IMAGINE A LIFE WITH NO LIMITS…..

Toastmasters and Guests pose for a photo after the 32nd Bukoto Toastmasters Meeting at Naguru Skyz Hotel

Bukoto Toastmasters Club organized its 32^nd meeting at Naguru Skyz Hotel on 2^nd October 2018.Toastmasters is a club whose mission is to empower individuals to become effective communicators and leadership through an educational program that is tailored to an individual's distinct needs.

Below is some of the feedback that the guests gave after the meeting:

“It was wonderful visiting your club. I reflected afterwards that most of what I saw was at a higher standard than what I am used to in the clubs I have visited in the US.I like high standards.”

I was sincerely mesmerized by the energy of the club .It superseded my expectations by far.”

“I was impressed with Bukoto’s detailed evaluators and role taker presentations. Visitors were given feedback forms which they fill before they leave. Well done BTM for a great meeting! I enjoyed the meeting and learnt a lot.”

"Thanks for the great hospitality and I look forward to more meetings. I enjoyed all the speeches and I hope that I will be as good.”

Maggie Mukiibi Lutwama astounds the audience.There are truly no limits!

Maggie Mukiibi Lutwama, Toastmaster of the evening emphasized that everyone has tremendous potential. That is an irrefutable fact! One only has to fight on, press forward, stretch, and will overcome any barrier. All insecurities in life are created by individuals, developed and fed in their minds. People have dreams and actually talk themselves out of these dreams. Maggie is a seasoned sales person with high repute in driving complex sales growth, marketing, management and consulting.

“Don’t wish for less problems and challenges, wish for more skills to tackle these challenges” she opined.

The meeting featured three speeches by Bukoto Toastmasters’ members. The first speech by Lydia Kobusinge illustrated the dynamics of teamwork in the speech titled Together, We are Brilliant. She commenced her speech with the quote “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much”-Hellen Keller. She emphasized the key prerequisites of an effective team. One- the group of people involved has a common purpose and the other is interdependence among the members.

Lydia Kobusinge underscoring the tenets of teamwork

She stressed various tips to effectively manage a team such as guarding against having only few or only one of the team members shoulders the burden of the entire team. It creates resentment and dampens motivation of those active members. Furthermore, timely and proper delegation by the team leader is equally important, to prevent burnout!!! Most importantly, set aside your differences; focus on what needs to be done and do it first, you can argue later.

Her speech left the meeting reflecting on how well they are performing in their various teams: was anyone in the audience piggy banking on other people's accomplishments? Were others tiring themselves handling the bulk of assignments, because they felt that they were the only ones who knew what they are doing? Or were they conscientiously performing their duties to enable their teams succeed?

Lydia is the Vice President Public Relations Bukoto Toastmasters; an economist advancing citizens’ critical needs.

Joshua Ogwal explains the concept of Corporate Governance

Joshua Ogwal, an accomplished financial lawyer and member of Bukoto Toastmasters, enlightened the audience about how small enterprises can make their companies optimal. We were fortunate to glean financial advice for free. One of these ways is through employing corporate governance for small scale enterprises such as bakeries, farms, small scale partnerships, among others. He highlighted research by Enterprise Uganda that revealed that 1 out of 10 companies make it to their second year. One of the reasons for these dismal statistics is underestimating the importance of corporate governance. Imagine that! Most people assume that corporate governance is a concept that must be adhered to by large companies, which is far from the truth. He expounded on one key aspect of corporate governance that companies can incorporate, the need to establish control environments. I was personally able to jot down three ways in which small scale companies can establish this, one- establish key activities that the business thrives on and go on to select the appropriately experienced people to oversee those activities. Next, create and implement systems and policies in alignment with the company objectives. Thirdly, create a system of accountability across the organization through setting and monitoring individual performance targets within a given time frame. He left us pondering about whether we were incorporating these means in our small businesses. Have/are you dear reader employing these recommendations in your business? Is it thriving? There is no better forum rather than Toastmasters to provide an environment for benefiting from others’ expertise.

Catherine Opondo on Being A Stay At Home Mum in the 21st Century

Catherine Opondo, the Executive Director of Concern for the Girl Child and immediate past Treasurer, Bukoto Toastmasters Club presented her speech titled Choosing to be a Stay at Home Mum in the 21^st Century. Catherine relayed the thoughts that raced through her mind as she contemplated about her decision to resign from her job. What would she do with herself after the kids were gone? What would happen to the family if her husband lost his job? Where she would get the funds to meet her personal needs, if she chose to quit? A survey conducted between 1971-2013 by the Mothers’ Day Canada Statistics revealed that 6 out of 10 children in Canada were happiest at home in the presence of a stay-at-home mum. Those are many children.Two incidents triggered her resignation;when she fell asleep behind the wheel on the way to breastfeed her baby and when her house help nearly succeeded in kidnapping her baby. She does not regret this decision because her children gained emotional intelligence and emotional enrichment through home schooling, and she became a world class home manager with fantastic planning skills. Additionally,this experience groomed her for her current role as the Team leader of 20 people at Concern for the Girl Child. I must admit, no one has ever delineated the benefits of being a stay – at –home mother like that before. You will agree with me that parenthood causes you to carefully assess what you would prioritize for the sake of family.

I must at this point brag that the proprietor of Naguru Skyz Hotel and Kampala Protea Hotel who has generously provided free space for bimonthly meetings for Bukoto and Kampala Toastmasters Clubs respectively was present to listen in to these amazing speeches.Though we were all attentive, I believe that Toastmasters were secretly observing Mr. Bitature to gauge his reaction(not me ,of course)!

The audience including Naguru Skyz Hotel proprietor and Toastmasters champion, Patrick Bitature savoring the speeches

Catherine Opondo was voted the best speaker at this meeting.

In her conclusion, Maggie emphasized that being at the very top necessitates that one must open their minds to being criticized, evaluated, and stretched to the furthest levels to attain their ultimate goal. Do not shy away from challenges, they were meant to spur you to become the very best you can be.

This meeting, I daresay left a lot of room for self-reflection. This is the advantage that Toastmasters have over various public speaking platforms. It avails the opportunity to skillfully craft speeches & tales that not only amuse, awe, inspire or educate the listeners, but also enable the individual to demonstrate and sharpen their leadership and communication competencies.

Would you like to experience the ultimate Toastmaster experience within the Bukoto environs? Please join Bukoto Toastmasters for their monthly meetings every first Tuesday of the month and third Wednesday of the month.

Don’t miss the first Bukoto Toastmasters Speech Contest on 6^th November 2018 at 6:30pm at Naguru Skyz Hotel, Bukoto. It will feature meticulous prepared speeches and Table Topics speeches (impromptu speeches) ahead of the Project November Toastmaster contest in November. All this for only UGX 10,000!!! SEE YOU THERE!!

Lydia Kobusinge

Vice President Public Relations, Bukoto Toastmasters Club