Toastmaster of the day, Cara S. opened the meeting with a story of a business trip to West Chester, PA. Although this business trip was not a vacation, Cara noted that some of her fellow travelers were definitely flying to and from their vacations. By traveling with them, she felt she was also  a part of their vacation.  She reminded us that at, Toastmasters, we get to learn and live vicariously through each other’s speeches.

The word of the day was : Gratitude”. Aswini H was the Grammarian and Julie S, Timer.

Isabella Z. presented CC project #2- Organize your Speech.  In her speech titled: “ How to edit the home video” she explained the four steps to creating a home video: storyboarding and shooting, editing, adding music and publishing. Thanks for the tips, Isabella! Now we know how to create all those cat videos we see on You tube!

Dilip G, presenting “ Unemployment Rate? Fake News!”  energized the audience with his introduction: “ All right , I quit to go home and jump into the pool …of hurt and of unemployment.” Dilip went on to educate the audience on the different methods used to calculate the unemployment rate and how these numbers can be misleading.

Dilip was presenting project #3- Get to the Point, from the CC manual.

In his speech titled “ Two more essential tools for woodworking” ,Scott C. an avid wood worker described the steps and the tools necessary to successful tabletop making. Using precise language and wood boards and projections of  a biscuit joiner and a wide sand belter, Scott taught the audience how to glue boards together and how to effectively sand and level the resulting tabletop. This gave us all an appreciation for the work that goes into making the tables we use in our daily lives.
Scott was presenting Project #2- Resources for informing from the  Speaking to Inform Manual.

Aleli M. presented “ Time + Distance= Opportunities” , a speech about safety and self defense.  Knowing the  distance from an aggressor will help in assessing the best way to defend one’s life. Awareness of one’s surrounding at all times can also save lives. Aleli concluded with an open invitation to the audience to attend self- defense training.

Aleli was presenting project #1 of the Humorously Speaking manual.

Brett S. led the Table Topics.

Zhou B. was voted “Best table topics”  and ”Best Evaluator”.

Our next meeting is August 19.

Ken B. was the Toastmaster of the Day, Cara S. , Grammarian and Lidia S., Timer.
The word of the day was “ alacrity”, meaning “ brisk and cheerful readiness”.

Our first speaker of the day, Aswini H., presented “  Extended family vacation”.  When Aswini’s relatives decided to visit her  she wasted no time in organizing a tour of her new city, Seattle. She  secured City Passes to the most popular sites and engaged in elaborate space planning to fit four adults and two children in her 550 square feet apartment. As the gang toured Seattle, Aswini realized that family vacations do not always go as planned and that, with a little flexibility and a good sense of humor, a good time can be had! Aswini was presenting Project #4 : How to say it.

Traci M presented “ Path of Totality”, which refers to the cities  from which a  full eclipse of the sun will be visible on August 21st, 2017. For many, this is a once in a lifetime kind of event. Unsurprisingly, large crowds are expected at all the cities in the path of totality. One can sense that Traci got more excited about this upcoming eclipse while researching this speech. Traci gave a full presentation, with props such as a baseball helmet, a ball and paper cones, to explain what happens during an eclipse. She also showed off her eclipse gear: cool shirt and essential eclipse viewing glasses. Traci and her family plan to join the crowds of eclipse viewers  heading  to Madras, in Oregon. See if you can spot them in their path of totality shirts. They’ll also  be munching on special snacks such as  sunflower seeds and moon pies! The rest of us will be watching the eclipse live on the NASA website, sans glasses. Traci completed project #2: Organize your speech.

Daniel B. presented his icebreaker. As a true native of Washington State, Daniel was initiated to  the great outdoors early on. As a result, he developed fond memories and a life long passion for fishing , hiking  and gazing a the spectacular sunsets on the water.

