May 13, 2013 Club Meeting

Present at the meeting were: Samya Boxberger-Oberoi, Eric Jones, Randy Lee, Lara Miller, Suzanne Mulcahy, Sharon Pappos, Venkat Senapati, Ruth Wadsworth, and Eric Yan.  There were two guests. 

Suzanne was the Toastmaster; Venkat was the General Evaluator; Samya was the Grammarian; Eric J. was the Ah Counter; Eric J. was the Vote Counter: and Eric Y. was the Timer.

Speaker: Randy Lee

Manuel:  #7  “Research Your Topic”

Speech:  Randy Lee:  “Girl From Ipenema”

Randy gave his speech about the song, “Girl From Ipenema”, its writer, the origin of the song and how he started a new trend called “Bossa Nova”.  He also told us about the similarities of music and speech making.  The singer was asked to perform at a Stan Getz concert and that was the beginning for her career.  The influence of this music can be heard in the jazz of today. 

Speech Evaluator #1:    Sharon gave the evaluation of Randy’s speech.  She stated Randy completed his goals of speech #7.  He collected his information from various sources, he provided the audience with a print out of the subject, used no notes, and had an excellent sense of humor.  Her suggestions were that Randy have more clarity in his speech.  “She got a little lost trying to follow it.”  It would be of benefit if he organized the speech to remain on topic.  Randy had good body language and material, and the ending was “awesome”.  

Lara  was the Table Topics Master. The theme of the meeting was: “Flowers in Full Bloom”; The word of the day was: “Scent”. 

Samya asked for the guests remarks and then closed the meeting. 

Meeting was adjourned at 7:10

May 6, 2013 Club Meeting

Present at the meeting were: Samya Boxberger-Oberoi, Eric Jones, Randy Lee, Lara Miller, Suzanne Mulcahy, David Nazzaro, Emily Panos, Sharon Pappos, Venkat Senapati, Ruth Wadsworth, and Eric Yan.  There were three guests.  

Eric Y. was the Toastmaster; Lara was the General Evaluator; Suzanne was the Grammarian; Randy was the Ah Counter; Suzanne was the Vote Counter: and Ruth was the Timer.

Speaker: Kannappan Singram

Speech:  Winner of Division H International Speech Contest

Title:  “Yes We Can”

Kannappan told the story of a young man, living in India.  He was out dancing and received a phone call from his father, who wanted him to come home the next morning.  His grandmother wanted to see him.  He rushed home only to find out that he was to be married.  He had 15 minutes to get to know his new bride.  With 250 guests arriving, they got married and had two children, without the benefit of falling in love.  

Then they went to the movies to see “Titanic”.  Watching the scene of the lovers, they held hands and discovered the love that they truly felt for each other.  They left the theater holding hands and realized, “Yes We Can” find love.

Speech Evaluator #1:    Emily gave the evaluation of Kannappan’s speech.  She stated that his speech was amazing.  Kannappan paused before he began his speech, had a great opening, and clear objectives.  The story was fantastic, “straight out of a movie”.  Emily loved the dancing, used excellent intonation and different characters.  She suggested that he might want to use a different title.  “Yes You Can” is associated with a different message.   Kannappan gave a clear conclusion and made us want more.

Speech:  Venkat:  Manuel # 2:  “Why and How I Postponed Procrastinating”

Venkat’s speech focused on how understanding the motives beyond procrastinating helped Venkat postpone procrastination.  Procrastination feeds into the animal brain and the desire to seek instant gratification, “the urge that I felt when I was waiting for the last minute to accomplish a task or study”.  Procrastination also feeds into the fear of failure.  It is easy to justify my poor grade due to lack of studying.

Ultimately, Venkat explained that he no longer either the urge to wait until the last minute or the fear of failure determine his behavior.  He now acknowledges his fears and breaks his tasks into smaller pieces.  “I am prepared, and this is how I postpone procrastinating.”

Speech Evaluator #2:  David gave the evaluation of Venkat’s speech.  He stated that Venkat made a big leap forward in his ability to speak.  He was more confident and calm in his delivery.  His subject was very relatable and he used no notes.  Venkat used good examples and descriptions, using tricks on the brain.

Venkat  was the Table Topics Master. The theme of the meeting was: “Cinco de Mayo”; The word of the day was: “Mariachi”. 

Samya asked for the guests remarks and then closed the meeting.  Kannappan liked our agenda and will take it to his own toastmaster meetings.

