Our theme for this last meeting of the month was “ Tax Burden”.  Filing your taxes? Good! Owe money to the IRS? Not so good! Here’s some advice from Cara S., our Toastmaster: don’t give up, just keep at it and you may end up with a refund instead! . The word of the day,” Recalcitrant” was  introduced by Paula L.  Ashwini H. officiated as the timekeeper.

Julie S was the first speaker with her speech titled “ Highlights of Osten and Asher”. Presenting CC project #6-Vocal variety, Julie chose the subject of her two nephews, Osten and Asher. Through a series of vignettes, Julie  painted the picture  two little boys, the milestones in their development, their likes and dislikes and their evolving relationship with each other and the world. Quoting from real interactions, Julie made a judicious use of kid dialogue for vocal variety. Thanks for an artful and tender speech, Julie! We look forward to the next instalment of the adventures of Osten and Asher!

Our second speaker, Bill S. presented  CC project  #3- Get to the Point. In his speech titled :” Do not tax yourself with the forethought of grief, Bill, a self described “small town Norwegian-Lutheran guy” describes his journey; growing up not talking about death to learning to become fluent and comfortable with death and grief as a volunteer in AIDS support group and finally, having experienced grief, coming to the realization that peace comes from not pre-empting loss and grief.  He concluded his speech with Wendell Berry’s advice to “come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief….(to) for a time (…) rest in the grace of the world, and… (to be) free.” In these times of renewed anxiety, may we be at peace and untaxed with the forethought of grief like  wild things.

Our last speaker of the day was Peter F., presenting CC project #10- Inspire your audience. “ If you can dream it, you can do it.” is the title of Peter’s rousing speech. Using examples from Walt Disney’s life, Peter shared the many hard decisions this visionary had to make to achieve his dreams. Walt Disney was uncompromising and unstoppable . He had a vision, and no price was too high, no pain too unbearable to achieve his dream. He was a huge success and his dreams created a world of magic that continues to inspire generations all over the world to this day.  You can do it too, says Peter, but know that “ the commitment ( is when) the journey begins, not a second before” and that “it’s not free, it will cost you a lot of pain.”  We are inspired by Peter who, like Walt Disney, is following his dream as an inspirational speaker. Best in your endeavors, Peter!

Zhou B.  led our table topics session.  On this Easter Saturday, Brett S. was voted best table topic with recollections of Easter in Australia:  baking hot cross buns ad nauseum and way too long long week-ends!

Our evaluators were Aanya L, Aleli M, Tom B. Andy K, who  served as our general evaluator was also voted “ best evaluator”.

Welcome to our four new members!

Our next meeting is scheduled for 4/22.

Heritage – Meeting of March 25, 2017

Our theme for the day was “Heritage.” Ken was this morning’s Toastmaster. It was Ken’s first time being Toastmaster and he did a wonderful job! There were 15 members present and one guest at this morning’s meeting.

Cara was our first speaker of the day. Cara gave her sixth speech titled, “My New Best Friend” from the Competent Communicator manual. She shared with us how she recently purchased Amazon’s voice activated assistant, Alexa. Cara had some great points about how Alexia was very helpful with her day-to-day activates. Some examples include the ability to set timers while cooking, adding items to her shopping list, and the overall ease of interacting with Alexia for other tasks. Over all, Cara enjoys this new technology and how it makes her life easier.

Julie was our second speaker. Julie gave her fifth speech titled “CrossFit: Officially a Way of Life” from the Competent Communicator manual. Julie tried a variety of different fitness routines throughout college including LA Fitness and the college gym. She told us about her first experience at the CrossFit gym. Her first day consisted of sprinting, flipping tires, swinging sledgehammers, doing pushups, and hang power lifts! Julie has been doing CrossFit for two and half years and absolutely loves it. She compared it Toastmasters, but for the mind, since both have a challenging and supportive environment.

Neva was the third speaker of the day. Neva gave her seventh speech titled “The Decades Long Battle Over Funding for Basic Education” from the Competent Communicator manual. The main objective of this speech is to “research your topic.” Neva knocked this speech out of the park! She gave us detailed facts and stats of Washington state’s education program. It turns out Washington is ranked 20% below the national average for state education funding. Neva also described how homeowners are responsible to fill the funding gap.

