I had the honor and the privilege of being the general evaluator this past Saturday for what turned out to be one of the more energetic and fun Seattle Sunrise Toastmaster meetings of the year.

Between some powerful (and controversial) speeches, a hilarious story, and a new spin on the Table Topics, this was a meeting you did not want to miss.

Peter, who is representing Division B in the District 2 Speech Contest, led the meeting as Toasmaster and brought his signature passion and intensity to the fray.

Paul opened the speeches with an impassioned “What I’ve Learned About ‘Success’” from the Competent Communicator project, “Persuade with Power.”

Katey drew from the Storytelling Manual with a hilarious story “Odd Jobs.” Every (male) homeowner who owns a power tool (including myself) cringed as she walked us through a slapstick account of a home improvement project.

Seva brought a thermos of hot tea with milk to assist in his “The Magic Bottle,” a speech from Competent Communicator project “Visual Aids.”

In the final speech of the meeting, David E. argued persuasively in his “Washington Needs a State Income Tax,” an argument that drew many references throughout the remainder of the meeting.

As if the speeches were not enough to consider Saturday’s meeting as one of 2015 high points as Sunrise, Shen led us through a “Round Robin” Table Topics, in which two teams of four wove improvisations into a single narrative. This led to vibrant and laughter-filled 10 minutes as we created narratives on the fly around the themes of “hiking” and the “Seahawks.”

Tom took on Timer duties and David S. was our Grammarian.

Andy walked away with ribbons for Best Evaluator and Best Table Topics.

On April 11 Seattle Sunrise Toastmaster members were presented with one Icebreaker speech and three speeches from Advanced Communicator manuals.

One of Sunrise’s newest members, Tom, discussed his personal history of public speaking in his Icebreaker, “Winning and Losing.”

Nancy followed with “The Package,” a real-life, humorous tale surrounding a mysterious and anonymous gift she received recently in the mail.

“Land Mines” was Dave’s “Storytelling” speech, and that was followed by yours truly presenting “Is Organic Farming Relevant in Today’s World?”, a speech about the challenges organic farming faces in light of population growth and climate change.

Scott walked away with yet another “Best Evaluator” ribbon, and Mary walked away with the “Best Table Topics” prize.

I apologize for the brevity of this summary. I will make up for it next week. But in the meantime, if you want more Seattle Sunrise news along with great photos and member discussions, visit our Facebook Page.

See you on Saturday for our monthly Speechathon!

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For Saturday’s Speechathon, Seattle Sunrise members were treated with two Icebreakers, two speeches that featured visual aids, and an International Speech Contest rehearsal by the group’s speech and evaluator winners.

Dan started the morning off with his Icebreaker, “Natural Language Processing,” and was followed by Kiki’s Icebreaker, “Time Travels: Looking in the Rearview Mirror.” While Dan used his personal history of language acquisition as the focal point of his speech, Kiki related a story surrounding her mother’s passing for hers. Both “newbie” speakers displayed “way less-than-newbie” speaking skills in their first Sunrise presentations! Congratulations to both for great Icebreakers!

Andrea and Andy followed with speeches for Project #8, “Get Comfortable with Visual Aids,” from their Competent Communicator Manuals. Andrea, who volunteers for STEM, an educational outreach organization, used a few everyday household products to demonstrate basic aeronautical engineering principles. Andy, who has been “hair challenged” his entire life, shared a lifetime of personal photos that documented the history of his hair in his humorous speech, “Having a Bad Hair Life.”

Peter concluded the speeches with “What’s Your Sign?”, the speech that propelled him into the upcoming International Speech Contest. Marti, who will represent Seattle Sunrise at the contest as an evaluator, evaluated Peter’s speech. The group provided detailed evaluations to Peter and Marti as they prepare for the upcoming International Speech Contest on Thursday, March 26.

Aleli and Marti shared the “Best Evaluator” ribbon for their speech critiques. Jun Lei was Toastmaster, Katie grammarian, and Chuck took on the role as timer.

Our next meeting is Saturday March 28. Please join us!