Aug. 25th 2015 Theme: Moving Is An Adventure!

“Time is a circus, always packing up and moving away”. ~~ Ben Hecht

Welcome to the fourth meeting in August blog. This also marks our last meeting in the Seattle Times Building. Today, We will convene next week at 19119 North Creek Parkway, Suite 105, Bothell, WA. (3 blocks away) and start September 1st off with Humorous Speech and Table Topics contests.
 
We had 3 guests attend our meeting. 

Jim was our toastmaster and eloquently connected the 1964 Broadway Musical “Hello, Dolly” with the physical dolly that he would, at the end of the meeting, use to vacate the clubs’ belongings from the Seattle Times Building Conference Room and Storage area.

The GAT(e)  team was: Andrew  as Grammarian (Petulant), Dan Dan as the Ah Counter, and Jessica K. as the Timer. 

  Robert was our first speaker today. He gave a talk from the Advanced Manual, Special Occasion Speeches, Project 1 [Mastering The Toast]. It was entitled “A Wedding Toast” and was delivered 6:45 minutes.  

He told about his younger daughter Bonnie’s Wedding Ceremony with her fiance Duncan on January 25, 2013 outside, about 7500 feet up on Mount Rainier. Very few people made the trip but the officiant did. On February 8, 2013, the Reception was held in West Seattle and this wedding toast was offered by a very proud and excited dad.

He first welcomed and thanked all the guests, especially those traveling long distances to be there to celebrate Bonnie and Duncan’s Wedding.

He circulated a framed photo of Bonnie posing with dark glasses and a walking stick in her white veil against a white snow bank.

He described some of the signature events in Bonnie’s life: the televised Mount St. Helens Volcanic eruption in 1980, Her fascination with Mountains, her bicycling at the Tour De France in the Swiss Alps, her ascent on Mount Everest to 16,500 Feet and her annual new years journeys to Mount Rainier since 1990.

Bonnie chose Duncan, a reliable, sensible, and considerate partner that she loves. He is competent and creative at home and at work and welcomed wholeheartedly to the newly grafted family tree.

Acquired life wisdom and advice was offered:
“Marriage will teach many things… loyalty…self-restraint…obedience…I am still in daily training on these matters.”

And

“There is no challenge in a marriage that can’t be overcome by one or more of the following:
I was wrong!
You were right!
Yes, dear
I love you!”

And

“There will be discussions, arguments, and irrational outbursts. This is human nature. Just be aware that the person who is talking the fastest and loudest is usually at the wrong end of the argument.”

Finally, the essential toast:

• May you both be blessed with happiness that grows and with love that lasts and a peaceful life together.

• I wish you enjoyment for today, the fulfillment of all your hopes and dreams for tomorrow and love and happiness always.

 

Robert was declared best speaker.

 Linda was his evaluator. Linda appreciated Robert’s introduction to help the audience understand the background of the wedding toast. She liked the details about Bonnie and Duncan as fleshing out the bride and groom. She was pleased that she felt the full personalization of the toast. She was delighted with the marriage advice. Linda suggested that Robert’s voice could be louder and that eye contact be more evenly spread among the audience than focused on the left. She suggested that a male audience member be picked so enhance the realism when talking about Duncan.

Linda was declared best evaluator. 

Jean was the Table Topics Master for today. Her theme was to ask questions loosely related to moving, which explored whether  continuous or discrete, mobile or anchored, loss and gain, assisted or unaided, and reflecting on current location, either physical or psychological. 

Our guest Brian D’A., a bicycle traveler journeying around the border states of America, talked about keeping in contact with his friends and family via social media as he travels.   

  Jung described her move from South Korea to the United States and the difficulty she had in renting an apartment without a credit history. She remedied this by paying for 6 month’s worth of rent in advance.  

 

Andrew responded to how things would not change as a result of moving by noting the persisting accommodation of club members and the people themselves.

 

Our guest J.P. O’D., said that in his work travels, he is self-sufficient and mobility adept. For him, the only change is the destination.

 

Naser described moving from India to the United States as a change for him from a chaotic daily existence to one that is much more routine and predictable.

 

Linda emphasized that we won’t be giving up being together. The Club represents home and the members are very special to her.

  Dan Dan responded to: “What helped her to move?” by describing her life in China as a waiting time, while she watched Chinese TV shows, which were somewhat entertaining, but didn’t make her happy. When she came to the United States, she worked in a Nursing Home for 3 years. She is enrolled at the University of Washington (Bothell) starting this fall, to study Business Administration.

Dan Dan was voted best table topics speaker.

Devi talked about when she first moved here, she was lonely and dependent. Soon she gained more independence by learning to drive, joining this club and attending college. 