Aleli was our final speaker of the day. Aleli gave her third speech titled “The Worker” from the Story Telling Manual. Aleli shared with us some very descriptive stories from her small business owner friends. The one story that has stuck with Aleli over the years is the one of her friend who was a Physician’s Assistant at the state jail. The story comprised of a mentally unstable inmate who swallowed razor blades. She found through listening to her friend’s stories that business owners typically aren’t humorous but instead have painful life stories.

Preston led our table topics session and our guest of the day, En Jean was voted best “table topic participant.”
Our evaluators were Kiki, Andrew, Yanyan, and Bill. Tom served as our general evaluator. Andrew was voted as “best evaluator.”

Our next meeting is scheduled for 4/8.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Here is my 7,000-word summary of this week’s meeting!

Jon talks about the benefits of “HIT Fitness”

Marti reveals the metal hack she used to quit smoking, lose weight, and more!

Zhou is in love with his Amazon Alexa!

Aanya incorporates gestures into her table topics response.

Katherine summarizes her 15 minutes of fame.

Paul provides feedback on the meeting!

Paula wins best Evaluator!

Impatient for Spring – Meeting of February 25, 2017

Posted by Paula L.

Our theme for this last meeting of the month was “ Impatient for Spring”. With more snow on this week-end’s weather forecast, Brett S., our Toastmaster, expressed a shared longing for less rain and more spring weather . The word of the day,” Boisterous” was introduced by Jon K.

Yanyan B was the first speaker with her speech titled : Good Fortune or Misfortune?”. For her CC project # 6 (Vocal Variety), Yanyan chose to tell a Daioist tale illustrating how life changes from one moment to the next, from fortune to misfortune and vice versa. The story of the farmer whose horse runs off, then comes back with more horses, whose son becomes lame as a result of a riding accident only to be exempt from conscription was punctuated with exclamations of “ Such bad luck! “ and “ What good fortune!” , Yanyan concluded her speech by summarizing the teachings of this fable. She pointed out that the farmer had been detached and tranquil in the face of change. “ We cannot control what happens, but we can control how we react.” Wise and appropriate words for our time.

Julie S was our second speaker. For her CC project #4 ( How to say it), Julie took us back in time when she lived in Washington, DC. In her speech titled “ Life in Washington, DC”, Julie, a native of Alexandria,North Virginia, shared the highlights and drawbacks of living in the Capital. Julie shared fond memories of free week-end visits to the many museums in DC and fun culinary expeditions for the best “ hole in the wall “ food joint. The only downsides of living in the Capital, according to Julie, are the weather -either hot and humid in summer or rife with ice storms in winter – and the four hour traffic jams. What’s a girl to do when she’s stuck in traffic with nary a good hair day? Move to the Pacific Northwest! We’re so happy you joined Seattle Sunrise Toastmasters, Julie!

In her CC project #5 (Your body speaks) speech, “ From Dublin to London” our third speaker,Cara S. shared lessons learnt from a whirlwind backpack tour across Europe. Using descriptive, lively and humoristic language, Cara and her two sisters took us across seven European countries. Despite Cara’s admissions that the cadence was exhausting, the general feeling was that a memorable time was had by all and life long lessons learnt during their European adventures; one of which involves clapping in self cleaning bathroom in France!. Looking back, Cara’s advice to the audience was to listen to the advice of friends and family and ask for help because so that you do not have to clap unnecessarily.

Our last speaker of the day was Kathy M, presenting CC project #3(Get to the point) . Her speech titled “ Be Smart and Lose your New Year’s Resolutions” described a journey which started with last year’s failed New Year’s resolution to go to Macchu Pichu. Lessons learnt and a strategy to tackle resolutions successfully. Kathy made an effective and convincing presentation of how to use SMART effectively. By being Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely in our resolutions, we can achieve our goals more effectively. We know that Kathy will make it to Macchu Pichu the next time around!

Aleli M. led our table topics session.

Our evaluators were Paula L, Marti M, Kikki N and Sanjiv K. Tom B. served as our general evaluator. Marti was voted as “ best evaluator”.

Our next meeting is scheduled for 3/ 11.