January 23, 2021 – Influence

We started with a dark grey morning Seattle Sunrisers, but we ended with blue skies and warm sunshine. Our meeting was led by our Secretary, Mari, with the theme of our meeting influence. She was accompanied by our Grammarian – Paula, Timer – Sarah, and Table Topics Master – Scott. The word of the day was affluence, a state of having a great deal of money or wealth. 

We had three speakers this morning – Steven, Young, and Dana. Our first speaker Steven spoke about the 5 C’s of Successful Leadership. Those five C’s are: Condescending, Criticizing, Capitalizing, Condemning, and Crying. Our second speaker, Young, shared his experience in the old saying “honesty is the best policy”. Young also shared with us how body language is an effective method of portraying a story. The last speaker of our session was Dana with her Icebreaker – My Journey Through Filmmaking. 

What we learned from our speakers today is, successful leadership is the opposite of the five C’s. For our leaders out there, remember effective leaders do not condescend, criticize, capitalize, condemn, or cry. Effective leaders do however provide honest feedback. Although we may be uncertain of the outcome, let’s remind ourselves we can’t predict the future and our honesty can bring a positive future.

Another successful meeting with many toastmasters taking on different roles. Special applause to Dana for sharing her love of filmmaking during her icebreaker. We wish you good luck in your creative journey filming Superkid. Great job to Weihu and Mari for stepping into their roles as the evaluator and Toastmaster. 

A quote by Scott Adams:

“You don’t have to be a person of influence to be influential. In fact, the most influential people in my life are probably not even aware of the things they’ve taught me. It was a kind reminder that influence doesn’t have to be world-shattering, as every day, unknowingly, we are influencers.”

As Toastmasters, we are all influencers striving to be better at public speaking. We gain confidence by sharing our stories and working with one another through our journey. Our toastmaster for the next meeting will be Hannah for the first time! Catch you bright and early. 

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January 16, 2021 – Change

Another great morning with the Seattle Sunrisers! Our meeting was lead by our Sergeant of Arms, Judy, with today’s theme – change. She was supported by our Timer – Young, Grammarian – Bill, and Table Topics Master – Jovica. 

The word of the day was arc. Arc is the path from beginning, middle, and end. Arc can also mean an electrical spark. Dogs also arc (arc, arc, arc) – right? Congrats to Vivi, Judy, Young, Jovica, and Paula for using our word of the day during our meeting.

Our theme of the day, change, was incorporated in our Table Topics section lead by Jovica. We learned from Lara baby steps help when we are trying to change. Traci also reminded us that having a measurable goal is needed to succeed, but as Petar says success is incremental. 

We had three speakers – Hannah, Sarah, and Weihu. Hannah spoke about what she learned from understanding her weaker leadership style. Our second speaker, Sarah gave us an amusing speech about raising her guinea pig, Squeakers. Finally, our last speaker, Weihu, gave us an informational speech about tips and tricks to communication.

Tips and Tricks to Communication:

  1. Know your audience
  2. Be a good listener
  3. Get your thoughts across
  4. Be aware if you are speaking too little or too much

Change is inevitable, but with change, there can be progress. We can change like Hannah, by understanding our weaknesses and challenging them. We can change our communication style by following Weihu’s tips and tricks. Or we can change our home, by adding a new family pet like Sarah.

How will you change? I hope you can change & face the strange of public speaking with us at Seattle Sunrisers. Our next meeting is Saturday, January 23, 2021, at 7:45 AM with Mari as our Toastmaster.

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January 9 – A Fresh Start & A New Year

2020 is behind us and another exciting year ahead. Our first meeting of the month was led by our club Treasurer, Scott. Today’s meeting theme was A Fresh Start & a New Year. He was supported by our Timer – Petar, Grammarian – Mari, and Table Topics Master – Polina. 

The word of the day was resumption. Resumption is the action of beginning something again after a pause or interruption. Congrats to Lara and Jovica for using the word of the day. 

A special shout out to Polina for challenging us during Table Topics by incorporating these techniques while asking on the spot questions. 

Public Speaking Techniques:

1. Ask for honest feedback

2. Engage the audience in discussion.

3. Start and end with key points.

4. Use a hand sign

5. Use horizontal movement

6. Use vertical movement

7. Amplifying head movement

8. Lean towards your audience

9. Tilt your head

10. Smile like you mean it

We had three speakers: Traci, Moises, and Lara. Traci was joyful and shared with us her theme for the new year – 2021 Sparkle the Future. Moises convinced us that when starting something new, a mentor can show you the light. And our last speaker, Lara, gave us a touching speech about challenges and how your mindset makes a difference. 

It is a New Year Seattle Sunrisers. We will be faced with new challenges every day. Let’s have some grit, as it’s the sparkle of imagination. If you’re challenged with something new, a mentor can be the answer. And when those challenges get hard, remember each day is precious and our mindset affects our outlook. 

A special thanks to our guest, Dana, for attending once again! We’re meeting this Saturday with Judy as our Toastmaster. Happy New Year and see you at 7:30 AM Saturday. 

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December 29, 2020 – The 110 techniques of communication and public speaking

Seattle Sunrisers gathered this morning to celebrate the club’s last meeting of 2020. (We made it!)

Moises hosted the meeting which was inspired by David JP Phillips who spent 7 years studying 5000 speakers, amateurs and professionals in order to detail every single skill a communicator from stage or in a presentation uses in order to deliver their message. Here are a few tips from JP : tilt your head to increase empathy, decrease your tempo to increase your focus and lower your voice to increase anticipation. Much more here.

communication-and-public-speaking-David-JP-Phillips.jpg

Steven and Lara served as timer/evaluator and grammarian/ evaluator respectively.

The word of the day was ” Articulate”

There were three great speeches with messages of struggles, growth and hope:

In his speech titled : Are we on the same wavelength? , Jovica shared the trials and tribulations of job interviews.
Bill speech ” My journey from fear to growth” was an inspiring origin story of reclaiming one’s silenced voice one step at a time, by making a conscious decision to move away from one’s comfort zone.

Vivi reassured the audience that it is ” Never too late to start” using her own story of searching for and finding her passion when she moved to the US. It is never too late to reinvent oneself.

Happy 2021 Seattle Sunrisers! We, at Seattle Sunrise, are seekers. And although we may not always find what we wanted to find, we always find something useful and surprising. I cannot wait to pursue our journey together next year!

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