November 15, 2016 - Theme: A Tower of Giraffes

A Tower of Giraffes

Lynn 

Have you ever wondered where the phrase "a murder of crows" or a "tower of giraffes" came from? Lynn was our Toastmaster for the day and gave us the history of the naming of groups of animals as well as a number of other humorous and interesting other examples!

Our first speaker of the day was Uliana, delivering her Ice Breaker Speech. Her speech was entitled, "My Unforeseen Countries," and was a fascinating story of all of the different countries she has lived in and the languages she learned before coming to the United States. 

Uliana

Nancy C. was our second speaker and shared her life-long story of discovering who she is and her happenstance entry into radio. From all of this developed her love of teaching and speaking. Her speech was entitled,"Finding My Voice, A Continuing Education." 

Nancy C.

Our third and final speaker was Amritha with "The Million Dollar Question. Her story was literally one "out of the mouths of babes" when her son asked her, "Are you giving up, Mom?" A cascade of soul searching questions and reflections emerged from this one innocent question. Amritha won best speaker of the day.

Amritha

As usual, our Table Topics segment was high energy and had many hilarious moments. Kathy led with giving participants highly unusual and not often heard of names of things and asked them to speak about each. Randy, Barb, Becky and Julie did a valiant job of describing things they weren't really sure about. Becky won for best speaker!

Jim, Jean, Barb and Lynn

Barb

The big news of the day was the announcement that Barb had won the 2016 District 2 Division Director of the Year! Barb was presented this distinguished award at the 2016 Winter Conference. Congratulations, Barb! You bring a whole new level of Toastmasters accomplishment and dedication to our club. ♥

Our evaluators for the day were Robert, Anisha and Warren.

Our G.A.T.E. team was Jung as Grammarian, Janet as Ah Counter, and Jean as General Evaluator. The word of the day was winsome.
 

Public Speaking Northwest Club Members & Barb!

In attendance were: Amritha, Anisha, Barb, Becky, Janet, Jean, Jim, Julie, Jung, Kathy, Lynne, Nancy C, Nancy L, Randy, Robert, Uliana and Warren (17). Our guests were Anna and Sean. (2) 

Respectfully Submitted,

Nancy LaJambe, Secretary

Public Speaking Northwest

#9406E

November 8, 2016 - Theme: Efficiency and Productivity

Efficiency & Productivity

Warren

Warren led us as the Toastmaster  for the day and engaged us in the methods and spirit of efficiency and productivity. It was also election day, and what better topic to choose! 

Our first speaker of the day was Julie. Her speech was entitled, "Defining Moments in Your Life," and was an incredibly moving, engaging and masterfully delivered speech on moments in her life that altered its course. Julie won the best speaker award for the day.

Julie

Anisha was our second speaker and shared her speech, "What are you waiting for? Step outside your cocoon." Using stories and relatable examples, Anisha demonstrated how we all can hold ourselves back in life and have only to step out of our comfort zones to have a very different experience. 

Anisha

Janet

Wrapping up the speeches was Janet, who drew us into the world of ballroom dancing with her icebreaker speech, "Shall We Dance." She encouraged us to try it and not be intimidated because perfection isn't the focus of the best ballroom dancers. It's the joy of the movement that can enhance the experience. 

Uliana polled the group for questions to use as Table Topics, a creative approach!  The Table Topics speakers were: Nancy C, Jim (winner), Dan and Hilary (a guest).  Our GATE team was Nancy C (Grammarian), Anton (Ah Counter), Mercedes (Timer), and Robert as General Evaluator. Our evaluators were Kathy, Nancy L and Jean. Nancy L won the best evaluator award for the day.
Nidhi was our humorist and had us chuckling with word play jokes involving monks. 

Nidhi

The word of the day was cogent. 
In attendance were: Jean, Warren, Robert, Barb, Jim, Uliana, Dan, Janet, Anisha, Mercedes, Nancy L, Nidhi, Nancy C, Anton, Julie and Lynn (16). We had four guests (4).

Respectfully Submitted,

Nancy LaJambe, Secretary

Public Speaking Northwest

#9406E

November 1, 2016 - Theme: After Halloween Fun

After Halloween Fun

Amritha

We had a full house!  Amritha was the Toastmaster for the day and the theme was "After Halloween Fun". Amritha regaled us on her first time trick or treating with her kids and what that was like for them as a fun, new adventure. 

Since this was a special party format, the focus was on Table Topics: "Come to Your Senses."  There were four Table Topics Masters who challenged us to speak to a topic that related to one of the five senses.
 
We had a delicious assortment of food and treats and fun decorations brought by club members. Several guests came to see what Toastmasters was all about and experience the unique personality of Public Speaking Northwest!

Nidhi

Nancy C. had participants identify a mystery smell or aroma and to weave a tale or impression of it into a speech. Her speakers were: Nancy L, Anisha, Tobias, Anton and Nidhi.

Mercedes

Lynne

Anton chose pictures of animated and fictional characters and invited the speakers to speak off the cuff about each. His participants were: Jim, Uliana, Mercedes and Nancy C. 

Julie

Uliana selected a variety of famous spoken lines from movies and asked the Table Topics volunteers to share their thoughts or memories upon hearing them. Her speakers were Robert, Tobias, Dave (guest) and Lynne.

Nancy C. and Barb

Barb blindfolded the lucky participants and asked them to talk about the unseen item they chose while trying to discern what it was! 

Her intrepid participants were: Nancy L., Nancy C., Kyoko (guest) and Becky (guest).

The GATE team: The Grammarian was Kathy and the word of the day was "Astound." Warren was the Timer. Nancy L. was the General Evaluator.
In attendance were: Amritha, Anisha, Anton, Barb, Becky, Jim, Julie, Jung, Kathy, Lynne, Mercedes, Nancy C, Nancy L, Nidhi, Robert, Tobias and Warren (17). Our guests were: Dave, Kyoko, Liqaa, and Midori (4).

Respectfully Submitted,

Nancy LaJambe, Secretary

Public Speaking Northwest

#9406