June 9th 2015 Theme: Success

“Success is getting what you want; Happiness is wanting what you get”. ~~ Dale Carnegie

Welcome to the second meeting in June blog. Today, we had 4 guests attend our meeting.

Barb was our toastmaster and offered printed insights about success (on the other side of the Agenda Page) with worldwide quotations including this one from the USA: “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.  

The GAT(e)  team was: Preston  as Grammarian (Indicative), Naser as the Ah Counter, and Grace as the Timer.                                    

Lynne was our first speaker today. She completed her 10^th speech (Project #10 – Inspire Your Audience) from the Competent Communication Manual. The speech was entitled “A Banquet Of Choices” and was delivered within 12 minutes.

Her title refers to Life as the multiple choices. She has learned that it is never too late to be what you are meant to be. It’s exciting to look at the future with great expectations. For Lynne, her first course was to try Toastmasters, then become a Yacht Club officer and then become a Rear Commodore. For the future she would like to taste being a Vice Commodore and then a Full Commodore. She is much more comfortable with being a leader.

Lynne was voted best speaker.

 Kathy was her evaluator. Kathy indicated that Lynne showed good eye contact, body language and vocal variety. In keeping with the Banquet analogy, she suggested specific appetizers (steps toward taking Yacht Club leadership) and perhaps a desert (Successful Opening Day 2015).

Our second speaker was Dave (A).  He offered his 3^rd Speech from the Competent Communicator’s Manual (Project #3 – Get To The Point). His speech was called: “Social Security Retirement: Things To Know Before You Claim” and was completed within 9 minutes.

Dave used a series of powerpoint slides that introduced themselves for a limited time only. He explained the Benefit varieties of Social Security from the points of view of oneself, a spouse, a surviving spouse and an ex-spouse. He also discussed the timing of starting to draw benefits among the ages of 62, 66 and 70 and the effect on monthly payment size and the ultimate amount of money given to you in each case, should you live a very long time.

 Amrita was his evaluator. Amritha felt that Dave’s speech satisfied its purpose, to factually and clearly indicate the salient options as to when to draw Social Security benefits. The Graphs were especially compelling for visual learners. She liked the idea of knowledge = power and Dave’s unique humor.

Our third speaker was Linda.  She offered us a speech from the Successful Club Series. Her speech was called: “What’s The Power Of Evaluation?”  and was completed within 14 minutes.

Linda told why Evaluation is so important:

• Offers Face to Face feedback

• Offers improvements to make in the future

• Offers a way to build and maintain self-esteem

Evaluators should plan their responses based on the Speaker’s need:

- Talk to speaker before meeting starts

- Get the CC manual to record your reactions

- Note the manual and evaluation objectives

- Listen and take notes.

She related that in the Bruce Meeker Evaluation Workshop, it is helpful to use

• 3 column table with Column 1 (Characteristic), Column 2 (Done Well), Column 3 (Recommendation)

• Mind map to depict strengths and weaknesses

The Evaluator supplies the following (personalized) structure:

Opening, Objectives, Strengths, Improvements, Other Strengths, Summary, Closing/Conclusion.

Alice was her evaluator. Alice complimented Linda about using the Frog/Bird metaphor (from Amritha’s Speech the previous week). She liked her humor, pleasant smile and encouraging conclusion.  Alice suggested greater facial variety and a more dramatic depiction of the animals.

Alice was voted best evaluator.

