Petra introduces a guest to the club

Toastmasters learn by pushing the boundaries of their comfort-zone in a safe & positive learning environment.  Nothing exemplifies this more than when members present their first speech at the club.  Today we had two!

10 members and 3 guests(!) made their way to Seattle Sunrise Toastmasters this morning to see our first meeting of March.  Our Toastmaster was Steve.

Steve kicked-off the meeting by reading a poem from his daughter’s children’s book.  He then reasoned that a toastmaster should a least have a toast-maker at the meeting.  He held a toaster for all to see, demonstrating that he came prepared.

Andrea introduces the word of the day

All three of our speakers presented their first speech at the club.  Patrick described what it was like growing up with a father who was in the Navy.  He further cited his move to Washington as the reason he couldn’t get a skateboard.  The reason?  A lack of sidewalks in Oak Harbor, Washington.

Jun Lei incorporates visual aids in her speech

Our second speaker, Petra, described how a series of lucky events brought her from Prague to Seattle.  Petra revealed that she is less shy than she once was and credits her daughter’s curiosity for the change.  Her daughter is five and repeatedly approaches strangers asking them questions.  Petra joins the conversation as a responsible parent.

Our final speaker was Jun Lei.  Jun Lei joined Seattle Sunrise after leaving another Toastmasters club and presented speech 8 from the Competent Communicator manual.  Her focus was on effective use of visual aids and she spoke on the topic of home foreclosure.  Jun Lei impressed us all when she revealed midway through her speech that her visual aids were more than met the eye!  The element of surprise amused everyone.

Guest, Michelle, wins “best table topics”

Our table topics master was Mary who stepped in to the role at the last-minute.  She crafted questions around the theme of being “caught off-guard”  and did a masterful job of eliciting a battery of interesting replies.  Our table topics winner was our guest Michelle who revealed that she elected to leave an all-girls high school in favor of a mixed-gender alternative.  She was caught off-guard when the principal of the all-girls school later called her at home (yikes!) to ask if she’d consider coming back!

Our evaluators were Janell, Nicole, and Johan.  Each gave constructive feedback to the speakers.  Janell was a first-time evaluator and surprised many members with her well-considered feedback for Patrick.  She included feedback that included  deep breathing and relaxation techniques that will help minimize the “fight-or-flight” instinct.  At the end of the meeting, Janell won best evaluator.

Johan illustrates why Jun Lei’s visual aids worked

At the conclusion of the meeting, two members shared a “Toastmasters moment” with the club.  Nicole revealed Toastmasters gave her confidence to deliver constructive feedback to her coworkers recently.  Janell revealed that she used eye-contact to “lasso” her audience with  an open line of communication.

Our next meeting will be held on March 23.  Our Toastmaster will be Madeleine!

First-time evaluator, Janell, wins “best evaluator”

Dick congratulates Madeleine

If there were ever a meeting designed to showcase how Toastmasters leads to confidence and personal growth, today’s meeting would be it!  We held our club’s first ever evaluation contest.  We then watched Mary deliver a humorous speech that demonstrated tremendous improvement in her public speaking career.  Woot!

11 members and 4 guests attended our meeting today.  Our Toastmaster was Dave Eberhardt.  Dave immediately turned control of the meeting to Dick, our contest Toastmaster.  Dick explained the details of the contest then introduced the demonstration speaker, Reanna.  Reanna gave a speech about the history of the Chiropractic industry.  An interesting side note: the entire audience was sitting a little straighter in their chair at the conclusion of her speech.

Nicole evaluates Reanna

Our evaluation contestants were Nicole and Madeleine.  Both gave Reanna constructive feedback on her speech.  After the ballots had been counted, the judges decided Madeleine’s feedback was superior.  Madeleine will go on to compete at the Area 23 contest on March 2nd.  Go Madeleine!

Mary delivers a humorous speech

Our Toastmaster, Dave, resumed control of the meeting and welcomed Mary to lectern.  Mary delivered project 4 from the competent communicator manual.  Her speech was a humorous one about how she’s on the fast track to get her incompetent communicator award in Toastmasters by following the “3-P” method.  She described how this method involves copious amounts of Procrastination, Perfectionism, and…well, you had to be there! 🙂  By the end of her speech, everyone was laughing!

Janelle answers a Table Topics question

Nicole led our table topics session asking members questions that required them to reflect on the winter and the snow.  Our new member, Junlei, won table topics by revealing that her favorite comfort food during the winter is fried chicken wing delivery.  How specific…and odd!

