August 2, 2016 - Theme: The Great Debate!

"You know what 'DOUBT' stands for?  It stands for 'Debate On Understanding Bewildersome Thoughts.'" - Gary Busey

Welcome to Public Speaking Northwest’s first meeting in August! Jessica was the Toastmaster of the day, introducing the theme of “The Great Debate” by telling stories of famous debates throughout American History. 

Her GATE team was comprised of the Grammarian, Pauline (Insidious); Ah-Counter, Julie; and Timer, Jung.

 

Nancy was the first speaker of the day, speaking from the Competent Communicator manual, project #4 – How To Say It. The title of her talk was “Adventures in Activism,” which she completed within 7 minutes. Nancy gave us a riveting speech about how she helped champion a movement to turn a dangerous highway into a safer place for drivers. Her passion during her speech and her campaign to help transform the road, convinced us that we are each capable of making a difference. For her emotional speech, Nancy was awarded Best Speaker!

Evaluating Nancy’s speech was Linda. As Linda had missed the first part of her speech, she had the great idea of turning to the audience to do a round robin, where all Toastmasters and guests alike were available to give Nancy feedback – all of which was positive!

 

Amritha was the second speaker of the day, speaking from the Storytelling manual, project #3 – The Moral of The Story. The title of her talk was “Dangers of Instantaneous Reaction,” which she completed within 7 minutes. Amritha told us a folktale about a couple who trusted their baby with a mongoose. The mongoose protected the baby in a dangerous altercation, but was mistakenly believed to have been the perpetrator and immediately kicked out, never to return. The moral of the story is that making a snap judgment could shut someone out who was only trying to help, and that we should all take a minute to stop and think before having an instantaneous reaction.

Barb evaluated Amritha’s speech. She commended Amritha on a job well done, especially with her dramatic pauses, tone, and inflection. She did suggest that more preparation, and a bit more clarity in translation between Indian and English jargon would help to elucidate the story.

 

The third speaker of the day was Randy, speaking from the Competent Communicator manual, project #2 – Organize Your Speech. Randy gave a speech entitled “Diffuse to Develop – Three Steps to Develop Solutions to Client Complaints,” which he completed within 7 minutes. He supplied us with three solid steps for how to appease upset customers: Acknowledge, Align, and Assure. Randy showed us how using these three simple steps is a way that many companies promote healthy customer service. In his presentation, he provided both a handout and a visual aid to assist in his speech.

Evaluating Randy’s speech was Jean. Jean commended Randy on a job well done, and encouraged him to keep going! One suggestion she had was to use the floor space with purpose.

    

Jim was the Table Topics host for the day. He made various expressions and gestures for speakers to elaborate upon. Participants were Linda, Uliana, and Grace. Linda took home the Best Table Topics speaker award!

Finally, our meeting concluded with a general evaluation by Warren and a humorous joke from Robert. There were 15 Members in attendance, including Amritha, Barb, Diana, Grace, Jean, Jessica, Jim, Julie, Jung, Linda, Nancy, Pauline, Randy, Robert, and Warren, as well as 4 guests: John, Uliana, Yash, and Shreya. Hope you join us again next week!

Respectfully Submitted,

Jessica DiPietro, Secretary

Public Speaking Northwest #9406

July 26, 2016 - Awards Party!

"Awards are lovely and always welcome." - Max Von Sydow

Welcome to a very special meeting of Public Speaking Northwest – our annual Awards celebration and potluck! We started off the meeting with some refreshments and lively conversation. Then, Jean Tracy, our emcee for the day, called the meeting to order.

Our club President, Julie Hutton, gave an inspiring speech which included about 15 distinctions that make our club successful and unique. She presented this 8-10 minute speech entitled, “We’re Going for Even More” from the Competent Communicator Manual, Speech #10 – Inspire Your Audience. Julie showered us with gratitude, explaining how our club has fostered a culture of love, communication, and friendship. It was the perfect speech to lead into the main part of this special meeting: the awards!

