January, 2021 Issue
Table of Contents
—Welcome
–Calendar: January – June Events
–Can Poetry Inspire Your Speaking?
–Celebrate VTMCON 2020
(Leaders, Contest Winners, Galleries)
–VTMCON Workshop Gold
(Revisit, handy links)
–VTMCON 2021: June 26-27
–Member Honors and Achievements
(Leaders Rise & Shine, Pathways Awards)
–Membership Momentum
–Help Other Clubs
–V (Valuable You) Wordcloud
–Connect & Collaborate
(Contacts)
Welcome (going bi-monthly)
What will now be the bi-monthly club newsletter is finally before you. Covid 19 woes and global political dramas have had so many reeling. Thank goodness we’ve had our Toastmaster clubs like Online Presenters to gather in for learning, levity, and growing in leadership.
Anytime you need a lift… watch this peppy video created by Marianne Grady — our intro to global attendees of the December 5th VTMCON event.
May this issue help you recall the fun of our club, our collaborations, and inspire you to new clarity for your Toastmaster and leadership actions in the days, weeks and months ahead.
Elaine Nieberding, Online Presenters Press Editor and club VP-PR
Calendar: JAN – JUNE Events
Paper or digital calendar for you? Get yours out and add these in!
Sat. JAN 30 is our first Speechathon in 2021, 11:30 am Eastern. Sign in to signup and share your skills as an Evaluator, since a few more are needed…
Mon. FEB 15th – is another Speakathon. Look for more speaking slots to be inserted for signups, soon.
Mon. FEB 22nd, 7:15 pm EST – a PANEL Discussion on Club Coaching … wow! Part of our weekly meeting.
Sat. FEB 27th, 10 am EST – WORKSHOP on Authentic Storytelling led by VTMCON presenter Fursey Gotuaco. Eventbrite Registration will be coming for your sign-ups soon. Bring a 1-2 minute personal story that you’d like to come to life.
Mon. MARCH 8th, 7:15 pm EST – Day at the Improv – exercises to stretch your creative communication (at our weekly meeting.)
Mon. MARCH 15th, 7:15 pm EST – Speakathon – more speaking and evaluator slots to hone your skills during this meeting.
Mon. MARCH 22th, 7:15 pm EST – Club Video Speech Contest
Mon. APRIL 5th, 7:15 pm EST – Open House with Online Presenters Toastmasters. Have guests join the fun.
Mon. APRIL 26th, 7:15 pm – Webinar Contest (hone those virtual presentation skills!!)
Mon. MAY 17th, 7:15 – Vocal Variety specialty session at our weekly meeting.
Sat. & Sun. JUNE 26-27 – VTM CON 2021 – the Virtual Toastmasters Conference goes to 2 days, involving many more TM clubs. Sign up for the email-notice list and send your Toastmaster friends over to https://vtm.toastmost.org too.
Can Poetry Inspire Your Speaking?
delivers a poem for Joseph R. Biden’s inauguration
Since her televised Inaugural Poem “A Hill to Climb” on January 20th, Amanda Gorman has taken the world by storm with her creative, powerful presence.
Could this be fresh inspiration to uplevel your speechcraft with poetic alliteration, and rhyme; experiment with pausing, tempo changes in phrasing, and more?
“There is always light,
if only we’re brave enought to see it,
if only we’ve brave enought to be it.”
Amanda Gorson, from “The Hill We Climb.”
(Explore Amanda Gorson; glean insights for your speechcraft)
Celebrate VTM CON 2020
Whether you were an attendee, team leader or volunteer, co-chair, advisor or club member helping with PR, contestant too… thank you for being part of the inaugural Virtual Toastmasters Conference held December 5, 2020!
Special thanks to David Carr, OP Charter President, Toastmost.org web platform creator and event PR chair. The whole thing could not have been born without his ongoing tech wizardry and caring.
Leaders make all the Difference!
