For the 11/20 meeting, Toastmaster Ahmad chose the topic The Power of Words.

Sergeant at Arms Bill Scott shared with us zoom etiquette rules. Quote of the day was:

“Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.”

Toastmaster of the day, our resident stand up comedian, introduced the theme of the day with this video:

Word of the day, presented by Grammarian Paula was:

orator, a public speaker, especially one who is eloquent or skilled.
Example:  All you famous public orators, gather your skills, gather your power and change the world.

Traci was in charge of timing speakers, impromptu speeches and evaluators.

Our three speakers for the day were:

Saurabh presenting the Researching and Presenting project from Presentation Mastery Pathway Level 1, a speech titled : “Negotiation”.

Moises presenting the Persuasive Speaking project from Presentation Mastery Pathway Level 3, a speech titled: “The 18 Minute Speech”.

Bill presenting an 8-10 minute speech titled “How do we see color?”

Impromptu Table Topics Master of the day Sarah asked interesting questions to elicit 1 to 2 minutes speeches:

– Cris – if you could choose your final words, the words you say before you die. What would you choose and why?
Answer: She did it all!
– Traci – what is something someone said that had a profound impact on you?
– Jamie – what is your favorite non-verbal way to communicate?
– Steven – If your dog could use words, what do you think your dog would tell you?
– Jovica – what is a book that had a profound impact on you?
– Paula – if you could go back in time and change something that you said to someone what would you change?

Evaluators Jamie, Cris and Jovica evaluated our speakers following the sandwich approach: what you did well, areas of improvement, what you did well.

Come join us and meet interesting Sunrisers in Seattle here at Seattle Sunrise Toastmasters!

Our next meeting is November 27th.

“Inspiration” knocks on your door. How do you answer? The creative treasure within you is hoping you have the courage to say, yes! Traci was our Toastmaster.

President Moises selected this quote for the day: “Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory. “

Grammarian Bill chose “Inspirable” for the word of the day. We enjoyed special guest Robert as Timer.

What inspires Sarah? The “The Awe-Inspiring Salmon.” In her speech, Sarah taught us all about salmon. It’s no wonder why they inspire her. We learned the five species that inhabit the Northwest are Coho, Sockeye, Pink, Chum, and Chinook. There was a prehistoric sabertooth salmon. Salmon are born in freshwater, make their way to the ocean to live two to eight years, then return to freshwater. Some can make it as far inland as Idaho. To help salmon navigate obstacles and dams, organizations restore rivers, install fish ladders and even launch salmon over obstacles with a salmon cannon. Here’s a youtube video to see the salmon cannon in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z3ZyGlqUkA Salmon inspire Sarah. It doesn’t matter what inspires each of us. Find a story that resonates with you and enjoy it.

Jovica grounded us with reality in his speech, “Life happens.” It inspired us as it built up to his favorite quote by Nikola Tesla. Jovica started his speech by saying Death, change, taxes and rain in Seattle are inevitable! Our life is full of challenges and adversity, even with good things.  It’s good to exercise, but sometimes our bodies or our circumstances change, which makes exercise difficult. In the face of his struggle, Jovica pivots to find solutions. Jovica used another good thing to drive home his point. His puppy, the cute little monster, provides a lot of joy. That same puppy comes with a great deal of responsibility and occasional frustrating inconvenience. The puppy is a lot of work, but it’s worth it. Life is a constant struggle. Jovica recommends using the STOP rule in the face of challenge. Stay calm, Think, Observe, and then Proceed. He closed with two inspirational quotes. “Life happens, but what we do about it is who we are.” And finally, his favorite Nikola Tesla quote, “Life is and will ever remain an equation incapable of solution, but it contains certain known factors.”

