Sunday, April 3, 2016

March 29th 2016 Theme – New York Alki

Members, please note: There is still time to grab a role for the upcoming speak-a-thon
Email Juliehutton@cbba.com if you would like to play as a speaker or an evaluator for the speak-a-thon.

Seattle is polite, unlike New York i.e: “Anytime four New Yorkers get into a cab together without arguing, a bank robbery has just taken place.” ~~ Johnny Carson


Welcome to the fifth meeting in March.
  

Warren was the toastmaster of the day.

The GAT(e) team comprised of: Grammarian – Chizuko (prosperous), Ah-Counter – Tobias and Timer – Jim.

Jing was the first speaker of the day. She completed Project #2 from the CC Manual – Organize Your Speech. The title of her talk - “When Science Meets Real World” which she completed within 7 minutes.

Through her speech, Jing shared with us her experiences when she entered real business world after having spent years as a successful research scientist. While as a scientist, she was always provided with the best equipment, labs and never had to worry about the cost factor, once she entered the world of entrepreneurship she had to learn to manage finances and equipment more cleverly.

She had to make a switch to 3rd party manufacturers (considered not trustworthy by scientists) for her product and to her surprise the products were of very good quality and much cheaper. She pointed out how expensive and time consuming it is to file a patent and get it approved – relatively easy for institutions funding research scientists but it is a lot of money for entrepreneurs to afford. And still there are budding businesses which end up spending that extra money on patents.

In her attempt to bridge the gap between science and real world, her company has come up with a product for cat litter - Nonscents Odor Control Cat Litter Additive. If any one of you is a cat owner, you can try this product for free and in return please write your honest review.

 
Amritha was her evaluator. She commended Jing on her well organized, well- prepared speech. With a strong opening, she led the audience smoothly into the body of the speech with appropriate supporting material. As a suggestion, Amritha offered Jing to work speak at a little slower pace.

Amritha was voted the best evaluator.

Anisha was our second speaker of the day. She completed Project #8 from the CC manual – Research Your Topic. Title of her talk “Is Organic Food Better for You?” which she completed within 7 mins.

Through her speech, Anisha shared with us her viewpoint of consuming organic food. Her question to the audience, “Does it really make one healthier?” According to EPA, more than 600 chemicals are being used in the conventional agricultural sector. Though there are tests to determine the amount of chemicals that leach into foods grown in this manner, they are unreliable.

It definitely makes more sense to eat organic, but the increased cost factor drives many away. Her conversation with a whole foods representative revealed the dirty dozen (fruits and vegetables high in chemicals, hence prefer organic) and clean 15 (low level of chemicals). A tip to budget-friendly organic shopping – buy from completely organic food stores rather than stores that have a small organic section.

Robert was her evaluator. He gave kudos to Anisha for getting the audience to participate at the beginning with her questions. With a clear speech, she shared valuable information with the audience which could help them make a choice between long term health or short term health. As a suggestion, he offered her to use slides or power point.

Our third speaker was Hadaya. He completed Speech #1 from the CC Manual – Ice Breaker. The title of his talk “My Life” which he completed within 6 mins.

As a child, Hadaya grew up in a Southern Province of Afghanistan. In search of better opportunities, his parents moved to the capital city Kabul. Eventual war in Kabul with Russian forces led his family to migrate to Peshawar, Pakistan. With few basic amenities and no good affordable schools, life was hard for him as a child. With his family’s continued support, Hadaya completed schooling, moved back to Afghanistan and graduated as a Medical Doctor.

Even with a doctor’s degree his income was meagre. He later took up a position in UN as a language facilitator. After working there for a year, he got his US visa (after a long wait of 8 years). Due to cultural disparities, his family found it hard to adjust at first. Today, he is a licensed surgical assistant and is working hard to grow up in his career path. He joined Toastmasters to improve his public speaking skills.

Hadaya was voted the best speaker.


Grace was his evaluator. She commended him on his clear introduction, body and conclusion. With a well-prepared and well-organized speech, he gave a clear picture of his life through personal stories. As a suggestion, Grace offered Hadaya to work on maintaining eye contact with the audience.





We had 14 members and 5 guests (Colleen Z., Madhuri, Naomi, Sunny, Vernell K.) in attendance.

Member attendees were: Amritha, Anisha, Barb, Chizuko, Grace, Hadaya, Jean, Jim, Jing, Pratap, Robert, Sarah, Tobias and Warren.

Respectfully Submitted,
Amritha Imandi, Secretary

Public Speaking Northwest #9406.

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing. Feel like I missed a great meeting.

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  2. Thanks for the detailed recap, Amritha...I feel like I was at the meeting!!

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  3. Every talk was a manual talk and each speaker fulfilled their project's objectives while choosing their very own topic. That's how we learn so much from each other.

    We also welcomed Sarah, Pratap, and Hadaya with an induction ceremony into our club. Each member stood and pledged to support them in their toastmaster journey.

    Thanks for this outstanding minutes/blog, Amritha.

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  4. Oops, I forgot to update the details of induction ceremony. Thanks for the reminder Jean.

    ReplyDelete