Our Toastmaster ,Kathy M, opened the meeting with a simple but powerful thought “ Simplicity is the zen of sophistication”. To illustrate her point, she shared how she and her family chose to celebrate her son’s college graduation with a simple backyard barbecue filled with friends and family. The ultimate sophistication, in my opinion, was when she chose to took her family for a lovely walk at the rose garden at the Woodland Park zoo instead of filling her house with roses. Simplicity is a blend of creativity and confidence and truly the ultimate sophistication.

Scott C, grammarian, introduced the word of the day: Ambiguity. Speakers used the word of the day without ambiguity during the meeting. Good choice, Mr Grammarian!

Dilip G officiated his Timer duties with diligence and precision.

At the Seattle Sunrise Toastmaster, you not only learn the art of public speaker, you also learn. Period.

Here’s what we learnt this week:

1. Gender Inequality is real. Speaker #1, Aswini H, presenting “ Gender Inequality: How to bridge the gap”

According to the United Nations Development Program Gender Inequality Index ( GII) which measures the gender inequalities in three important aspects of human development: reproductive health, empowerment and labor force participation, women trail behind men  by as much as 90% in developing countries and 60% in the developed countries. Women are underpaid support positions and underrepresented in the highest paid STEM and technical occupations. This has to change. Fathers and mothers, encourage your daughters to follow STEM and technical career tracks. Kudos to Aswini’s dad who encouraged both of his daughters to study engineering,

Aswini presented CC project #3 . Thanks for a persuasive, entertaining and inspiring speech, Aswini.

2. What happens when love ever after fizzles and turns into domestic violence?Speaker #2, Isabella Z presenting “ My friend Rose’s process of going through a divorce”  Isabella gave a faithful account of Rose’s ordeal and the steps she had to take to get a divorce and fight for the custody of her young child.  Thanks for the reminder that  marriage and  divorce are definitely not for the faint of heart, Isabella.

Isabella presented CC project #2 “ Organize your speech”.

3. How colorful your brain gets when it’s busy doing something.Speaker #3, Neva C presenting “ Multimodal visualization of the developing human brain”.

Neva, a neuroimaging professional, raised the scientific IQ of the audience with her presentation. She demonstrated how visualization is used to research the brain functions, structure and chemistry. New vocab words learned: magnetoencephalography, magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Your speech made our brains very colorful Neva, thanks!

Neva presented CC project #8 and demonstrated an effective use of visual aids.

Glutamate and GABA

4.Walk on a bed of coals only to realize that you forgot to walk through your wall of fear. Speaker #4, Bill S presenting “ Firewalk”

Before he joined Seattle Sunrise, Bill’s  journey to conquer his fear of public speaking took him to a firewalk. The firewalk was part of an inspirational retreat where you learned the mechanics of acknowledging your fear and took a symbolic and heated approach to walking through that wall of fear. Bill’s captivating  account of how he found himself walking on the bed of coals in order to encourage the other participants only to realize, that he had forgotten to focus on his wall of fear was told with humor and effective supporting body language. Bill reminded the audience of the benefit – and savings- of being part of the Seattle Sunrise Toastmasters where  he symbolically walks on a bed of coals and through his wall of fear every time he makes a speech. We are on pins and needles and can’t wait for your next speech, Bill.

Bill presented CC project #5: Your body speaks.

” Stuck in the middle of a bed of hot coals….”

Table topics were led by Ken B and we learned about the “ Too far fairy”. Andy K won best Table Topic  with a story of too much green tequila.

” My Too Much Fairy said…”

Andy K and Marti M tied for Best Evaluator.

Officer nominations for 2017-18:

Bill S for President and Neva C for Treasurer.

Another 90 mins well spent! Well done Seattle Sunrise! Our next meeting is June 24th.

Meeting notes by Kathy M.

Andy K. stepped in as President for the day and did a nice job of opening our meeting and greeting members and guests.

Zhou B., our Toastmaster, kicked off this Memorial Day week-end meeting with an observation that in his China, his home country, they also have a day to honor military personnel.  This event is observed in August with marches and parades to celebrate the homeland.

Aleli M. brought history to life when she shared her story about Dr. Rizal. Dr Rizal, a Filipino writer and poet living under Spanish Colonial Rule, was executed due to the rebellious nature of his writing. He is known as the National Hero and is credited for shaping the independence of the Philippines. There are many monuments to Dr Rizal in this country of birth and around the world. There’s even one in Seattle where there’s a vibrant Filipino community. Aleli, who moved to the United States from the Philippines as an almost seven year old  shared that she’s been reconnecting with her roots through her Martial Arts community, and through her research for Toastmasters.

Kathy M grabbed the attention of the audience with her speech, “Open the door to communication”  by raising her hands and yelling, “STOP, What are YOU DOING?” as water poured out of the washing machine and her husband was trying to mop up a river of water with a few dry towels and throwing the wet towels out the door. Her speech was geared for gestures, and she did a few funny ones to pantomime the actions. She had attended a workshop a few weeks ago and recognized the need to have a crucial conversation after they spent 2 hours mopping up the water in silence. She learned that the best way to work with her  husband was not to yell at him but to ask him for a plan. She also realised that she needed to work on herself and that difficult conversations always help, they  clear the air and improve communication and connections.

