May 24, 2016 Theme: Renewal

Human beings, by change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden. ~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Welcome to the 4^th meeting in May.

Barb was our toastmaster for today and provided the theme of renewal.

Her GAT(E) Team was Robert as Grammarian, who introduced the word subitize (perceive how many without counting). Jim as the Ah Counter and Pauline as the Timer.

We had two speakers provide talks. The first speaker was Jan, who completed project #2 (Organize Your Speech) within 7 minutes. Her speech was entitled: Positive Healing Through Guided Relaxation.

Jan told about a time in her life when she was diagnosed with a severe case of pneumonia and asthma and was required to remain in bed for 2 days. She made a healing tape containing positive affirmations ("I see myself as healthy and well; there is light entering my lungs for greater health." and played it nearly non-stop. When she saw the doctor again, he was amazed at her most rapid recovery. She shared this relation improvement method by providing a sample Guided Relaxation, which was very effective.

Her evaluator was Anisha. Anisha liked her opening story and its transition to the idea of healing through positive relaxation. Anisha pointed out the extreme effectiveness of telling, showing and demonstrating the same idea. Anisha recommended replacing the summary at the end by either silence or a call to action to us.

Warren was our second speaker. He also spoke from the Competent Communicators manual project #9, (Persuade With Power). His speech was entitled: Make sure They Are Conscious.

In the hiring of managers, Warren posits that it is a better strategy to hire people who are conscious (as against unconscious) as a more important characteristic than competency. In fact, it is easier to develop a competent person than a conscious person, since unconscious people are unaware of why they made mistakes (or were successful) and so do not learn from them. When interviewing potential new hires, probe for what mistakes they made, how they learned from these mistakes and what improvements occurred. People who are conscious and (temporarily) incompetent can learn as they go and adapt rapidly to change. Warren was voted best speaker.

Jean was his evaluator. Jean felt that Warren is a natural teacher and offered a great speech title. His persuasiveness was based on logical considerations rather than emotion. She suggested that the use of the white board and its contents be replaced with individual handouts.  Jean was voted best evaluator.

Julie was our Table Topics Master. She split the audience up into two teams at opposite sides of the room. She gave each person a paper with a secret phrase or action to speak or do. She also required each speaker to weave in the word of the day (Subitize) in their 30 second or less story segment. Then the teams alternated while a story which started about skiing to repeated, unexpected turns. This was great fun and was fully involving of all.

Robert was the humorist for the meeting and told a touching story about a musician who played his heart out at a "funeral" service.

There were two guests: Randy and Jason and altogether 13 members in attendance: Anisha, Barb, Chizuko, Dan, Jan, Jean, Jim, Julie, Kathy, Lynne, Pauline, Robert and Warren.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Katz

for

Amritha Imandi, Secretary

Public Speaking Northwest #9406.

May 17th 2016 Theme – Happy Birthday to Us

“I remembered when the candle shop burned down. Everyone stood around singing Happy Birthday.” ~~ Steven Wright.

Welcome to the third meeting in May.

Jim was the toastmaster of the day. We celebrated our club’s 13^th anniversary today – with lots of color, balloons, flowers, food and most importantly with a group of fantabulous people!

Here is the GAT(e) team: Grammarian -  Linda (resilient), Ah-Counter – Jan and Timer –Nancy.

Jean was the only speaker of the day. She completed Project #10 from the CC Manual – Inspire Your Audience. Title of her talk - “The History of Our Toastmaster Club” which she completed within 15 minutes.

Through her talk, Jean gave us a clear picture of the history of our club, how it came into existence and the support and that she received throughout these years. The initial years were very tough. Without a decent venue to conduct meetings, people had to adjust in cramped up rooms without proper facilities. But none of that mattered, what mattered most was the people who made the club. 

Eventually, with time our club was offered better spaces, moving from location to another – which allowed us to grow in strength as well. We formally became a Toastmasters club in 2003. Jean inspired each of us to be resilient in our endeavors by showing us the example of our club’s birth and steady growth. She re-emphasizes again that we are friends helping friends succeed. Indeed, we are!

Robert was her evaluator. Robert appreciated Jean’s narration of the club’s history from her perspective. Her subtle use of humor, tying in the opening and closing with a quote by Dr.Suess and all gestures throughout the talk was well-received. As a suggestion, he offered Jean to share about some of the memorable speeches of members that she remembers.

Anisha, our table topics master had a variety of questions for the audience. We had a fun round of table topics with Pauline, Nancy, Randy, Hadaya and James as participants.

We had 3 guests (Hayley, James C. and Randy B.) and

13 members in attendance.

Member attendees were: Amritha, Anisha, Barb, Hadaya, Jan, Jean, Jim, Julie, Linda, Lynne, Nancy, Pauline, and Robert.

Respectfully Submitted,

Amritha Imandi, Secretary

Public Speaking Northwest #9406.