Look Who's Speaking! #BeGreatB6

Happy August! A couple days ago I switched that Blogalicious button on the side from "I'm attending" to "I'm presenting!" This will be my 3rd Blogalicious (you can read my recaps here and here) and the whole family is coming along to San Antonio, the site of Blogalicious November 6-8. Although I've been blogging since 2009, I only started attending blogging conferences in 2012 when BlogHer was in NYC (recap here) and from the get-go I set my sights on speaking especially as a certified Toastmaster.

At Blogalicious5

Here's a snippet of my session in the program guide, and you can find the full schedule here:

Oh and there's still time to register for the conference - you can do that here!

Have you attended a blogging conference before? Will I see you at Blogalicious? 
 
 

Love Birds at Harlem Toastmasters

I've posted before about mine and Mr. Love Bird's involvement with Toastmasters, and we were both officers at our local club Harlem Toastmasters. Unfortunately, we had to step down since we've moved, but we captured a few shots of our last meeting as officers a few weeks ago. Lil Love Bird came along too since when we joined Harlem Toastmasters in April 2010 I was pregnant with her and the club's watched her grow.

Uka's last speech recounted his senior year season-ending neck injury

Members evaluate Uka's speech

I gave a reading inspired by Elna Baker's weird experience selling dolls at FAO Schwartz on This American Life

Nia was very focused on our mentor Melissa's earrings!

Harlem Toastmasters will be celebrating their 10 year anniversary this spring, and we look forward to having a mini-reunion with everyone then. It was an honor to serve as officers of Harlem Toastmasters, and we look forward to joining a new club soon!

{To learn more about Harlem Toastmasters check out their website or search Harlem Toastmasters on Facebook!} 
 
 

What is Toastmasters?

Some of you who know me IRL have heard me speak about Toastmasters, but others of you may not know what it is so I thought I'd share a little bit about it.

I don't know how old I was when I first heard about Toastmasters - perhaps it was in college, but a couple months before Uka left for Argentina he started talking about joining so when he came back at the end of February we decided it would be a good time to join. Basically, Toastmasters is an international public speaking organization. 

While a lot of people get nervous about public speaking and Toastmasters is a great way to overcome that fear in a very friendly environment, but it's not just for people who have a fear of public speaking. It's great for honing speaking skills and for socializing as well. There are various levels that you achieve in Toastmasters, and Uka and I are giving our second speech in our Competent Communicator (CC) track. There are a total of ten speeches we have to complete before we recieve the CC certificate. Each level requires quite a few speeches, but by the end it's a great sense of accomplishment and many employers look favorbably upon it.

Uka and I have even discussed becoming a public speaking couple in the future. Sometimes we hear other people speak at events or even other couples and we look at each other and say, "We could do that!"

Having Uka as my Toastmasters partner has really been a bonus too because we can practice with each other and give feedback before we get in front of the rest of the club. We should be able to be CCs by the end of the year. I'll have to take a little break for Baby Agbai, but I still want to at least write a few speeches in advance to have ready when I return.

If you're interested in joining Toastmasters check out their website to find the club closest to you. Even if you just visit a meeting and decide not to join,  it's a fun environment and you'll really enjoy it!