Hey Toasties here's your monthly SFTM Mic Check!🎙️

The doors are wide open! We're welcoming new members, hosting not one but two special events, and continuing the term with speeches that make us laugh, office hours that help us connect, and whimsical Word of the Day sentences that probably need to be ironed out before they make it into your next meeting...

Let's get into it.

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 Words of the Day
Whimsical (adj.) – playfully quaint or fanciful, especially in an appealing and amusing way
“Slide deck QA was going smoothly—until the final slide that featured an illustration of Astro and Codey riding a cloud‑shaped roller coaster. A whimsical detail that sparked more joy than any pie chart or bullet point ever could.”

Outlandish (adj.) – looking or sounding bizarre or unfamiliar
“The product demo worked flawlessly—but the presenter sported a sequined cape and narrated it in rhyme. Outlandish? Yes. Memorable? Absolutely.”

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 Table Topics Winners

• Lizzy Perruzzi – 8/7 (Our club President, commanding the room with or without a script.)

• Carolyn Burns – 8/21 (First-time attendee — and first-time champ. Talk about an entrance!) 

From brave first-timers to seasoned speakers, Table Topics is where everyone gets to stretch their skills like Mister Fantastic.

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 New Member Welcome: Guru Balse

Guru Balse

Software Engineering PMTS | Salesforce Tower (SF) | Lives in Fremont, CA

Guru brings over a decade at Salesforce, plus a rich Toastmasters history—including Club and Area level competitions from his Oracle days. He’s ready to restart the clock, reconnect with the community, and dive back into speaking.
We’re thrilled to have him on board! 🙌

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 101 Years of Toastmasters International, 15 Years of Salesforce Toastmasters

Last year, Toastmasters International turned 100! Whoa! But this summer, Salesforce Toastmasters quietly turned 15 years old — our now "teenage" club was officially chartered on June 28, 2010. (Does this mean we get to have a sweet sixteen party next year? Would that be too outlandish?)

While we didn’t celebrate with cake (or even cupcakes) YET , we should NOW take a moment to appreciate how far we’ve come. 🙏

Happy belated anniversary to us — and here’s to many more! 

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 Things You Might Want to Check Out

• 🚪Office Hours – Checking out Pathways? Curious about contests? Need help with a speech or role? Look for biweekly Office Hours invites on your calendar (shared via the Google Group). At least one club officer will be present and ready to chat. So yes, you can sit with us!  http://sfdc.co/sftm_office

• 📢 Speaker Promotion Kit – Giving a speech soon? Use our editable Canva templates and meeting shrink links to invite work besties, mentors, or even your arch nemesis! http://sfdc.co/sftm_speakerpromo

• 👀 Slack Channel Check – We moved Slack channels a while back and brought the old name with us (it was the superior name). Make sure you're in the right channel (the correct one is: #salesforce-toastmasters and the incorrect one is salesforce-toastmasters-1), and that you’ve turned on notifications — it's where we FIRST drop news about big events, opportunities, and must-see content like the delightful, just announced 2025 Toastmasters World Champion first place speech.

• 📋 ToastBack Loop Survey – We send out a new one every meeting! Even if you didn’t attend, we want to hear from members and meeting guests. It’s a great way to reflect on your journey and give us feedback  We all can use some accountability.
  http://sfdc.co/sftm_survey

 Speaker to Trainer Workshop (Sept 19)

Ready to raise your skills beyond speaking?

Join us Thursday, September 19, for an online interactive workshop to deepen your skillset: learn to engage, train, and inspire others, even in the face of difficult audiences.

Led by two seasoned instructors (including yours, truly) with decades of field experience between them, this session blends real-world stories with tried-and-true Toastmasters techniques. Whether you're hosting enablement sessions, hands-on-workshops at Dreamforce or just curious about a new career path, this session can help you level up.

 Details & signup: http://sfdc.co/speaker2trainer

 COMING VERY SOON: Toastmasters Open House (Sept 11)

It’s coast-to-coast and can’t be missed:
Join us at a special early time on Thursday, September 11, 9:30–10:30 AM PT, for a joint Open House co-hosted with The Big Toast, our Salesforce New York-based Toastmaster friends.

You’ll get a front-row seat to a lively Toastmasters session featuring:

• A prepared speech

• Live, constructive feedback from a seasoned Toastmaster

• Audience participation through Table Topics

• Featuring: Info about what Toastmasters is all about — and how to become a member of either club (or both clubs)

Please help us spread the word! Share our flyer, invite your teammates, and bring friends who’ve always wanted to join (or maybe don't know yet). Look out for our mention in The Daily on Tuesday!
Sign up for the Open House: http://sfdc.co/tm_openhouse

That’s all for the August–September edition. ☮️

We’ll see you at the next meeting — Thursday, September 4 on Google Meet.

 As always, remember to sign up to speak or volunteer.Practice is where it's at!

Cheers,

Christina Obligar

VP of PR, Salesforce Toastmasters

http://sfdc.co/salesforcetoastmasters

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