It started with Vision. One of DTMs Nik Lakhani and Krishn Ramchurn, and OP Immediate Past President Lois Margolin DTM’s wise and grounding counsel. An event was created, with major execution happening in the 6 weeks just prior to its “birth” on December 5, 2020 – in collaboration with 5 other clubs. Pretty wild, growing the teams, having hundreds of live attendees. and enjoying videos, music and dancing, interviews and more in the “break time.” Wow… just wow.
Thank You for Leading Contests, PR, Talent & Zoom Mastery
Congratulations VTMCON 2020 Contest Winners!
Krishn Ramchurn, EVAL 
Roxanne Hossein, TT
Recall the fun in the galleries below.
See the PDF Program 
Event Schedule 
Event co-chair & Host Lois Margolin, DTM 
Event co-chair & Host Nik Lakhani, DTM 
Linda-Marie Miller 
Mathilde Fischer 
1st Runner Up World Championship of Public Speaking, 2020 
Be Your Speech Gallery 
Linda-Marie Miller’s Breakout 
Table Topics Contestants 
Joan Bowling 
Ken Essien 
Richa Ramduny 
Sonia Montrose 
Pooj Bhayroa 
Pamela Benjamin 
Samir Malik 
Deepak Venkat 
Roxanne Hossein 
Angela Heath 
Doris Tuckett 
Contest Chair Carol Prahinski 
Chief Judge Lukas Calafell 
Table Topics Winner Roxanne Hossein
Lou Brown /Talent 
Derrick Trimble – Creativity in times of Uncertainty 
Evaluation Contestants 
Test Speaker Darryl Brown 
Shivani Bhatia 
Annie Bai 
Noshan Nothio 
Ilda Kubela 
Valerie Bartley 
Andriy Smolenko 
Doris Tuckett 
Andrew Bennett 
Louis Brown 
Krishn Ramchurn 
Winner Krishn Ramchurn 
Fursey Gotuaco – Seal the Deal 
Fursey makes Krishn laugh 
Fursey workshop Shakespeare reader Elaine 
Rapt loving audience 
Roger Courville – Design Engagement into Virtual Presentations 
Pamela Benjamin introduces Roger 
Marquesa Pettway – Zoom Like A Boss 
Aspire for a studio like this?
Workshop GOLD to Use!
https://vtm.toastmost.org/category/2020-replays/
VTMCON 2021: June 26-27
Get ready for a second VTMCON (use #vtmcon as you help us promote in the coming months.)
This June, 2-day event will involve more online Toastmaster clubs. The theme “Make YOUR Audience Remember You” will continue, and teams and leadership roles are being reconfigured.
- Event Co-Chairs: Pamela Benjamin, DTM & Krishn Ramchurn, DTM
- PR Chair: David Carr, DTM
- Event Advisors: Nik Lakhani, DTM & Lois Margolin, DTM
- Stay tuned for the emerging full leadership for teams Talent, Breakout, Program, Recording, Zoom, Contests and more.
HELP ESPECIALLY SOUGHT – identifying GREAT lead workshop presenters for our next VTMCON – with amazing presentation and engagement skills aimed at helping you uplevel! Contact Pamela Benjamin, event co-chair at pamela.benjamin.toastmasters@gmail.com.
Honors & Achievements
Leaders Continue to Rise and Shine
- Our Sarra Idehen, Online Presenters member since April, 2020 was recognized as Division Director of the Year for 2019-2020, District 15, Division D Kudos, Sarra!
- Lois Margolin – DTM, Immediate Past President of Online Presenters and Co-chair for VTMCON 2020 revels in receiving the Club President award for her superlative service to us, 2019-2020.
PATHWAYS – Great Momentum into 2021
Our newest DTM awardee: 
Nik Lakhani, DTM 
We are thrilled to have OP President Nik Lakhani at our helm and congratulate him on receiving the Distinguished Toasmaster designation this past December. Busy serving in many Toastmaster arenas since 2016, he’s currently Mentor for Dovercome Toastmasters Club (Hybrid, District 91); and Mentor for Shilling Speakers Toastmasters Club (Hybrid, District 91). With others he’s just launched Digital Communicators Toastmasters, and will be an one of the special advisors for VTMCON 2021.
