Category Archives: Posts

30 Sep

Happy together!

This last Monday we had the opportunity to retake on site meetings again in BASF Toastmasters. After more than 6 months performing online meetings it was time to meet our fellow Toastmasters again.

Online meetings have its own advantages because they provide an easy access for other toastmasters around the globe to connect and interact with our recurrent team in LU. Connecting from home also implies a decrease in personal contact which given the current situation can be beneficial to avoid the transmission of Coronavirus.

This was one of the main reasons why several members of the club still requested the possibility to participate online (together with our on-site members) so that they would not miss the opportunity to continue improving their public speaking skills.

For this reason the club conducted the first hybrid meeting, connecting people from home with our members from Ludwigshaffen that were sitting in our meeting room. The meeting went effortlessly and the feedback received from our online-members was very positive and reinforced the idea that hybrid meetings are indeed a great opportunity to connect both worlds and facilitate that everyone feels included wherever they want to be.

Mondays meeting started with a short round of introductions and later continued with one of our members presenting a very nice well done speech about  happiness, having in consideration that the topic of the day was “HAPPY TOGETHER”  😊

We later continued with a short break and the “On-site” members got the opportunity to get to know a little bit better all new faces attending while also drinking coffee together.  Afterwards we performed a TABLE TOPICS session where impromptu speaking took place and members needed to create imaginary stories at the same time they were given different pictures about totally different unrelated topics. Many funny crazy stories happened there! It was a great evening and a happy reencounter for all our members in BASF Toastmasters!

07 Sep

BASF Toastmasters returns On-Site!

Since Covid started, our meetings have been affected and we haven´t seen each other as wanted! Now that the summer is ending, we are foreseeing a possibility to start our F2F meetings on-site again! We would be very happy to see your beloved faces again, taking the existing Covid requirements into account!

According to a TEDEx guys (they seem to know what they are doing), effective presentation skills reduce miscommunication, which is likely the biggest cause of work-related stress. That means better presentation skills lower the stress on presenters which means the successful delivery of the message we are trying to transmit, so let’s improve all together and show off what are we capable of!

Next meeting will be held on the 14th of September in Ludwigshafen (BASF) and we are really looking forward to welcome you all again.
Since BASF Toastmasters could not meet personally for so long we also plan to have a picnic at the beginning of September. Join in to see members and guests and spend a few hours outside at the end of summer!

06 Sep

Summer Picnic 2020

We invite you for a picnic outside at the Rhine river bank on 07 September 2020. To us it is high time to meet personally again, you are also welcome to bring a friend or colleague who is interested in Toastmasters. Following these guidelines to us it should be possible in the current situation:

health

  • we will keep the recommended distance of 1.50m to each other
  • the names of everyone attending will be noted
  • install and activate the Corona App on your smartphone

food & drinks

  • though bringing and tasting food is definitely a fun factor at a picnic we ask you to bring and consume your own food,
  • sharing may be ok, if food portions are separetely packed
  • bring also drinks and your own glass / mug, nevertheless sharing a glas of cola or wine by pouring from the bottle should be ok

other equipment

  • blankets, pillow etc to make it more comfortable are highly appreciated
  • bring a frisbee or another outdoor game — it can be fun also to be a bit acitve

You did not receive a personal invitation by e-mail! Get in contact with us for details!!

31 Jul

Webinar: Spontaneous Speaking & Table Topics®

Are you the one on the stage to answer the Table Topics® Master’s question?
Sweaty hands and a hot head?
No words in mind?
No idea how to fill the next two minutes?
You’ve got the chance to find out more about Table Topics® and how to approach the successful delivery of an entertaining speech. Have a look at some strategies and methods that help you to find the right words. Overcome the scary ideas in your hot head that are slowing you down in being an excellent impromptu speaker!
Join our Toastmasters’ ONLINE Meeting on 10 August 05:45 pm! You can register directly on easySPEAK for this event and will get online access to this meeting.

29 May

Wherever you are in June — join our BASF Toastmasters meetings!

Dear fellow Toastmasters and Guests

on the finishing line of the Toastmasters’ year 2019/2020 we welcome you to participate in our meetings in June

  • Mon 8 June https://tmclub.eu/view_agenda.php?t=146197 Taimur’s speech about “Being a 90s kid” is already on the agenda, another speaker slot is open for volunteers.  Besides the meeting will consist of all “classic” elements of a Club meeting. We will finish with the Election of Club Executive Board 2020/2021.
  • Mon 22 June  https://tmclub.eu/view_agenda.php?t=146198
    We are curious who will provide an entertaining, thoughtful or informative speech. Furthermore some members will be challenged in impromptu speaking. After the feedback part of the meeting it’s “Time To Say Goodbye” to our Officers who have lead the Club in the last 12 months. And then let’s welcome the new crew!

