Oct 20th 2015 Theme: Smile

"Don't cry because it's over; Smile because it happened." ~~ Dr. Seuss

Welcome to the third meeting in October blog. 

                     Anisha was our toastmaster of the day.

The GAT(e) team comprised of: Grammarian – Kathy, Ah Counter – Dave A, Timer – Tobias. 

Jessica D. was the first speaker of the day. She completed her Speech #6 from the CC Manual titled “A Temporarily Embarassed Millionaire”. Duration of her speech - 5-7 mins.

Through her speech, Jessica humorously spoke about how her view of reality changed since her childhood. As a kid, she dreamt of growing into a rich adult, owning a big house with a big green lawn. Few years later, her plan for adult life changed a bit - settle down either in a huge farmland and have 12 children or in a city with 1 child - she figured out early on raising children in city was expensive :-)

Today, at 25 years of age, after having lived independently for 2 years, her life is not what she had dreamt of as a child. Yet while looking back she feels blessed for having lived in a generation where there have been no major crisis or depression. She is grateful for having had the opportunity to travel to many places across the world and have the freedom to take her own decisions. Even after becoming an adult , Jessica says she is still growing. 




Jim was her evaluator. He gave kudos to Jessica on her pleasant and friendly talk which met her speech objectives. He gave extra credit to her body language and humor which were neatly tucked throughout her talk. As a suggestion, he offered her to begin speaking with a louder voice. 

Our second speaker was Jean. She completed her Speech #2 from the Competent Communicator Manual - Get to the Point. The title of her speech was “Self Pity Isn't Pretty” Duration –  5 to 7 mins.

Jean started her talk by sharing an advice that she received from her teacher when she was 19 - "Beware of self pity, it becomes a wedge and splits you into 2. Self Pity isn't pretty." Self pity is like a hook and people tend to take pleasure in it. Instead of getting hooked, Jean suggests catching those moments and try to come out of the self-pity situation.

She suggests shaking the body or saying no to physically move out of self-pity. Then she walked us through a mental activity which involved thinking positive thoughts and a breathing technique through which one can train their mind to come out of self pity. 

Jean was voted the best speaker.




Naser was her evaluator. Naser thanked Jean for the inspiring and practical talk on self-pity which involved stories, hand outs, gestures and a self-help activity.

Naser was voted the best evaluator.

Robert was our table topics master - tabletopics with a twist. He prepared slides of cartoons and questions were spurred by those cartoons.

Tobias spoke about what he liked best about his nose, its shape, size etc. 






Liz spoke about the hardest part of her last move - agreeing to a home and signing the contract for the home that she and her fiancee bought.

Jim spoke about his memorable diet "Cabbage Soup Diet" - As per Jim, this tasteless diet which he stuck to for 30 days is sure to peel off all the excess weight.





Andrew tried to guess a statue that was being hidden from the public by covering it using a sheet. Instead of the statue, Andrew's attention went to a small eyeball that was watching the public reaction from up in the sky.

Linda also gave a try to the above question. She was intrigued by the shape and size of the statue, and since halloween was soon arriving she thought it might be a hero to surprise the public.




Jim was voted best in this category.



We had 18 members in attendance: Amritha, Andrew, Anisha, Barb, Dave, Devi, Grace, Jan, Jean, Jessica D, Jim, Kathy, Linda, Liz, Lynne, Naser, Robert,  and two Guests: Shelly P. and James C.
Our active membership total currently is at 29. 
Respectfully Submitted,

Amritha Imandi, Secretary
Public Speaking Northwest #9406

Oct 13th 2015 Theme: Smart City.

"Smart cities are those who manage their resources efficiently. Traffic, public services and disaster response should be operated intelligently in order to minimize costs, reduce carbon emissions and increase performance."~~ Eduardo Paes

Welcome to the second meeting in October blog. 

                              Linda was our toastmaster today.

The GAT(e) team comprised of: Grammarian – Chizuko, Ah Counter – Grace, Timer – Julie. 

