Page 12 - June-2021-Voices

PJ’s PERSPECTIVE
Reflections
PJ Kleffner, DTM - District Director
I remember complaining that I could no
longer read the newspaper because they kept
making the print smaller. I finally relented and
admitted that it was time to get reading glasses.
The first time I looked at my reflection in the
mirror, I was shocked! Where did all of those
wrinkles come from? Why is my father looking
back at me?
Reflections are like that—sometimes we
don’t like what we see. However, we learn in
Toastmasters that our speech evaluations are
how we reflect on what we did well and where
we can improve. Many of us share the opinion
that learning to give and receive feedback is
one of the most important things we practice
in Toastmasters.
As my term as District Director draws to a
close, I look back at all we have accomplished
during this difficult, yet rewarding year. I had it
easy in one way, because we were in full pandemic
12 ONE COMMUNITY
lockdown for the entire year. We started the year
already meeting on Zoom, and knew that our
Club meetings, speech contests, officer training,
and annual conference would all be held online.
The previous Trio was blind-sided by Covid-
19, and had to quickly make a lot of difficult
decisions that focused mainly on survival —both
as Toastmasters and human beings. Yes, we did
lose members and Clubs, but in spite of that,
we finished the year with record numbers of
educational awards, and especially DTMs. We
also learned many new online meeting skills that
were immediately transferrable to the workplace.
These new skills also helped us maintain family
and social connections.
We lost a few more Clubs after the start
of the current program year, but other Clubs
thrived in the online environment. Clubs that
were struggling with membership suddenly
had visitors and new members from around the