Public Speaking Northwest Participation in U.S. Asia Education Winter Summit

Today, 8 members of our club took part in the U.S. Asia Education Winter Summit held for 3 days starting on February 9, 2015 at the Nexus Hotel in Seattle, WA (Northgate).

Starting about noon, Linda introduced the idea of Toastmasters to the parents and teenagers in the audience who are planning college careers in Washington, far from their China homeland.

She described her own experience and her significantly increased confidence, ability to lead and fluency in speaking English. Linda also demonstrated her ability to translate into Chinese what the rest of the Toastmaster panel said, as she posed a question to each of them. Each Toastmaster spoke for about 1-2 minutes in table topics style. 

Grace, effectively, offered her first two speeches, one in English and one in Chinese translation. Barb completed the session by inviting all those interested to attend our meetings starting tomorrow.

Although the time duration was only 20 minutes, the audience reaction was positive and highly receptive. This carried over into the lunch period where we dined among 18 people at a long table at the Saffron Grill.

Members attending included: Jim, Jean, Robert, Barb, Lynne, Grace, Jung and Linda. I expect there to be more guests visiting our regular meetings in the weeks to come from this conference.

~~~~~ Respectfully Submitted by Robert, the Secretary [ It's OK to comment] ~~~~~

Feb. 3rd, 2015 Theme: Transitions

Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome. ~~ Isaac Asimov

Welcome to February and this Blog. Today, we had the pleasure of receiving 3 guests. Kathy was our toastmaster. She described how we are all affected by changes due to transitions..

The GATE team was: Linda as Grammarian (consequential), Grace as "Ah" Counter, Amritha as Timer and Jean as the General Evaluator.

Naser was our first speaker today. He completed the 5th project (Your Body Speaks) from the Competent Communication Manual in 10 minutes. His speech title was "Procrastination – The Ideal Behaviour". In his speech, Naser examined the irrational delay of behavior which is called procrastination. In his questioning of the audience, he discovered that the entire audience admitted to procrastination but only one person (me) thought it was a good thing.

The virtues of procrastination were enumerated: prioritizing more pleasurable activities over less pleasurable ones; in the time of Cicero, sitting around and thinking and deciding only when absolutely necessary was considered virtuous. Procrastinators are thrill-seekers, optimistic, perfectionistic and excellent excuse makers. These characteristics lead to a life of adventure.
Naser was voted best speaker.

Jim was his evaluator. Jim liked the humor, the rhetorical Q & A with the audience, and the gestures made by Naser. He suggested that his body movements could be further exaggerated by loosening up to accent the humor of the situation when talking about his wife’s reaction to his weekend relaxation. 

Jim won best evaluator for the insightful review rife with body language of his own.

Our second speaker, Dave, completed his second project (Organize Your Speech), from the Competent Communication Manual in 7 minutes. The name of his speech was "Don’t Stand Too Close To The Financial Ledge". Dave introduced the Financial Ledge as a metaphor for minimal (less than 3 months worth) or no savings, minimal account reserves just prior to receiving the next paycheck, and described 3 remedies for this plight.

• Having a personal budget (balancing how much money comes in and goes out)

• Having an emergency fund (providing up to a 3 month income cushion)

• Paying off debts. (Reducing the Debt Snowball) Paying off those debts with the highest interest rate first to minimize the amount of interest added on or paying off smallest debts first for a sense of accomplishment in having fewer debts.

Lynne was Dave’s evaluator. She acknowledged that the ultimate audience for this speech is to be college students (next week). She agreed that Dave did produce a well-organized speech, backed by a clear power point presentation and that he offered 3 ways to step away from the financial ledge. She liked how he distinguished between needs and wants when deciding whether to buy anything. She suggested that the entire audience be included and asking questions of them to increase their involvement with the speaker.

In conformance with today’s theme, Pauline, the Table Topics Master, provided a handout identifying a variety of transitions and strategies for responding to change, particularly when unprepared for it. A number of impromptu speakers variously talked about somewhat painful changes involving civilian to military life, long distance moves, becoming a mother, strengthening a marriage, and becoming pregnant.

 Jean was our best table topics speaker.

Jean was our also our General Evaluator. She noted positively the warm welcome given to our trio of guests, and for their benefit, explained what Toastmasters is about. She complimented Kathy about providing a clear agenda and smoothly updating the roles for today, and explaining the transition theme. While Pauline the table topics master offered an excellent handout, the format of one question for all participants offered too much time for speakers after the first one, making it successively easier for subsequent speakers. The physical room arrangement could be improved by moving the audience’s U-shaped tables further away from the projector/computer table so the speaker could see the entire audience and be seen by them. She also suggested that applause occur with every transition of a new speaker to the lectern area.

Attendees were: Linda, Lynne, Jean, Jim, Robert, Pauline, Alice,  Jung, Grace, Amritha, Kathy, Dave, Naser along with guests Cathy Z., Jessica K. and Morgana T. Two of the three guests discovered us via Meetup.com and the other via Toastmasters International. Our membership total remains at 20.

