Public Speaking Northwest believes with Winston Churchill that, “The price of greatness is responsibility.”


Our toastmaster club promotes responsibility. The toastmaster creates the agenda and passes it out before the meeting so we’re clear about who will perform each duty. Each member, in turn, is prepared to fulfill his role. That’s why our meetings are so smooth and our club is great.

Barb, as President, presided over Emery, Prema, Yanhong, Jan, Cary, Lynne, Ken, Jean, and Lynne’s guest from Montana, Danette.

Pierce was to be our toastmaster for the day but he’s still recuperating from a car accident. Ken stepped up to the plate to take on the responsibility for Pierce.

Emery urged us to become friends with toastmasters on the social media site, Linkedin. He said we’ll discover many interesting ideas from our fellow toastmasters throughout the world.

Lynne, as grammarian, was responsible for the word of the day and posted “Filibuster” on the lectern. It is a reminder to use the word during the meeting when it’s our turn to speak. She gave the definition and used it in a sentence.

Cary’s responsibility, as Ah Counter, kept track of our “ahs,” “ums,” and unnecessary words. This helps us be responsible to avoid such filler words which distract our listeners and helps us become better speakers. It costs each member a nickel for each unnecessary word.

Jean, our first speaker, told 3 stories that prompted her to write her new kindle e-book, Character Building: Problem Stories for Family Discussions When Jean interviewed 3 different young men as a pre-sentence investigator for the court system, she listened for one thing. Did they take responsibility for their actions? "Responsibility," she said, "is one of the key cornerstones of character."

Her e-book is filled with problem stories about mischievous kids with everyday problems. These stories provide lively family discussions. They include 5 key questions for kids to answer. Children access their inner wisdom and give advice to the offending characters in the stories. This gives them an opportunity to think in ways that build character.

Emery, our second speaker and webmaster, showed us the wonders of our club’s website, http://www.PublicSpeakingNorthwest.com in his talk entitled, “The Webmaster Knows.”  With computer in hand and our large pull down screen, Emery showed us the bells and whistles of our website’s 2 Menus.

He took us to the pages for:

·       Special agendas

·       Mentor forms

·       Member profiles

·       Member downloads

·       Google Doc/Roster

·       Our Blog

·       Contact page

There was so much more. This was helpful because some members are less comfortable with computers and the internet. Even the members who are more experienced with computers learned new things. We all appreciated his clear and excellent presentation.

The Blue Ribbons Winners Tied:

Best Speakers went to both Emery and Jean.

If you'd like to join us for polishing your presentations, developing leadership skills, and making friends, we welcome you.

We meet every Tuesday from noon to 1:00 PM. You'll find us at the Seattle Times Building in Bothell ~ 19200 120th Avenue NE. Feel free to bring your lunch.

To find out more contact: Emery Jordan at: gejordan9@comcast.net (206) 235-1356

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Jean Tracy, DTM ~ Secretary

Public Speaking Northwest shares

Public Speaking Northwest shares President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s belief, “Be sincere; be brief; be seated.”

Our toastmaster club, with its eye on the clock, starts on time, ends on time, and includes each agenda item on time. Why? Because we know, if we’re invited to speak, our audience will appreciate that we’re sincere, brief, and know when to be seated.

With that said, President Barb introduced our Toastmaster for the meeting, Ken, with Prema, Barb, Lynne, Jamie, Emery, Yanhong, Cary, Jean, and guest, Juliet in attendance.

We passed a get well card to sign for our member and dear friend, Pierce, who was in a car accident. We heard he is OK but hurting. We’ll know for sure when he returns. We want to see him with our own eyes. Take good care Pierce.

 

Lynne announced the word for the day, “Perspective” along with a moving story.

Jamie gave his Ice Breaker (first speech) in which he introduced himself to us. He was a toastmaster from years past and is brushing up on his public speaking skills which are considerable. 

Jamie shared that he’s a father who raised his family with spiritual values.

We learned about his strong family background. One member had been the Mayor of Santa Barbara and Jamie’s own father had been a dive bomber in WWII. 

Throughout his talk, Jamie delighted us with natural hand gestures, a smiling face, and his rare use of cue cards that fit in the palm of his hand.

