What do all children around the world wish for? A puppy!

Great meeting on the theme of Childhood, led cheerfully and confidently by Toastmaster, Weihu. The word of the day, introduced by Grammarian Petar, was ” Puppy”. Sara kept the meeting on track skillfully.

We were all children once; eating delectable street food, playing with other children, learning a foreign language with a friendly American tutor, toiling as “mudlarks” in chimneys during the 19th century.

Bill presented : “Would You Shake Hands with a Chimney Sweep?”: a former chimney sweep’s reflection on child labor during the Victorian times , the roads travelled to this day and no, doubt , more road ahead.

Bernice presented her icebreaker speech and video presentation ” To Toul with love”. It is very significant that Bernice’s first presentation to the club was focused on the love she felt towards a French family and they, towards her as she lived with them and taught the adorable Louise and Leopold common English. Well lived, well done, Bernie!

Paula presented a humorous speech ” My Crazy Normal Asian Family” about the ways her very normal family crack her up.

A friendly, spirited meeting attended by two guests, Monique and Esha. Thanks to you both for your participation.

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers, sons and daughters.

Our next meeting is May 15th

” Why does life sometimes feel more difficult than it needs to be and how can we make our lives easier, not by advanced technology, but by building social connections and spreading kindness?”

First time Toastmaster, Sarah, led the club expertly through a reflection on true happiness, service and gratefulness. This theme is particularly relevant as we reach a point of rising hopefulness and restlessness as the vaccine eligibility and availability grows. Thanks to our speakers today for sharing their messages of hope, empowerment and gratitude:

1. Polina presented ” Are computers making our healthcare better or worse?” on the pros and cons of digitizing patient records.
2. Judy presented ” Freedom 2.1″, reflections on getting the first vaccine shot: relief, remembrance, grief, elation. Hope
3. Weihu presented ” What makes a great mentorship” on the qualities and responsibilities of mentees. What makes a great mentorship? A great mentee!

Scott led a thoughtful round of table topics. The key take away is that generosity, family, acceptance of others and oneself: these are the simple things that bring us lasting happiness.

Vivi was the Timer, Ahmad, first time Grammarian . The word of the day was ” Jovial”.

Love, Gratitude and Kindness. It is so easy.

Our next meeting is May 8th.

Who knew that the art of public speaking entails not just making speeches but also listening and providing feedback? What makes this exercise even more challenging at Toastmasters is that, in order to be an effective evaluator, you have to be able to watch, listen, analyze and deliver meaningful advice and encouragement on a multitude of topics in a relatively short time!

Speech evaluations are hard! That’s what has kept me coming back to the club year after year.

Our club mission is to provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self- confidence and personal growth.   Today. we hosted our first Speech Evaluation Practice Session!

Thank you to Moises and Justin ( our guest speaker from District 57 in Northern California) for presenting two excellent speeches :” Stay healthy and have a purpose” and ” The gift” respectively. Moises’s speech, intriguing and inspiring, gave the audience reason to ponder about purposeful happiness in one’s life. Justin took us on his journey with Toastmasters which started with a wedding speech, before heading to his District’s International Speech Contest next week! We do not doubt that Justin and his speech will be going to more places ! Best of luck to you this coming Friday, Justin!

Weihu and Bill were speech evaluators who led the members into round robin evaluations after each speech.

Linxuan was the Timer, Lara, Grammarian. The word of the day was “Ponder”.
We came, we listened, we pondered and we practiced!

Our next meeting is Saturday, 24th

Moises, our Toastmaster took us on a fantastic trip in time and space from his desk in Mexico! We rode the Pandemic silver lining and joined Moises on zoom where he led us on a back door tour of the fabulous temple of Teotihuacan.

Teotihuacan means” The place where the Gods were created” and thanks to Moises’s historical illustrations and present day footage, we know how fitting that name is. I was particularly touched by the drone footage of the tourist free temples: the scale is simply awe inspiring.

The word of the day, introduced by Grammarian Polina, was, ” Archeology” and the meeting appealed to the archeologist in us. From dinosaurs, to Teotihuacan to the archeology of our inner selves. Of note:

• Timer Steven marked the passage of time using dinosaurs Triceratops ( green), Velociraptor ( Orange) and T-Rex( red).
• Introspective speeches: Who am I? by Lara followed by When I grow up? By Judy and ending with Who am I, really? By Ahmad. A perfect progression!

Petar led the group in an exciting round of table topics on the subject of Mexico. Oh how we wish we could travel again!

We learnt that the best way to learn is to learn is… to learn and that the road to knowing starts with knowing that you do not know. Do you think you did that today? I know we did!

Thanks to our guests Jamie and Katie! Our next meeting will be April 17th with a one of a kind speech evaluation practice workshop. Be there!