Jim was our first speaker of the day. He completed his Speech #1 from the Storyteling Manual titled “The Pied Piper”. Duration of his speech - 7-9 mins.

Through his narration, Jim took us back in time to 19th century - to the city of Hamelin in Germany which was heavily pestulated with rats. When every effort to eardicate these pests failed, the city fathers called a meeting to find a solution. On that day, a skinny little man with a multicolor coat and flute around his neck showed up at the door of the building and said he could help them eradicate the rats for a price of 50,000 guilders. 

The fathers reluctantly agreed, the pied piper took his flute, stepped out of the building and played his flute walking through the streets. The rats were attracted to this music, they came out of all nooks and corners of the city and the piper led them into Vaser river. Thus the city got rid of rats.

Now the time for payment came. The city fathers refused to pay the piper a huge amount for the simple job he had done. The piper got angry, stepped out of the building and played his flute again, this time children of the city followed him. These children were led towards a steep mountain, a door opened and the piper locked all children in the mountain never to be found again.


Jim was voted the best speaker.


Barb was his evaluator. She apprciated Jim on the vivid descriptions of the story, Jim's vocal variety,  body gestures, facial expressions and all effort that Jim put towards his story, content and delivery. 
Barb was voted the best evaluator. 

Our second speaker was Anisha. She completed her Speech #4 from the Competent Communicator Manual - How to Say it. The title of her speech was “What's in your cup?” Duration –  5 to 7 mins.

Anisha shared with us one particular experience that she had while camping outdoors on a wet, damp and cold morning. Her friend with whom she was camping made her a warm magical concoction of tea. Her mind which was dull got charged instantaneously. She never knew a cup of tea could do such magic!!!

She brought home made chai tea accompanied with some cookies for our club members. She invited us to taste the tea and as her talk proceeded, she led us through series of questions that made the tea tasting process more mindful. She also handed out recipes of chai tea to all. 

Jean was her evaluator. Jean congratulated Anisha on her brilliant talk with the dramatic description of weather and the need for tea. She gave kudos to Anisha's use of props, her planning and organization skills which coordinated well with the speech theme.

Naser was our third speaker. He gave his Speech #3 from the manual Interpretive Reading. Duration of his speech - 6 to 8 minutes.

Naser reflected upon his response to a sales representative who rang the door bell of his residence. neither him nor his wife was willing to take the call. This led his to think about the job of a salesman. He finds it one of the toughest jobs in the world. He posed his question to the audience - "Why is the job of a salesman the toughest?"

Naser then brought our attention to how every individual acts as a sales person in different phases of life - for example during job interviews, while proposing to a life partner etc. He advises us to try a hand at sales and not to get disappointed by rejections that might come across in the way.

Jessica D was his evaluator. She recognized how Naser persuasively and interstingly approached the world of sales. Naser's use of humor at the beginning was an added bonus for the audience.

                         Tobias was our table topics master.

Jan answered the question "What is my definition of integrity and do I have it?" For Jan, her definition of integrity is around the word trust. She believes that trust is the most important thing that we human beings can share with each other. 







Amritha answered the question "When you have a bad day, what do you do to feel better?" Amritha tries to get some time for herself, refreshes with short naps,  or better yet attend Public Speaking Northwest which instantly transforms her day.

Jan was voted the best table topics master.


We had 15 members 1 guest attend the meeting. 

Members who attended were:   Amritha, Anisha, Chizuko, Grace, Jan, Jean, Jessica D., Jim, Julie, Linda, Liz, Naser, Pauline, Robert, Tobias.
Our guest was: Jingly
Our active membership total currently is at 29.

Respectfully Submitted,

Amritha Imandi, Secretary
Public Speaking Northwest #9406

Oct 6th 2015 Theme: Oct 6th.

“The ideal man doesn't exist. A husband is easier to find." ~~ Britt Ekland (10/6/1942- )

Welcome to the first meeting in October blog.

                   Robert was our toastmaster today.

The GAT(e) team comprised of: Grammarian – Anisha, Ah Counter – Woo Yun, Timer – Jung.

