May 12, 2014 Club Meeting

The following is a summary of the minutes from our May 12th meeting.

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

Attendees:

Present at the meeting were: Samya Boxberger Oberoi, Brenda Chung, Eric Jones, Randy Lee, Glenn Low, Lara Miller, Aditi Mishra, Suzanne Mulcahy, David Nazzaro, Martin Quan, , and Xin Tang.  There were no guests.

Martin was the Toastmaster; David was the General Evaluator; Brenda was the Timer, Glenn was the Grammarian, and Eric was the Ah Counter.

Speaker #1:  Lara – “How to Create an Effective Power Point”

Advanced Manuel #1:    “Speaking to Inform”.

Lara gave an excellent presentation about how to create an effective power point presentation.  She went over the specific details that we need to know to use the power point and how we can present better slides.  Lara showed us ways to present slides using graphs and other methods to make a better presentation.  She gave us the following key points:

1. ·        Use bullet points to present your message.
2. ·        Illustrate with visuals.
3. ·        Avoid paragraphs.
4. ·        Use “SMART” graphs like charts and graphs.
5. ·        Use photo editing.
6. ·        Use animation to reveal key points.
7. ·        Make text large and use color.
8. ·        Distribute hand outs.

Evaluation:  Aditi gave Lara’s speech evaluation.  The speech was very informative and her voice was very commanding.  Lara started with a question that got our attention immediately.  She presented a very relevant topic and gave good examples for us to take away and use. 

Lara was clear and concise, used no “fluff”, and got right to the point. 

Speaker #2:  Suzanne :  Project #9, “Persuade with Power” – “Bullying Behavior Among Our Youth - #3”

Suzanne gave the third speech in the series on bullying behavior and got into the ways of preventing bullying behavior.  She used the power point that we had learned in our club meeting presentations. 

Suzanne began with two approaches to preventing bullying behavior, and then went into teaching the alternative behaviors that are inconsistent with becoming a bully.  She described the four aspects of the human being and went into the primary aspect, the spiritual aspect, which she called the heart.  She ended the speech with a powerful example of how children can use their hearts.

Evaluation:  Samya gave Suzanne’s speech evaluation.  Samya said that Suzanne really knew the subject well and spoke from the heart.  She showed examples where she gave the life skills necessary to counteract this behavior. 

Samya gave the suggestion to bring back the powerful statistics of how much bullying behavior is occurring now in the high schools.  This would bring people back to the urgency of the problem in schools.      

The theme of the meeting was: “Spring” and the Word of the Day was “Blossom”.   Randy was the Table Topics Master.  

Samya closed the meeting. 

Meeting was adjourned at 7:15

May 5, 2014 Club Meeting

The following is a summary of the minutes from our May 5th 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, Lara Miller, Aditi Mishra, Suzanne Mulcahy, David Navarro, Sharon Pappas, Martin Quan, , and Terri Tssoi.  There were two guests, Eugene, and Todd.

Aditi was the Toastmaster; Randy was the General Evaluator; Samya was the Timer, Sharon was the Grammarian, and Fernando was the Ah Counter.

Speaker #1:  Brenda - “Ice Breaker Speech” “My Experiences in Different Countries”

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

Brenda began her speech by telling us that she lived in three different countries from Taiwan to the United States.  She went to three different elementary schools, high school, and then college.  Brenda told us how she learned to adapt to different environments from an early age.

Brenda likes to explore each new place from the culture to the foods.  She loves the outdoors and just began skydiving.  In 2005, Brenda moved to China and worked near Shanghai.  “The Chinese loved to enjoy life and spend money.”  She became motivated to learn about the labor market.  Brenda then studied labor economics and human resource. 

Brenda then came to the United States, where the emphasis was on “critical thinking”, asking questions.  She became more outgoing and had more opinions on things.  Brenda worked in Tennessee and has now moved to California.  She said staying positive was the hardest part, but she is very happy where she is now.

Evaluation:  Suzanne gave Brenda’s speech evaluation.  She began be saying that Brenda gave an excellent first speech.  She went through her life experiences and gave us a glimpse into who she is.  Brenda began by telling us about her early life experiences of moving to different schools and adapting to different environments.  This gave her an appreciation of different cultures and foods and made her very flexible and she learned to love change.

Brenda gave a well-organized speech and it was given in chronological order.  Her speech was easy to follow and she spoke clearly and used good vocal variety.  Brenda gave a strong opening and body, and gave a strong ending with an inspirational quote.  It was suggested that Brenda use fewer subjects and expand on the ones she uses and give some examples.  We loved hearing about Brenda’s background and the different cultures that she experienced.     

Speaker #2:  Martin - “Speech # 8, Speaking to Inform”  - “How to use audio/visual equipment”.

Martin gave a very informative speech about how to use the power point audio/visual equipment and how to enhance our speaking ability with this support.  Martin gave us the following easy to follow directions:

·        Connect the cords.

