April 5th 2016 Theme – Persistence

“Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence.” ~~ Hal Borland.

  

Welcome to the first meeting in April.

        Amritha was the toastmaster of the day.

The GAT(e) team comprised of: Grammarian – Pratap (zenith), Ah-Counter – Chizuko and Timer – Dan.

Jean was the first speaker of the day. She completed Project #8 from the CC Manual – Get Comfortable with Visual Aids. The title of her talk - “Your Toastmaster Journey” which she completed within 10 minutes.

Through her speech, Jean walked us step by step through the journey that we take in Toastmasters. There are 2 paths that members take – Communication and Leadership tracks – and all the manuals are a subsection of these 2 tracks.

Starting with the CC and CL, the basic communication and leadership manuals respectively, each comprising of 10 projects, she explained what it meant to finish those books and how members earned stars on the charts displayed in our club. New members are helped by mentors to figure out these details in greater depth.

Upon completion of CC and CL, members move onto advanced manuals. Each Advanced Communication Manual has 5 projects and focuses on a particular genre eg: humorously speaking, persuasively speaking etc.  Moving onto the Leadership track, members have the opportunity to take up leadership roles in the club, area or higher levels. Once a member completes all the required communication manuals and has fulfilled the required leadership roles, he/she is entitled with the highest award in toastmasters – the DTM (Distinguished Toast Master).

Towards the end, Jean emphasizes that it is the journey that we as toastmasters take together that makes the learning fun and enjoyable. We are friends helping friends succeed one step at a time.  

Tobias was her evaluator. He thoroughly enjoyed her well-organized speech which helped him understand the hierarchy of toastmasters, the various manuals and the charts that are displayed in our club. By relating to club members who have accomplished various levels of proficiency, she made the talk very personal to the audience.

Warren was our second speaker of the day. He completed Project #7 from the CC manual – Research Your Topic. Title of his talk “Are You a Farmer or a Hunter?” which he completed within 7 mins.

Through his speech, Warren took us straight into the world of sales. He introduced us to the 2 broad categories in sales – Farmers (people who tend to build sales from their existing business) and Hunters (people who go out to create new businesses). Contrary to the popular negative notion of being a salesperson, in reality being in sales is about one’s ability to help another person meet their goals.

In order to be a better sales person, Warren encourages us to understand oneself – by learning what personality type we are. He shared with us a model of personality classification that he has used successfully for years. He gave us examples of how he and his wife fit in different categories. This self-awareness helps one to be more effective and patient as a listener and communicator thus allowing room for better opportunities.

Lynne was his evaluator. She gave kudos to Warren on his well-researched informative talk with personal stories weaved into it. By using the white-board to emphasize the different personality types, his talk became much clearer and understandable. As a suggestion, she offered him to possibly use more vocal variety.

Both Warren and Lynne were voted best in their respective categories.

Our third speaker was Hadaya. He completed Speech #2 from the CC Manual – Organize Your Speech. The title of his talk “Human Life and Cigarette” which he completed within 7 mins.

Hadaya walked us through the various stages of life when people might fall into the trap of cigarettes. While adolescents pick up smoking by watching their peers and parents trying to fit in the social structure around them, adults mostly fall into the trap of smoking due to stress from various factors like job, economy, relationships etc.

He further explained the immediate changes in body chemistry that happen as a result of smoking. Shedding light on the fact that that there is only temporary relief while smoking and the damage that occurs to human bodies is long term, Hadaya says smoking should be avoided at all costs. By sharing with us the story of one of his professors, Hadaya reemphasizes that smoking is never a permanent solution to any tough situation.

Grace was his evaluator. She commended Hadaya on hiswell-organized and informative talk that he gave with great confidence. With the use of his prop at the beginning, he captured the audience’s attention. With smooth transitions, he moved from one section to the other. And by ending with a personal story, he reemphasized his point that smoking is injurious to health and is never a solution for any situation.

We had 2 guests (Shreya K. and Yash K.) and 18 members (including Colleen and Madhuri as our newest members) in attendance.

Member attendees were: Amritha, Anisha, Barb, Chizuko, Colleen, Dan, Grace, Hadaya, Jean, Jim, Jing, Julie, Jung, Lynne, Madhuri, Pauline, Pratap, Robert, Tobias and Warren.

Respectfully Submitted,

Amritha Imandi, Secretary

Public Speaking Northwest #9406.