April 28, 2014 Club Meeting

The following is a summary of the minutes from our April 28th meeting.

Meeting Location:   San Mateo City Hall, San Mateo, CA     6:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.

Attendees:

Present at the meeting were: Fernando Albayeros, Samya Boxberger Oberoi, Brenda Chung, Randy Lee, Glenn Low, Aditi Mishra, Suzanne Mulcahy, David Navarro, Sharon Pappas, Martin Quan, Ruth Wadsworth, and Try Zhou.  There were no guests.

Randy was the Toastmaster; Suzanne was the General Evaluator; Martin was the Timer, Aditi was the Grammarian, and Brenda was the Ah Counter.

Speaker #1:  Fernando - “Ice Breaker Speech” “Do Hard Things”

Manuel #1:    “Begin speaking before an audience and to discover your speaking skills.”

Fernando began his speech by telling us that when he was in high school, he only did the minimum amount of work to get by.  Then in his senior year, he decided to make the extra effort and “do the work”.  He was able to get all “A’s”.  Doing the hard things made him get out of his comfort zone.

Fernando went on to college and to the university for his engineering degree.  He continued on with his life by getting out of his comfort zone.  Fernando went on to tell us about his experience traveling to Europe.  It was his wife’s idea and she did everything to prepare for the trip.  While Fernando was there, he had a wonderful time and was very happy that he had gone.  It opened his eyes to art and he was able to get a whole new perspective on life.  

Evaluation:  Ruth gave Fernando’s speech evaluation.  She began by saying how impressed she was that he did not use any notes.  Fernando gave a wonderful first speech.  He started a little “laid back” and then got really into his speech.  Fernando showed a “smart determined mind”.  His speech was well organized and well prepared. 

Ruth suggested that he slow down a little and maybe have a stronger introduction.  She acknowledged Fernando for having an overall great first speech.

Speaker #2:  David - “How an Idea Can Become a Crime”

Advanced Manuel:    “Speaking to Inform

David gave a very compelling speech that gave us further insight into what it takes to commit a crime in the eyes of the law.  He went through the steps to go from solicitation to attempt.

David gave us the definition of the four stages

1.Think about a crime.

2. Solicitation – Solicit someone to assist you in a crime.

3.Conspiracy - You reach an agreement.

4   4. Attempt - Beyond preparation into perpetration.

David gave a very creative preparation of this speech and used cartoon characters to illustrate his points, which were Batman and Jerry (Tom and Jerry).  This also made it very entertaining.

Evaluation:  Glenn gave David’s speech evaluation.  He began by stating that he liked the use of the bullet points.  It made it easier to follow.  He also liked the use of the cartoon characters and simple language. 

Glenn suggested that he use more examples, quotes, or questions, which would get the audience’s attention.  He told David that he liked his use of the chart, which helped clarify the points.

The theme of the meeting was: “Team Building” and the Word of the Day was “Champion”.   Samya was the Table Topics Master.  

Samya closed the meeting. 

Meeting was adjourned at 7:15

April 14, 2014 Club Meeting

The following is a summary of the minutes from our April 14th meeting.

Meeting Location:   San Mateo City Hall, San Mateo, CA     6:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.

Attendees:

Present at the meeting were: Fernando Albayeros, Samya Boxberger Oberoi, Brenda Chung, Glenn Low, Lara Miller, Suzanne Mulcahy, Xin Tang, Terri, Ruth Wadsworth, and Try Zhou.  There were no guests. 

Trey was the Toastmaster; Xin was the General Evaluator; Suzanne was the Timer, Samya was the Grammarian, and Lara was the Ah Counter.

Speaker #1:  Glenn:  “Ice Breaker Speech”

Manuel #1:    “Begin speaking before an audience and to discover your speaking skills.”

Glenn began his speech by describing getting “butterflies” in his stomach, a situation with which we could all easily identify.  He then took on a journey of his childhood experiences in Singapore.  Glenn gave us some statistics about Singapore and used San Francisco as a frame of reference.  It again made it is easy for us to relate with and gave us a real feeling for Singapore. 

Glenn went into the culture, financial center, and the food as well as giving us a history of the British and why they spoke English, then Chinese, followed by other languages. 

Glenn gave an excellent first speech and gave a very colorful impression of his country.     

Evaluation:  Glenn’s speech was given a group evaluation.  Some of the highlights from this evaluation and as follows:

1.    Started with a quote about butterflies, which was very effective.

2.    Asked questions of the audience and brought us into the speech.

3.    Knew his topic very well.

4.    We got to know Singapore and its rich culture.  He also used the visual of a map of Singapore.

5.    He did not use any notes.

6.    His transitions were very smooth.

7.    Glenn used good examples.

8.    He used very few filler words.

The suggestions for future speeches were:

1.    Glenn could pause between breaks in his ideas.

2.    Slow down his delivery a little.

3.    Interject a few personal stories.

The theme of the meeting was: “Self-Improvement” and the Word of the Day was “Commitment”.   Brenda was the Table Topics Master.  

Samya closed the meeting. 

Meeting was adjourned at 7:15