Devi was our first speaker of the day. She completed her Speech #2 from the Competent Communicator Manual – Organize your speech. Her speech was titled “A Harmonious Art of Handloom Weaving”. Duration of her speech - 5-7 mins.

Through her speech, Devi shared with us how a saree, the traditional ethnic wear of Indian women is made. Since making sarees was her dad’s business, she grew up witnessing the extensive amount of effort, time and dedication that goes into making one single saree. She explained in detail the 4 important steps involved, namely – warping, sizing, weft winding and weaving.

Weaving a saree demands a high level of hand, eye and mind coordination, involving 15,000 movements. It usually takes at least 2-3 days to finish making one saree. Such is the amount of work that goes into this ancient art. With the arrival of power looms and machinery, Devi says this ancient art is almost at the brink of extinction.

By the beginning of the 21^st century, her dad’s business almost came to an end. Instead of pursuing the family traditional business, she and her siblings pursued a degree in BTech. Towards the end of her talk, Devi encouraged each of us to find our art and pass it on to our younger generations.

 

Kathy was her evaluator. She congratulated Devi on her clear organized speech which met all the objectives. As a suggestion, she recommended bringing swatches of the fabric so that the club members could feel the fabric.

Our second speaker was Julie. She completed her Speech #1 from the Competent Communicator Manual - Ice Breaker. The title of her speech “Julie’s Dirty Little Secret – Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll.” Duration –4 to 6 mins.

Julie’s speech was accompanied by a power point presentation which conveyed the message of her talk well. Pointing to her first slide which showed a 72 year old man on the cover of a famous magazine, travelling across the world, playing rock and roll; she questioned when was the last time one saw a 72 year old woman like that? Through her talk, she expressed her desire to have freedom of expression. Instead of living a regimented life, she aspires to have freedom of expression through fun, play, laughter and creation.

She gave many meaningful quotes by many great leaders and also a statistics of a survey conducted on people on death beds titled “The top 5 Regrets of Dying.” Through her speech Julie encourages us to find our true expression thus living a life of authenticity and freedom.

Amritha was her evaluator. She recognized the speaking and presentation skills that Julie already possessed. As a suggestion, she offered Julie to reduce the number of slides which would have allowed her to stay within time limits.

Liz was our third speaker. She gave her 1^st speech from the CC Manual - Ice Breaker. Her speech was titled “A Story of Love”. Duration – 4 to 6 mins.

Liz shared with us how a science experiment in grade school led her to fall in love with the science. In college, she majored in Biology learning about nature, from there she transitioned to the field of neuroscience. Soon, she found herself doing internship working day and night in labs. She missed hanging out with family and friends.

Her search for new opportunities led her to Seattle’s Bastyr University. With a degree in Nutrition science, today she loves to work with people helping them achieve their individual goals of better health. Mr. Mac her science teacher in grade school, by instilling a love of science, paved the path which led Liz all the way to Seattle.

Jean was her evaluator. She recognized that Liz had attained the speech objectives through her talk. She looked very confident with minimal use of notes.

Jim gave the meeting a funny ending by sharing a joke which was based on loss of memory among an elderly couple.

We had 19 members 4 guests attend the meeting.

Members who attended were:   Amritha, Andrew, Anisha, Chizuko, Dan, Dandan, Diana, Devi, Jan, Jean, Jessica, Jim, Julie, Jung, Kathy, Lynne, Liz, Robert, WooYun.

Our 4 guests were: Bob, Jing, Nick and Vicky Lu

.

Our active membership total currently is at 38.

Respectfully Submitted,

Amritha Imandi, Secretary

Public Speaking Northwest #9406

                                               

Sept 29th 2015 Theme: Pets

“Scratch a dog and you will find a permanent job” ~~Franklin. P. Jones.

Welcome to the fifth meeting in September blog.

   Barb was our toastmaster of the day.

The GAT(e) team comprised of: Grammarian – Amritha, Ah Counter – Devi, Timer – Naser.

