What level you enjoyed most?

I did not hesitate when asked "What level you enjoyed most?" : LEVEL 3

Beside 1 required task, specific to the path, at this level three you chose 2 others you want, from 15 projects!

And, it seems, more preparing soon.

There is a CHOICE; before choosing, and even after, you can read any of those projects : one more interesting then the others!

At my first path, I opened almost all! I felt like a kid in a bonbon store when suddenly she can chose!

It was not so easy to decide. What do I chose? Storytelling that I know better, or Creating Visual aids, I am less familiar with?

Connect with the Audience, what is in this project? Is the Voice Variety interesting? Presentation software?
What means Active Listening ?

Some of the projects where really fun to implement. Active Listening, in the club near me was a role as Table Topic Master, and then telling what I understood from their answers combined with body language.

Connect with the Audience, even more fun, and was wonderfully prepared by a team working with the VPE of the club. While I spoke, I was interrupted a few times of different audience types played masterfully by my fellow toastmasters members. The feedback is not on my 20 minute slide presentation on Zoom backgrounds, important in itself, but on how I handled the interruptions. Want to see the results? The link takes you to the blog post & Video of of my Presentation.

It seemed not too bad, even the more vehement one!

In another path, I chose Voice Variety, and liked it so much, that repeated it. Not because the first did not go well, just to be able to try different ways, described in the Project.

Inspire your audience, was chosen for my other path, recently. Not an easy project, and I used it to tell personal stories about me and my pathways experience. The feedback was that I got here and there off the path. But the results were that at least two of the participants were really inspired and acted on that. When we can reach at least one person at each presentation, storytelling, change something in their lives, in any way, we did not do it for nothing.

Be aware: Do NOT BUY the Printed Version of a Path: NO CHOICES ALLOWED.
You are given, at level 3 manual two "electives" chosen for you without your own input. All the joy of reading all the different electives are taken away also. Nor reading, nor saving or printing, repeating. No choosing. So unless you have no access to the web, chose path that are not "printed" for you in advance.

I was asking many Toastmasters "Where it is written "if you chose Printed material your choices are limited?" They could not answer. "The Guides tell it to the club, when they visit." Well, not enough. But as usual, looking for something else, I did find the answer. It is written inside the NAVIGATOR. A guide book all the beginning of the pathways materials, before you enter Base camp, that I never really read. In plus, I think it was ameliorated, these six month sometimes.

Electives in Printed Material? Limited. I would say "none" because they can not be elected. This picture perhaps describes it even better.

So, which would YOU chose looking at this picture? As for me, I do not regret my switch to BC.

I have loved other Levels too, for different reasons, but most of the  joy came from Level 3 projects.

What is on my desktop? Why?

Sunday. All morning, well at least more then an hour, I worked to clean my desktop. So, when I make a Zoom demo showing my screen before going into Pathways, it seems better. Here it is as it looks now, the best I could do.

Not sure if it can be read, as it is? The deck, where all my programs I use often, at left side are hidden, they come back as soon as my mouse is at left side. On the egg, are the folders and images I have yet to handle or sort out. My last projects, last pictures that were not yet used, and so on. 

On the right side, under my disk image, download folder, upload image folder, are my Paths first. VC path, Visionary Communication that I finished has many useful information in it, PM path, Presentation Mastery, that will be finished in a month. LD path, Leadership Development, I am working on now (minus the last projects), EC path, Effective Coaching that sleeps for the moment. Under it a new folder I decided to use: Projects, inside it are projects and evaluations from all the path I downloaded, printed or not yet printed. As in the Electives they are mostly same for all path, it is good to have them together and be able to pick the one I need out of the hat. The folder.

Then come my clubs, WSO Witty Storytellers Online, where I am VPE and work with it most. My to Pathways clubs, DTMMaster and Speak-EZ from Arlington, Va and GTO, my last new online club where I am SgArms. Under them, all together my other clubs, each having a folder. 

Then comes Pictures, a folder about me and then with pictures I love but did not take. I could not do less. I need them all for easy access. At the bottom, Videos and Sounds, Zoom folder, SlideShow folder, my district folder, Documents, Blog folder is for used images from posts nowadays. 

It was as clean as I could do without hurting efficient work, with those around the egg changing as it goes, to remind me the tasks before me. 

After I did all this cleaning job, I relaxed and got to play looking at different youtube videos. Suddenly, one comes up How to Share in Zoom : https://youtu.be/Tvt5bR4lfrk

Interesting! I learned from it how to share only my browser in Zoom share screen, not all my desktop. We have to open our browser before click on the green Share and then select it, instead of our desktop. It seems that is it. So simple. This is what I can go directly then.

Cleaner, isn't it?

Do not regret the time spend cleaning my Macintosh appearance, it also made me think about the importance of different projects, and folders for me, right now. I am messy, by some people standards, but usually I do know where things are. Till someone changes that order, then I feel lost again, and have to look for my things, buried under other books or items. 

We do learn one thing at a time, and I am waiting now for the next zoom meeting to be able to try out my new knowledge. Soon going to the dentist, not my favourite things to do, then hopefully I will be able to write down the text that go round inside my head about my Pathways journey this last six month, in a few short minutes time. In a month, I will have a bit more time to reflect on my path that I will finish, and how much to tell about the up and downs I had with it, or best, what I learned from having gone through all that.

Some say, Toastmasters become their life, I could probably say, Pathways become for the last half year. Even if I did a bit more here and there, but that IS my last passion. Zoom is just a tool I use nowadays to connect with others to speak of... Pathways, mostly.

Where is Base Camp?

Yesterday, one of my mentees called me up and asked for help. "Where is Base camp?" Pause, "I am no more able to find it! What can I do?"

It takes time, to understand his question. As I knew, he was finishing his Level 1 already. He was on Pathways through an club in Pathways District, we were both attending remote control. He had lots of problems with Zoom, as it could not be accessed from the University he teaches at the meeting time. He had problems with Pathways, asking himself, and me, if he should continue with all those problems.

Now, a few weeks later, he told me he is so frustrated not being able to access his Paths and projects, that he even lost a client, not being nice enough, patient enough with him.

Without realising it, he got addicted and fell in love with Pathways!

We shared screen. I showed again how I get through TMI website, into Base Camp. Nowadays, as soon as I logged in to TMI, my bookmark takes me here, direct, and just by another click on the last rectangle "Pathways Base Camp" I am in.

"But I do not get to that screen any more!
"Where do you get?
"I am send to the new rollout Schedule instead"
"I do not know : Why I do not get that?"
"You know. You did not pay!"
                    That was not very nice for me to tell him. But he understood and asked me:
"What should I do then?"
"Did you get a new pathways club?"
"Not yet. That club closed Remote access" was  the answer.
"X and Y did to remain in Pathways, paying it anyway"
Our "old, pathways" club, had to refuse remote access. I was member in two others by that time.

It is only 2 weeks after the new TM payment period. We were used too much for the GRACE, in the times, it was two whole month! Now, be aware, if you do not pay in your Pathways club, less then two weeks and you are out. As he did pay in his other clubs, not yet on pathways, he was directed towards the rollout in different Regions.

Notice also, the club or clubs if we have more then one are offered on choice, and we are asked to "Log in as a member" of the chosen club. When also Base Camp manager, we have choice we login as either of them. But, if you do not have a Pathways club, you do not even arrive at this screen. Just at the schedule when Pathways arrives to the clubs, you paid for.

Of course, my mentee, joined in less then one hour after our discussion another of the three clubs I suggested him.

Once we get addicted to Pathways and Base Camp and our Projects... we do not feel any more good without.