Nicole, as today’s Toastmaster, introduced the meeting’s theme, “Siblings.” Fifteen members were in attendance.

The first speaker of the day was Mary, who presented project #5 from the competent communicator manual. In her speech,  entitled “Do As I Say, Not As I Did: Friendly Advice from Mother,” Mary described her colorful “misadventures” in Europe and her cherished hope that her daughter, now heading to college, will make better choices.

Andrea then presented project #3 from the competent communicator manual. She researched her speech, entitled “Arguing Children Can Be Healthy,” mostly by bicycling to parks in the city over the summer and observing children’s interactions there. She told us how she had observed in her own life that children learn problem-solving skills, respect for different perspectives, and confidence, all through arguing with each other.

Dick takes a question from the audience about the dangers of commuter planes.

Our last speaker, Dick, drew on decades of experience in the airline regulation field to present “Three Airline Secrets Your Travel Agent Won’t Tell You,” from the “Speaking to Inform” advanced manual. Though recognizing that flying today is mostly safe, he taught us about three “safety gaps” to avoid in order to increase our chances of arriving safely at our destinations.

Janell describes her childhood antics for Table Topics.

As Topicsmaster for the meeting, Michelle posed questions about siblings to Dave, Junlei, Angie, and Janell. Janell, who recounted an anecdote of when her brother kindly took the blame for her mischief with her mother’s expensive perfume, won as best Table Topics speaker.

Patrick, Scott, and Rich presented evaluations of the speeches. Madeleine gave a general evaluation of the meeting. Scott won best evaluator for the meeting.

Johan presents Dave with his Competent Leader Award.

Club president, Johan, inducted our two new members, Angie and Mark. Johan also presented Dave with a competent leader award. Nicole ended the meeting by announcing the club’s upcoming contest on September 14 and making a call for contestants; all contestants in the humorous speech contest will receive an advanced manual on making humorous speeches.

Our next meeting is August 24.

Junlei holds up a map of South Africa as a visual aid

As the Toastmaster for the day, Dave introduced the meeting theme, “Consequences,” with a focus on positive consequences, especially the positive relationships, friendships, and skills in clear communication and effective leadership that result from participation in Toastmasters. Thirteen members and three guests were in attendance.

As Grammarian and Ah Counter, Violetta presented “auspicious” as the word of the day: a fitting start for a great meeting on a sunny morning.

Members enjoy a speech

Junlei launched the speaker portion of the meeting with her speech, “A dream trip to Safari,” the seventh speech from the competent communicator manual. She shared with us her extensive research on this topic, which reflects an important item on her “bucket list.” Replete with a map of South Africa highlighting the best parks to visit, her speech included dazzling descriptions of scenery, a sample itinerary, advice on visas, and guidelines on costs. We all look forward to hearing another speech on this topic whenever she returns from making this trip!

Madeleine demonstrates how to use a mandolin

Madeleine, DTM, presented the second speech from the advanced Speaking to Inform Manual. Entitled “3 great gizmos you can use to prepare healthful meals and save time in the kitchen,” her speech included not only the gizmos as visual aids but also a lively demonstration, complete with various vegetables. Madeleine also gave practical tips on recipes for quick, nutritious dinners.

Johan, our third speaker, delivered an inspiring speech entitled “Beyond the CC manual,” the tenth speech from the competent communicator manual. She provided information, including handouts, to help us succeed in Toastmasters through both the communication and leadership tracks. Johan emphasized the value of diving into advance manuals, even concurrently with the competent communicator manual. She also described the many reasons awards matter for individual members, such as by garnering recognition and honors for our club.

Members listen to a table topics response

Andrea served as Topicsmaster for the meeting with a question about consequences tied to breaking of rules in childhood.  One of our guests, Mark, won best Table Topics speaker for the meeting. Petra and Dick also participated as Table Topics speakers.

Our evaluators were Patrick, Michelle, and Petra, with Dick as the general evaluator. Michelle won as best evaluator for the meeting.

Violetta delivers the Grammarian report

Johan invited each of our guests, Mark, Angie, and Shen, to share their impressions of the meeting before the meeting closed. Their comments were very positive about how organized the meeting was and the enthusiastic support. Angie and Shen both decided to sign up as new members!