Grace was our first speaker of the day. She completed her Speech #3 from the Competent Communicator Manual – Get to the Point titled “Be Ready to Cross”.

She started her speech with a story relating her life to a person walking a long journey with a heavy cross on his back. With time, the person chose to cut the cross little at a time until he was left with none. This greatly lightened the burden on his shoulders and he got ahead of all his fellow companions. After a while, when he reached a river, while his fellow companions used their cross to form a bridge and go across the river, he was left with none and thus could not go to the other side of the river.

As a child, Grace grew up as a happy optimistic easy going kid just like the man in the story. When she grew up, she realized she had not learnt many of the essential skills and was left alone on the lonely side of the river. With her mother’s encouragement, she pursued all that she wanted to achieve one by one, formed a bridge with her newly acquired skills which then helped her go across to the other side of the river. Through her story, Grace encouraged us to take action and keep going towards whatever we want to change in our life one step at a time.

Grace was voted the best speaker.

Dave was her evaluator. He congratulated her on a well delivered speech with great story, descriptive narration, great presence on stage and a message that reached out to all members.

Our second speaker was Tobias. He completed his Speech #2 from the Competent Communicator Manual. The title of his speech “Face to Face Communication – there is no technology that can replace it.” 

Through his speech, Tobias emphasized the positive aspects of face to face communication. As an example, he mentioned few points from the stories he had heard from 2 of our members – Amritha and Robert, which were part of their earlier speeches. He mentioned every time a speaker stands in front of the stage connecting with the audience visually and vocally; he connects with their stories effectively. Whereas, watching anything online seldom has the same effect.

Tobias considers himself fortunate enough to coach his children and their teammates. He shared with us a touching story of how a relatively new member of their team, Brandon, made a request to be the goli of a match which was crucial for their team. Tobias agreed for the deal and the game went well. The next time, while the team was together, the little boy walked up to his coach (Tobias), looked straight in his coach’s eye and thanked wholeheartedly for giving him the opportunity. Through his story, Tobias proved that the power of one on one communication is brilliant.

Lynne was his evaluator. She mentioned how well he had weaved stories with the theme of his talk making sure his message was received well by the audience.

Jean was our third speaker. She gave her 1^st speech from the CC Manual - Ice Breaker. Her speech was titled “Join the Little Rockers”. Duration – 4 to 6 mins.

She started her talk with a detailed enactment of the effect that a morning cocktail of medicines had on her. Though only half aware of her surroundings, she knew she was being prepped up for a stent surgery and was directed into a well-equipped room for the same. She described how the procedure was successfully performed to remove few blocks from her arteries.

Once she was taken out from the operating room, she meets Jim in the recovery room where he shows her the pictures of her heart before and after the surgery. The placement of the stent had removed all the blockages and now there was blood flowing freely through all the arteries. Through her speech, Jean made the process of putting a stent seem so simple.

Kathy was her evaluator. She pointed out that Jean executed the speech very well with vivid descriptions and clear speaking.

Kathy was voted the best evaluator.

Our table topics master was Robert – table topics with a twist. He played snippets of songs and the table topics speakers had to share what they were reminded about from those pieces.

Jessica was our first table topics speaker. After listening to the beat of the music, she was reminded of Regina Spektor – a Russian pianist – who started from humble beginnings and reached all the way to the top. The music took her back to her childhood memories when records of 60’s and 70’s were played at her home.

Amritha was our second table topics speaker. She could relate the music she heard with the Bollywood (Indian film industry) music which emerged in the late 70’s, a very non-conventional and non-traditional kind of music.

Jessica was voted the best table topics speaker.

We had 19 members attend the meeting.

Members:  Amritha, Andrew, Anisha, Barb, Dave, Devi, Grace, Jean, Jessica, Jim, Julie, Jung, Kathy, Lynne, Naser, Rance, Robert, Tobias, WooYun

Our active membership total currently is at 38.

Respectfully Submitted,

Amritha Imandi, Secretary

Public Speaking Northwest #9406