Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Public Speaking Northwest Motivates Members to Stand Up and Speak!

Public Speaking Northwest conquers George Jessel’s words, “The human brain starts working the moment you are born and never stops until you stand up to speak in public.”

Because of the terrific program from Toastmasters International, our club helps each member find his voice, speak his mind, and learn memory strategies.  

Beginning toastmasters learn they are important to us. They feel our culture of caring, growth, and teamwork. This motivates them to stand up and speak.

 
Due to our supportive culture for developing our members, we are now a Distinguished Club. Our members achieved so many educational awards this year that we earned the number 3 position in our huge district, District 2. Our President, Barb, calls us “HOT!” She’s right. We sizzle!

Barb opened the meeting with Jan, Yanhong, Mihaela, Prema, Juliet, Cary, John, Pierce, Jean, and our two newest members, Casey and Kyle in attendance.



Emery, our toastmaster for the meeting, prepared an agenda with fireworks. His theme, Great Balls of Fire, anticipated tomorrow, July 4th.


Jan, our featured speaker, is the queen of facts and statistics. Her presentation, entitled “Environment and Population Growth," encompassed her concerns for the future of our planet. 

We learned:

1. In the 1970’s the issue of the day was zero population growth.
2. In recent years, we’ve become concerned with climate change, recycling, reducing water and air pollution, electronic hybrid cars, eating organic, and buying local.
3. We are the only species that pollutes our own drinking water.
4. World population reached 7 billion in October of 2011.
5. World population is increasing 220,000 persons per day.
6. Half the world population is under age 25.

Jan didn’t just mention problems but also some solutions:

1. Contraceptives could reduce unwanted pregnancies. 215 million women worldwide who want them are deprived of them.
2. Literacy among women predicts lower fertility rates, healthier families, and increased economic opportunities.
3. Comprehensive sex education can be an important step toward limiting teen pregnancy.
4. Gender equality for women in many cultures would give them the right to vote, essential human rights, education, control over their own fertility, and more independence.
5. Jan also included voluntary sterilization in her list of helpful ideas for fighting climate change with family planning. Why? When a baby is born, the mother increases her carbon dioxide legacy 6-fold.

We all felt Jan’s passion and concern for the healthy future of our planet. Thanks, Jan, for your awesome research.

Barb evaluated Jan’s speech. Barb noted that Jan’s manual speech encouraged her to persuade with facts. Jan could have chosen any topic. Jan’s deep research brought to light many issues we care about.

Barb mentioned two toastmaster suggestions for all of us:

1. Keep clapping until the speaker reaches the lectern or podium.
2. The speaker should remain at the lectern or podium until the toastmaster shakes his/her hand.

***The simple rule is: Avoid leaving the lectern or podium vacant.

Barb praised Jan for her eye contact with the audience and her literary phrases which enriched her presentation.

Prema, our Table Topics Master, asked questions regarding the theme, “Great Balls of Fire.”

Pierce spoke of buying fireworks at Boom City and lighting them off the dock at Lake Goodman. One fellow hurt himself when his bazooka firework backfired.

Cary, as a kid, lit fireworks in his Everett neighborhood. He and his friends laughed when the neighbors threatened to call the fire marshal. The fuse of one firework got caught under one of Cary's fingernails and burned him.


 
Jan recalled a special 4th of July celebration at a summer mansion owned by the US Embassy in Moscow. It included games, food, and music.

John shared a horrible 4th of July picnic where he and his fiancé played games all night and ate watermelon. The good news – it enkindled even more romantic sparks in  their relationship.




Our new member, Kyle, pictured Frances Scott Key, sitting on a boat during the War of 1812, wondering if our flag would still be flying in the morning. This experience led him to write the Star-Spangled Banner. (President Wilson named it our national anthem in 1916.)

The Blue Ribbon Winners:

Best Evaluator ~ Barb
Best Table Topics ~ Kyle, our new member.

Congratulations to both!

Next week we will have a special Grab Bag Meeting. Barb will train us in the use of our Competent Leadership Manual. Mihaela will also present.
 
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, Washington ~ 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. It is amazing what we take for granted. The statistics in Jan's speech on population are rather eye opening. Her comment: "Jan also included voluntary sterilization in her list of helpful ideas for fighting climate change with family planning. Why? When a baby is born, the mother increases her carbon dioxide legacy 6-fold."...and all those diapers!

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  2. I was thrilled when our newest member, Kyle, accepted the challenge to participate in Table Topics.

    Jean

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  3. Goodness Gracious great balls of fire...this club is hot, hot,hot!!!

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  4. Nice capturing of the happenings at our meeting. It was an interesting and fun read. Very good Writing, Jean.

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  5. Great to see the new guys. This group is on the grow!

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