Steve demonstrates his independence

Johan called our meeting to order as her first time as club president. The meeting’s Toastmaster, Steve was specially attired for the meeting theme, “Independence.” Fifteen members and one guest were in attendance.

Violetta, as the first speaker, presented the first speech from the competent communicator manual, entitled ”Following My River.”  Starting with the River Volga from her childhood, in which she swam and tried to conquer the current but ended up following the flow, Violetta found a metaphor for later adventures in her life.  These included her studies in choir conducting (and even singing a bit of “Moon River” for us!) and her eventual move to the Pacific Northwest.

Members laugh at a humorous comment

Our second speaker, Nagisa, presented the tenth speech from the competent communicator manual, entitled “The new OCD: Obsessive Comparison Disorder.”  She taught us about this darker side of social media in which she found herself focusing on others and their “My Amazing Life” albums on Facebook instead of on herself.  Taking affirmative steps to evaluate what is important to her, not others, has helped her move beyond OCD. Nagisa gave tips to help other sufferers of this common malady, such as writing daily checklists and getting outdoors with others.

Dick uses gestures in his speech

As our third speaker, Dick gave us a rendition of “The Tar Baby,” a classic American folktale by Uncle Remus that draws on Native American and African American cultures. His speech was from the Story Teller manual.  Dick started out the story about Brer Fox and Brer Rabbit by helpfully explaining that “brer” means “brother.”

Then Dave led us in table topics by asking attendees to pick an object out of a bag and describe how it figured into independence—with objects ranging from a toy “Godzilla” to a tea bag. Rich won the “best table topics” ribbon with his entertaining antidote of how a box of raisins helped George Washington win the war of independence.

A guest participates in table topics

Our evaluators were Johan, Mary, and Junlei, with Nicole as the general evaluator. Mary won as best evaluator.

Michelle announces the times of each speech

Johan ended the meeting with special recognition for Madeleine’s many years in Toastmasters and as a good example of the Toastmaster mission: “to provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth.”

The next meeting will take place on July 27.

Junlei reveals the word of the day

Junlei filled the Toastmaster for the first time at our June 22 meeting.  The meeting theme, “Firsts,” was fitting.  12 members and 3 guests were in attendance.

Our first speaker was Michelle who presented project #2 from the competent communicator manual.  Her speech was titled “Unusual Children” and she spoke about the rabbits that she and her husband have raised.  In her speech, she explained how to bunny-proof a home and revealed that rabbits can be trained to use a litter box.  Michelle then encouraged everyone to consider adopting a bunny as a pet!

Michelle encourages everyone to consider adopting a rabbit

Petra presents project 3 from the competent communicator manual

Our second speaker was Petra.  Petra presented her third speech from the competent communicator manual, project #3 titled, “Ultimate Journey to Sierra Nevada”.  In her speech, Petra described a hike that she and her husband planned to take in the Sierra Nevada.  Several hours after driving to the trail head, they realized they had left their permit at home!   Her speech was a description of the grueling drive back home to get the important documents they had forgotten!

Scott was our 3rd and final speaker for the meeting.  He presented project 4 from the Entertaining Speaker manual.  His speech was titled “Unwritten Rules” and he described the time that he had broken an unwritten rule about the appropriate (and inappropriate) uses of a sleeping bag.  The moral of the story?  Society has rules which aren’t written and everyone feels awkward when they are broken.

Members enjoy a humorous speech

Madeleine led our table topics session and asked members to share a few memories of their first time doing something. Mary won “best table topics” by describing the first book she had ever read.  In her response, she asked if anyone else wondered if there was better material available than a book about Dick and Jane running down the street.

Mary wins best table topics!

Janell and Nicole tie for best evaluator!

Janell, Nicole, and Dick were our evaluators.  Rich was the General Evaluator.  Nicole and Janell tied for best evaluator.

