This week’s Seattle Sunrise Toastmasters was a lot of fun! 
Katey R (formerly N) was Toastmaster and her new husband Jerry one of our three guests. (Joan and Juvenal were also in attendance and we hope to see them back again soon.) Turns out we were very fortunate to have Katey with us because she came [ ] this close to winning millions in the Powerball lottery. However, gracious as ever, she agreed to split the money she did with the membership. [Note to Katey, I left before I got to collect my 23 cents. Catch you next week!]
The meeting was a Speech-a-thon, so we had five speaker, including Neva C., Scott C., Paula L., me, and Brett S.
Neva’s speech was her CC#2 project, “Filling the Void,” in which she addressed the very pertinent topic of filler words and noises. She talked about why we use them, why they are a problem, and how to avoid them. Neva began and ended her speech by playing out the role of a job interviewee, using the same script with filler words and without, respectively. The difference between the two is, uh, pretty, like, big! Thanks, Neva!
Next up was Scott C. (the photographer, so rarely photographed), for his CC#1 Icebreaker IV. A longtime Sunrise member, he has been through the CC manual three times and is going for his 4th time. (Apparently, the ice is very, very thick.) His speech, “My Strange Hobby” was a very funny description of his hobby of writing letters to companies to complain make them aware of opportunities for improvement in their product design and customer service. It turns out that we share this hobby, (as does Abe Simpson). Scott read the exchange of correspondence between him and a couple of companies, and it appears that he may have single-handedly saved Chips Ahoy! cookies from a very irritating design flaw in their packaging. Nice going, Scott!
Paula L. took the podium next with her CC#3 speech “Six Men,” named after the documentary she watched about the brutal 2012 rape and murder of Jyoti Singh in Delhi, India. The documentary led her to research the case more and inspired her to speak to us about the crime and its aftermath. Paula told of how the crime and the unusual public response of protest finally brought the epidemic of rape in India to the international stage. Paula provided statistics and causal analysis about the epidemic and also noted the shamefully short-term punishment received by the perpetrators. The outcry has since brought into effect a new law under which minors 16 years and older may be tried as adults for heinous crimes. A very important speech to hear. Thank you, Paula!
From the significant to the trivial, I was up next giving my first speech from the Humorously Speaking manual, “Work It,” in which I gave a hopefully humorous rundown of all the things I like about my new job at a local tech company. I always enjoy speaking in front of our club. I’ve done some stand-up comedy but it’s always nice to make sober (I presume) people laugh, and I prefer the kind, helpful feedback I receive from you far more than the flying projectiles of rotten fruit that you get at some of your higher class night clubs! Thanks for the comments, and especially to Amy for evaluating me.
Finally, Brett delivered his Project #3 speech “Not the Majors,” in which he portrayed his four seasons playing as a member of a slow-p
itch softball team. The team was, as the title indicated, not ready for the majors and lost all of their games. However, at the championship game, his team found themselves six runs ahead of the best team in the league. There was a glimpse of Hollywood-Bad-News-Bears-type victory, but in the end, the other team won. A very entertaining speech, Brett. Nice work!
Since this was a speech-a-thon, we had no Table Topics but went straight into the evaluations. Tom, Peter, Nicole S., Amy, and Marti gave their evaluations of the speakers and Michelle was our General Evaluator. Marti won Best Evaluator for her feedback on Brett’s team. Congratulations, Marti!
Nicole C. was our Grammarian, whose Word of the day “Audacious” was used several times during the meeting, and Makenzie was our Timer.
Peter finished up the meeting with guest feedback, announcements, and the induction of our newest member, Ken. Welcome to the club, Ken!
For those who weren’t at the meeting, Marti is hosting a club party at her house on Jan. 31. Save the date! More details to come.
Also, the International Speech Competition and Evaluation Competition will be held during our regular meeting time on Feb. 20. Katey has selflessly volunteered to be the contest chair (on her birthday, no less!), so if you’re interested in speaking in either competition or helping perform one of the contest roles, please get in touch with her. (Her contact information is available to members under the club roster on our web site.)
Next week’s meeting will be presided over by Toastmaster Michelle D. The theme will be “Eye on the Road.”
I will be in officer training next week, but Valerie has volunteered to fill in to do the Secretary write-up. Thanks, Valerie!
I'm a writer, editor, sit-down comedian, and keeper of many hobbies.
Finally, a good photo of me! Thanks, Andy! 🙂