Wednesday, May 2, 2012







  
 

Public Speaking Northwest Knows Something Special About Leaders ~

"A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way." John C. Maxwell

 Find out who our special mysterious leader was today and why.


Our Leadership Applause Goes To...

Pierce, Barb, Prema, Cary, Lynne, Emery, Yanhong, Ken, Jean, and guest, Jamie, sat alert and ready to start the meeting.
Jean, our toastmaster, handed out the agendas and announced the theme: Flowers! 
 
Every meeting has a theme chosen by the toastmaster. Besides the toastmaster, the grammarian and the table topics master promote the theme with their word for the day and table topic questions.
 
Cary, our grammarian took his cue with the word Fertilizer. "Flowers need fertilizer," he said.

Prema, our first speaker, taught us how to fill out our Competent Leader Manual. With her handout outlining the 10 projects, she led us through the goals and requirements. Our newer members learned that almost every role they play in the meeting is counted toward achieving a Competent Leader Award. 

Prema experimented by giving this talk as an impromptu speech. Because Prema did such a fine job she is our Special Mysterious Leader of the Day. Even our guest Jamie expressed amazement at how well Prema did with little preparation.

This is what the Toastmaster Program does for it's members. It gives them the poise and confidence to speak well. By completing the Competent Communication Manual and almost completing the Competent Leadership Manual, Prema modeled the benefits of Toastmasters.

Ken, our second speaker, spoke from the Storytelling Manual. He entitled his talk, "The Dash." Ken spoke about different celebrations. We were all wondering about his title. But it had nothing to do with celebrating track and field events.

Oddly, Ken began telling us his family stories about funerals he attended. They were the celebrations he remembered most. We learned that his grandmother told everyone why she loved them before she died. He recalled memories from his youth about his mother's reaction to her father's death. He told us that his mother was a great baseball fan and when they celebrated her death, they all sang, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Needless to say, Ken mesmerized us with his storytelling gifts.

So why did Ken name his presentation "The Dash?" It was only at the end, when we learned the dash comes between the date of our birth and our death. The dash in between is how we spend our lives. 

Yanhong, our Table Topic Master, asked Emery about a flower story. He gave an impromptu 2 minute story about being given a slip of Civilia in 1988. He took good care of this plant and in 2006 he gave a slip of it in full bloom to the person who originally gave it to him.

Yanhong asked Cary which flower he preferred, a red rose or a white rose. He cleverly chose the red rose because he'd probably give it to a  girlfriend who was less than perfect. The white rose would be for someone who is perfect. 

Did you know Yanhong's grandfather named her after  a beautiful flower, the Ixora? 

Barb evaluated Prema' talk with superlatives.




 
      Emery evaluated Ken's presentation with accolades.

The Blue Ribbon Winners Are:

Best Speaker: Prema and Ken tied!
Best Evaluator: Emery
Best Table Topics Speaker: Emery
*******
If you'd like to join us for polishing your presentations, developing leadership skills, and making friends, we welcome you. 

We meet every Tuesday from noon to 1:00 PM. You'll find us at the Seattle Times Building in Bothell ~ 19200 120th Avenue NE. Feel free to bring your lunch.

To find out more contact: Emery Jordan at: gejordan9@comcast.net  (206) 235-1356

Respectfully submitted,
Jean Tracy, DTM
Secretary

5 comments:

  1. Welcome new member, Jamie Bohnett! We look forward to your friendship, skills, and mutual support in becoming speakers and leaders.

    Thank-you, Ken, for bringing your friend to our club.

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  2. Our club feels revitalized with all the new members. I love it!

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  4. WELL DONE Emery...contacting 7 companies and following them up on behalf of Toastmasters is a huge effort!! Thank you.

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  5. Great meeting and welcome to our new member Jamie. I new that flower story was going to be a winner sometime--you just have to be patience.

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