Thanks to Andy K. for his notes.

First-time Toastmaster Aswini H. did a terrific job in her role. She shared comments about mentorship and urged all members to spend time as a mentor. (Every Seattle Sunrise Toastmasters club member is assigned a mentor, which is listed on our Mentorship page on the club web site. If you haven’t been assigned one, talk to the Vice President of Education.)

·    New member Traci M. served as Grammarian, offering her word of the day, “Expounder.”

·    Isabella Z., now a veteran Timer, kept our meeting on time and on track.

·    Cara S. gave her CC Project 9 speech, “Under Pressure,” in which she expounded upon the virtues of one of her favorite cooking tools, the InstaPot

·    Julie S. gave her CC Project 8 speech, “The Running Evolution,” in which she provided a demonstration of products that she uses as part of her runners life.

Ready to run!

·    Dilip G. delivered his Ice-Breaker speech, “Me, Myself, and Id,” in which he talked about his background and what brought him to Toastmasters to courageously face his fear and loathing for public speaking.

·    Zhou B. gave his CC Project 3 speech, “Learning from the T-Shirt: How to Build a Popular Product,” in which he described the design principles that make the T-shirt one of the most versatile and popular pieces of attire.

Neat T- shirt!

·    Aleli M. was our Topics Master, bringing the question “What modern convenience do you consider a pain in the neck” as a prompt for Andy., Scott, Traci, and Lara to answer. Lara won Best Table Topics for her choice for the most painful modern device: her phone.

·    Our evaluators were Aanya L, Kiki N., Tom B., Andy K, and our General Evaluator was Neva C. 

Powerful evaluations.

·    President Tom B. swore in our newest members: Lara, Isabella, and Traci.Congratulations to them! We’re proud to have you as members of the club. 

Welcome New Sunrisers!

·    Tom also announced that on June 17 our club will nominate new club officers for our 2017-2018 Toastmasters year.  If you have any interest in serving as an officer for our Club please let Tom know as soon as possible so we can plan for an election/voting the week of our June 24 meeting.  Also, if you would like to volunteer as a part time substitute officer, which is always handy for roles like Secretary and Sergeant at Arms, please let Tom know.

Thanks for your service, Tom B!

Our theme for this meeting was “ Grit” The meeting was led by Toastmaster Bill S.

Julie S was the first speaker of the day with a speech titled: “Selection: not for the faint of heart”. Is there a science to conducting a job interview? The answer is Yes!  Julie who is an assessment scientist, gave the audience an overview of the process that goes into crafting the best job interview questions. Julie was presenting project #7 – research your topic.

Our next speaker was Cara S, presenting project #8- Using visual aids. In her speech titled “ Running with the essentials”, Cara, an avid runner, shared her tips for the best running experience. Running is a science which requires the proper attire for the runner as well as high visibility props for the drivers. Once you have the basics, adding some extras such as music players  and a snazzy running watch to keep track of your progress will transform this chore into a pleasant experience.

Our third speaker was Kiki N, re-telling the story of “Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.” Kiki  presented this story for the first time  last month. At the Seattle Sunrise Toastmasters, we call this “ recycling “. Recycling a speech  is an excellent way for presenters to refine and test their speeches. Well done, Kiki!

Our final speaker was Tom B, presenting project 3 from the Advanced Manual.- The Demonstration talk. Tom, an avid golfer, shared the basics of a good golf swing with the audience. Standing on the top of a chair, he demonstrated how to aim at the target, explained what happens when a club hits a ball and what a “ slice” and a “ hook” mean in golf language. Although Tom made it look easy, getting the right swing is not that simple. Tom is currently on a path to re-work and correct his swing even if it means going back to square one to eliminate the bad habits. At the Seattle Sunrise Toastmasters, we are not afraid to go back and re-work our skills so that we can get better.

Paula L led the table topics.  Paula used obscure movie titles such as “ 200 cigarettes” of  “ The man who Loved Cat Dancing” to prompt the audience to tell stories of grit, real or imagined.

Lara won the title for Best Table Topics.

