April 22, 2014

Post date: Apr 23, 2014 3:35:47 PM

Fellow Toastmasters,

We had a joyful meeting today. We had a full agenda and we started our meeting on time.

Attendees: All the attendees present were TM members.

Before the Meeting

Eric pointed out that he and I were celebrating Earth Day since we were wearing green. He also gave us a brief background about Earth Day. Happy Earth Day everyone!

During the Meeting

Two of the meeting roles (Grammarian and Evaluator #3) had to be reassigned, since some members were absent.

Nannette, our Toastmaster of the day, gave everyone a warm welcoming.

Once the meeting was called into order, Noel read the club’s mission statement.

Speech Tip

Harry gave us a continuation of the Speech Tip of the Day - How to grab the audience’s attention:

Make a promise to the audience such as “if you participate in this investment, you’ll get a 30% return,” or “ if you listen to this speech, your personal conflicts will get resolved.”

Prepared Speeches

Speaker 1

The first prepared speech came from Ivy. Shed did project #1 from the CC manual – The Ice Breaker. Her speech title was “My Personal Guiding Principles.” Her speech was based from an internet blog that lists 30 things we all should start doing. She picked 5 of these “things” to share with us:

1) Spend time with the right people

2) Nurture important relationships

3) Be yourself

4) Compete against the earlier version of you

5) Enjoy the things you already have

Margaret was her evaluator. She gave Ivy very positive feedback and recommended ways to improve.

Speaker 2

The next speech came from Faye. She did project #3 - Get to the Point - from the CC manual. The title of her speech comes from the Martin Luther King's quote, "You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." Faye mentioned that she took a path that was different from her parents’ expectations but in the end, one step at a time, she found out what her mission and goals in life are-to be a book author and a motivational coach.

Richard was her evaluator. He gave Faye very positive feedback on her storytelling and recommended ways to improve.

Speaker 3

Doug was speaker #3. He did a different version of his speech titled “Give me a Break” (Speech #8 from the CC manual). This time Doug used PowerPoint slides to reinforce his speech. His speech is based on the premise that we should all take more vacation time in order to be more productive in the workplace and to avoid being sick. He used strong evidence to support his point such as studies conducted by worldwide accounting firm Ernst & Young; these studies show that there’s increased productivity in the employees that take longer vacations.

Eric stepped up to evaluate Doug’s speech. Eric gave Doug very positive feedback and recommended ways to improve the PowerPoint slides.

Table Topics

Table Topics were conducted by Nathan. He prepared two questions based from the phrase “Summer is around the corner.”

1) The first question was : What are you looking forward to doing this summer?

Fumiko was picked to answer the question and she answered that she’ll be doing various activities:

a) Prepare a new course for her students

b) Travel

c) Spend a week in her northern CA home

d) Relax

2) The second question was: What is your favorite summer gateway spot and why?

Harry was chosen to answer this question. His favorite gateway spot is a secluded place where he’ll get the chance to:

a) Meditate

b) Get more energy

c) Spend time alone to:

i) Renew himself

ii) Get more speech ideas

General Evaluator

Eric (Ah-Counter), Fumiko (Grammarian), and Sonny (Timer) did an excellent job when delivering their reports to the audience.

As the meeting’s general evaluator, I pointed out that the prepared and table topic speeches were very inspirational, and they showed the importance of having a purpose in life. This purpose can be writing a book, being in a secluded place to refresh yourself, or taking a break to travel the world. I also pointed out that equipment such as projectors (for PowerPoint slide purposes) should be set up before the meeting to avoid any distractions. One other thing I forgot to point out is that if you are doing a prepared speech, please give the Toastmaster of the day your introduction in advance. Overall, we had a great and pleasant meeting, and I look forward to the next one.

Final Comments

Karthik, who was an honored guest last week, has become a TM club member. Let’s all welcome Karthik to the club!

Harry announced the May 3rd Toastmasters Competition event (Some of the members will be attending this event!) and then the meeting was adjourned.

The meeting ended at 1:05 PM per my tachymeter watch.

Thanks,

Fernando Reyes, CPA | Dalmacio Accountancy Corp | 5 Corporate Park, Suite 150 Irvine, CA 92606