June 10, 2013 Club Meeting

The following is a summary of the minutes from our June 10th meeting.

Meeting Location:   The Hillsdale Mall, San Mateo, CA     6:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.

Attendees:

Present at the meeting were: Samya Boxberger-Oberoi, Eric Jones, Ron Kasper, Randy Lee, Lara Miller, Suzanne Mulcahy, Emily Panos, Venkat Senapati, Jim Spath, Ruth Wadsworth, and Eric Yan.  There were three guests:  Tom, Nancy, and Neville. 

Ruth was the Toastmaster; Randy was the General Evaluator; Samya was the Grammarian; Eric Y. was the Ah Counter; Ron was the Vote Counter, and Lara was the Timer.

Speaker #1:  Venkat

Manuel:  #3   “Getting to the Point”

Speech:  “Why Fear is a Good Thing?”

Venkat began his speech by describing fear.  He mentioned the common belief that “fear is related to weakness”. Venkat went on to say that fear is a real feeling and it is important to evaluate and find the purpose of the fear. 

Venkat gave two basic reasons we have fear.

       1.    Fear is for our survival, a basic instinct that keeps us safe.

       2.    Fear can also be a motivator, brings new meaning to our lives. 

Venkat gave an example from his own life.  He jumped, tethered to a cord, 50 feet above grand.  He went through the terror of his first jump to an “enlightening” experience after doing many jumps.  He also gave his experience giving speeches at Toastmasters.

Venkat ended his speech by stating that fear comes from our thoughts, which lead to our emotions.  They are not permanent.  “Try not to escape the fear, but use it.

Evaluation:  Suzanne gave the evaluation for Venkat.  She stated that his speech was well organized and the purpose was very clear and he used a good topic with which we could all easily identify. 

The opening gave us the topic purpose right away.  Venkat stated two basic reasons for fear and also gave us two excellent examples from his own experiences that brought these to life. 

The suggestions to improve his speaking were to slow down a bit and provide pauses when he gave his main points, which would allow the audience to take in the information.  Venkat ended the speech with a quote that brought it all together and gave it an excellent closure.  

  

Speaker #2:  Jim

Manuel:  #1   “Ice Breaker”

Speech:   “Traveling Around the USA”

Jim began his speech by describing his childhood home and the close relationships he had developed there, in northern New York .  He talked about attending a local college in order to maintain these close ties.

At the graduate level, Jim decided to venture out and attended the University of Arizona.  After graduation, he took a job in Texas where he met his wife.  Jim relocated to Los Angeles and then after a few years went back to New York.  He ended up moving to Seattle to complete raising his children.

Jim and his wife are now living in the Bay Area with his children located in various locations on the west coast.  He ended his speech by giving us the positive and negative aspects of traveling with his family around the USA.  

Evvaluation:    Emily was the evaluator for Jim’s speech.  She began by stating that Jim was well prepared for his speech and did not use any notes.  He had a clear opening, body, and conclusion to his speech.  We were able to really get an experience of who Jim was. 

Emily suggested that he could improve by moving about the room a little more and slowing down and pausing at key points in his speech.  She also stated that she loved his use of humor, and that he had a great ending to his speech by giving the positive and negative aspects of moving his family around to the different areas in the U.S. 

Eric J. was the Table Topics Master. The theme of the meeting was: “fathers”; the word of the day was: “gift”.  Tom won the Table Topics ribbon.

  

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

Meeting was adjourned at 7:20