Meeting was adjourned at 7:17

April 29, 2013 Club Meeting

Present at the meeting were: Samya Boxberger-Oberoi, Eric Jones, Randy Lee, Suzanne Mulcahy, David Nazzaro, Venkat Senapati, Ruth Wadsworth, and Eric Yan. Suzanne was the Toastmaster. Eric Y. was the General Evaluator. Venkat was the Grammarian. Randy was the Ah Counter. Randy was the Vote Counter. Randy was the Timer.

Speaker: David

Manual: Speech  #4  “How to Say It”
Title:  “Humorous Tales”

David created three tales using Toastmaster members as the main characters in each of his stories.  He was very creative in how he integrated Toastmaster members into the tales as he told them.  David invented stories about hippies, Donald Trump, and Al Capone.  He told them with vivid images and made them all believable.  David was able to keep the audience’s attention in each of the story lines.

Speech Evaluator:    Eric J. gave the evaluation of David’s speech.  He stated that David gave excellent stories, and they were very humorous.  He interweaved Toastmaster members very creatively.  He jokingly asked him if the tales were true as he stated them so convincingly.   David showed god voice intonation and volume. 

Speech:   Samya:  Advanced Communication Manual:  “Interpretive Poetry”

Samya read If You Forget Me by Pablo Neruda. 

Samya opened with the biography of the poet and went into his life experiences.  Among his accomplishments, Neruda was the Chilean Ambassador to Mexico and France as well as other countries.  He also won a Nobel Peace Prize.  Samya then read one of his most famous poems - If You Forget Me - with sincere passion for what the poet had tried to convey. 

Speech Evaluator:   Ruth gave the evaluation for Samya.  She stated that Samya gave us good background information on the writer before she read the poem.  It was fascinating to hear all of the details of this poet’s life. Ruth suggested that Samya could have given the poet’s background like a speech and have most of it memorized.  When she read his background and then his poem, it didn’t have a clean break from one to the other.  Overall the poetry reading was very powerful. 

Venkat  was the Table Topics Master. The theme of the meeting was: “Outdoor Living”; The word of the day was: “Alfresco”.

Samya asked for the guests remarks and then closed the meeting.

Meeting was adjourned at 7:15

April 22, 2013 Club Meeting

Present at the meeting were: Samya Boxberger-Oberoi, Randy Lee, Lara Miller, Suzanne Mulcahy, David Nazzaro, Emily Panos, Venkat Senapati, and Ruth Wadsworth. Venkat was the Toastmaster. Samya was the General Evaluator. Ruth was the Grammarian. Suzanne was the Ah Counter. David was the Vote Counter. Lara was the Timer.

Speaker: Emily Panos
Manual: Speech #3 “Get to the Point”
Title: “How to change a tire”

Emily gave a synopsis of her experiences in changing her own tire. She created a 5 step process in doing this task.

1. Be prepared: Be in a safe place and use flares or reflective devices.
2. Have everything you need: Sanitizer, diamond jack, tire iron, etc.
3. Loosen the lug nuts first, while the tire is down.
4. Put diamond jack under the car and crank it up. Take off the lug nuts and place them in a safe place. Remove the old tire and put on the new one. Put the lug nuts on from the top to bottom, then left to right.
5. Put the car down with the weight on the tire, then tighten up the lug nuts. Put everything away and proceed to the nearest store to replace the tire.

Speech Evaluator: David

David gave the evaluation of Emily’s speech. He stated that Emily was well organized, and did not use any notes. She had excellent eye contact, and used good hand gestures. David suggested that Emily could move around a bit more to make her speech more animated. He further stated that her speech was well organized and followed a logical sequence.

Suzanne was the Table Topics Master. The theme of the meeting was: Earth Day; The word of the day was: Sustainable.

April 15, 2013 Club Meeting

Present at the meeting were: Samya Boxberger-Oberoi, Randy Lee, Suzanne Mulcahy, David Nazzaro, Emily Panos, Venkat Senapati, and Eric Yan. Emily was the Toastmaster. Eric Y. was the General Evaluator. David was the Grammarian. Eric Y. was the Ah Counter. David was the Vote Counter. Randy was the Timer.

Speaker: Venkat

Manual: Speech #1
“Ice Breaker”: “Following Your Dreams”

Venkat gave his first speech, “The Ice Breaker”. He did an excellent job of expressing his life’s journey. Venkat began with his life in a village in India. He came from a poor family and “had to work hard for his education”. Venkat was accepted into an engineering college and did very well. He read a book entitled, Tell Me Your Dreams and found a new love for reading.

Venkat next began watching U.S. movies and dreamed of coming to America. This dream also came true and he came to California to complete his education as he continued with his work ethic. He stated that, “This life would be totally unimaginable in my village.”

