We had a terrific turnout at this week’s meeting of Seattle Sunrise Toastmasters, and it’s no wonder, given the agenda. We welcomed four of our most experienced speakers to the podium for a menu of well-crafted and strongly delivered speeches, followed by a panel of evaluators made up of several of our veterans, all of whom gave spot-on feedback, digging into these speeches to recognize the best parts and doing the important and often difficult work of finding room for improvement.

Nicole C, our Vice President of Education and this week’s Toastmaster, was responsible for putting this terrific meeting together. We departed from our usual meeting format, foregoing Table Topics between speeches and evaluations to allow enough time for these four experienced speakers to deliver longer speeches. Even so, we did go over time for the meeting, which is a rarity at Sunrise, but it was well worth it. Nicole also filled time between speeches by providing useful information about how the Toastmasters manuals can best be used. (For newer members: you can always contact your mentor or one of the club officers if you need advice on how to use the manuals.)
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First-time Toastmaster Preston K related the disastrous speaking event that led him to Toastmasters and the stepping stones and milestones that have led him from that point to now, when he can speak with confidence to a group. It’s been an impressive and fun experience to watch Preston step or leap from one speech milestone to the next, developing that confidence and ease which he showed throughout the meeting. Excellent job, Preston!

Our first speaker was Jung K, who gave her CC Project #2 speech “To Buy or Not to Buy.” In it, she related her experiences and difficulties as she and her husband ventured out into the booming real estate markets of the DC/Virginia area and then Seattle, only two of the most expensive and competitive in the nation. Great speech, Jung!

Ken B. was up next, giving his CC Project #5 speech “The Gripping Fear that Gelds Both Man and Beast.” He spoke about the difference between the way human beings experience fear versus the way other species do, relating two stories to illustrate—one about the fear experienced by a dog that he rescued from an abusive owner and one about his first experience tandem skydiving. Entertaining and very animated. Nicely done!

Nancy M. went rogue and gave an off-manual speech called “When the Chips are Down.” She told us of her addiction . . . to paint chips—the samples they hand out at the box store paint departments. One such store was the setting for an entertaining story about how her addiction got her into a colorful incident that cost her her favorite soft smoky mushroom pants to a spatter of Coral Gables Biltmore Mediterranean Caramel. However, the store made restitution and she even made a profit that allowed her to buy a Coral Gables Biltmore Mediterranean Caramel sweater to go with her paint-spattered pants. Thanks, Nancy! Read more ›