In our last speech, “Communicating to connect makes a difference,” Joseph prepared the audience to be inspirable with several noteworthy techniques. First he subtly involved the audience by asking them for two thumbs up if they could see his screen. Right after that, he asked the audience to participate in this first poll question: “What is the #1 criteria the Harvard Business Review identified for the advancement and promotion of professionals? Answer: The ability to communicate effectively. John Maxwell says, “Connecting is the ability to identify with people and relate to them in a way that increases your influence with them.” Joseph told two stories to illustrate connecting. A notorious Spanish-speaking bank robber was caught by an English-speaking police officer. Since they couldn’t communicate with each other, a boy volunteered to translate. The bank robber told the boy, in Spanish, where the money was stashed.  The boy then translated the message, in English, that the bank robber was very brave and was prepared to die.  This is a bad consequence of not being able to connect. Joseph asked his second poll question: Who is the oracle of Omaha? Answer: Warren Buffet. In Joseph’s second story he explained how Warren Buffet only gives 10-minute interviews. The marketing genius, Linda Kaplan Thaler, investigated how to connect with Buffet before she interviewed him. She discovered that he likes Cherry Coke. She offered him a can of Cherry Coke during the interview. He was delightfully grateful and granted her all the time she wanted for the interview. That interview was 90 minutes because she found a way to connect with him. Communicating to connect can make a significant difference.

In life, sometimes we get to pick what we get, and sometimes we don’t get to pick what we get. Jamie, our Table Topics Master, combined these two elements into one table topics question. Contestants chose a listed topic, and the spinning wheel of fortune randomly selected the subject for their one-minute speech.

Moises: What ____ inspire(s) you? Random subject: Movie

Jovica: What ____ inspire(s) you? Random subject: People

Robert: How would you create a ____? Random subject: Song

Judy: Why is ____ important to you? Random subject: Place – “Seattle”

Our evaluating team included Judy, Paula, Moises, and Weihu as our General.

Jack Gilbert said this, “We must risk delight. We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world.”

Get curious to explore inspiration and be courageous to mine the treasure within you.

Keep sharpening your sword with Toastmasters!

Our next meeting is November 20^th.

Toastmaster Moises creaked open the door to introduce our theme of the day, “Halloween!” He told a few personal scary tales, one which actually involved a scary tail, to get us warmed up for the trick-or-treats about to be enjoyed by all. He also provided our quote of the day: “A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.” Phyllis Diller

Cris stepped up last minute to fill the open Grammarian role. The word of the day was “Supernatural.” Paula was our Timer. 

Steven gave us all a fright as he authentically revealed that his toast at our club is feeling a bit… stale. How can he jazz it up? Put it back in the toaster with “Mentorship,” the title of his speech.  In this era of Zoom meetings, he hasn’t felt challenged to grow his speaking game. The energizing social interaction isn’t what it once was. To get out of this funk he’s turning to mentorship. With mentorship, we’re able to participate in the transformational journey of others who are becoming better and more confident speakers. We’re able to put what we’ve learned into action by guiding new members.  Steven admitted that even though he’s been in the club a while, he too could benefit from having a seasoned mentor dedicated to helping him progress as a speaker. This mentor could come from a member of the club, an advanced club, or from hiring a professional speaking coach.  His desire to get better is thrilling.  What can we all do to help him? Commit to giving Steven feedback in evaluations that will challenge him to grow!

In his last speech, Saurabh gave us this quote: “10% of conflicts are due to difference in opinion. 90% are due to wrong tone of voice.” If we correct our tone of voice, there would be a lot less conflict. In Traci’s speech, she asks us to “Read… Set Your Voice Free, by Roger Love” to improve our tone of voice. You can train your voice to be a superpower. With this book you will learn to communicate more effectively, adjust your physiology to harness a better quality tone, and control how others perceive you. Roger Love is the world’s greatest voice coach and we have access to his advice and free voice lessons. Get Set Your Voice Free on audible!

Our last speech wasn’t spooky, but it was supernatural and left me with goosebumps. Jamie took us on a Big Magic inspired road trip with her two friends, in her speech titled “Dialog with the ghost of fears past.” This perspective-changing journey is one that I want to take every day! She told us about the unique qualities of her friends, their relationships with each other, and the impact they have. It was such a delight to hear this tale that Jamie creatively wove together.  We want seconds from this trick-or-treat bowl. Please tell it again Jamie!

Ahmad, our Table Topics Master, offered virtual trick-or-treat table topics in exchange for virtual candy. He knocked on the door, and we answered:

What would you do to pull a scary prank on a friend? Bill would tell you, go to the gun store dressed in camo, buy a sawed-off shotgun, and blow the heck out of their front door.

What would you say to convince a senator that Halloween should be a day off? Traci would tell you, we need this day off to celebrate our community since all of our neighbors are coming over. We need the day to decorate, prepare our street fairs and connect with everyone around us.