Jean personally introduced and recognized our members for their hard work this past year. Our Toastmasters Club is a President’s Distinguished Club. In order to achieve this high honor, we only needed 10 club points throughout the past year. Points are gained for completing speech manuals, leadership manuals, high-level projects, and taking leadership roles in the club while completing manuals.

 

While we only needed 10, we ended up getting 17 points! This is due to our active membership as well as the leadership of Barb Katz, Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM), who alone earned 5 points! For her hard work, she was awarded the Star Achiever award! Another amazing member, and former secretary of our club, Amritha Imandi, was recognized for her leadership not only in the club, but beyond. She is the new Area Director, and for her dedication, hard work, and high achievements in such a short period of time, she received the Spark Plug award! Below are our members who were recognized for contributing points to our club over the past year.

• Chizuko Yokota, CC
• Warren Lewis, CC
• Amritha Imandi, CC, ALB
• Linda Yunjie Li, ALB
• Abdul Naser Kutty, ACB
• Kathy Nishihara, CC
• Robert Katz, CC
• Kathy Nishihara, CC
• Jean Tracy, CC, CL
• Barb Katz, CC, CL ALS, ACG, CC, LDREXC, DTM

We also said a very heartfelt farewell to Linda Li, former President of our club. Linda, a recent graduate of the University of Washington, has accepted a marketing position in California and will no longer be able to join us. We wish her much success in the future and in whichever new Toastmasters group she chooses next. She has a very bright future ahead of her!

 

After the presentation of awards, we held a Table Topics session lead by Amritha. She had contestants draw questions from paper bags, in which they had to enact situations in non-human form. This exercise really stretched our imaginations. The Table Topic speakers for the day were Warren, Nancy, and Randy.

  

Every week, those who bring their leadership manual are entered into a drawing that is held once per month. This month, the drawing was for a book on Ted Talks. Julie drew Jim Tracy’s name out of the bag – he was our proud winner for the day!

Finally, the meeting adjourned . . . but it was not over! People lingered for several minutes afterwards to chat, take photos, and of course, enjoy some more food!

 

  

We had 14 members in attendance at our last meeting, including Amritha, Barb, Jean, Jessica, Jim, Julie, Jung, Linda, Lynne, Nancy, Pauline, Randy, Robert and Warren, as well as 4 guests: Dana, Uliana, Yash and Shreya. We hope to see you again next week!

Respectfully Submitted,

Jessica DiPietro, Secretary

Public Speaking Northwest #9406

July 19, 2016 - Theme: Purpose

"Our purpose is to educate as well as to entertain." - Curtis Mayfield

Welcome to our third meeting in July! Randy was the Toastmaster of the day, and it was his first time in the Toastmaster role. His GAT(e) team was comprised of the Grammarian, Amritha (Pretentious); Ah-Counter, Jessica; and Timer, Jean.

Jim was the first speaker of the day, speaking from the Advanced Communicator manual - Storytelling: Bringing History to Life. The title of his talk was “A Founding Father of the US Comes Alive” which he completed within 9 minutes. Jim took us back in time, playing the role of Benjamin Franklin. In the live interview, “Mr. Franklin” told us about his life, his experiences in Britain, and all of his inventions. For his creative, fun, and entertaining story, Jim was awarded Best Speaker! 

Evaluating Jim’s speech was Grace. She highlighted the best parts of Jim’s speech, including is larger than life presence, his effectiveness in transitioning roles, and his delicate use of props. It was hard to think of anything critical to say about this speech!

 

Barb was the second speaker of the day, speaking from the Competent Communicator manual - Get to the Point. The title of her talk was “Fridays at the Pentagon” which she completed within 7 minutes. Barb explained how her views of the Pentagon were unfavorable – until she attended a tour. She painted a patriotic scene: a grateful crowd clapping for a parade of wounded heroes. Little did she know that was just another Friday at the Pentagon. She moved everyone in the room with her story

Nancy evaluated Barb’s speech. She pointed out many of Barb’s strengths, including her vocal variety and her achievements in truly “getting to the point.” Nancy’s one suggestion was to have body movements be more smooth and natural.

