Friday, February 22, 2013

Public Speaking Northwest honors the words of Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln

With a Presidents Day theme, February's two favorite Presidents were the men of the hour at today's meeting. Lynne, our Toastmaster, shared several of their memorable and inspiring quotes.

"It is far better to be alone than to be in bad company." George Washington

George need not have worried about bad company if he had been a member of Toastmasters. He would have known the pleasure of being part of a diverse group of interesting individuals, who yet share the common goals of enhancing their public speaking and leadership skills.

"Be sure to put your feet in the right place, then stand firm." Abraham Lincoln

Another of Mr. Lincoln's timelessly pertinent remarks. All 20 of today's attendees knew their feet were firmly placed in the correct location. Three speakers stood firm, one for the first time, and shared their speeches . . . and a bit of themselves.

President Jean
Our own President, Jean, opened the meeting with Lynne, Ken, Kyle, Deepanjali, Jan, Pashmeena, Joanne, Pat, Casey, Juliet, Elaine, Barb, Abe, Tracy, Cindy, Jamie, Pierce, and two guests: Eric & Yulia in attendance. She reminded everyone of the Internet address of this blog and appealed to us to read and comment.




Before introducing today's Toastmaster, Jean gave the Treasurer, Joanne, a moment to announce that we've entered the dues collection period for the upcoming Toastmasters half-year. District 2 has some attractive dues incentive prize drawings for which we look forward to qualifying.


Toastmaster Lynne
The day's Toastmaster, Lynne, advanced her presidential theme and then  introduced her GAT(no E) team.


Grammarian ~ Pashmeena/Word of the Day: CHIME
Ah Counter ~ Deepanjali
Timer ~ Jean

With three speakers followed by three speech evaluators, the general Evaluator position went on hiatus today.


Pashmeena chimed!










 



Ah . . . Deepanjali

Work that timer, Jean!





















 















Jamie
Jamie spoke first with an interesting piece about jealousy and how we choose only certain aspect(s) of a person on which to focus our envy without coveting everything about that person. Such feelings of envy, and the negative actions they can inspire, reach back to the earliest biblical stories. Well said, Jamie!



Barb


Jamie's 6th speech fulfilled the Vocal Variety project in our Competent Communication manual; Barb's evaluation applauded the manner in which his volume and pitch, as well as breathing and pauses, enhanced our interest and enjoyment in his talk.




Umpire Abe
Second speaker, Abe, presenting his 5th speech, the CC manual project focusing on body language, wore his softball umpire uniform and demonstrated how the non-verbal gestures that an ump uses to support his play calls add emphasis and show the audience the result of the play even without having heard the verbal call. Also, Abe always wears his umpire's cap in the correct manner which non-verbally bestows credibility.





Kyle


Kyle, in his very first evaluation, praised Abe's speech for the entertaining manner in which he presented the body language project. He thanked Abe for making it easy for him to give his first evaluation. Indeed, Kyle appeared as comfortable as a seasoned evaluator.






Elaine melted the ice.

Elaine, as third speaker, gave her first speech, The Ice Breaker. She opened with her brief social media bio and transitioned into an expansion of those details which allowed the audience a deeper understanding of who she is. In only about six minutes, Elaine's Ice Breaker really spread the warmth.





Jan



Jan evaluated Elaine's speech with praise for her enthusiasm and ability to present details of her multi-faceted life in a way that inspired the listeners to feel as if they really know her.







OUR BLUE RIBBON WINNERS:

Best Speaker ~ Elaine

Best Evaluator ~ Kyle


PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE DAY:

Juliet


Thanks to Juliet for volunteering for this task. She then deserves extra credit for grace under pressure. The camera given to her acted up today and the memory card reached its maximum. In spite of near equipment failure, she coaxed many fine photos out of that wayward camera. Kudos, Juliet!





NEWS YOU CAN USE:

Our club inspirational and evaluation contests will be held next Tuesday, February 26.

Dues collection is under way for the upcoming membership period: April 1 - September 30, and we want to qualify for the District 2 incentive prize drawings. Please see your Treasurer, Joanne, with either cash or checks payable to Public Speaking Northwest. Many thanks!

Please help all outstanding loaner CC and CL manuals find their way home. Bring them with you next week, or contact Joanne for alternate arrangements. Much gratitude!


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: Jean Tracy, JeanTracy@kidsdiscuss.com, 425.745.0022.

Respectfully submitted,

Joanne, Secretary/Treasurer
 









4 comments:

  1. The minutes really capture the spirit of the meeting, and the photos are great. Many thanks to Joanne and Juliet.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This meeting shone with great speakers, fine evaluators, and responsive audience.

    Jean Tracy
    www.KidsDiscuss.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes, it was another splendid meeting . . . wonderful energy. I add my thanks to Lynne for supplying me with the Washington and Lincoln quotes she cited during the meeting. A couple of them fit nicely into my text.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It was a great meeting. There is a tremendous amount of positive energy forming in our club. What is amazing to me is how newcomers are so quickly getting involved and contributing. It is becoming a hi-light of my week!--Jamie

    ReplyDelete