06/06/2016 About Last Night..........

Good evening fellow Toastmasters. Quick recap of last nights meeting to follow...

The evening started of right as we were immediately treated to a very "summery" Invocation message followed by a joke that made us chuckle by Joan who filled both roles last night.

Martin kept the meeting flowing on time as our Toastmaster. Daniel our TT master asked us many a question regarding our thoughts on different forms of media. Good job of varying questions to each speaker Daniel.

Michael then provided very poignant and helpful feedback to each Table Topic speaker last night. We then headed for break and were treated to something I believe fellow Toastmasters had only seen in magazines...healthy snacks lol. Thank you Margaret for providing us a very tasty healthy choice!

The 2nd half of the meeting was highlighted  by prepared speeches given by Fabian, Migo, & Al who were in turn evaluated by Margaret, Garvin, and myself. I thought the speakers gave great speeches all in very different ways. Evaluators then pointed out "The Good, and the possible improvements" to each of their speakers.

All in all, a very energetic meeting following the Memorial Day break. 

I've tried my best to describe last nights meeting to the best of my ability but honestly being there in person provides a much better experience. So if you want to experience it for yourself, we hope to see you in attendance next Monday.

Thank You

05/16/2016 About Last Night..........

Hello Fellow Toastmasters, 

Our Nature themed meeting last night hosted a large and lively crowd. We also had a number of guests who joined us and commented that they truly enjoyed learning from the members.

The night started off with Lucille as our Invocation. She shared with us a beautiful poem from the book “Chicken Soup for the Soul” that she received from a fellow member. Migo, our Joke Master, soon followed and had us laughing with his witty joke about kids’ names. Here comes ‘Brick!’ Daniela was the Toastmaster for the evening and ensured the meeting moved along smoothly.

Margaret was our Table Topic Master and did a great job with her well planned questions about Nature, and it was her first time! Speakers were provided with varying questions that were quite thought-provoking and truly challenged us to think on our feet. It is important to remember that if we get ‘stumped,’ it is okay to take a moment, gather your thoughts, and continue. Daniela followed up with the Table Topic Evaluations and provided succinct feedback to all speakers.

Refreshments last night were provided by Martin. Thank you for the wonderful treats!

For our long speech portion of the meeting we had three speakers. George was our first speaker and presented his 9^th project titled “Tragedy in Nevada.” He detailed the happenings of the recent democratic convention, explaining the importance of voting, and persuaded the audience to vote in favor of Bernie Sanders. The second speaker was Garvin who gave us an impromptu speech titled “How I found myself.” He shared with us his journey as he explored his Thai roots and American upbringing, trying to bridge the two cultures. Our final speaker was Daniel, who gave us is his 8^th speech titled “Little white lie about yellow teeth.” Daniel also attempted to persuade the audience… to go to the dentist! He started off with a story about how he was ‘forced’ to make a dental appointment and ultimately realized that even though most of us hate, we need to make our yearly visits.

Following the speeches were the evaluations. Byron evaluated George and right away pointed out that George is a talented speaker. He advised George to focus on persuasion and try to reach the audience by appealing to the emotions. Aaron evaluated Garvin’s speech and mentioned he appreciated his energy and sharing his personal story. He also advised him to be mindful of his story-telling details so as to not be too harsh. The last evaluator was Migo who provided great feedback for Daniel’s persuasive speech. He commended Daniel for his organization and also advised him to provide more detail about the things that can happen if you don’t visit the dentist, to make the speech more powerful.

Joan stepped in as the General Evaluator for the night and gave a great summary of the meeting. She also provided additional feedback to the speakers and evaluators.

The night ended just a few minutes after nine, and it seemed all in attendance left with plenty of enthusiasm. We hope to see many of you again next Monday!   

05/09/2016 About Last Night: Small but mighty (group)...

Good morning fellow Toastmasters,

Our 05/09 Mother's day meeting had us reminiscing and recollecting memories about our mothers.

Our meeting started with a great invocation message given by George who reminded us to enjoy life because we never know when it might change completely.

Angelica did a great job running a smooth meeting for all those in attendance.

Garvin filled in admirably as our Table Topic master last night, asking speakers questions about their mothers & mothers day. Thank you for filling in Garvin!

Daniel, back from vacation offered feedback to each Table Topic speaker which we could all put to use.

Refreshments were provided by Joan. Truly one of the best cake's I've had in a long time, thank you so much for a very tasty snack.

The second half the meeting saw Sean (The Gambler), Alex (Everything Happens for a reason), & Aaron (3 pieces of life advice & long road trips) all give very differing but interesting speeches. Thank you all for sharing.

They were evaluated by Joan, George, and Lucille. Each evaluator provided poignant to their assigned speaker.

Margaret did a great job recapping the meeting as our General Evaluator last night.

Although there was not our usual number of members in attendance at last night's meeting. It was a meeting where many fellow Toastmasters filled in roles and got familiar with different aspects of what takes place at our club. 

I really hope to see everyone next Monday to celebrate our weekly gathering which we call Toastmasters.

I wish everyone a great and productive week!

05/02/2016 About last night.......

Hello Fellow Toastmasters,

Last night’s meeting was another energetic and quite humorous meeting, with a number of our members stepping in to fill in roles.

Daniela started the meeting off with Invocation, sharing a story about her mother, followed by our Joke Master George who had us soon laughing. George also stepped in as our Toastmaster for the night and ensured that all roles were explained and that the meeting stayed on track.