Today Jamie values sharing his fathering skills with his grandchildren, nephews, nieces, and the world. Jamie, you see, is the author of two Amazon books, Letters to My Son and Like Father, Like Son.

Jamie ended by saying, “I’m not doing it perfectly (fathering). I stumble and fall but I keep on walking.”

We were wowed by Jamie’s gifts as a speaker and his values as a father.

Jean evaluated Jamie’s speech using the acronym, DAD.

Emery had a presentation that depended on his technical equipment but the connection to the internet failed. Emery clearly felt disappointed in spite of bringing special cables for the occasion. He decided to try again another day. We all felt for Emery because he is such an inspirational leader in our club.

 

Barb stepped up to the lectern with her off-the-cuff table topics.

Emery spoke about finding a home for his delicious rhubarb shortcake. We have often experienced his skills as a chef and he made our mouths water with his tasty talk.

Ken spoke about the importance of locking our doors to prevent robberies. This was fitting for two reasons. Ken is in the home safety business and Jamie was just robbed.

Cary won the Table Topics Ribbon for telling a cute story about his mother and her love for bubble wrap.

The Winners for the Blue Ribbons Were:

Best Speaker ~ Jamie

Best Evaluator ~ Jean

Best Table Topics ~ Cary

Congratulations to all!

Yanhong, our timer, kept us on time throughout the meeting. She helped us prove that we believe President Roosevelt’s quote, “Be sincere, be brief, be seated.” 

Our guest, Juliet, who works in a nearby business, announced her intention to join our club. Welcome Juliet!

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If you'd like to join us for polishing your presentations, developing leadership skills, and making friends, we welcome you.

We meet every Tuesday from noon to 1:00 PM. You'll find us at the Seattle Times Building in Bothell ~ 19200 120th Avenue NE. Feel free to bring your lunch.

To find out more contact: Emery Jordan at: gejordan9@comcast.net (206) 235-1356

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Jean Tracy, DTM ~ Secretary

Visitors from local colleges

Cascadia Students

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LWVTC  Students

This past week at Public Speaking Northwest club was privileged to have 6 students as guests; 3 from Cascadia Community College and three from the Lake Washington Vocational Techincal College (LWVTC). The Cascadia students were visiting to get to know what services our club offers and the Vocational Technical students were fulfilling a requirement of school curriculum. The students were well received and invited to attend future meetings and possibly join our club. We are excited that students in our general area see the value of what an experience of learning communication and leadership skills might add to their job market potential.

Public Speaking Northwest and Jerry Seinfeld Know Something about Fear

 “According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.” ~ Jerry Seinfeld.

Public Speaking Northwest Welcomes Guests!

Members at Public Speaking Northwest Love Doing Eulogies You’ll soon see what I mean from Ken’s presentation.

President Barb pre-sided over members Ken, Pierce, Jamie, Prema, Emery, Cary, Lynne, Jean and guests from our local university – Gaby, Audrey, Alexis, Moon, Grace, and Frehiwot.

Pierce led the meeting as Toastmaster with great confidence as he orated on his theme, legacy.

Jamie gave us our inspiration for the day from his Amazon book, Letters to My Son.

Cary, our grammarian, picked “Fuddy-Duddy” as the word for today. It brought in several quarters from our members.

Ken, our first speaker, told us humorous anecdotes about his deceased father’s “Right of Passage.” Through his dad’s sense of humor, Ken taught us how a left-handed screwdriver works.

He had us in stitches as he showed how his super tall father couldn’t fit into the box from the crematorium.  There was a whole lot of shaking going on. He then shared how his brother placed their father reverently on his bookshelf – upside down. Ken assured us that his dad was a jokester and would have appreciated Ken’s many colorful descriptions.

Prema, our second speaker, filled us with awe as she used a map describing her native India. She showed us how India is shaped like outstretched arms embracing her different peoples, foods, religions, languages, and industries. Prema described Kashmir as the crown sitting on the shoulders of India.

Prema used her graceful gestures to describe the beautiful mountains, rivers, and landscape. She showed us where Mother Teresa did her ministry and the Ganges River where people purify themselves.

Prema ended by displaying the different spices she uses in cooking her favorite Indian dishes.

Emery evaluated Ken’s talk and Jean evaluated Prema’s presentation.