What would you do if the kids in the neighborhood brought you all of the neighborhood pumpkins to reward you for having the best candy? Sarah would be overjoyed and would tell you that she would use those carved smelly pumpkins to build the world’s biggest pumpkin maze for her guinea pig to eat through.

What is the weirdest costume you have ever seen? Jinendra would tell you, the weirdest costume is when his roommate dressed as … Jinendra. It was very strange to look in the mirror, and then see his image in real life.

If you could wear any costume to work, what would you be? Tamsen would tell you she would go as herself.

A grumpy neighbor wants to cancel Halloween. You are elected by the rest of your neighbors to convince your neighbor otherwise. Moises would bring a cake with the message, “Halloween is Great!” He would wear a subtle shirt supporting Halloween and would tell grumpy neighbor a few scary stories. If grumpy neighbor still doesn’t get on board, Moises would ask Bill to play a scary prank on him.

Tell us about the spookiest experience that was fun? Paula loved scary books as a teenager. They were scary and fun. Once she read a book with her sister. Her sister was super scared and would not allow Paula to leave her side.  Paula lost her attraction to scary books once she became a mother.

Our Evaluating entourage was Bill, Tamsen and Jinendra, with Sarah as General.

Keep sharpening your sword with Toastmasters!

Our next meeting is on November 13^th.

For the thirteenth meeting of the Toastmasters year 2021-22,

Our theme from Toastmaster Jamie:

 “Lights, Camera, Action!”  Let’s explore movie magic! How storytelling thrills, entertains, and inspires us.

And that we did! Jamie sprinkled familiar movies and quotes throughout all of the role transitions, keeping us entertained and connected to our movie magic theme.

President Moises stepped in as Sergeant at Arms and provided this quote of the day:

“Nobody is gonna hit as hard as life, but it ain’t how hard you can hit. It’s how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. It’s how much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.” Rocky Balboa

Word of the day, presented by Grammarian Tamsen: Cryosphere

Jovica was in charge of time and used props and special effects of a green apple, yellow lemon and red light screen to prompt us in our allocated time range. 

“LIFE IS IN THEIR HANDS-DEATH IS ON THEIR MINDS!” Ketan began his speech titled, “My favorite movie,” with its tagline. His favorite movie is 12 Angry Men (1957) with Henry Fonda. He reminded us that a movie doesn’t need to have today’s technology to create a powerful message. Ketan crafted his speech by walking us through the plot and highlighting the main idea, to slow down and honor the process of Jury deliberation. I’m inspired to watch this timeless masterpiece to study the courageous leadership of the protagonist and to collect ideas before I serve on jury duty!

Moises began his speech with a spooky introduction narrated by our Toastmaster Jamie, setting the stage for more to come in his speech titled, “After this speech you’ll be an expert in the Day of the Dead, aka Dia de Muertos, movies”.  Moises used pictures and special effects to take us on a tour of several Day of the Dead movies. He provided interesting facts about the sets and props used in the movies and the impact they’ve had on communities and anchors for marketers to use in consumer products. During his call to action, he provided a souvenir of the tour – a list of Day of the Dead movies that we can see:  Macario, Salma’s Big Wish, Coco, The Book of Life and Spectre. Watch before it’s too late!

Our last speaker Cris, gave her Icebreaker speech, titled “Not Quite Around the World in Five Decades.” In this speech she revealed that her travel adventures began at a young age. As a young girl her parents, who had a love for travel and a love for different cultures, took Cris on a tour of the Iron Curtain! What?… She loved the adventure, even though it was scary at times, like when she saw guards from East Germany.  In addition to several countries in Europe, she’s been to Australia, Japan, and Guatemala. Cris’ family legacy for love of cultures continues as her daughter now shares the same courageous sense of adventure for travel and cultural appreciation. 

Weihu was our Table Topics Master and asked movie related questions. What is the worst movie you’ve seen? Who is your favorite actor or actress? If someone made a movie about your life what would it be? If you can play any character in a movie, what would it be? And more.

Our movies critics, aka Evaluators, for the day, were General Evaluator Steven, and Evaluators Affan, Traci and Isabella.

Finding Nemo’s Dori would agree with the quote of the day, “When life gets you down, you know what you gotta do? Just keep swimming.”

Keep sharpening your sword with Toastmasters!

That’s a wrap.

Our next meeting is on October 30^th.