January 26, 2015 Club Meeting

Chamber Speakers Circle Toastmasters

January 26, 2015

Attendees: David N., Samya, David K., Suzanne, Randy, Kira, Lief, Martin, Lefteris, Annamarie, and Kira

Guests: Four new guests

Theme of the day:  Freedom of Speech

Word of the day:  “Censorship”

Lief was the Toastmaster; Annamarie was the General Evaluator; David N. was the Grammarian, David K. was the Ah Counter, and Suzanne was the Timer.

Samya opened the meeting and made the announcement about holding our club contest on 2/23/15 from 6:00 to 7:30.  There will be two categories; 1) The Tall Tales Contest for anyone of the members, and 2) The International Speech Contest for members that have given at least six speeches.  Contestants volunteered and both categories were filled.

Speaker #1:  Randy, – “The Best Way To Get Someone To Do Something Is To Tell Them Not To Do It”        

Randy began his speech by telling how as a child, he and his brother delighted doing things that they were told not to do.  Even as adults people will sometimes deliberately do the opposite of what they were told to do.

Randy told us one story when he was a child and his brother came up with the idea of going to the bathroom on a gas heater to manipulate the flames.  One time Randy did this on his own and all of the flames went out.  He worried about this and tried to figure a way to fix this problem.  He could come up with nothing and did not report this to his parents from fear of being punished. 

Their house caught on fire after this, but it is unknown what caused the fire so the incidences may very well be unrelated.  Randy shared about how this event shaped his life as he felt responsible.  “He never healed”, until he found music, the universal language, and leaned to play an instrument and sing. 

Randy then came to Toastmasters and discovered the healing effect of communication.  “Words can help us connect.”   In giving speeches and sharing our experiences, we can truly connect with people in a meaningful way.  This is what Randy called, “The Therapeutic Benefit of Toastmasters”.

Speaker #2:  Martin – “This Is Your Year – 2015”       

Martin opened his speech by describing New Year’s Resolutions, which are firm decisions to do or not do something.  He mentioned the top ten most often used.  Martin suggested that we keep our resolutions simple and not “far fetched”.  He said that 47% of people make resolutions; 17% sometimes make them; and 38% never make them.

Of those people making resolutions, only 8% achieve them.  This lack of success is from the following reasons:

1.    We don’t really mean it.

2.    We make it for someone else.

3.    The resolutions are not specific enough.

4.    They are not ongoing, sustainable.

5.    Change can mean losing something.

Martin indicated ways that we can become part of this 8%.

1.    Write down our resolutions.

2.    Be realistic.

3.    Share them with others.

4.    Make it a priority.

5.    Create a routine.

6.    Reward yourself.

“The most you get out of life is what you put into it.”

Speaker #3:  Aditi, Project #7  - If You Are Not On Line, You Don’t Exist”       

Do you have an online identity?  There are only about 20 people that I really interact with directly.  The others are online.  How does this define me?  There are 8 billion people vying for an online identity.  You must be authentic when you share about yourself.  Aditi described the various ways to identify yourself on line using facebook, linkedin, twitter, etc.  None of us can escape an online identity so we should embrace it and utilize it to our advantage. 

Annamarie called on her team of evaluators.

Evaluator #1:  Kira evaluated Randy.  Kira stated that she liked Randy’s enthusiasm and his animation.  His speech was entertaining and at the same time very poignant.  Kira finally was able to understand the story toward the end when it all came together for her.  Randy spoke from his heart and the audience was very connected throughout his speech. 

Evaluator #2:  Lefteris evaluated Martin.  This was a beautiful speech from the beginning, through the middle and at the end.  It was well organized.  What Martin said was more engaging than the slides that he used.  Lefteris stated that the statistics were a little confusing and could use a little more explanation.  Overall, the speech was wonderful and the tone of voice was very good.

Evaluator #3:  Samya evaluated Aditi.  Aditi had a very strong opening.  It brought me into her speech right away.  Aditi gave excellent reasons for getting online.  She was very persuasive.  If you have a very strong worldwide presence, then you can be known for exactly what you desire.  Aditi provided great solutions.  Embrace it, don’t fake it.  Aditi had good eye contact and looked friendly and confident.

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