At the end of the meeting, Scott reminded members that the  Toastmasters year ends on June 30th.  He thanked Madeleine, Nicole, Rich, Sonja, and Dave for their work as officers and reminded everyone that the new slate of officers would be in place for our next meeting, July 13th.

Nicole opening the meeting

The members of Seattle Sunrise Toastmasters closed out a week of perfect weather with an awesome Toastmasters meeting.  10 members and 1 returning guest attended.  The theme was, Trouble!

Nicole started the meeting as our Toastmaster and pointed out that we can get into trouble intentionally and by accident.  Obviously, the members of Seattle Sunrise fall into the latter camp.

Our speakers were Janell, Steve, and Jun Lei.

Janell presented project #2 from the Competent Communicator manual titled “This is Your Brain on Sleep”.  She shared details on why sleep is important and how to ensure you get a good night’s sleep.

Janell explains how to get a good night’s sleep

Our second speaker, Steve presented project #5 from the Competent Communicator manual.  His speech was titled “The beautiful game” and he spoke about the subject of Soccer.  Steve shared the reasons why he enjoys attending Seattle Sounders’ games and encouraged all members to join the excitement.

Steve shows Sounder’s fan excitement

Jun Lei was our final speaker.  She presented project #6 from the Competent Communicator manual titled, “Content or Format?”  In her speech, Jun Lei pointed out that your delivery is just as important as the message.  She shard a personal story about a time when she heard a voicemail from herself and realized that her delivery was inappropriate.

Guest, Jenny, responds to a table topics question

Patrick was our table topics master and our guest, “Jenny” won the ribbon for best table topics response.  She explained that it is better to “go for it” compared to “die never trying”.

Our evaluators were Rich, Dick, and Dave.  Madeleine was our General Evaluator.  Collectively, they reminded the speakers to slow down when speaking and prepare an introduction for the Toastmaster.  Rich was voted best evaluator.

Jenny wins best table topics ribbon

The next meeting is scheduled for 6/22.

Members wait for the meeting to start

12 members and 1 guest showed up to Seattle Sunrise Toastmasters’ Memorial Day weekend meeting.  Sonja served as our Toastmaster with the theme, “Celebrities we love to hate!”  You know…because Top Gun was a movie about the Navy…and Tom Cruise was the star of the film…and everyone loves to hate Tom Cruise.  Okay…maybe the association between Memorial day and celebrities was forced, but we still had a fantastic meeting!

Our first speaker of the meeting was Nicole.  She presented her speech titled, “Unexpected Delays” and explained how  important it is to answer the security questions honestly at the airport.  If you don’t, you may get detained and miss your flight.

Members make notes after Nicole’s speech

Our second speaker was Patrick.  Patrick presented project #2 from the competent communicator manual titled, “Buy Used”.  He shared the benefits of buying items at second hand stores (with the exception of undergarments).  He mentioned the benefits of thrift store shopping as being economical, environmentally friendly, and entertaining.

Johan presented the third speech of the meeting, project 5 from the competent communicator manual titled, “Three tips to improve your swimming skills this summer”.  She explained ways to swim more efficiently and did so using exaggerated gestures.  The most memorable tip was, “don’t swim like a snake”.

Johan shows what it looks like to “swim like a snake”

Rich wins best table topics

After presenting her speech, Johan popped back up and lead our extemporaneous speaking exercises.  She asked members to explain what celebrity they would rather be, and what they would do if they inherited a celebrity’s money.  Rich won table topics while explaining why he wouldn’t want to be Tom Cruise.

Our speech evaluators were Rich, Dick, and Mary.  Scott presented the General Evaluation.  Mary was voted best evaluator.

Mary wins best evaluator

At the conclusion of the meeting, we vote in the following members as next year’s officers:

President: Johan

Vice President Education: Scott

Vice President Membership: Nicole

Vice President PR: Nicole

Secretary: Michelle

Treasurer: Jun Lei

Sergeant at Arms: Rich