~~~~~ Respectfully Submitted by Robert, the Secretary [say what you will – in a comment] ~~~~~

Jan. 27th 2015 Theme: Inspirations – Who? What?

You have never really lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you. ~~Unknown

Welcome to this 2015 Blog. Today, we were again visited by a returning guest. Jim was our toastmaster. He described how we get inspired by other people or by objects (e.g. National Flag).

The GAT(e) team was: Alice as Grammarian (guidance), Dave as "Ah" Counter, Amritha as Timer.        

 
                                                    

Barb was our first speaker today. She completed the 3rd project (a “modified” monodrama by Walter Ben Hare) from the advanced Interpretive Reading Manual in 7 minutes. Her speech title was "A Leap Year Leap". In her speech, Barb assumed the identity and the determination of the unnamed heroine to take the initiative and propose to the man she wished to marry, since he appeared shy and reluctant. Her several practice tries, which explored physical and emotional aspects led to an ultimate happy ending.

Barb was voted best speaker.

Lynne was her evaluator. Despite the speech being based on an interpretive reading monologue, she felt like the marriage proposal by Barb was very real. Barb’s emotions, frustrations and gesticulations stood out. The blending of the world of the reading and modern day was smoothly woven together. Lynne and the audience were rather delighted with the iPhone call via Siri to Robert’s iPhone.

Our second speaker, Jean, completed her tenth project,  from the Competent Communication Manual in 11 minutes. The name of her speech was "A Spider, A Speech and a Contest Talk". Jean broached the topic of the fears of spiders and other objects and/or experiences and demonstrated with the audience a way to reduce such fears using a 1-10 linear fear scale along with deep breaths and guided imagery. The consequence of the fear reduction is to promote freedom and growth. The call to action, after members felt a fear reduction, was to ask for volunteers to participate in next month’s International and Evaluation speech contests upcoming on February 17, 2015. She received several volunteers.

Naser was Jean’s evaluator. He verbalized the underlying desire of Jean’s speech to inspire and motivate audience members to volunteer for the Speech contests.  Naser reminded us that Jean’s warm smile began with an observation that the perceived size of a spider was directly proportional to the amount of fear (fear factor) held about spiders. He suggested a future improvement in transitions between topics (e.g. The fear reduction formula used with a friend transitioning to the same fear reduction exercise with the audience.) He commented on the effectiveness of the exercise and verified that all eyes were closed as requested. He also invited Jean to consider a more emphatic closing statement to underscore her call to action. 

Naser won best evaluator for this oral review.

In keeping with today’s theme, Linda, the Table Topics Master, was inspired to conduct a brainstorming session with the audience regarding the U.S. Asia Education Winter Summit to be held on February 9, 2015 at the Nexus Hotel in Seattle, WA (Northgate).

It was brought out that:

• There would be a translator (Linda herself) from English into Chinese.

• Table topics should be the 20 minute structure used to demonstrate a Toastmaster meeting activity.

• Verbal humor would be a difficult matter to succeed with.

• Linda would be a good person to describe her reasons for joining Toastmasters.

• One or more toastmasters might learn and speak a Chinese phrase.

• Grace might exemplify and demonstrate a shy speaker.

