Thanks to Kathy M. for taking notes this week!

Bill S.opened the meeting and welcomed everyone to Toastmasters and the 3rd day of spring –no joke!

The Theme of the meeting was “Laughter is the Best Medicine” and Paula L. stepped in as Toastmaster with a definition of laughter, and some funny jokes. She kept the meeting moving and helped with transitions with her poise and genuine connection to the audience.

The word of the day was Kerfuffle”, presented by Rachel H.

Our timer and kazoo novice was Lidia S.

Speaker #1, Steven W. presented “Be a Big!”, a speech about  what a Big Brother/Big Sister are and the positive impacts of ” Bigs “on  kids at risk; from difficult teens to productive young adults.  He shared how he bonded with his Little, and watched him mature and turn bad choices into smart decisions. He shared one funny anecdote being invited to play basketball by his taller Little.  Generously, his Little passed him the basketball, and he promptly threw it over the hoop into the neighbor’s yard. Generously, his Little promptly went over and rescued the ball. Steve shared how he has been with his Little for the past 4 years and how proud he is to say that although there were challenges, his Little is engaged in many great activities and is on track to graduate from high school. He reminded the audience that we can all make a difference and urged everyone to consider being a Big.”

Speaker #2  presented project #8. In her speech titled  “Learn to see the light”, Lara G.told us the story of her journey to learning to see the light. As a professional photographer who  didn’t understand what that meant, Lara felt like a cheat or a fraud, and was sure someone would catch her and show the world her weakness. So she set out to learn to see the light, accumulating a nice stack of lighting manuals in the process. However, despite her best efforts, three years later, there was no light to be seen … at the end of the tunnel or otherwise. This is when Lara joined a professional photography group. There she found a supportive community finally took a photographer certification class. By showing up and connecting to her professional group, she passed the exam and finally learned how to” see the light. Lara  gave a masterful yet easy to follow demonstration of how anyone can do this by having an awareness of the location and direction of light and shadows on a person’s face.  She ended her speech by encouraging us to try it and saying now we can all use light to take better pictures.

Aswini H, Table Topic Master, led the whole audience in a lively and extended round of table topics. Aswini presented us with a word game called “Story Time” that was very creative and allowed all our members to participate by building a story from words that had been randomly distributed.

Justin set a record in our club, as far as we know, by his winning a ribbon for the Table Topics and Best Evaluator. Way to go Justin!

Evaluation was then opened up to the audience for Steven, as he will be representing us today in the International Speech area contest. Brett will represent our club in the Evaluation contest. Best of luck Steven and Brett!

Our next meeting is March 31st.

Table Topics^® is a long-standing Toastmasters tradition intended to help members develop their ability to organize their thoughts quickly and  respond  to an impromptu question or topic.

Although I have been a member of the club for almost three years now, I’ve noticed that I still tend to slip lower in my chair and studiously avoid making eye contact with the Table Topics Master when that time comes.  Don’t get me wrong, I love table topics… just don’t call me!  Judging from a recent club survey,  and the strong workshop  attendance,  I was definitely not the only one to feel that way!

We learned the basics of table topics in 90 minutes of instruction interspersed with team brainstorming and demonstrations. Instructive, Inspirational and Infectious, thanks Marti!

” Take time to think”

“Bring your knowledge, experience, expertise, playfulness, imagination, creativity…”

” Maintain a strong presence all the way to the end”

On this snowy, yet beautiful day Kiki N. officiated as  Toastmaster of the day.

The Word of the Day was “ Improvise”and Rachel H. performed the duties of Timer.

Bill S. presented CC project #10 titled “ My History of Flight” Bill shared  his lifelong ability to fly in his dreams. You would be mistaken to think that flying in your dream requires no effort. Flying in your dreams takes time, and learning. You learn to launch from progressively higher places until you are in the air.Just like when you are awake, if you fret, you fall. Bill compared Toastmasters to a school of flight where one gets to learn to fly in public speaking. Poetic, don’t you think?

Dave E. gave an impromptu speech titled “ Intro Part II”.  We are pleased to welcome Dave back to the club. An experienced speaker, Dave demonstrated the art of improvisation with brio.

Our guest speaker was International Toastmaster, Richard Ripley who presented the new Toastmasters International Pathways program. Richard’s presentation was followed with an animated Q & A session.

Our next meeting is March 10.

Delicious and original first meeting of the month with Marti M. officiating as Toastmaster of the day. The theme of the day was “ Yay! National Cream Cheese Brownie Day!” which was heartily celebrated with real, home baked cream cheese brownies! Thanks Marti!

Kathy M and Sandy T. acted as Grammarian and Timer respectively. The Word of the Day was “Intemperance”, meaning “lack of moderation and restraint”. I, myself, found it hard to exert intemperance when faced with a plate of warm and gooey cream cheese brownies!

Isabella Z presented CC project #6 titled “Design Challenge”. Have you ever wished the customer service in restaurants could be streamlined and faster ? Isabella presented her solution to a faster way to order, to ask questions and to pay for your meal using technology( of course!). The idea is to present the tab for your meal…on a tablet. Have any questions about the bill? Just drill down. Hopefully, the answer will be satisfactory and you can swipe and go to your next activity!

Lara G. presented CC project #8: “Professional Organizations: They’re cooler than you think.”
This is the story of Lara’s growing relationship with professional organizations, from being a non believer to being an enthusiastic member. In time Lara, a professional photographer, learned to appreciate the value of these groups which she tagged as “old school” earlier in her career. “ Things that have been around a long time have value” she realized. Lara has been a member of the Professional Photographers of America for the past three years.

Zhou B. presented “Messy“, CC project #10 in which he posits that, whilst tidiness is associated with upholding social standards and conventions, messiness could lead people away from convention, in favor of new directions. When things get messy, they go out of whack, but this is also when you see creativity, adaptation, survival. Necessity is the Mother of Invention. So, next time mess comes your way, embrace it and turn it into an invention.

Aswini presented CC Project #9: ” Live Equitably in Seattle” on the negative impact of Seattle’s frantic pace of economic development of the past few years. Displacement, gentrification, lack of affordable housing… how will the City address these issues? Aswini gave a brief overview of City Counsel measures and invited the audience to be engaged in the solution.

Tom B. was Table Topic Master.
Our next meeting is February 17.