Meetings will open on 17:45 and last until ca. 19:30 including a small break. Using the mentioned links to easySPEAK you can already enroll for your favorite role. Especially we are looking for people who want to proceed on their paths to better communications and will prepare a speech J .Invitations for each meetings will be sent out separately in advance.  

You don’t believe online presentations can be fun?! Then you simply must participate!!

Yours Club Officers, BASF Toastmasters

22 Apr

Characteristics of Effective Leaders


On 04 May 2020 Toastmaster Lei Du-Cuny will conduct an online workshop on her way to achieve Advanced Communicator Gold status. In this workshop, we will look at the definition of leadership, discover our present leadership skills, see how our skills are perceived by others and learn how we can become better leaders.

You are welcome to register through easySPEAK https://tmclub.eu/view_meeting.php?t=142293 .

22 Apr

See You Online – BASF Toastmasters in May 2020

Dear fellow Toastmasters and Guests

due to current restrictions we will hold our next meetings online. This May we will welcome you on these dates

Meetings will open on 17:45 and last until ca. 19:30 including a small break. Using the mentioned links to easySPEAK you can already enroll for your favorite role. Invitations for each meetings will be sent out separately in advance.  Working towards an education award by June 2020, please let us know so that necessary arrangement could be made to facilitate your projects.

We hope to see all of you online in theses uncertain times!

Yours Club Officers, BASF Toastmasters

31 Mar

BASF Toastmasters organises online meeting

Contribute to a smooth and enjoyable evening – take part actively and grab a role on EasySpeak https://tmclub.eu/view_meeting.php?c=803&show=next

Dear BASF Toastmasters and Guests

You are cordially invited to join our online Toastmasters meeting, details as follow.

  • 06 April 2020, Time: 18:00 to 20:00
  • When it’s time, please join the meeting from here:
    • https://us04web.zoom.us/j/5084197105
    • or use the Meeting-ID: 508 419 7105
    • Note: Due to increased demand, dial-in by phone audio conferencing capabilities is temporarily removed from our free Basic Zoom account.

Please do join us at 18:00 to test the connection and solve technical problems until the meeting starts. We would like you to you to use the camera of your device!

We recommend that you install Zoom on your device: https://zoom.us/download

Alternatively you may  participate by Zoom Web Client https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/214629443-Zoom-Web-Client — please be aware of the technical requirements of your web browser.  

How does the meeting go?

  • How does the meeting go?
  • We will kick-start the meeting with self-introduction and “Question of the Day”.
  • After this warm up session, we are ready for the prepared speeches. Prepared speeches usually take about 7 minutes each, where the speaker is to pay special attention to certain public speaking elements.
  • At the end of the day, the prepared speeches and the meeting itself will be evaluated. The evaluation is an important element, as it not only encourages our speakers for their effort, but also helps us to be better evaluators. After all, Toastmasters is all about learning together and supporting each other!

Yours sincerely
Club Officers


Tim Beckmann / pixelio.de, Image-ID 685112

25 Mar

Coronavirus – how we plan to go on

Dear fellow Toastmasters and Guests

We will collectively play our parts in the fight against COVID-19. As such, all usual Monday face-to-face meetings will be cancelled until further notice. While the face-to-face interaction will be sorely missed, we are excited about the opportunities that virtual meetings present.

As decided on yesterday’s Club Officers meeting, we will explore the possibility to conduct our meetings online. We will also get in touch with other Toastmasters clubs for potential collaboration.

For members working towards an education award (CC, CL, AL, DTM) by June 2020, please contact our Vice President Education so that necessary arrangement could be made to facilitate your projects.

With the cancellation of the meeting on 23 March and 13 April (Easter break), our next meeting will be on 27 April at the soonest, subject to technical feasibility. You shall receive more updates from us nearer the time.

In the meantime, please visit Toastmasters International for online resources on public speaking. Please feel free to reach out if you have any inputs regarding virtual meetings.

Yours Club Officers of BASF Toastmasters

16 Mar

Coronavirus implications

Dear fellow Toastmasters,
the current worldwide situation regarding coronavirus affects our regular club meetings. We decided to cancel all face-to-face meetings at BASF Toastmasters until middle of April 2020. We hope to re-establish our regular meetings as soon as possible but obviously cannot fix a date yet.
If / how online meetings can be held to offer an alternative will be decided soon.
Members and guests on our invitation list will be kept updated. If you have further questions, please contact us!
For information about Toastmasters activities on Division level please visit https://tmclub.eu/portal.php?page=1&c=248
For information about Toastmasters activities on District level please visit https://toastmasters-95.org/

Rainer Sturm / pixelio.de, Image-ID 668609