Division Conference

Last Saturday we, the Toastmaster Clubs in Vienna, were hosting another great conference, The Division Conference, at the Hilton Plaza in Vienna. We had an excellent participation; our goal was minimum 50 participants, we finally had 70 participants(!).

Our Keynote Speaker was the current President of the Vienna Toastmasters Club, Günther Aschenbrenner. We enjoyed 2 excellent workshops, the first one headed by Maria Teresa Salichs, an American lady who works for the UN, about Emotional Intelligence. The second workshop was conducted by Ellen Hermens, a professional speech coach from Germany, and her topic was about giving and receiving effective feedback.

Furthermore we enjoyed two excellent competitions 1) impromptu speeches and 2) humorous prepared speeches. After the Gala Dinner we were celebrating the 30th birthday of the Vienna Toastmasters Club, and the birth of the new Vienna Speakers Club, with a huge cake.

All in all, as the conference organizer myself together with the Division Governor, Dr. Otto Schwerer, we are happy to say everything went very well. The feedback we have received has been extremely positive.

Thank you for all participants who contributed to the success!

Ps. Click here to view Photos of the conference!

Interview with Niko

In my role as the Area Governor I was recently interviewed by the Croatian Toastmasters for their Newsletter. I thought to share this interview with you:

Q: Niko, as a short introduction please tell us something about you. Where are you born and how did you end up in Austria
A: I grew up in Southern Finland, in a small city by a big lake with 30.000 inhabitants. I finally ended up in Austria because I fell in love with an Austrian woman:-). I have been traveling and working in more than 50 countries in the world. I am a college graduate (hotel management) and currently finalizing my MBA Dissertation and should be done with it by 2008. I work as a project manager in a hotel investment fund and on my free-time I also have my own small company: Fizz Academy.

Q: When and why did you join a Toastmasters club?
A: I joined Toastmasters in about 5 years ago, to improve my public speaking skills.

Q: What are your achievements as a Toastmaster so far?
A: Up to now I have achieved the following awards: ACB (Advanced Communicator Bronze) and CL (Competent Leader).
My goals for 2008/2009: ACS (Advanced Communicator Silver) and AL (Advanced Leader)
My goals for 2009/2010: ACG (Advanced Communicator Gold) and DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster)

Q: What are some of the benefits that you experienced as a result of your activity in a Toastmasters club? How did the Toastmasters help you in your personal and private life?
A: Toastmasters has had an immeasurable effect on my life. I have not only improved my speaking and leadership skills but improved in every area of my life. Toastmasters gave me the tools to step out of my comfort zone and make great progress in my personal growth. I am very thankful that I took a chance and joined Toastmasters, it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Q: What are your responsibilities as an Area governor?
A: To keep it short: The main responsibility of the Area Governor is to ensure high quality and quantity of Toastmasters Clubs in the Area.

Q: Would you recommend other colleagues to candidate for such a role in the future and why?
A: Absolutely yes. In my opinion taking up on the various leadership roles in the Toastmasters Organization is a way of giving back to the great organization that helps so many people in their journey of becoming better speakers and leaders

Q: What are your goals as an Area governor?
A: To achieve at least the ‘Distinguished Area’ status goal (defined by TMI) and to increase the quality and quantity of Toastmasters Clubs in our Area. The main goal is to support our vision of making Vienna the Toastmasters centre to Europe. Our goal is to increase the clubs up to 10 clubs in the next 10 years. However, the quality is even more important. Therefore quality first; the quantity will follow!

Q: Many of us are stuck on one speech for months. Could you recommend us a way to prepare our speeches faster and more disciplined?
A: I know what you are talking about. I have been there myself. After my own Ice Breaker Speech I got kind of stuck. It took me another year before I did my second speech. However, after the second speech I realized the only way I can get better in speaking is to speak; and started to consistently prepare new speeches; I defined and committed to new goals, ultimately having the plan to achieve the DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster, Highest Recognition by Toastmasters International) in 2010. The thing is you have to take it one speech at a time. There are no shortcuts. The more you speak, the better you get. Naturally it is also important to keep your eyes open and learn from others and other resources at the same time. The learning speed is up to you. At Toastmasters we say: After finishing the first 10 speeches, you are 10 times better speaker than before.

Q: From where did you take your motivation to prepare speeches and take active roles in the meetings?
A: The motivation, in my opinion, is mostly intrinsic. Each one of us has a choice: We can choose to become better speakers and leaders, or we can choose not to go through that hassle (of getting uncomfortable) of becoming better speakers and leaders. It is ultimately up to each one of us what we do in our lives. If you want to become a better speaker, the best way to do that is to get stage time and practice wherever you can. This includes naturally also taking roles in the regular meetings

Q: I’ve read about an importance of finding your life purpose. What do you think about that?
A: I believe it is of crucial importance to each one of us, to stop and think of our live purpose. I would recommend you to write down your own vision statement. Where do you want to be in 10 years, or 20 years? What dreams do you have? What are your core values? What are your strengths and talents? As Stephen Covey puts it: Think of making a speech in your own funeral about your life: how would you describe your life achievements? What things would you have liked to achieve in your life? Sometimes it is good to start with the end in mind.