Brett S, Aswini H and Alele M are tied for Best Evaluator.
Our next meeting is scheduled for May 27th.

Our theme for this meeting was “ School of Life”. The word of the day was “ inquisitive”. The meeting was led by Toastmaster Tom B.

Humor, what a nice way to wake up! In his speech titled “ Cringeworthy: two love stories of the 1970’s”, Andy K. took us back to his pre-teen years when, he, as a bespectacled, small kid with bad hair, had to compete against a lot better looking rival for the affections of Diana, her 5th grade classmate. Farrah Fawcett  is invoked to help tip the scales in favor of the underdog. Will she succeed? Here’s a question you can ask Andy next time if you did not hear the speech.

Our second speaker was Isabella Z. presenting her icebreaker speech. Isabella shared her relationship with the English language, from her first interaction with it at age 13 in her native China to a harrowing exam that she had to pass as an adult . According to Isabella, her main struggle is with the pronunciation. Through the years, Isabella has tried various methods to practice her oral skills with friends. Her goal, in joining the Seattle Sunrise Toastmaster, is to improve her communication skills.  We look forward to Isabella’s next speech and will be tracking her progress.

In her speech titled “ Letter to my Son”, our third speaker Paula L. exhorted her freshly turned 16 year old son to be the best man he can by being …a feminist. By definition feminism refers to equal rights for women. In her speech , Paula pointed out some significant ways in which women had yet to receive equal treatment to their male counterparts. She concludes her speech by reminding him of the struggle of his great grandmothers and entreats him to support fair and equal treatment of women. Although Paula’s son was not in the audience, her daughter, who sat in for him enjoyed the speech!

Our final speech of the day was presented by Aswini H. There are currently 190 million online shoppers in the US, and the market is growing by 10-12% each year. There are many advantages to shopping online- selection, convenience, price. What happens behind the scenes, once a shopper presses the “ order” button?   In her speech titled” A Glimpse at how online shopping works”, Aswini gives us a “ back of the store” tour. We  follow the trajectory of a product all the way from the online order, through the various departments of the warehouse and all the way to the shopper’s doorstep.
Thanks for this great tour, Aswini!

Kathy M. led the table topics portion of the meeting- Marty M won the Best Table Topic and Best Evaluator titles.

Our next meeting is on  May 20, 2017.

The theme for this  meeting was “Sustainable living”. The word of the day was “ perseverance”

Our Toastmaster, Aleli M., led the meeting.

Scammed by a car salesman who sold you a used car with more miles than the odometer says? Consider RCW 19.86.020 , the State Consumer Protection Act.  Tom B., presenting project #2 from the STI manual, outlined the purpose and the usefulness of the Consumer Protection Act. The State’s consumer protection office can file  lawsuits against deceptive businesses on behalf of the consumers in Washington State, with the consumer being awarded damages and attorney’s fees if the State wins.

Remember RCW 19.86.020

What energy will you use for grilling : coal or gas? In her speech titled “ What are you grilling on?” Cara answers this question with pros and cons of each type. We learnt that coal grills are better suited for passionate grillers, with plenty of time for cooking and cleaning and gas grills for casual and on-the- go grillers.  Cara was presenting CC project #7: research your topic.Well done, Cara!

All this talk about grilling at 7:30 am….

In her speech titled “5 to 7 minutes” our last speaker, Marti M., shared a new found insight about making speeches. What a 5-7 minute speech need not be is dull book report or essay about your vacation. What a 5-7 minute speech is a box of colors that you can use inform, inspire, excite audiences. Well done on presenting CC project #10- Inspire your audience, Marti!

A 5-7 minute speech about how to have fun making a 5-7 minute speech!

Bill S. led the table topics portion of the meeting. Members and guests were asked to answer creative job interview questions such as : would you rather fight a horse sized duck or 100 duck sized horses? Nice job, Bill!

Andrew H and Zhou B.were voted  best table topic .

Super Lucky and No to fitting an elephant in the fridge!

Ashwini H. won  the title of best evaluator.

Our next meeting is scheduled for May 13, 2017