·        Bring down the screen.

·        Wait for the light bulb to warm up.  It will send a signal from the lap top to the projector. 

·        Control Panel:  You can use a lap top or plug in the DVD or VCR device.

Martin then gave the individual functions for a power point presentation.

Evaluation:  David gave Martin’s speech evaluation.  Martin looked comfortable and confident and took advantage of the use of the room.  He gave his speech step by step and had a good use of visuals. 

David suggested that a hand out would have been useful so that the members could utilize the information after the speech had ended.  He also suggested that it was an important speech and it would have been helpful to have recorded the presentation.

The theme of the meeting was: “Entertainment” and the Word of the Day was “Performance”.   Glenn was the Table Topics Master.  

Samya closed the meeting. 

Meeting was adjourned at 7:15

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 

April 7, 2014 Club Meeting

The following is a summary of the minutes from our April 7th meeting.

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

Attendees:

Present at the meeting were: Samya Boxberger Oberoi, Brenda Chung, Eric Jones, Lara Miller, Aditi Mishra, Suzanne Mulcahy, David Nazzaro, Martin Quan, Xin Tang.  There were no guests.  Glenn

Aditi was the Toastmaster; Eric was the General Evaluator; Glenn was the Timer, Brenda was the Grammarian, and Eric was the Ah Counter.

Speaker #1:  Suzanne:  “Bullying Behavior Among Our Youth – Part II”

Manuel #8:    “Get Comfortable with Visual Aids”

Suzanne began her speech by describing some of the contributing factors of bullying behavior, which included children being exposed to too much violence, and the society being more polarized.  She described the four forms of bullying, physical, verbal, social, and cyber bullying.

Suzanne then described the three players in the bullying scenario.  There is the bully, the victim, and the bystander.  “The life blood of the bully is the bystander.  They love an audience.”  “Experts have said that empowering the bystander to take action, might be the key to stopping bullies.”

Speaker #2:  Samya:  “Building An Aquaponics Garden””

Advanced Manuel, #3:  “Speech to Inform”

Samya described the method that she used to build a sustainable garden system where she could grow organic vegetables.  She used a fish tank with five fish to generate the kind of chemicals and nutrients found in the soil.  This water is then directed up to a gutter system on the top to furnish water for the plants.  This water is filtered and then sent back to the fish tank.  The water is flowing in such a way that it generates oxygen for the fish.

Samya gave her speech with the details of this entire system and how it was built.  She ended her speech by showing us a picture of the completed project.     

Evaluation:  Lara evaluated Suzanne’s speech.  Lara stated that Suzanne was clearly an expert in this field and presented her information well and in an organized way.  Her message was clear and very informative.  Lara suggested that Suzanne use a power point presentation, which would be more effective since it would allow the visuals to be presented in color.  "Suzanne was very succinct and her message was supported by images that illustrated her message but did not overpower her voice or distract from her words."      

Evaluation:  Samya’s speech was given with a group evaluation.  They stated that the demonstration of her new system was ingenious.  One person asked if Samya was an engineer.  She gave her presentation with humor and wonderful detailed information about putting this system together.  Samya captured our attention and really piqued our interest.  Many asked her if she thought of getting venture capital for this idea.  She definitely achieved her objective of taking us through a project to its conclusion.    

The theme of the meeting was: “Baseball” and the Word of the Day was “surreptitious”.   Xin was the Table Topics Master.  

Samya closed the meeting at 7:20 p.m. 

March 31, 2014 Club Meeting

The following is a summary of the minutes from our March 31st meeting.

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

Attendees:

Present at the meeting were: Samya Boxberger Oberoi, Brenda Chung, Eric Jones,  Lara Miller, Suzanne Mulcahy, David Nazzaro, Martin Quan, Xin Tang.  There were three guests: Glenn, Terry, and Nathan.

Lara was the Toastmaster; Samya was the General Evaluator; Eric was the Timer, Martin was the Grammarian, and Brenda was the Ah Counter.

Speaker #1:  Samya:  “The Agenda”

Advanced Manuel:    “Speaking to Inform”

Samya went over the opening of the meeting and the officer’s roles at the meeting.  She then went over the agenda.  The roles are posted in the back of the Communication Manual.  The clubs may vary, but follow this basic format.  When you are new and take on one of these roles, you can contact a more experienced member and seek advice.

·       Toastmaster:  Sets the agenda, organizes and runs the meeting.

·       General Evaluator:  Makes sure the evaluation team is complete.  This team includes:  The Grammarian, Ah Counter, Vote Counter, Timer, and Speech Evaluators.

·       Speakers:  Members are chosen the week before, and prepare their speeches to the specification of the project number.

·       Table Topics Master:  Member is in charge of the impromptu speaking.  He/she asks members questions based on the theme of the meeting.  The members answer spontaneously.