Our Table Topic portion of the meeting was soon underway, and Byron took the stage as our Table Topic Master and asked varying questions and invoking speakers to provide feedback on that particular topic. The questions ranged from travel, to politics, to cuisine. Our Table Topic Evaluator followed up with evaluations for our speakers. She commended the speakers on their strengths, and also provided suggestions to improve their speeches, which included voice projection and using more body language.

Refreshments last night were provided by Aaron. They were delicious snacks, thank you very much!

The second half of the meeting was underway with three speakers. Our first speaker was Alex, giving us his 9^th manual speech. He started off with a powerful punch and a serious of questions, then produced a visual aid that delivered his message: a mirror. In essence, we have the power to change ourselves for the better. Our second speaker was Lucille, our seasoned story-teller, who shared with us an article from a health magazine regarding healthy living. She explained that living a healthier, more stress-free life involves one very important thing: getting more sleep. She informed that this is especially important in growing children. Last but certainly not least, Al volunteered to give us his Icebreaker speech, and wowed the audience with his powerful voice. He shared with us an experience as a young man with his father, and the important message he learned about keeping your word. After winning a tough baseball match, his father kept his word and bought him the car he had asked for and proudly earned.

The speech evaluators soon took the stage to provide feedback for the speakers. Sean evaluated Alex and praised him for this confidence on stage, well-thought speech, and use of visual aids. He recommended Alex use more pauses in his speeches to make them more effective. Migo was the second evaluator and commended Lucille for her impromptu speech about health and how well she summarized this topic that is relatable to everyone. He suggested Lucille project her voice a bit more to make it easier to listen to her wonderful stories. Margaret evaluated Al on his first speech and right away congratulated him for his great story and stage presence. She commented that his speech was truly engaging and full of descriptive words that captivated the audience. She suggested that Al use a larger timeline to tell his story so that we may get to know him a little bit better.

Our General Evaluator Lucille culminated the meeting with a quick recap of the meeting and inspired the members to encourage our fellow Toastmasters who have been away for some time, to rejoin us.

Overall, it was another successful meeting. Looking forward to the next one, and hope to see many of you there! 

04/25/2016 About last night.......

Hello Fellow Toastmasters,

Last night we tackled the topic of conflict resolution during our first half of the meeting, and had a full schedule during the second half of the meeting as well. Thank you to all the members who filled in roles last night. It is wonderful to see that our fellow members will step in to help to fulfill all the roles, plus it is a great opportunity to continue practicing and learning.

Daniela started the meeting off with Invocation by sharing a story about how she introduced someone to Toastmasters. The lesson: we never know when we will be a ‘tool’ for Toastmasters and share our experiences with others. Alex was our Joke Master for the night and shared with us a quick joke with quite a funny punch. Great start. Our Toastmaster Michael led the way of the meeting, keeping us on time and on track.

The first half of the meeting got underway with Daniela filling in as Table Topic Master. Each speaker was read a conflict-related scenario and asked to speak about how they would approach that situation. Some were a bit more thought-provoking than others but all speakers seemed very comfortable on stage tackling their questions. In the end, we heard a number of great solutions to resolving conflict. This was a great Table Topic session that is very relatable to many of us. 

Joan stepped in as our Table Topic Evaluator and really took the time to commend speakers on their good points, and give pointers where it was needed. It’s great to have you back Joan! We also tried a new tool from our Toastmasters application, which was suggested by George, our grammarian. When a filler word was used, a ‘ding’ would sound, making the speakers more conscious about them. When asked what we thought about this new tool, the consensus was that we should use it during our Table Topics session from time to time to help speakers.

Refreshments were provided by Daniela, and it looked like it was a hit! Great snacks to get us back into the meeting.

The second half of the meeting hosted three speakers. Garvin volunteered to give an impromptu speech about living a meaningful life, and based his speech on the ideas presented in the book  titled “Blue Zones.” He summarized that in order to increase our chances of living longer, we should focus on 4 areas: diet, exercise, human relationships and purpose. Our second speaker Martin gave us his 3^rd manual speech, which detailed a simple way to break a bad habit that really comes down to paying attention. He informed us that over time, we become mindful of our habits when we use positive/negative reinforcements to try and change them. Our third speaker Juju also gave us an impromptu speech about her trip to Sedona, Arizona. She shared with us the wonderful sights and experiences of her trip using descriptive words and imagery, we felt like we were really there! 

Following the speeches, the evaluators took the stage to provide feedback to our speakers. Margaret evaluated Garvin and acknowledged his passion for the topic, which she feels strongly about as well. She advised Garvin that she would have liked a deeper explanation of how we can fulfill the four areas that would enable us to potentially live longer. Charles evaluated Martin and commended him for his meaningful topic and great use of pauses, and also encouraged him to be mindful of his movement on stage. Michelle evaluated Juju and praised her for her great use of descriptive words and grand arm gestures that made her story come to life. She also advised Juju to give us a bit more background information, since some members of the audience may have not known where Sedona is located (in Arizona).

Angelica was our General Evaluator last night and did a great job giving us a review and report of the entire meeting. We finished the meeting on time with a lot of energy. Looking forward to next week, I hope to see many of you there!

Reminder: There is an officer’s meeting this upcoming meeting 05/02/16 @ 6pm. Thank you.