 

The third speaker of the day was Julie, speaking from the Competent Communicator manual - Get to the Point. Her speech was over 7 minutes long. Julie provided us with a view of her two conflicting selves. There is one that is bold, sparky, and unique. The other is fearful of judgment and has a desire to conform. She identified with Richard Branson, Jackson Pollock, and other free spirits who were successful because of their creativity. She encouraged us to let our inner light shine, for it is indeed a gift to the world. 

Evaluating Julie’s speech was Robert. He complimented Julie’s comfortable use of PowerPoint presentations and her natural movements and abilities on stage. He noted that more cohesiveness throughout would make it a stronger speech. For his humorous evaluation, Robert was awarded the Best Evaluator!

 

Warren led the Table Topics Session, in which he blindfolded the participants and asked them to sell an unknown item to the audience, which was to be pulled randomly out of a bag. Hilarity ensued. The speakers were Nancy, Amritha, Jessica, and Grace. Jessica took home the Best Table Topics speaker award!

    

There were 14 Members in attendance at our July 19th meeting, including Amritha, Barb, Grace, Jean, Jessica, Jim, Julie, Nancy, Randy, Robert and Warren, as well as two guests: Mike and Annie. 

Next Tuesday is our Awards meeting and open house! As always, we will be meeting at 11:45am at 19119 North Creek Parkway in Bothell, WA. All are welcome to come and bring guests. We will be celebrating our accomplishments over the past year and enjoying a potluck-style lunch together. Hope you can join us!

Respectfully Submitted,

Jessica DiPietro, Secretary

Public Speaking Northwest #9406

July 12, 2016 - Theme: Balloons

"Another term for balloon is bad breath holder.” - Demetri Martin

Welcome to our second meeting in July! Before our regularly scheduled meeting, an officer installation took place in which the following officers were instated:

• Julie - President
• Warren - Vice President of Public Relations
• Jean - Vice President of Education
• Jan - Vice President of Membership
• Lynne - Sergeant at Arms
• Jim - Treasurer
• Jessica - Secretary

In addition, our very own Amritha is the new Area Director!

Barb was the Toastmaster of the day. Her GAT(e) team was comprised of the Grammarian, Jim (Hilarious); Ah-Counter, Jung; and Timer, Anisha.

Dan was the first speaker of the day, speaking from the Competent Communicator manual - How to Say It. The title of his talk was “Defining Success” which he completed within 7 minutes. He reminded us that success is not a destination, but instead something that comes in waves. He provided the audience with a thoughtful quote from John Wooden about how to define success. For Dan, the key to creating success is your “why” or your purpose. He gave us an example of how to achieve a fitness goal through finding your purpose and inspired us to think about our own goals and successes!

Evaluating Dan’s speech was Jean. She congratulated Dan on his fourth speech and applauded his great speaking abilities. Her suggestion was to pull the visual-aid board closer in order to make it easier to gesture to key points.

 

Amritha was the second speaker of the day, speaking from the Story Telling manual - Let’s Get Personal. The title of her talk was “Overcoming My Fear of Driving Two-Wheelers” which she completed within 8 minutes. Amritha gave us a humorous speech about overcoming fear. She explained how she waited, and waited, and waited. . . until finally her dad urged her to practice driving. Amritha’s renditions of her experiences were simultaneously heartfelt and hilarious. She left us with a message about how to overcome fear by trusting. For her outstanding speech, she was awarded Best Speaker!

Tobias evaluated Amritha’s speech. Tobias delivered an entertaining evaluation, lauding Amritha for her humor, delivery, and impressions. For his hilarious evaluation, he was awarded Best Evaluator!