Our last speaker of the day, Rodrigo R, presented his ice breaker, titled ” Hometown”.  What brings this   6’8” tall, former basket ball player from El Paso to Seattle via Miami? What’s El Paso like in people’s imagination and for real? What does it feel like to live in El Paso, Miami and  Seattle?  Rodrigo answered all of these questions with a unique mix of humor, visual aids and a unique set of metrics that he applies to his growing set of home towns. Well done, Rodrigo!
Isabella Z.  led the Table Topics part of the meeting where she asked  various audience members to share instances of Action and Inaction.

Dilip G was voted “ Best Table Topic” and Marti M, “ Best Evaluator”.

Our next meeting is August 12.

Andy K. was our Toastmaster, with Lidia S. acting as the Grammarian and Daniel B. officiating as the Timer.
The word of the day was “ Multitasking”

Speaker #1 , Dilip G., presented his icebreaker about procrastination.  “ To do or not to do, that is the question”, he proclaimed. In the case of procrastination, not to do was the answer. Dilip shared the causes and solutions to procrastination in a very lively and humorous speech.

Speaker #2, Kathy M, presented a very effective speech titled “ Hypertension”, also known as the “ Silent Killer”.Kathy’s speech was very effective; she used strong imagery such as “smooth path “ and  ” tumultuous river” to convey the difference between normal and high blood pressure.  The audience learnt the dangers of hypertension and how to combat it.

Speaker #3, Zhou B., presented “ The Last Words”, a joke about translations that came too late for a patient.

Our last speaker, Michael R., presented his ice breaker titled: Coming of Age, insights I’ve learned”. Michael ,who will be 19 soon, shared his realization that he can do anything if he sets his mind to it. Your life is like clay, you are the sculptor and you get to make it into a piece of art.

Well done Michael!

Justin K led the Table Topics. Aswini H. was voted Best Table Topic and Marti M., Best Evaluator.

Congrats to Marti…

…and Aswini

This was Bill S’s first meeting as the new President of Seattle Sunrise: Welcome Bill!

Toastmaster Mission : a good one!

The word of the day, presented by Dilip  G.  was “ Copacetic” which means very satisfactory. Bill S. was the Timer.

Copacetic?

On this first post July 4th meeting, Brett S, our Toastmaster,  spoke about his home country, Australia, a which is independent, yet still part of the British Commonwealth.

Speaker #1 Lidia S., presented her ice breaker titled : Learn, Read, Ski. Lidia who  was born and raised in Russia has a strong passion for learning, reading and skiing. Good students are respected and rewarded by  peers and teachers in Russia. Being a good student was also a skill that Lidia traded to get out of doing house chores.  Lidia’s love of  exercise and studying brings her to Sunrise Toastmaster where she will get plenty of opportunity to exercise her public speaking skills.

Learn, Read and Ski!

Speaker #2, Lara G., presented her ice breaker titled “ I’ve come full circle”. Lara’s passion, early on, was acting. Although life took her along a different career path, professional photography, Lara has decided to return to her life’s passion. Joining Sunrise Toastmasters is one of the steps she’s taking to return to the stage.

Heading back to the stage.

Our next speaker, Justin K. presented  the third ice breaker of the day titled “ Independence, there and back again”.  Justin, a native of New Jersey, showed a very strong independent streak: leaving home to study computer science at Virginia Tech and starting his own web design company as a student. With each passing phase, being independent meant going further, bigger and taking more risks. Justin ended up moving to New York where he met his future wife and moved to Seattle to be close to her family. For Justin, this next phase of his life marks a new phase in his life where he feels comfortable not being as independent anymore and settling down close to family.

Independence is part of growing up.

Our last speaker, Tom B, presented a three part speech titled: “ The successful negotiator” In part one, Tom shared the story of  the Louisiana Purchase in 1802 where James Madison successfully negotiated a budget increase to take advantage of a much better offer than was expected.

Tom shared and demonstrated successful negotiation tips using Daniel B. to act the part of a car salesman.  Tom walked away with a really good deal!
The third part of the speech would have consisted of a Q & A .

Table topics were led by Neva.

Kiki N. was voted best table topic and Zhou B, best evaluator.