Our theme for this  meeting was “Charisma”. The word of the day was “ flamboyant”

Our Toastmaster, Julie S., led the meeting with a definition of of charisma before giving the floor to four speakers.

Our first speaker, Kathy M., presented CC Project #4: How to Say It. In her speech titled: “The birthday gift: visiting the Holocaust Museum“, Kathy shared the story of a birthday present that led her on an emotional journey from sadness, anger, grief and empathy . Humans have the uncanny ability to inflict extreme violence on each other across the ages, all around the world. Kathy’s speech was raw  and full of emotion.She concluded with her resolution to be an agent of change which was  inspired by a quote by Elie Wiesel .

In her speech titled “ Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox: a tall tale“, our second speaker, Kiki N., regaled the audience with the story of Paul Bunyan, from the time of his birth in Bangor, Maine to the time he rescued Babe the Blue Ox before sailing around on the Round River thrice! Using vivid imagery, expressive body language and a sweet southern accent, Kiki told a very entertaining story and met her goal for this first project of the Storytelling Manual Project! Well done, Kiki!

Our third speaker, Brett S,in his speech titled “ How to stay adrift and not sink.” described the sunk cost theory which leads people to sometimes stay on the same mistaken course because of what they have already invested . For example, going to a concert that you do not feel like going to, just because you’ve already “sunk “ the money in the purchase of the ticket. Or, persisting on a crown molding installation project which should have been fun, but turns into a frustrating ordeal. Brett concluded with a clear and simple call to action: Be self aware, accepting of your mistakes and change…unless you like your own mistakes! Great project #9, Brett!

Our last speaker of the day was Ken B., practicing his speech for the International  Speech Competition.  In his speech titled       “ The crisis we create”,   Ken takes us back to a near death experience that transformed his life. Barreling down the road  at 90 mph, in a clunker without seat bolts or brakes will make your life flash in front of your eyes, especially when you see the roadside telephone pole rushing towards you!  Both Ken and Dennis, his pal, lived to tell the tale . Ken walked away, transformed,  with a new found clarity and purpose. He enjoined the audience to create a crisis to transform their lives. Chaos begetting clarity?  Interesting thought. Thanks Ken!

Aanya L. led the table topics portion of the meeting with original improv exercises where two members of the audience are given a situation and prompts to create creative small talk. Dilip and Isabella were voted best table topic for their easy banter about flowers and broken cycling equipment at the gym.

Andrew H. and Marti M. both won the title of best evaluator.

Our next meeting is scheduled for 4/29.

Our theme for this last meeting of the month was “ Tax Burden”.  Filing your taxes? Good! Owe money to the IRS? Not so good! Here’s some advice from Cara S., our Toastmaster: don’t give up, just keep at it and you may end up with a refund instead! . The word of the day,” Recalcitrant” was  introduced by Paula L.  Ashwini H. officiated as the timekeeper.

Julie S was the first speaker with her speech titled “ Highlights of Osten and Asher”. Presenting CC project #6-Vocal variety, Julie chose the subject of her two nephews, Osten and Asher. Through a series of vignettes, Julie  painted the picture  two little boys, the milestones in their development, their likes and dislikes and their evolving relationship with each other and the world. Quoting from real interactions, Julie made a judicious use of kid dialogue for vocal variety. Thanks for an artful and tender speech, Julie! We look forward to the next instalment of the adventures of Osten and Asher!

Our second speaker, Bill S. presented  CC project  #3- Get to the Point. In his speech titled :” Do not tax yourself with the forethought of grief, Bill, a self described “small town Norwegian-Lutheran guy” describes his journey; growing up not talking about death to learning to become fluent and comfortable with death and grief as a volunteer in AIDS support group and finally, having experienced grief, coming to the realization that peace comes from not pre-empting loss and grief.  He concluded his speech with Wendell Berry’s advice to “come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief….(to) for a time (…) rest in the grace of the world, and… (to be) free.” In these times of renewed anxiety, may we be at peace and untaxed with the forethought of grief like  wild things.

