Holy moly, what a fun morning was had at Seattle Sunrise’s Humorous Speech and Table Topics contests on Saturday!

The event was opened by our award-winning speaker and beloved President Peter and brilliantly, hilariously hosted by Marti.

Contest Toastmaster Marti warms up the crowd with her very funny jokes

We had six (SIX! That’s impressive!) speakers participating in the Humorous Speech contest. The competitors and their speeches, in order of speaking, were as follows:

Amy, “Oak Harbor Lights.”

Nicole S., “Finding the ‘Good’ in ‘Goodbye.’”

Mary, “The Incompetent Communicator.”

me, “Home Crap Home: My Battle with the American Dream.”

Dave E., “Taking a Walk in the Evening Can Be Full of Surprises.”

Katey, “Survival Skills in the Modern Office Environment.”
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Saturday’s meeting of the Seattle Sunrise Toastmasters was presided over by our Acting President Aanya and hosted by Toastmaster Scott C. The theme, seasonally appropriate, was Back to School. Scott was excited to show off his back-to-school clothes, a new gray jersey (which looked a lot like the one he was already wearing, but I can’t claim to be up all on the new fashions these days).

Toastmaster Scott C. shows off his back-to-school purchases

I had the honor of joining in as a speaker, along with Preston, Dave E., and Tom. Preston was up first, with his CC Project #2 speech, “4 things to know to make your home purchase go smoother,” in which he outlined the hard-won wisdom he has gleaned from being a buyer on $eattle’$ expensive sellers’ real estate market. Of his points–all of them sound and useful–“Brace yourself for disappointment,” was the takeaway for me that seemed applicable to life in general.

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Yesterday’s meeting of the Seattle Sunrise Toastmasters, hosted by Jun Lei, was on the theme “confession.” She confessed to a few things, including that she celebrates both her lunar and solar birthdays and often makes people give her gifts for both. (Genius!)

The format of our meeting was a speech-a-thon, so that means five speeches and evaluations, without a table topics session.

This week we began with two new members, Brett and Valerie, delivering their ice-breakers. Brett’s speech, “From Sydney to Seattle” detailed his life in Australia before moving to the States (where America’s resistance to the metric system has made his life more difficult) and his transition into becoming a Seattleite.

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As luck would have it, today’s Toastmasters theme was Superstition, and Toastmaster Michelle wore her lucky earrings to make sure that we had a good meeting. After much shuffling of schedules and roles and several valiant volunteers coming forward to fill spaces left by those unable to make it, we had a terrific lineup of speakers, table topics speakers, and evaluators.

(Note: Emergencies and illnesses come up and cannot be avoided, but all members should make sure to respond to the monthly scheduling email from the VP of Education regarding availability. Members should also check the Meeting Schedule early and often to find out if/when you’ve been assigned a speech or a role. If you anticipate not being able to attend, letting us know as soon as possible is helpful in avoiding last minute scheduling hassles. Thanks!)
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