Public Speaking Northwest Promotes Friendships

Our toastmaster theme, friendship, agrees with the words of Albert Camus ~

“Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.”

Barb, our president, opened the meeting with John, Jan Z., Jan S., Yanhong, Barbara, Cindy, Jamie, Juliet, Cary, Ana, Ken, Emery, Kate, Mihaela, Prema, Lynne, and Jean in attendance.

As the toastmaster of the day, Barb announced that “Friendship” would be our theme. She proceeded to share beautiful stories of unlikely friendships in the animal kingdom, like the story of the leopard and the cow.

Barb praised both Cary and Kate for participating in the Area Toastmaster Contest. Both improved significantly. Kate won the Table Topics Contest. Congratulations, Kate!

Jamie, our first speaker, entitled his talk Quarters from Heaven. To the surprise of his wife, Cindy, his presentation was about how she approaches life with playfulness. “While Cindy enjoyed a double shot skinny latte,” said Jamie, “she overheard a bored little 8-year-old with his dad and a friend.” His dad said “No!” to the boys demand for a quarter.

The boy said, “Okay, I’m gonna ask somebody here in the mall for a quarter.” His dad warned,

“You don’t want people to think you are some beggar do you?”

This is when Cindy began rolling quarters on the ground toward the boy while she pretended to be on her cell phone. The boy didn’t suspect Cindy as he exclaimed, “Dad, this place is magic! It’s raining quarters here!”

Jamie encouraged us to approach our days with playfulness. We just might make someone’s difficult day magical.

Thanks Jamie, even though you just had surgery and you were hopping around on crutches, you thoroughly entertained us. What a great example you are!

Cary evaluated Jamie with praise. He told Jamie that he and his wife are very much like his own mother and father. No wonder Cary is such a great guy!

Juliet, our second speaker, entitled her talk, Just Say No! She reminded us of first lady, Nancy Reagan's slogan for the War on Drugs. Juliet said she had a problem to solve. Just saying no was difficult for her. 

As a nurse in a county hospital she’d just finish her shift only to be asked to fill in for another nurse. Double shifts and exhaustion became her life.

Juliet knew she had to say no or she’d burn out. She knew Nancy Reagan would be disappointed in her. Juliet started reading a book called, Boundaries. She learned that she felt responsible for others and that she needed only to be responsible to others by being kind and fulfilling her commitments to them.

She advised us to be alert if we fail to say “No!” because of our:

• Fear of hurting other’s feelings
• Fear of abandonment
• Fear of being selfish or feeling guilty

Juliet ended by having specific members of the audience ask her to do things. Just like the advice in her talk, she just said, “No!”

Thanks Juliet. This was such a helpful talk for all of us.

Jamie evaluated Juliet’s talk by telling her the many things he liked about her presentation. He commended her for involving the audience in her speech.

 

Ana, our table topic master, presented a colorful bag filled with curious objects. She instructed us to pick out 2 objects at a time and show how they’re connected.

 

Cary chose a frog and a walnut. He talked about catching "nutty" bull frogs with his friend Cameron.

 

Lynne pick out a Hawaiian dancer and a hamburger.  The girl was hungry and just had to have a burger and milk shake.

Cindy selected a tiny bottle of seashells and a little pig. Seashells represented vacations in Cancun, while pigs show us how to get down and dirty and have fun.

Emery, our general evaluator, praised the good points about our meeting and gave us a few areas to improve. General evaluators are notorious for advancing our skills. Thank you, Emery.

The Blue Ribbon Winners Are:

Best Speaker: Juliet

Best Evaluator: Jamie

Best Table Topics: Cindy

Congratulations to all!

*****Today's photographer was Lynne. Thank you Lynne!

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, Washington ~ 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