Our third and final speech was from Bill S. titled “The art of good listening”. Using vivid color and descriptive words, Bill shared lessons learnt from the observation of a friend’s parenting style. This friend’s young daughter got into a scuffle with a young boy in the play area at the mall. Instead of coming to the rescue of his daugher and giving the young boy’s father a talking to, his friend opted to first check in with his daughter. Bending down so he could  talk to her  at eye level,  he asked her how she was doing.  She stated she was fine and Bill realized that, more than an intervention, all this little girl needed was for her dad to ask the right question and then listen to her. Fast forward to the present where we find Bill using these communication skills with his wife. Bill who likes to problem solve, realizes that  when his wife comes home after a challenging day at work, what she is looking for someone who will sit and listen quietly to her as she shares her emotions. Being an active listener, he concluded, this is the most beneficial action he, or anyone else can take to support someone.

Aswini H.  lead the table topics and Kiki N.was the timer and kept us all on track for the morning.

Brett S.was the overall evaluator and shared some positive and constructive points for improvement.

Isabella  Z. was the Grammarian, and her word for the day was script.

Thanks to Andy K. for his notes.

First-time Toastmaster Aswini H. did a terrific job in her role. She shared comments about mentorship and urged all members to spend time as a mentor. (Every Seattle Sunrise Toastmasters club member is assigned a mentor, which is listed on our Mentorship page on the club web site. If you haven’t been assigned one, talk to the Vice President of Education.)

·    New member Traci M. served as Grammarian, offering her word of the day, “Expounder.”

·    Isabella Z., now a veteran Timer, kept our meeting on time and on track.

·    Cara S. gave her CC Project 9 speech, “Under Pressure,” in which she expounded upon the virtues of one of her favorite cooking tools, the InstaPot

·    Julie S. gave her CC Project 8 speech, “The Running Evolution,” in which she provided a demonstration of products that she uses as part of her runners life.

Ready to run!

·    Dilip G. delivered his Ice-Breaker speech, “Me, Myself, and Id,” in which he talked about his background and what brought him to Toastmasters to courageously face his fear and loathing for public speaking.

·    Zhou B. gave his CC Project 3 speech, “Learning from the T-Shirt: How to Build a Popular Product,” in which he described the design principles that make the T-shirt one of the most versatile and popular pieces of attire.

Neat T- shirt!

·    Aleli M. was our Topics Master, bringing the question “What modern convenience do you consider a pain in the neck” as a prompt for Andy., Scott, Traci, and Lara to answer. Lara won Best Table Topics for her choice for the most painful modern device: her phone.

·    Our evaluators were Aanya L, Kiki N., Tom B., Andy K, and our General Evaluator was Neva C. 

Powerful evaluations.

·    President Tom B. swore in our newest members: Lara, Isabella, and Traci.Congratulations to them! We’re proud to have you as members of the club. 

Welcome New Sunrisers!

·    Tom also announced that on June 17 our club will nominate new club officers for our 2017-2018 Toastmasters year.  If you have any interest in serving as an officer for our Club please let Tom know as soon as possible so we can plan for an election/voting the week of our June 24 meeting.  Also, if you would like to volunteer as a part time substitute officer, which is always handy for roles like Secretary and Sergeant at Arms, please let Tom know.

Thanks for your service, Tom B!

Our theme for this meeting was “ Grit” The meeting was led by Toastmaster Bill S.

Julie S was the first speaker of the day with a speech titled: “Selection: not for the faint of heart”. Is there a science to conducting a job interview? The answer is Yes!  Julie who is an assessment scientist, gave the audience an overview of the process that goes into crafting the best job interview questions. Julie was presenting project #7 – research your topic.

Our next speaker was Cara S, presenting project #8- Using visual aids. In her speech titled “ Running with the essentials”, Cara, an avid runner, shared her tips for the best running experience. Running is a science which requires the proper attire for the runner as well as high visibility props for the drivers. Once you have the basics, adding some extras such as music players  and a snazzy running watch to keep track of your progress will transform this chore into a pleasant experience.

Our third speaker was Kiki N, re-telling the story of “Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.” Kiki  presented this story for the first time  last month. At the Seattle Sunrise Toastmasters, we call this “ recycling “. Recycling a speech  is an excellent way for presenters to refine and test their speeches. Well done, Kiki!

Our final speaker was Tom B, presenting project 3 from the Advanced Manual.- The Demonstration talk. Tom, an avid golfer, shared the basics of a good golf swing with the audience. Standing on the top of a chair, he demonstrated how to aim at the target, explained what happens when a club hits a ball and what a “ slice” and a “ hook” mean in golf language. Although Tom made it look easy, getting the right swing is not that simple. Tom is currently on a path to re-work and correct his swing even if it means going back to square one to eliminate the bad habits. At the Seattle Sunrise Toastmasters, we are not afraid to go back and re-work our skills so that we can get better.

Paula L led the table topics.  Paula used obscure movie titles such as “ 200 cigarettes” of  “ The man who Loved Cat Dancing” to prompt the audience to tell stories of grit, real or imagined.

Lara won the title for Best Table Topics.

Brett S, Aswini H and Alele M are tied for Best Evaluator.
Our next meeting is scheduled for May 27th.