Aug 4th 2015 Theme: The Achievement Habit

“Obstacles are the raw materials of great achievement.”~~ Tommy Newberry

Welcome to the first meeting in August blog. Today, we had 4 guests attend our meeting. 

Naser was our toastmaster of the day. The theme of the day was based on a book called "The Achievement Habit"

The GAT(e) team was: Grammarian – Jean, Grace as the Ah Counter, Diana as the Timer and Kathy as the evaluator.

Amritha was our first speaker today.  She gave her 7^th Speech from the Competent Communication Manual – Research your topic. The title of her speech was “On my way to Goodness”. She completed her speech within 8 minutes. The speech sheds light on the practice of gratitude.

As a newlywed, Amritha wondered why her husband’s grandmother always served her husband first. Only later did she realize that this gesture was to express her gratitude to the breadwinner of the family. Years later, after being involved in a major car accident, she was healed from within through the practice of gratitude – acknowledging the good life and the blessings that she had around her. Few of the many benefits that it brought along were more friends, opportunity to connect and contribute to the community.

She mentioned the physical, social and psychological benefits of practicing gratitude. Saying thanks in the morning, writing cards, giving simple yet meaningful gifts on special occasions and sharing her practice with her kids during bedtime are some ways she suggests to practice gratitude.

Amritha was voted the best speaker.

 

Jean was her evaluator. She appreciated Amritha on the use of stories, research and suggestions that helped her achieve her speech’s objective. As suggestions, Jean offered Amritha to adjust her pacing and establish eye contact with the audience for a few seconds.

Jean was voted the best evaluator.

Our second speaker was Linda. She offered her Speech from the manual Successful Club series – How to make a Great Club. The title of her speech was: “Meeting Roles and Responsibilities”. She completed her speech within 8 minutes.

Through her speech, Linda shared with us the various roles and responsibilities of members in a Toastmasters club. She mentioned briefly about each meeting role – the toastmaster who wears multiple hats to facilitate the meeting along with the GAT(e) team, the speakers who come forward to present their prepared speeches, the evaluators who provide valuable suggestions for improvement. She pointed out that the club officers’ support and contribution is vital to the success of any Toastmasters club.

Towards the end of her speech, she encouraged us to challenge ourselves by taking part in the upcoming table topics and humorous speech contests.

Alice was her evaluator. She appreciated Linda on choosing a topic relevant to our club at a time when we have many new members signing up and also for keeping the speech entertaining. Alice pointed out that the use of visual aids was helpful. As a suggestion, she offered Linda to emphasize more on the conclusion.

 

Dan was our Table Topics Master today. The question he chose was “What was the bravest thing you did for the first time?”

Hadaya shared with us his first experience hiking on a trail with friends. He realized though it seemed simple to hike on a trail, the actual process involved lot of effort. His friends and himself were completely exhausted towards the end.

Anisha shared with us an experience when she went diving with her husband and friends. Being a beginner swimmer, she had never done anything like this before. She bravely went into water to see life inside the ocean for a short while.

Dan Dan shared with us how her love for dance as a child led her to a Zumba class. Having never danced before, she had to pick up the courage to do it for the first time. With ample encouragement from her husband, she has improved greatly in 3 weeks of attending classes.

Devi spoke about her first time experience with gardening. Though she assumed it was a simple task, only after she took up a gardening project did she realize the effort and time  needed to care for the plants.

Dan Dan was voted the best table topics speaker.

Kathy was our general evaluator today. She appreciated the well preparedness of the meeting. 

Our members attending numbered 18 and were:  Alice, Amritha, Anisha, Barb, Dan, Diana, Grace, Jean, Jessica, Jim, Julie, Jung, Kathy, Linda, Liz, Naser, Nicki, and Pauline along with 4 guests:  Dan Dan, Devi, Hadaya and Quien.

Our active membership total currently is at 34.

Respectfully Submitted,

Amritha Imandi, Secretary

Public Speaking Northwest #9406