Q: Have you discovered your own life purpose?
A: In my opinion, life is like a journey. There are things that stay constant, and there are things that flow and change in life. As leaders and successful people we need to be fully aware of ourselves, our dreams, our strengths, our talents and our core values and at the same time, we need to be able to adapt to the changes life brings along. I do have my own vision statement in my wallet all the time with me. In this vision statement I have clearly defined my own life purpose including my dreams and goals that I want to achieve in my life, my talents, my core values , etc. and what I am and believe as an individual person in all aspects of my life.

Q: Attendees of the last Area D1 conference found out that you really enjoy running. Do you also have some other hobbies?
A: Yes, I love to go to the playground with my three little kids. Its like creativity pure and it truly frees up my mind.

Q: What is your favorite quote?
A: It is my own quote: Success is a mindset® by Niko Viramo

Q: I thank you in advance and wish you even more success, in Toastmasters, and in your personal life as well.
A: Thank you very much. And I also would like to take this opportunity to wish you and all Toastmasters in Croatia lot of success in their lives, and please remember: Success is a mindset. Be the best you can, every day!

For more information about Toastmasters, please visit the website of the Toastmasters International in here.

Toastmasters Area Conference

In my role as the Area Governor for Toastmasters International, I was honoured to organize, the Area Conference last weekend at the Hilton Plaza Hotel in Vienna. This conference turned out to be (as planned) a great Success Story.

Our keynote speaker had to cancel last minute, therefore I stepped in to give a keynote speech by myself. I was making a presentation about achieving goals in toastmasters and in life; metaphorically training for running a marathon one run at a time.

We had a great mix of educational workshops ranging from “Attention Grabbers” to “How to Achieve anything and everything in life” as well as the famous speech competitions on 1) impromptu speeches as well as 2) humorous speeches. The venue at the Hilton was great (an executive meeting room in the upper floor), the service was excellent (BIG thanks to Mr. Björn from Denmark), the speakers were superb, the attendance was excellent (50+) and the dinner ceremony later on at the Café Schottering Club Room was very cosy. There we could enjoy traditional Austrian food, with some awesome acoustic music, played by a friend of mine, Lee Hoffmann. (Lee is also competing at the local IDOLS (Starmania) so please remember to vote for him - he is a great talent.

Diashow of the Conference (Click me)

After Café Schottenring shut its doors at around midnight, some of us still took the opportunity to go out together in a cocktail bar at the city centre for one more drink. Once we got in, I immediately smashed into a pretty girl, who was carrying a strawberry tranquili in her hands. Now three quarters of her cocktail landed on my freshly pressed suit. It was a mess. My handsome, expensive, hand-tailored suit was a complete mess. And damn sticky…The Bangladeshi guy in the kitchen was very friendly and doing his best to rub the sticky liquid off, but he was chanceless.

Although I am a very positive person, I am a bit doubtful that the laundry will be giving me a clean suit back later on this week…Let’s wait and see… At least the Manager at the Cocktail Bar promised to take care of the laundry bill….

Success and Leadership

Last Saturday I held a presentation about Success & Leadership for the “Leadership Academy” of Finland.

The students of the Leadership Academy are 15 hand-picked, most talented young entrepreneurs and leaders of Finland that have been selected for the one year Academy that consist of three parts.
The first part is a 3-day intensive seminar in Northern Finland, the second part is a one week retreat in Cyprus, and the third part is the closing session held in Vienna, at the Hotel Tulbinger Kogel.
Last year I took myself in this Academy as a student, and it was a great experience. This year I was invited there as a Speaker, and it was a great honour for me to present for this great audience. I spoke about success and leadership; what I learned from my own experiences in Timbuktu, Kazakhstan and California. I am very much looking forward doing similar session next year as well.
Thanks Ollis for inviting me over.
Respect, Niko

Al Walker

It was a great pleasure to be, among many other founding members, at the 1st ever meeting of the newly formed Vienna Speakers Club yesterday evening at the Cafe Griensteidl. For this occasion, we were also very happy to welcome our honoured guests from the USA: Al and Margaret Walker.

Al Walker is a professional speaker, author and consultant. He is a member and a past president of the NSA (National Speakers Association, USA), Cavel Award Recipient, NSA Speaker Hall of Fame (among only a few speaking professionals in the world such as Colin Powelll, Zig Ziglar and Ronald Reagan). Al and Margaret also gave the Vienna Speakers Club a beautiful birthday gift: A bag  full of Al’s newly released motivational books “Thinking big and living large”. Just great. And both were also participating in our Table Topics Session (impromptu speeches)…

We from the Vienna Speakers Club, would like to thank you, Al and Margaret Walker, by being our honoured guests at the first meeting of teh Vienna Speakers Club, and naturally we would also like to thank all other guests and hope to see you soon again!

To find more about Al Walker please visit his website at http://www.alwalker.com