 years of video blogging with the aforementioned Toastmasters manual and the teachings of Dr. Matt Loop and Gary Vaynerchuk to form the "People of Toastmasters", "The Toastmaster Todd Show" and "The Dr. Todd Show" video blogs in 2013.   During the first presentation Rakers interviewed Austin about a stubborn foot pain syndrome known as "Plantar Fasciitis" which Todd both used to suffer from and now specializes in treating at his Virden clinic, Austin Family Chiropractic.  Dr. Todd's interview is online at http://AskDrTodd.com .

The second presentation featured Austin interviewing Jackie about "Toastmasters", which is both one of her passions in life and has been very helpful in her career.  Rakers works in the insurance industry and is in leadership in an association where she is called upon to organize large seminars which several hundred people attend annually.  Jackie's interview can be seen at PeopleofToastmasters.com .

Martha Ruppert conducted a fun table topics session where participants had to pick an obscure object out of a brown bag and then in 1 to 2 minutes describe an unusual use for it.  This made for many humorous responses.   Martha Ruppert and Bernie Hand were the evening's speech evaluators.

The Club will next meet on Tuesday 2-18-14 in the Mayor's office at the Hillsboro Municipal Building at 7 PM.  Dennis Veihweg will be the prepared speaker.  Guests are welcome to attend.

Photo caption:  Video blogger Todd Austin of Virden interviewed fellow Montgomery County Toastmasters Club member Jackie Rakers about "Toastmasters" at the most recent club meeting.  It can be seen online at http://PeopleofToastmasters.com .

http://youtu.be/fJKKQ5-ms_A