 

Robert was our humorist for today. He offered bumper sticker humor: “Live each day like it's your last. Eventually you'll get it right.”  He also offered a quick story about a psychiatrist experiencing a mental patient’s mindset.

Attendees were:  Andrew, Barb, Chizuko, Dan Dan, Devi, Grace, Jean, Jessica D., Jessica K., Jim, Julie, Jung, Linda, Liz, Naser, and Robert as well as 3 guests: Brian D’A., J.P. O’D., and Woo Yun C.

Our active membership total remains at 36. 

To recognize members who are moving on, Alice (and Ivan) are moving back to Taiwan to rejoin her husband (and dad). Sep is moving to New York City to attend college and major in Journalism. We wish these women a continuing Bon Voyage. We have become richer by knowing them.

~~~~~ Respectfully Submitted by Robert, the Acting Secretary for Amritha, The Real Secretary ~~~~~

 

Aug 18th 2015 Theme: Competitions Around the World

"You are not in competition with anybody except yourself; plan to outdo your past not other people." 

Welcome to the second meeting in August blog.

     Kathy was our toastmaster of the day.

The GAT(e) team was: Grammarian – Dan Dan, Ah Counter – Jessica. J, Jung as the Timer and Amritha as the evaluator

Sepideh was our first speaker for today. She completed her Speech #2 from the Competent Communicator Manual – Organize Your Speech. The duration of her speech was 5-7 mins.

Through her speech, Sep introduced us to Iranian Tea Culture. She told us the story of how a man named Sultanan – called the grandfather of tea in Iran - tricked the Indian tea traders and bought tea from them to his home country. This eventually enabled the Iranians to cultivate plenty of tea plantations.

Tea being the staple drink of Persians – a drink for all occasions, is consumed many times from morning till night accompanied by either sugar cubes or sweet treats. It comes in many flavors, the most popular ones being Cardamom, Rose and Jasmine.

She demonstrated how tea is made and served in a Persian household using the traditional tea brewing apparatus. Usually served in clear glass containers, tea is the first drink offered to guests. She passed around delicious homemade sweets made by her grandma which are traditionally eaten with tea.

Jim was her evaluator. He congratulated Sep on her well done speech which was easy to follow, had a strong opening and was very informative. While he appreciated her on the demonstration, he suggested Sep to move further back on stage while demonstrating to allow members on either side to get a proper view. He also suggested Sep to have a stronger summary or tying the ending with the opening.

Our second speaker was Naser. He completed his Speech #5 from the Story Telling Manual. The title of his speech was Gandhi – Experiments with Truth. The duration of his speech was 7-9 mins.

Having born in a patriotic family, Naser’s mom wanted him to learn life principles from Gandhi’s life – but in no way did Gandhi’s principles interest him at the young age of 13. Soon during college years, Naser realized the virtues of Gandhi when he had to lead groups of students and coordinate events as a student leader.

By reading the autobiography of Gandhi, Naser learnt the most important virtue that made Gandhi exceptional – he was always truthful. His search further led him to the hero who inspired Gandhi – Raja Harishchandra – a king who was always truthful and never went back on his promises.

Naser shared the story of how the Raja lost his kingdom and his fortune, led life as a common man and eventually became the caretaker of a graveyard. Through the various hardships of life, the king remained truthful and honest at all times. Gandhi was inspired by the truthfulness of the king and followed his principle. The king thus became Gandhi’s hero.

Naser was voted the best speaker.

Jean was his evaluator. She congratulated Naser on the well-structured story within a story with a strong message – being truthful and not going back on one’s word. She appreciated and recognized the effort that Naser put into improving his English accent.

Jean was voted the best evaluator.

Robert was our Table Topics Master. He had a list of questions. The speaker had to complain about the situation in the question.

Jim answered the question “My boss gave me a new project”. He spoke about how difficult the new project was- making a path using footmarks to a water cooler in his office, he complained about gluing process to make the path and eventually how he ended up gluing them upside down, resulting in the footmarks glued to the employees shoes.

Sep complained about the situation: “You find a $20 bill in a grocery store.” She expressed concern over how people throw their money around and that she could buy 20 one dollar pizzas with it. Eventually she and her mom treat themselves to a hearty meal with that $20 bill.

Dan Dan answered: “Someone cuts you off while driving.” She started off with a panicky face expressing concern over how another driver cut her while driving. She being a new driver, got startled and said, “Why don’t they put the turn lights on so that other drivers are well informed? It would never hurt to do that.”

Jim was voted the best table topics speaker.

Robert was our humorist today. One day a fairy Godmother decides to grant one wish to an elderly couple married for 25 years leading an exemplary life together. The wife wished to see new places in the world, the fairy Godmother gave her tickets for a cruise trip all around the world. The husband wished to have a female companion 30 years younger to him. Instantly he was turned 30 years older.

