“Inspiration” knocks on your door. How do you answer? The creative treasure within you is hoping you have the courage to say, yes! Traci was our Toastmaster.
President Moises selected this quote for the day: “Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory. “
Grammarian Bill chose “Inspirable” for the word of the day. We enjoyed special guest Robert as Timer.
What inspires Sarah? The “The Awe-Inspiring Salmon.” In her speech, Sarah taught us all about salmon. It’s no wonder why they inspire her. We learned the five species that inhabit the Northwest are Coho, Sockeye, Pink, Chum, and Chinook. There was a prehistoric sabertooth salmon. Salmon are born in freshwater, make their way to the ocean to live two to eight years, then return to freshwater. Some can make it as far inland as Idaho. To help salmon navigate obstacles and dams, organizations restore rivers, install fish ladders and even launch salmon over obstacles with a salmon cannon. Here’s a youtube video to see the salmon cannon in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z3ZyGlqUkA Salmon inspire Sarah. It doesn’t matter what inspires each of us. Find a story that resonates with you and enjoy it.
Jovica grounded us with reality in his speech, “Life happens.” It inspired us as it built up to his favorite quote by Nikola Tesla. Jovica started his speech by saying Death, change, taxes and rain in Seattle are inevitable! Our life is full of challenges and adversity, even with good things. It’s good to exercise, but sometimes our bodies or our circumstances change, which makes exercise difficult. In the face of his struggle, Jovica pivots to find solutions. Jovica used another good thing to drive home his point. His puppy, the cute little monster, provides a lot of joy. That same puppy comes with a great deal of responsibility and occasional frustrating inconvenience. The puppy is a lot of work, but it’s worth it. Life is a constant struggle. Jovica recommends using the STOP rule in the face of challenge. Stay calm, Think, Observe, and then Proceed. He closed with two inspirational quotes. “Life happens, but what we do about it is who we are.” And finally, his favorite Nikola Tesla quote, “Life is and will ever remain an equation incapable of solution, but it contains certain known factors.”
In our last speech, “Communicating to connect makes a difference,” Joseph prepared the audience to be inspirable with several noteworthy techniques. First he subtly involved the audience by asking them for two thumbs up if they could see his screen. Right after that, he asked the audience to participate in this first poll question: “What is the #1 criteria the Harvard Business Review identified for the advancement and promotion of professionals? Answer: The ability to communicate effectively. John Maxwell says, “Connecting is the ability to identify with people and relate to them in a way that increases your influence with them.” Joseph told two stories to illustrate connecting. A notorious Spanish-speaking bank robber was caught by an English-speaking police officer. Since they couldn’t communicate with each other, a boy volunteered to translate. The bank robber told the boy, in Spanish, where the money was stashed. The boy then translated the message, in English, that the bank robber was very brave and was prepared to die. This is a bad consequence of not being able to connect. Joseph asked his second poll question: Who is the oracle of Omaha? Answer: Warren Buffet. In Joseph’s second story he explained how Warren Buffet only gives 10-minute interviews. The marketing genius, Linda Kaplan Thaler, investigated how to connect with Buffet before she interviewed him. She discovered that he likes Cherry Coke. She offered him a can of Cherry Coke during the interview. He was delightfully grateful and granted her all the time she wanted for the interview. That interview was 90 minutes because she found a way to connect with him. Communicating to connect can make a significant difference.
In life, sometimes we get to pick what we get, and sometimes we don’t get to pick what we get. Jamie, our Table Topics Master, combined these two elements into one table topics question. Contestants chose a listed topic, and the spinning wheel of fortune randomly selected the subject for their one-minute speech.
Moises: What ____ inspire(s) you? Random subject: Movie
Jovica: What ____ inspire(s) you? Random subject: People
Robert: How would you create a ____? Random subject: Song
Judy: Why is ____ important to you? Random subject: Place – “Seattle”
Our evaluating team included Judy, Paula, Moises, and Weihu as our General.
Jack Gilbert said this, “We must risk delight. We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world.”
Get curious to explore inspiration and be courageous to mine the treasure within you.
Keep sharpening your sword with Toastmasters!
Our next meeting is November 20th.
Some ideas....What brought you to Seattle Sunrise? Where are you from? What would you like to learn? What's your proudest accomplishment? What did you want to be when you were small? What would you sing at Karaoke night?