Sonja evaluated Mary‘s speech and admitted that she had tears because she was laughing so hard.  Members agreed.  It was hilarious!

Sonja celebrates Mary’s speech

At the conclusion of the meeting, we inducted 2 new members: Patrick and Junlei.  Welcome!  We’re excited to have you!  Our guests Mike, Jessica, Reanna, and Sandy all agreed the meeting was FUN.  Mike said, “I didn’t think learning could be so much fun!” and Reanna revealed that she thought the meeting space was beautiful.

Patrick and Junlei join Seattle Sunrise

Dues are due!  The amount is $42 and pays through September.  If we get them in early, we’ll be eligible for an award.  Our next meeting is March 9th.  Don’t miss it!

Johan delivers a speech

Quick!  What do St. Crispian, Yoga, and Tzu-Chi have in common?  “Selflessness” and “service,” which was the unspoken theme of today’s Seattle Sunrise Toastmasters meeting.  10 members and 4 guests were in attendance.  Our Toastmaster was charter member, Dave Eberhardt!

The president Scott opened the meeting by inducting 3 new members to the club, Petra, Andrea, and Janell!  We’re so proud to have them as members!

Dave started the meeting by asking members what books they were reading currently.  Dick quipped that as a flight-test engineer, he’s reading a riveting book about Lithium Ion Batteries.  The comment hushed the group and Dave quickly navigated the meeting to the introduction of our first speaker, Johan.

Johan gave a speech about Tzu-Chi — a relief organization that started in Taiwan.  Initially it was a small group of housewives who saved small amounts of their grocery money and used it to help care for needy families.  It is now and international organization with a large presence in the United States.

Dave introduces Dick’s speech

Dick was our second speaker, he delivered project 3 from the Advanced Interpretive Reading manual — The monodrama.  Dick reenacted the St. Crispen’s Day Speech from Shakespeare’s HENRY V.  He presented the monodrama with such fervor that all members were transfixed at its conclusion.  Great work, Dick!

Our final speaker was our newest member Janell.  This was Janell’s first speech and she told the club about her family’s passion for serving others.  She went on to explain that she left her management job at a non-profit so she could teach yoga to others who were impacted by the stress of the workplace just like she was.

Scott presents membership pins to new members

Madeleine led the table topics session.  Despite the theme of “read any good books lately?” Madeleine asked questions to which everyone could respond regardless of their level of interest in reading.  Andrea was voted to have the best table topics response when she revealed to the club that her husband has the worst book recommendations! 🙂

Andrea wins ribbon for best table topics response

Our evaluators were Nagisa, Steve, and Nicole.  Each provided clear examples of what they found appealing in the speech they were evaluating.  Steve was voted the best evaluator for his evaluation of Dick’s speech.

At the end of the meeting, we received 3 more membership applications!  Whoa!

Our next meeting will include our first-ever Evalution contest!  Any paid club member is eligible to participate.  Those who are interested should contact Dick and Dave for details.

See you at our next meeting on February 23rd!

Twelve members and four guests attended the Seattle Sunrise Toastmasters meeting on January 26th. It was an exciting time and Johan led the meeting as a first time Toastmaster. Very well-done, Johan! We had three speakers.

Johan introduces Mary

Our first speaker was Nagisa who spoke about her new year’s resolution — conscious breathing. She shared how purposeful breathing has a healthy calming effect and revealed that she has resolved to do more of it in 2013.

Steve stepped-in as our second speaker. His presentation was part three of a three-part talk, ‘how to be your own doctor.” Steve called on all members to pay attention to the behaviors that lead to the symptoms. In many cases, modified behavior is the solution to the problem.

Mary stands to address the club

Our table topics master, Mary prompted members to recall life lessons they had learned in addition to lessons they would share with others. Two of our four guests took on the challenge of a table topics question! Great work!

Nicole uses gestures during Table Topics

Our evaluators were Scott, Rich, and Dick. Scott also served as our general evaluator and drew specific attention to how well Johan had performed the role of Toastmaster.

Members enjoy a meeting!

Nicole won best table topics and Scott & Rich tied for best evaluator. Our next meeting is scheduled for February 9th. Don’t forget that our evaluation contest is scheduled for February 23rd. Any member of the club may participate. See Dick or Dave for details.