Monday, February 14, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Opportunity
Our theme for our weekly Toastmasters' Meeting this week was Opportunity and I had the opportunity to give the toast, so I wrote a poem on the subject.
Opportunities Taken
Expand my horizons?
Oh no, I’m too scared
I don’t think I’d know what to do.
I’ve grown used to the comfort
Of just coming and listening
And maybe doing timing, or ah counting or quizzing
But take on a role of Toastmaster, no way
I might make mistakes. What would I say?
And table topics is frightening, people might boo
When I introduce a topic or two.
Expand my horizons
Do you really think I could?
The thought just scares me to death.
Well ok, not quite, but almost, but then,
that’s how I felt before I began
my weekly sessions at Toastmasters;
So maybe I can..
Ok, yes I’ll do it, I’ll step out in faith
sign me up.
I did it, I did it and I did ok
I really expanded my horizons today
And it felt so good I’ll do it again,
Why let opportunity just pass me by,
Without even looking to give it a try?
Just give me that schedule
And I’ll put down my name
I’ll start with the story or maybe a toast
It will give me an opportunity to stand up and boast.
Perhaps next week I’ll give my next speech
Or maybe even the word of the week.
My confidence grows with every new step
And I look forward to things that I haven’t done yet
I’m expanding my horizons and I’ll continue to soar
As each week I’ll do something and then one thing more.
Opportunities given, opportunities taken
The growth is amazing, there’s no mistaking
So look around at the things you can do
Who knows what next can happen for you!
Fran Watson
copyright Feb 7, 2011
Opportunities Taken
Expand my horizons?
Oh no, I’m too scared
I don’t think I’d know what to do.
I’ve grown used to the comfort
Of just coming and listening
And maybe doing timing, or ah counting or quizzing
But take on a role of Toastmaster, no way
I might make mistakes. What would I say?
And table topics is frightening, people might boo
When I introduce a topic or two.
Expand my horizons
Do you really think I could?
The thought just scares me to death.
Well ok, not quite, but almost, but then,
that’s how I felt before I began
my weekly sessions at Toastmasters;
So maybe I can..
Ok, yes I’ll do it, I’ll step out in faith
sign me up.
I did it, I did it and I did ok
I really expanded my horizons today
And it felt so good I’ll do it again,
Why let opportunity just pass me by,
Without even looking to give it a try?
Just give me that schedule
And I’ll put down my name
I’ll start with the story or maybe a toast
It will give me an opportunity to stand up and boast.
Perhaps next week I’ll give my next speech
Or maybe even the word of the week.
My confidence grows with every new step
And I look forward to things that I haven’t done yet
I’m expanding my horizons and I’ll continue to soar
As each week I’ll do something and then one thing more.
Opportunities given, opportunities taken
The growth is amazing, there’s no mistaking
So look around at the things you can do
Who knows what next can happen for you!
Fran Watson
copyright Feb 7, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Building Your Vocabulary
GROWING A VOCABULARY
Boys flying kites haul in their white winged birds;
You can't do that way when you're flying words.
"Careful with fire," is good advice we know,
"Careful with words," is ten times doubly so.
Thoughts unexpressed many sometimes fall back dead;
But God Himself can't kill them when they're said.
—Will Carleton, The First Settler's Story.
The term "vocabulary" has a special as well as a general meaning. True, all vocabularies are grounded in the everyday words of the language, out of which grow the special vocabularies, but each such specialized group possesses a number of words of peculiar value for its own objects. These words may be used in other vocabularies also, but the fact that they are suited to a unique order of expression marks them as of special value to a particular craft or calling.
In this respect the public speaker differs not at all from the poet, the novelist, the scientist, the traveler. He must add to his everyday stock, words of value for the public presentation of thought.
A study of the discourses of effective orators discloses the fact that they have a fondness for words signifying power, largeness, speed, action, color, light, and all their opposites. They frequently employ words expressive of the various emotions. Descriptive words, adjectives used in fresh relations with nouns, and apt epithets, are freely employed. Indeed, the nature of public speech permits the use of mildly exaggerated words which, by the time they have reached the hearer's judgment, will leave only a just impression.
Form the Book-Note Habit
To possess a word involves three things: To know its special and broader meanings, to know its relation to other words, and to be able to use it. When you see or hear a familiar word used in an unfamiliar sense, jot it down, look it up, and master it.
We have in mind a speaker of superior attainments who acquired his vocabulary by noting all new words he heard or read. These he mastered and put into use. Soon his vocabulary became large, varied, and exact.
Use a new word accurately five times and it is yours. Professor Albert E. Hancock says: "An author's vocabulary is of two kinds, latent and dynamic: latent—those words he understands; dynamic—those he can readily use. Every intelligent man knows all the words he needs, but he may not have them all ready for active service. The problem of literary diction consists in turning the latent into the dynamic."
Your dynamic vocabulary is the one you must especially cultivate.
To building your vocabulary
Fran Watson
P.S. Check out my book on Public Speaking
Boys flying kites haul in their white winged birds;
You can't do that way when you're flying words.
"Careful with fire," is good advice we know,
"Careful with words," is ten times doubly so.
Thoughts unexpressed many sometimes fall back dead;
But God Himself can't kill them when they're said.
—Will Carleton, The First Settler's Story.
The term "vocabulary" has a special as well as a general meaning. True, all vocabularies are grounded in the everyday words of the language, out of which grow the special vocabularies, but each such specialized group possesses a number of words of peculiar value for its own objects. These words may be used in other vocabularies also, but the fact that they are suited to a unique order of expression marks them as of special value to a particular craft or calling.
In this respect the public speaker differs not at all from the poet, the novelist, the scientist, the traveler. He must add to his everyday stock, words of value for the public presentation of thought.
A study of the discourses of effective orators discloses the fact that they have a fondness for words signifying power, largeness, speed, action, color, light, and all their opposites. They frequently employ words expressive of the various emotions. Descriptive words, adjectives used in fresh relations with nouns, and apt epithets, are freely employed. Indeed, the nature of public speech permits the use of mildly exaggerated words which, by the time they have reached the hearer's judgment, will leave only a just impression.
Form the Book-Note Habit
To possess a word involves three things: To know its special and broader meanings, to know its relation to other words, and to be able to use it. When you see or hear a familiar word used in an unfamiliar sense, jot it down, look it up, and master it.
We have in mind a speaker of superior attainments who acquired his vocabulary by noting all new words he heard or read. These he mastered and put into use. Soon his vocabulary became large, varied, and exact.
Use a new word accurately five times and it is yours. Professor Albert E. Hancock says: "An author's vocabulary is of two kinds, latent and dynamic: latent—those words he understands; dynamic—those he can readily use. Every intelligent man knows all the words he needs, but he may not have them all ready for active service. The problem of literary diction consists in turning the latent into the dynamic."
Your dynamic vocabulary is the one you must especially cultivate.
To building your vocabulary
Fran Watson
P.S. Check out my book on Public Speaking
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