APPLAUSE, APPLAUSE for Pathways Level Completion Achievements!
- Elizanne Warren-Russell – Leadership Development, Level 1
- Krishn Ramchurn – Presentation Mastery, Level 2
- Tricia Smith – Presention Mastery, Levels 1 & 2
Membership Momentum
What’s the Smedley Award?? It’s what up to 20 clubs worldwide can earn if they enroll 5 new members in August-September. Online Presenters achieved that — and was just awarded the blue ribbon in December, 2020.
4 MORE NEW to OP in December 2020 and into the New Year. We’re proud to welcome into our ranks these seasoned Toastmasters and professional presenters:
- Natatia Vanellison, DTM from Savannah, Georgia USA joined in December. Catch her energetic presence.
- Sony Vasandani hails from AUSTRALIA, making her the second Online Presenter member from “down under.” Sony, do you speak “strine” like Graham Cairnes??
- Calvin Dorsey, DTM achieved his Distinguished Toastmaster rank in June, 2020 and joined OP in January. He’s from Lewisville, Texas, USA.
- Surya Vangala, DTM new member in 2021 – connected with OP via close fellowship with Marianne Grady, both of Princeton Toastmasters.
Help other Clubs!
Visiting other clubs is a great way to build relationships and grow skills. Can you help Bell Noontime Toastmasters?
Are you an experienced toastmaster who is passionate about helping new Toastmasters grow? Are you a seasoned speaker interested to visit a club different from your own? Bell Noontime Toastmasters Club is looking for outside club contest judges to help out in their club contest on Wednesday Feb 3, 2021, 12-1pm EST (US east coast time). Please reach out to Sara Gao, DTM, VPE of Bell Noontime for more details (saragao@gmail.com). Thank you!
V = Valuable = You
Recalling 2020 and starting anew in 2021 – catch these V-Words and associations and then make your plans for OP participation and collaboration to create great value in the days ahead.
- VIRTUAL, VIDEO meetings were VALIDATED!
- The covid VIRUS spurred online connection amongst Toastmasters in a way we could not have imagined.
- Online Presenters members extended goodwill education through VOLUNTEERISM to help Districts and Clubs from near and far learn the mechanics of meeting online.
- A VISION to create a global conference was realized!
- The Inaugural VTM CON 2020 brought together new collaborations amongst online TM clubs/clubmembers and world-class presenters to serve Toastmasters and public speaking enthusiasts froall across the globe.
- We keep discovering how VAST our skills are.
- Guest VISITS to Online Presenters soared in 2020, and many found their way to apply and join. We VALUE every Online Presenters Toastmaster.
- VERITABLY, we belong together. VIVA Online Presenters!
Connect & Collaborate
| President Nik Lakhani – DTM | nik@niklakhani.com | |
| VP Education Krishn Ramchurn, DTM | krishn.tm1@gmail.com | |
| VP Membership Louis Brown, DTM | louisbrown.65@gmail.com | |
| VP Public Relations Elaine Nieberding, DL5, VC1 | speakerelaine@gmail.com | |
| Secretary Emily Thompson, DTM | thomdencollege3@yahoo.com | |
| Treasurer & Charter President David Carr, DTM | david@carrcomunications.com | |
| Sergeant-at-Arms Andriy Smolenko, CC | smolenko@yahoo.co.uk | |
| Immediate Past President Lois Margolin, DTM | loismargolin.speaker@gmail.com |
We’re here to create win-win relationships. Reach your Online Presenters officers to make collaboration come alive.
Hot tip — see/print out ALL the Online Presenters email contacts from our website Members TAB. Log in first of course – then configure alphabetical by last name, or by date of joining/most recent first. Who might you enjoy partnering with for some value-creating activity?
Please send me feedback or things you’d enjoy contributing to the next issue – due out mid-March, 2021. Thanks!
Your Editor & VP-PR, Elaine Nieberding: speakerelaine@gmail.com.
410-652-2880