Barb had many awards to share. Both Barb and Ken received the Triple Crown Awards from our District for their many accomplishments this year.

Emery won the highly prized Spark Plug award and received both a trophy from our District Leaders and a standing ovation from our members for his tireless efforts in making our toastmaster club so remarkable.

The blue ribbon awards for today’s meeting went to:

Best Speaker ~ Ken

Best Evaluator ~ Jean

Best Table Topics Speaker ~ Emery

Congratulations to all!

If you'd like to join us for polishing your presentations, developing leadership skills, and making friends, we welcome you.

We meet every Tuesday from noon to 1:00 PM. You'll find us at the Seattle Times Building in Bothell ~ 19200 120th Avenue NE. Feel free to bring your lunch.

To find out more contact: Emery Jordan at: gejordan9@comcast.net (206) 235-1356

Respectfully Submitted,

Jean Tracy, DTM ~ Secretary

  

 

Public Speaking Northwest Knows Something Special About Leaders ~

"A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way." John C. Maxwell

 Find out who our special mysterious leader was today and why.

Our Leadership Applause Goes To...

Pierce, Barb, Prema, Cary, Lynne, Emery, Yanhong, Ken, Jean, and guest, Jamie, sat alert and ready to start the meeting.

Jean, our toastmaster, handed out the agendas and announced the theme: Flowers! 

 

Every meeting has a theme chosen by the toastmaster. Besides the toastmaster, the grammarian and the table topics master promote the theme with their word for the day and table topic questions.

 

Cary, our grammarian took his cue with the word Fertilizer. "Flowers need fertilizer," he said.

Prema, our first speaker, taught us how to fill out our Competent Leader Manual. With her handout outlining the 10 projects, she led us through the goals and requirements. Our newer members learned that almost every role they play in the meeting is counted toward achieving a Competent Leader Award. 

Prema experimented by giving this talk as an impromptu speech. Because Prema did such a fine job she is our Special Mysterious Leader of the Day. Even our guest Jamie expressed amazement at how well Prema did with little preparation.

This is what the Toastmaster Program does for it's members. It gives them the poise and confidence to speak well. By completing the Competent Communication Manual and almost completing the Competent Leadership Manual, Prema modeled the benefits of Toastmasters.

Ken, our second speaker, spoke from the Storytelling Manual. He entitled his talk, "The Dash." Ken spoke about different celebrations. We were all wondering about his title. But it had nothing to do with celebrating track and field events.

Oddly, Ken began telling us his family stories about funerals he attended. They were the celebrations he remembered most. We learned that his grandmother told everyone why she loved them before she died. He recalled memories from his youth about his mother's reaction to her father's death. He told us that his mother was a great baseball fan and when they celebrated her death, they all sang, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Needless to say, Ken mesmerized us with his storytelling gifts.

So why did Ken name his presentation "The Dash?" It was only at the end, when we learned the dash comes between the date of our birth and our death. The dash in between is how we spend our lives. 

Yanhong, our Table Topic Master, asked Emery about a flower story. He gave an impromptu 2 minute story about being given a slip of Civilia in 1988. He took good care of this plant and in 2006 he gave a slip of it in full bloom to the person who originally gave it to him.

Yanhong asked Cary which flower he preferred, a red rose or a white rose. He cleverly chose the red rose because he'd probably give it to a  girlfriend who was less than perfect. The white rose would be for someone who is perfect. 

Did you know Yanhong's grandfather named her after  a beautiful flower, the Ixora? 

Barb evaluated Prema' talk with superlatives.

 

      Emery evaluated Ken's presentation with accolades.

The Blue Ribbon Winners Are:

Best Speaker: Prema and Ken tied!

Best Evaluator: Emery

Best Table Topics Speaker: Emery

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If you'd like to join us for polishing your presentations, developing leadership skills, and making friends, we welcome you. 

We meet every Tuesday from noon to 1:00 PM. You'll find us at the Seattle Times Building in Bothell ~ 19200 120th Avenue NE. Feel free to bring your lunch.

To find out more contact: Emery Jordan at: gejordan9@comcast.net  (206) 235-1356

Respectfully submitted,

Jean Tracy, DTM

Secretary