Venkat ended his speech by saying, “Dream big, work hard, and you can do something to help society.” He wants “to be consumed by a bigger idea.” Venkat, “wants a greater idea where he could lose his identity.”

Speech Evaluator: Suzanne
Suzanne gave the evaluation of Venkat’s speech. She said that his speech enabled the audience to truly get to know him. Venkat was well organized and said his speech was given in chronological order. He used notes sparingly, had a good body to his speech and an excellent conclusion. It was suggested that Venkat create a stronger opening to his speech that tells us what to expect and his purpose. He could also slow down his speaking and pause for a few seconds after making a powerful statement. Venkat spoke from his heart and allowed us to experience his life’s journey.

Samya was the Table Topics Master. The theme of the meeting was: Baseball; The word of the day was: Curve Ball.

April 8, 2013 Club Meeting

Present at the meeting were: Randy Lee, Eric Yan, David Nazzaro, Suzanne Mulcahy, Emily Panos, Venkat Senapati, Samya Boxberger-Oberoi, and Ruth Wadsworth. Suzanne was the Toastmaster. Ruth was the General Evaluator. Venkat was the Grammarian. Randy was the Ah Counter. Randy was the Vote Counter. Eric Y. was the Timer.

Speaker: David Nazzaro

Manual: Speech #2 “Organize Your Speech”

Title: “Ray Lewis”

David gave his second speech enriching his skills of organizing his speech. He gave a very moving talk about the life of Ray Lewis. David began by talking about Ray Lewis as a nine year old boy anxiously awaiting a visit from his father, who never came. He made the life of this young boy seem so alive, we were able to share in his experience of loss and disappointment.

David continued sharing moments in Ray Lewis’ life through specific examples on how he coped with his life by being intensely motivated and exercising through his many low points. His strong abilities to focus and push himself brought him much success.

David ended his speech my sharing the story of Ray Lewis visiting with his father and grandfather for the first time. The insights he gained brought a since of purpose and magic to his life, as he finally broke the cycle of five generations of neglectful fathering.

Speech Evaluator: Samya
Samya gave an evaluation of David’s speech. She said that his speech told the story of human nature. It demonstrated how in one moment of loss, you could take your life in one direction or another with the determination to rise above the situation. David gave vivid images and brought the life of Ray Lewis to life. He was well organized and he gave the presentation in chronological order. Samya’s only suggestion was for David to “chill a little”. He brought his speech to a close with a powerful conclusion about breaking the cycle of generations of neglect. It was an inspiring speech.

Emily was the Table Topics Master. The theme of the meeting was: Spring; The word of the day was: Vernal

April 1, 2013 Club Meeting

Present at the meeting were: Eric Jones, Eric Yan, David Nazzaro, Suzanne Mulcahy, Emily Panos, Venkat Senapati, Samya Boxberger-Oberoi, Ruth Wadsworth, and Randy Groover. Eric Jones was the Toastmaster. Suzanne Mulcahy was the General Evaluator. Emily was the Grammarian. Venkat was the Ah Counter. Samya was the Vote Counter. Emily was the Timer.

Speaker: Eric Yan

Manual: Speech #1 “Ice Breaker”

Title: “Heart of a Lion”

Eric gave an amazing speech sharing his life experiences. He talked about his early life in Anchorage, Alaska. He began by being an outgoing student body officer and stating how excited he was about being elected.
Then a turning point occurred after his father passed away when he was 10 years of age. Eric turned his energy inward and finally became a marathon runner. After fifteen years, he left his “shell” and began to live his full life again. Eric now finds that all of his experiences have made him a much stronger, more giving, loving, and compassionate person. He wants to have a significant impact on this world. He already has.

Speech Evaluator: Randy Groover
Randy gave an evaluation of Eric’s speech. He said that his speech was “one of the most honest and sincere “Ice Breakers” that he has ever heard. With Eric’s sincerity came a sense of power and control in his speech. He told stories to make his points that were very effective. Randy suggested that with time, Eric would be able to leave the comfort of the podium. He also suggested that Eric could end his speech by challenging the audience to apply his principles to their own lives. Randy ended his evaluation by stating that Eric created great texture to his speech and stories that we could all experience.

David Nazzaro was the Table Topics Master. The theme of the meeting was: April Fools; The word of the day was: Pranks

Leadership:

Randy Groover announced that he was retiring from his role as president and treasurer of Chamber Speakers Circle Toastmasters Club. He has done an outstanding job in these roles and he will be truly missed. Effectively immediately, Samya Boxberger-Oberoi was appointed President, and Suzanne Mulcahy, Treasurer.