 

The third speaker of the day was Hadaya, speaking from the Competent Communicator manual - Your Body Speaks. He completed his speech within 7 minutes. Hadaya started us off thinking about money, and the first time he had to earn it on his own. He then preceded with a humorous anecdote about the time he and his brother went to get coffee - but didn’t have any money! We were at the edge of our seats wondering how the story would turn out. By the end, Hadaya got his coffee and the audience was in stitches!

Evaluating Hadaya’s speech was Jessica. She complimented Hadaya’s hilarious anecdote and his natural movement as he performed his speech. One suggestion she provided was to have more, elaborate movements.

 

In the Table Topics section led by Grace, she gave the participants some thought-provoking questions. The speakers were Warren, Anisha, and Jessica. Jessica took home the Best Table Topics speaker award!

  

There were 14 Members in attendance at our July 12th meeting, including Amritha, Anisha, Barb, Dan, Grace, Hadaya, Jean, Jessica, Jim, Julie, Jung, Robert, Tobias and Warren, as well as three guests: Mike, Aarnav, and Aarush. Hope you join us again next week!

Respectfully Submitted,

Jessica DiPietro, Secretary

Public Speaking Northwest #9406

July 5th, 2016 - Theme: Unleashing the Creative Flow Within

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." - Scott Adams (Dilbert)

Welcome to our First Meeting in July! Jan was the Toastmaster of the day. Her GAT(e) team was comprised of the Grammarian, Kathy (Empower); Ah-Counter, Nancy; and Timer, Warren.

  

Jung was the first speaker of the day, speaking from the Competent Communicator manual – How to Say It. The title of her talk was “Simplify, Simplify, Simplify” which she completed within 7 minutes. She took us to Walden Pond in Massachusetts, where her and her husband had visited some years ago, and which inspired many of Henry David Thoreau’s works. She explained the serenity that comes with living a simpler life, and even provided us pictures from her trip!

Evaluating Jung’s speech was Jim. He prided Jung on her overall progress, as well as her distinctly enunciated words. For his engaging evaluation, Jim was awarded Best Evaluator.

 

Jessica was the second speaker of the day, speaking from the Competent Communicator manual – Research Your Topic. The title of her talk was “Unrefined” which she completed within 7 minutes. Jessica shared her story of how she gave up refined sugars to lose 17 lbs in less than 3 months. She provided a mountain of evidence to support her claim that less sugar will make for a healthier diet for all, and called the audience to action by encouraging them to try going without refined sugars for 90 days

Grace evaluated Jessica’s speech. She attentively listened to the statistics, and was shocked by what she heard, assuring that the research was pivotal to driving Jessica's point home. Her constructive feedback was to add more fun by showing off and giving a twirl!

 

The third speaker of the day was Nancy, speaking from the Competent Communicator manual – Get to The Point. The title of her talk was “Intentional Volunteering – 10 Steps to a Volunteer Experience that Could Change Your Life” which she completed within 7 minutes. Nancy thoroughly explained how to go about selecting a volunteer position that is right for you, how to be engaged, and when to move on, if necessary. Her confidence and speaking skills shined through – and won her Best Speaker!

Evaluating Nancy’s speech was Jean. She complimented Nancy’s simple, yet effective, PowerPoint presentation and naturally good public speaking skills. Her feedback was that a shorter speech title (under 7 words) would best grab the audience's attention.

  

In the Table Topics section led by Julie, anyone who didn’t have a speaking role was put on the spot! The speakers were Dan, Pauline, and Steve. Steve, our honored guest, ended up taking Best Table Topics speaker!

There were 17 Members in attendance, including  Barb, Dan, Grace, Jan, Jean, Jessica, Jim, Julie, Jung, Kathy, Nancy, Pauline, Robert and Warren, as well as one guest, Steve. We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting on July 12, 2016!

Respectfully Submitted,

Jessica DiPietro, Secretary

Public Speaking Northwest #9406