Attendees were:  Linda, Jean, Jim, Lynne, Naser, Sue, Robert, Barb, Pauline, Jackie, Kathy, Amritha, Anisha, Chizuko, David A., Alice, Grace, Sepidah, Preston as well as 4 guests: Julie H., Gaby P., Nichole M., and Emory J. Our active membership total has been increased to 26, since Sepidah and Nichole joined during the week and today respectively.

~~~~~ Respectfully Submitted by Robert, the Secretary [You think? then comment] ~~~~~

June 2nd, 2015 Theme: Truth

“Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth”. ~~ Arthur Conan Doyle

Welcome to the first meeting in June blog. Today, we had 2 guests attend our meeting. 

Jean was our toastmaster and offered insights about Truth.  Famous searchers for Truth included Aristotle, Plato and Thomas Aquinas. She offered 3 awarenesses of when people did not state the full truth:
• When generalizations were made,
• When deletions or omissions occurred, and
• when distortions and put downs diminished the truth.

The GATE  team was: Pauline  as Grammarian (Salient), Sue as the Ah Counter, and Naser as the Timer. The General Evaluator [in Waiting] was Linda.                                  

Robert was our first speaker today. He completed his 4^th speech (Project #5) from the Entertaining Speaker Manual. The speech was entitled “Delanie And Evalynne” and was delivered within 10 minutes.

Robert wove two themes with observations into his talk.

The first were details of four related Parties that celebrated his grand-(great-?)niece Delanie’s Bat Mitzvah (Coming of Age) during a single weekend that he and Barb attended in New York earlier last month.

He observed that as graduating students of the Hebrew school gave short speeches, much of their nervous energy went to their feet and legs and he demonstrated a number of these foot movements.

The second was details of two miracles that occurred during that trip including one with a wild turkey and earlier with his niece Evalynne and her mother’s recovery from her serious illness helped by her appeal to her deceased dad (who made her aware of his assistance).

Dave A. was his evaluator. Dave A. summarized Robert’s talk as celebrating Delanie’s Bat Mitzvah, Partying and eating much food in a tent, entertaining a turkey and experiencing a miracle that he came back from the trip.

He suggested that Robert speak louder at the beginning to counteract the mental sluggishness of the after-dinner audience.

Our second speaker was Kathy.  She offered us a reboot from the Competent Communicator’s Manual (Project #1). Her speech was called: “Starting Over” and was completed within 6 minutes.

Kathy started her speech by describing her history of being in toastmasters for 8 years, working at Alder Pharmaceuticals as a Customer Liaison. Many skills learned in Toastmasters she has applied to her work (interpersonal communication and negotiations, recognition of others’ body language), her Church, and the friendships she has made with members of this club and Canyon Park Echoes (also a member there).

Jim was her evaluator. Jim complimented Kathy about her adaptation of communication skills as an employee who introduces customers to her company and represents the company in the world. He also liked that she knitted together points learned at toastmasters with her other life roles.

He suggested that when the audience extends behind her, that she deliberately rotate her body to talk with them as well.

Our third speaker was Amritha.  She offered us a speech from the Competent Communicator’s Manual (Project #5). Her speech was entitled: “Keep Your Dream Alive”  and was completed within 7 minutes.

Amritha told an allegory about a frog (Amritha) in a well, who was visited by a bird (Opportunity) who encouraged the frog to come fly with her to see the rest of the world. After accepting this, she was mesmerized by her new world-view and never returned to the well.

In the world, Amritha has encountered extraordinary people with great accomplishments. Her dream is to also accomplish significant deeds. She has been exposed to TED Talks with eloquent speakers. It prompted her to join Toastmasters. Her recent attendance at the Spring District Conference allowed her to see inspiring speakers has led to a wider perspective.

Amritha was voted best speaker.

Lynne was her evaluator. Lynne complimented Amritha about her Frog story, and how she amplified it with gestures and facial expressions.

Lynne recommended more varied movement patterns rather than simple pacing and placing notes in a convenient location (lectern or table) to prompt herself as to what to say next. She also suggested making contact with the back of the room.

She said Amritha was confident, gracious, well-organized and had good posture.

Lynne was voted best evaluator.

Linda was our General Evaluator for today. But her lips were sealed because there was a decision by the toastmaster not to conduct a general evaluation due to time constraints.

Tobias was our humorist for today. He described the contented life of a fisherman who talks with a man with an Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree, who recommends that he create an ever expanding fish business to become a great success as a businessman and then retire in 25 years to do what he is currently doing.

Attendees were:  Linda, Jean, Jim, Lynne, Naser, Sue, Robert, Barb, Pauline, Jung, Kathy, Amritha, Tobias, Chizuko, David A., Alice, Grace as well as 2 guests: Rajat and Sepideh. Our active membership total has been revised to be 24, since four members were deactivated.

~~~~~ Respectfully Submitted by Robert, the Secretary [Find A Way To comment] ~~~~~