Our last speaker of the day was Peter F., presenting CC project #10- Inspire your audience. “ If you can dream it, you can do it.” is the title of Peter’s rousing speech. Using examples from Walt Disney’s life, Peter shared the many hard decisions this visionary had to make to achieve his dreams. Walt Disney was uncompromising and unstoppable . He had a vision, and no price was too high, no pain too unbearable to achieve his dream. He was a huge success and his dreams created a world of magic that continues to inspire generations all over the world to this day.  You can do it too, says Peter, but know that “ the commitment ( is when) the journey begins, not a second before” and that “it’s not free, it will cost you a lot of pain.”  We are inspired by Peter who, like Walt Disney, is following his dream as an inspirational speaker. Best in your endeavors, Peter!

Zhou B.  led our table topics session.  On this Easter Saturday, Brett S. was voted best table topic with recollections of Easter in Australia:  baking hot cross buns ad nauseum and way too long long week-ends!

Our evaluators were Aanya L, Aleli M, Tom B. Andy K, who  served as our general evaluator was also voted “ best evaluator”.

Welcome to our four new members!

Our next meeting is scheduled for 4/22.

Heritage – Meeting of March 25, 2017

Our theme for the day was “Heritage.” Ken was this morning’s Toastmaster. It was Ken’s first time being Toastmaster and he did a wonderful job! There were 15 members present and one guest at this morning’s meeting.

Cara was our first speaker of the day. Cara gave her sixth speech titled, “My New Best Friend” from the Competent Communicator manual. She shared with us how she recently purchased Amazon’s voice activated assistant, Alexa. Cara had some great points about how Alexia was very helpful with her day-to-day activates. Some examples include the ability to set timers while cooking, adding items to her shopping list, and the overall ease of interacting with Alexia for other tasks. Over all, Cara enjoys this new technology and how it makes her life easier.

Julie was our second speaker. Julie gave her fifth speech titled “CrossFit: Officially a Way of Life” from the Competent Communicator manual. Julie tried a variety of different fitness routines throughout college including LA Fitness and the college gym. She told us about her first experience at the CrossFit gym. Her first day consisted of sprinting, flipping tires, swinging sledgehammers, doing pushups, and hang power lifts! Julie has been doing CrossFit for two and half years and absolutely loves it. She compared it Toastmasters, but for the mind, since both have a challenging and supportive environment.

Neva was the third speaker of the day. Neva gave her seventh speech titled “The Decades Long Battle Over Funding for Basic Education” from the Competent Communicator manual. The main objective of this speech is to “research your topic.” Neva knocked this speech out of the park! She gave us detailed facts and stats of Washington state’s education program. It turns out Washington is ranked 20% below the national average for state education funding. Neva also described how homeowners are responsible to fill the funding gap.

Aleli was our final speaker of the day. Aleli gave her third speech titled “The Worker” from the Story Telling Manual. Aleli shared with us some very descriptive stories from her small business owner friends. The one story that has stuck with Aleli over the years is the one of her friend who was a Physician’s Assistant at the state jail. The story comprised of a mentally unstable inmate who swallowed razor blades. She found through listening to her friend’s stories that business owners typically aren’t humorous but instead have painful life stories.

Preston led our table topics session and our guest of the day, En Jean was voted best “table topic participant.”
Our evaluators were Kiki, Andrew, Yanyan, and Bill. Tom served as our general evaluator. Andrew was voted as “best evaluator.”

Our next meeting is scheduled for 4/8.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Here is my 7,000-word summary of this week’s meeting!

Jon talks about the benefits of “HIT Fitness”

Marti reveals the metal hack she used to quit smoking, lose weight, and more!

Zhou is in love with his Amazon Alexa!

Aanya incorporates gestures into her table topics response.

Katherine summarizes her 15 minutes of fame.

Paul provides feedback on the meeting!

Paula wins best Evaluator!