Our members attending numbered 16 and were: Amritha, Barb, Chizuko, Dan, Dan Dan, Jean, Jessica K., Jessica S., Jim, Jung, Kathy, Naser, Pauline, Robert, Sep, and Yasmin. 

Our active membership total currently is at 36.

Respectfully Submitted,

Amritha Imandi, Secretary

Public Speaking Northwest #9406

                                               

Aug 11th 2015 Theme: Crosstalk – Chinese Traditional Comedy

“Make happy those who are near, and those who are far will come.” ~~ Chinese Proverb

Welcome to the second meeting in August blog. Today, we had 2 guests attend our meeting. 

              Linda was our toastmaster of the day.

The GAT(e) team was: Grammarian – Dave, Ah Counter - Julie, and Sepideh as the Timer.

Jessica was our first speaker. She completed Speech#1 Ice Breaker from the Competent Communication Manual. The title of her speech was “Deep River – A Journey with History.” Her speech duration was 6 minutes.

Jessica started her speech describing in a very picturesque manner the place where she moved with her family at 7 which soon became her home – a small town called Deep River located near Connecticut River. She shared with us few historically significant facts about Deep River - the oldest and largest parade of fife and drum participants is held here and the Yale University (one of the foremost institutions of higher education in US) was founded in this small town.

As she grew up, she soon found her first love – history. She pursued a degree in history, became the president of 4 different organizations and at the time was also the youngest member of Deep River Historical Society. Her desire to study Chinese History brought her to Seattle. She is currently a student of UW, Seattle.

Towards the end, she mentions that her history is still a mystery. Deep River, her home town, instilled in her a sense of passion and curiosity and made her who she is today.

Jessica was voted the best speaker.

Barb was her evaluator. She congratulated Jessica on the very descriptive language, body movements, and gestures that she used while delivering her Ice Breaker – none of them expected in the first speech. Barb liked how Jessica had good eye contact and tonal variety throughout her talk. She mentioned though Jessica looked a little hesitant at first, once she came up to the stage away from the podium, she did very well.

Barb was voted the best evaluator.

Our second speaker was Alice. She offered her Speech 7 from the Competent Communication Manual– Research Your Topic. The title of her speech was: “Fear Inside Out”. She completed her speech within 7 minutes.

After mentioning how humans in general tend to avoid pain and unpleasant feelings, she described how sometimes when she signs up for a speaking role, questions start popping, fear starts talking from within and tries to find reasons and excuses for not attending the meeting.

She took the example of the movie Inside Out in which human emotions are simplified and created into characters. Through the book “Inside Out” she and her son had a great learning – whatever fun and adventurous things fear says not to do, instead of listening to fear one should do the thing.

Pointing to the advantages that fear provides, she mentioned that fear could be considered as an indicator to the path to follow, it could be our ally if used correctly and can transcend to joy if one tackles a challenge long enough.

Naser was her evaluator. He complimented Alice on how well she took the common topic of fear and turned it into an interesting talk. He appreciated her stage movements, gestures and the pleasant smile throughout the talk. He especially congratulated her on the summary that she provided where she clearly explained how one can use fear constructively for our advantage. As a suggestion, he encouraged Alice to use more gestures and vocal variety.

Amritha was our Table Topics Master today. She chose few pictures of products and services from magazines. The speakers had to try and sell them.

Robert tried to sell us a trip to the Tropical Hawaiian Islands. He mentioned it is a treasure trove of mountains, volcanoes, beaches etc. He suggests it is adventurous to take a ship to Hawaii, plan ahead, and make sure one takes enough money.

Naser tried to persuade us to get geico insurance. He involved the audience by asking them if anyone was interested in saving money and why. He mentioned that by switching to geico one could save money and get that dream vacation.

Julie spoke about being a tropical girl and asked others if they wanted to be one. She shared with us what was it that she liked best being a tropical girl.

Dan Dan tried to sell us a ticket on an airlines. She spoke about how airlines enables us to travel from one corner of the world to another and see various places. She mentions that for people living far away from their home country travelling in airlines is both economical and time saving.

Naser was voted the best table topics speaker.

Robert was our humorist today. While an elderly couple were out for a walk in a park, a pigeon flies over the wife’s head and leaves a deposit on her head. Feeling disgusted, she screams for a toilet paper for which the husband replies “Why now? The pigeon is probably a half mile away.”

Our members attending numbered 15 and were:  Alice, Amritha, Andrew, Barb, Dan Dan, Dave, Devi, Jessica, Julie, Jung, Linda, Naser, Pauline, Robert and Sep.

We had 2 guests attend our meeting today and were: Jan. and Yasmin.

Our active membership total currently is at 35.

Respectfully Submitted,

Amritha Imandi, Secretary

Public Speaking Northwest #9406