• It is difficult being in a country where you cannot understand nor speak its language

• As two table topic exercises,

   - Use gesture and body language (non-verbal) to demonstrate a topic situation.

   - Use restricted vocabulary (e.g. yes or no only) to have a conversation for 2 people.

• the 20 minute session could include (1) Jean’s fear removal exercise, (2) A Table Topics demonstration and (3) An Invitation for attendees to come the next day to the February 10, 2015 Toastmaster meeting at the Seattle Times Building to experience a 1 hour meeting.

Linda indicated the next step would be talk during the officer’s meeting on February 3 and create a plan with the people who will be attending this Summit meeting.

Our humorist for today was Robert. He told two stories: one about a Rabbi and a very short boy and the other about a most unusual jigsaw puzzle and a senior citizen. They had unexpected punch lines and were amusing.

Attendees were: Linda, Lynne, Jean, Jim, Robert, Barb, Alice, Kim, Jung, Grace, Amritha, Kathy, Dave, Naser along with our returning guest Yen Z who is from the U.S. Asia Education organization. Our membership total remains at 20.

~~~~~ Respectfully Submitted by Robert, the Secretary [comments welcomed.] ~~~~~

Jan. 20th 2015 Theme: Traditions Around The World

Tradition is the illusion of permanence. ~~Woody Allen

Welcome to this 2015 Blog. Today, we were revisited by a returning guest. Pauline was our toastmaster. She described various wedding traditions that occur in China, Japan, Germany, Korea, Pakistan and India (e.g. Henna [Mehndi] Designs on the hands and feet of the bridal party).

The GATE team was: Jim as Grammarian (resilient), Amritha as "Ah" Counter, Grace as Timer and Lynne as General Evaluator. 

Linda was our first (only) speaker today. She completed the first project from the advanced Humorously Speaking Manual in 7 minutes. Her speech title was "Talking About Humor". In her speech, Linda talked about ineffective humor in both linguistic (What do you call a deer with no eyes? No idea.) and cultural (British Tweet: “In LA, digging up Marilyn Monroe”) contexts. 

In North America, 46% of humor are sexual jokes compared with 23% in Singapore. On the other hand, 64% Singaporeans enjoyed violent humor.

Her call to action for those speaking in front of a multicultural audience with varying degrees of English comprehension skills, is to research and know your audience before speaking to them.

She offered an excellent handout of Asian signs translated into English (e.g. Slip and fall down carefully! and Poisonous & Evil Rubbish.)

 

Barb was her evaluator. Each was best in their respective categories. She liked the organization of her speech on cultural humor:
• What doesn’t work 
• Why it doesn’t work and
• Suggestions for improvement

 In keeping with today’s theme, Naser, the Table Topics Master, provided examples of CQ (Cultural Intelligence) where volunteers were asked how they would handle foreign customs and traditions. 

Examples included: Eating from a communal plate without utensils, disliking your mother-in-law, deciding how to choose outsourced candidates in India when their custom is to be quiet and agreeable. Examples of cultural faux-pas were also explored. Jim received the best table topics speaker award for strenuously avoiding his mother-in-law.

Lynne was our General Evaluator for this meeting. She particularly was impressed with the vivid table topics situations that volunteers were able to talk about improvisationally. She also noticed the unity of the toastmaster theme with the speech and with the table topic CQ (Cultural Quotient). 

Her positive suggestion for all of us was when we come up to the lectern, we should shake hands with the person already there before they walk off. She also suggested waiting until all conversations were complete before starting to speak.

Our humorist for today was Dave. He told two well-chosen stories about Albert Einstein and his Chauffeur and an errant mis-delivered E-mail message. They were uproarious.

Dave also received an icebreaker certificate for completing his first speech last week, accomplishing his first objective to reach his goal of becoming a Competent Communicator.

 

Attendees were: Linda, Lynne, Jean, Jim, Robert, Barb, Alice, Pauline, Jung, Grace, Amritha, Kathy, Dave, Naser along with our returning guest Yen Z. Our membership total remains at 20.

~~~~~ Respectfully Submitted by Robert, the Secretary [Let me know if I’ve said something wrong.] ~~~~~