Guest, Mark, wins best table topics response

The next meeting will take place on August 10.

Steve demonstrates his independence

Johan called our meeting to order as her first time as club president. The meeting’s Toastmaster, Steve was specially attired for the meeting theme, “Independence.” Fifteen members and one guest were in attendance.

Violetta, as the first speaker, presented the first speech from the competent communicator manual, entitled ”Following My River.”  Starting with the River Volga from her childhood, in which she swam and tried to conquer the current but ended up following the flow, Violetta found a metaphor for later adventures in her life.  These included her studies in choir conducting (and even singing a bit of “Moon River” for us!) and her eventual move to the Pacific Northwest.

Members laugh at a humorous comment

Our second speaker, Nagisa, presented the tenth speech from the competent communicator manual, entitled “The new OCD: Obsessive Comparison Disorder.”  She taught us about this darker side of social media in which she found herself focusing on others and their “My Amazing Life” albums on Facebook instead of on herself.  Taking affirmative steps to evaluate what is important to her, not others, has helped her move beyond OCD. Nagisa gave tips to help other sufferers of this common malady, such as writing daily checklists and getting outdoors with others.

Dick uses gestures in his speech

As our third speaker, Dick gave us a rendition of “The Tar Baby,” a classic American folktale by Uncle Remus that draws on Native American and African American cultures. His speech was from the Story Teller manual.  Dick started out the story about Brer Fox and Brer Rabbit by helpfully explaining that “brer” means “brother.”

Then Dave led us in table topics by asking attendees to pick an object out of a bag and describe how it figured into independence—with objects ranging from a toy “Godzilla” to a tea bag. Rich won the “best table topics” ribbon with his entertaining antidote of how a box of raisins helped George Washington win the war of independence.

A guest participates in table topics

Our evaluators were Johan, Mary, and Junlei, with Nicole as the general evaluator. Mary won as best evaluator.

Michelle announces the times of each speech

Johan ended the meeting with special recognition for Madeleine’s many years in Toastmasters and as a good example of the Toastmaster mission: “to provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth.”

The next meeting will take place on July 27.

Junlei reveals the word of the day

Junlei filled the Toastmaster for the first time at our June 22 meeting.  The meeting theme, “Firsts,” was fitting.  12 members and 3 guests were in attendance.

Our first speaker was Michelle who presented project #2 from the competent communicator manual.  Her speech was titled “Unusual Children” and she spoke about the rabbits that she and her husband have raised.  In her speech, she explained how to bunny-proof a home and revealed that rabbits can be trained to use a litter box.  Michelle then encouraged everyone to consider adopting a bunny as a pet!

Michelle encourages everyone to consider adopting a rabbit

Petra presents project 3 from the competent communicator manual

Our second speaker was Petra.  Petra presented her third speech from the competent communicator manual, project #3 titled, “Ultimate Journey to Sierra Nevada”.  In her speech, Petra described a hike that she and her husband planned to take in the Sierra Nevada.  Several hours after driving to the trail head, they realized they had left their permit at home!   Her speech was a description of the grueling drive back home to get the important documents they had forgotten!

Scott was our 3rd and final speaker for the meeting.  He presented project 4 from the Entertaining Speaker manual.  His speech was titled “Unwritten Rules” and he described the time that he had broken an unwritten rule about the appropriate (and inappropriate) uses of a sleeping bag.  The moral of the story?  Society has rules which aren’t written and everyone feels awkward when they are broken.

Members enjoy a humorous speech

Madeleine led our table topics session and asked members to share a few memories of their first time doing something. Mary won “best table topics” by describing the first book she had ever read.  In her response, she asked if anyone else wondered if there was better material available than a book about Dick and Jane running down the street.

Mary wins best table topics!

Janell and Nicole tie for best evaluator!

Janell, Nicole, and Dick were our evaluators.  Rich was the General Evaluator.  Nicole and Janell tied for best evaluator.

At the end of the meeting, Scott reminded members that the  Toastmasters year ends on June 30th.  He thanked Madeleine, Nicole, Rich, Sonja, and Dave for their work as officers and reminded everyone that the new slate of officers would be in place for our next meeting, July 13th.