Samya did this speech at the last minute.  The guest speaker was unable to attend. 

Speaker #2:  David:  “Defense of Insanity Plea”

Advanced Manuel:  “Speech to Inform”

David explained the legal definition of how to use the "insanity plea".  It does not follow the medical model.  You must use one of the following insanity test measures:

1   1.   McNaghten Test:  The defendant did not understand “right” from “wrong” during the time he committed the crime.  This is a very difficult standard to meet.  If you run away or try to cover up your crime, you can’t use this defense.

2   2.  “Irresistible Impulse”:  (Focuses on the act) You are unable to control your actions.

3   3.   Mens Rea Defense:  There is some kind of defect in the person’s mind.

4   4.   Durham Rule:  This is a rule in New Hampshire.  A psychiatrist states that there is a defect of mental capacity.

David gave a last minute speech as well.  The second speaker also could not attend the meeting.

Evaluation:  Suzanne evaluated Samya.  She began by stating that the speech was very clear and easy to follow.  It was valuable information, especially for the new members.  Samya used the visual of the CC Manual to indicate where the information could be found.  It would have been better to use more visuals to indicate the specific roles but, since this was a spontaneous speech, there was no time to prepare for this.

Samya’s overall speech was very effective and satisfied the objective of speaking to inform.

Evaluation:  David’s speech received a group evaluation.  It was stated that David was well organized and articulate.  "He expresses legal terms at a level that the audience can relate to and understand this difficult subject.  Lara gave the comment that David gave an excellent speech and used the board to write down the legal terms.  She suggested that he put his speech on a power point.    

The theme of the meeting was: “Merry Pranks” and the Word of the Day was “Mischievous”.   David was the Table Topics Master.  

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

Meeting was adjourned at 7:15 

March 24, 2014 Club Meeting

The following is a summary of the minutes from our March 24th meeting.

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

Attendees:

Present at the meeting were: Samya Boxberger Oberoi, Brenda Chung, Eric Jones, Randy Lee, Lara Miller, Aditi Mishra, Suzanne Mulcahy, David Nazzaro, Martin Quan, Xin Tang, and Ruth Wadsworth.  There were two guests: Glenn, and Terry.

Samya inducted the new members:  Brenda Chung, Aditi Mishra, Xin Tang, Trey Zhou, and Martin Quan.

Eric was the Toastmaster; Brenda was the General Evaluator; Xin was the Timer, Lara was the Grammarian, and Martin was the Ah Counter.

Speaker #1:  Suzanne:  “Bullying Behavior Among our Youth”

Manuel:  #7   “Research Your Topic”

Suzanne gave the definition of bullying:  “Bullying is the use of force or coercion to abuse or intimidate others.”  She then gave the following statistics:

·       1.   56% of all students witness a bullying crime in their schools.

·       2.   15% of all student absences are from the fear of being bullied.

·        3.  71% of students report bullying as an ongoing problem.

·       4.   282,000 students report being attacked in high school each month.

Suzanne used visuals that showed a girl who was alone and could easily become a victim of bullying.  She also spoke about the dramatic increase in the suicide rate among children because of bullying. 

Suzanne concluded her speech with the following data:

·        1.  Bullying crosses all cultures and occurs in all communities.

·        2.  It is the strongest between the ages of 6 to 14 years.

·        3. 18% of preschool children are targets.

·        4. 17% of preschool children are bullies.

·        5.  Bullying behavior has a lasting impact.

Speaker #2:  David:  “From Solicitation to Attempt”

Advanced Manuel:  #1 “Speech to Inform”

David explained the distinction of an incomplete crime from a completed crime.  He went through the following processes:

·        1.  Thoughts:  Request that someone else will commit the crime on your behalf.

·        2.  Solicitation:  Meet with someone and have a meeting of the minds, reach an agreement.

·        3.  Preparation:  Low threshold of criminal conspiracy when two or more agree to commit a crime.

·        4.  Perpetration:  Make an attempt to commit the crime.

Evaluation:  Samya evaluated Suzanne.  She began by stating that the numbers of bullying behavior are “mind boggling”.  Suzanne’s speech was well researched, with good vocal variety.  She remained on topic through the entire speech. 

Samya recommended that Suzanne move a bit more and begin the speech with the definition to bullying behavior.  Samya was surprised with the facts that bullying was cross cultural and the enormity of the problem.  She said the speech was well delivered.    

Evaluation:  Martin evaluated David’s speech.  He stated that David gave a very good speech and very informative.  The subject was very complex but he used charts and gave us specific explanations so that we could follow what he was saying.

David remained on one side of his charts and perhaps he could have moved more to the other side; however, his speech was well written and flowed smoothly.  He definitely met his objective of speaking to inform.

The theme of the meeting was: “Spring” and the Word of the Day was “Spectrum”.  Ruth was the Table Topics Master.   

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

Meeting was adjourned at 7:25