With 15 members and 3 guests, today's attendance was excellent for this date, due to graduation. Warner Howser returned after a long hiatus as TMoD (it not being tax season) and led the club through an outstanding meeting. With a seasonally-appropriate theme of "Summer Movies," the attendees were reminded of our own favorite movies while also hearing Warner's. (His all-time favorite movie is "Citizen Kane" by the way).
Karen Woodson's Opening Remarks gave a great hint at the theme by consisting almost entirely of movie titles:
Donna Cunningham expertly led Table Topics, calling on Warner (by request), a guest, and Brian Anderson. Brian's response to the question about whether "reality tv" actually serves a purpose was voted best Table Topics. Brian's winning Table Topics response:
We were treated to three outstanding prepared speeches. Emilie Staryak explored the breadth of nonverbal communication and showed eloquently, with both words and gestures, how we communicate without actually saying anything. Eric Guttmann gave an energetic account of his grueling three day fitness ordeal, especially how he loveshates climbing mountains. Finally, Robin Walker gave bade farewell to the club by recounting his experiences in Toastmasters with his first club in Washington D.C., how he came to NPS Toastmasters, and grew to appreciate it deeply. Robin has of course recently led the club to President's Distinguished status in record time, and has set the bar very high for all leaders in the club to follow. You will be missed!
Emilie Staryak's #5 speech, Speak Without Saying a Word. Emilie won "Most Improved" for it
Eric Guttmann's #4 speech "Elite Combat Fitness"
Robin Walker's Farewell speech. Robin won "Best Speaker"
The meeting ended on a poignant note, with club president Angi Anderson presenting Robin with a plaque in appreciation for his leadership as president and with the fond best wishes of us all.
Angi gives Robin his President's plaque, with a bonus haiku!
Robin Walker led an awesome meeting with the theme of "The Senate" - very appropriate on several levels. One of course is the fact that both major Presidential candidates are currently in the Senate. Another is Robin's past work with Senators, and of course the fact that someday in the near future may very well find him among that elite crowd. With 13 members and 2 guests, the attendance was lower than recent meetings. We made up for it in extra enthusiastic clapping. Also, it being the last day of classes, attendance at this meeting is historically low.
Tito DeJesus set the enthusiastic tone for the meeting with his Opening Remarks, showing a painting of the Roman Senate and climaxing by quoting Cicero - in Latin! Tito DeJesus' Opening Remarks;
Brian Anderson led an impeccable Table Topics, calling on John Armstrong, Angi Anderson, and Robin Walker, with Robin being voted best Table Topics speaker for his explanation of why all those in the Senate should wear togas for humility sake (although he doesn't care to look at them in that garb). Robin Walker's winning Table Topics response:
Joyce Laker led off the prepared speeches with another moving description of the travails in Africa, this time the problems in Rwanda, and the failure of diplomacy and the UN to solve them. Joyce Joyce Laker's #7 Speech Failed Diplomacy:
Art Testani went next with an "off the cuff" speech from the advanced manual "Specialty Speeches." In this one, he had evaluator Angi Anderson choose one of five topics at random, and Art gave a 5-7 minute speech on the one chosen. The one picked was "Global Accounts" and we got treated to a clear explanation of how Cisco Systems deals with them. Art Testani's speech #1 (Speaking off the Cuff) from advanced manual Specialty Speeches, Global Accounts:
Finally, Arnie Buss gave speech #7 from his fourth time through the CC manual. This manual has the theme of "Servant Leadership" (all speeches are on that same general topic), and was about Bayard Rustin, a man whom Arnie feels embodied Servant Leadership in his lifelong efforts towards social justice, particularly racial equality. Arnie Buss' #7 speech Servant Leadership and Social Justice: A Portrait:
Three excellent evaluation followed. Alex Bein evaluated Joyce, Angi Anderson evaluated Art, and Carl Thormeyer evaluated Arnie. General Evaluator Emilie Staryak gave the nod to Angi for Best Evaluator.
Art Testani led a picture-perfect meeting in his first time as TMoD for NPS. Although one of the newer members of the club, Art is a seasoned Toastmaster, having earned his CTM and CL at his previous club. With a theme of great quotations, the 15 members and 2 guests were regaled throughout the meeting with inspiring and humorous quotes from the likes of Winston Churchill, George Bernard Shaw, and John F. Kennedy.
The meeting got off to a great start with the induction of Glenn Cameron, who is also not a newcomer to Toastmasters. Leading Table Topics was veteran member Fred Sadler, who called on our newest member Glenn Cameron, the "other" Glenn, Glenn Woodson, and Tito DeJesus, with Tito garnering Best Table Topics Speaker.
Three outstanding speeches followed. Bill Gibbons gave an alliterative and inspiring speech #4 on running the Big Sur Marathon, for which he shared Best Speaker and was also voted Most Improved speaker. Cathy Lee gave an informative and entertaining look at the World Wide Web, and Chance Litton finished with a look into the world of a hard-core computer gamer, for which he chared the other half of Best Speaker.
Bill Gibbons' #4 Speech Running on the Ragged Edge of the Western World:
Cathy Lee's #2 Speech from the Speaking to Inform Advanced Manual, The Incredible Web:
Chance Litton's #4 speech The Joy of Conquest:
Evaluations were by two veterans, Angie Anderson and Arnie Buss, as well as John Armstrong in his first evaluation. Arnie was given Best Evaluator by GE Brian Anderson.
Smedley Saturday Update
A small but mighty Smedley Saturday was held, with Art Testani, Angi Anderson, and Arnie Buss taking turns giving speeches, evaluating, and timing. Art gave a speech from the advanced manual on Public Relations "The Radio Interview," Arnie gave speech #8 from his third time through the CC manual Child Parent Aware, and Angi gave speech #2 from the "Humorously Speaking" advanced manual Breaking Up is Hard to Do. Those who weren't there missed out on a real Saturday afternoon treat!
With 21 members and 4 guests (including Fred Sadler's wife Edi), Leena Oh's second time as TMoD was welcomed by a full house. With a very pertinent theme of "Traveling in Monterey," our glorious Peninsula was honored throughout the meeting with useful information and reverence. As an experienced TMoD, Leena presided over a fun-filled, educational, and entertaining meeting.
Art Testani's Opening Remarks deserve a listening:
Table Topics Master Joyce Laker kept us on our toes - or at least kept Alex Bein, Robin Walker, and Fred Sadler on their toes with challenging and relevant questions. Fred was awarded best Table Topics speaker, and his winning speech is show below:
The prepared speeches got off to an amazing start as Bill Gibbons presented an informative and very entertaining speech, explaining rainbows, the "22° halo," and mini-mirages. For his fantastic speech he was voted best speaker. In only his third speech, Bill has demonstrated his fantastic speaking and communicating skills!
Bill Gibbons' #3 speech It's Just Bent Light:
John Armstrong followed with his #4 speech about the challenges of coming up with a topic for a speech. For his humorous and entertaining coverage of a topic we have all struggled with, John received "Most Improved Speaker."
John Armstrong's #4 speech So Many Topics, So Little Time:
Chance Litton batted cleanup with his #6 speech along similar themes - procrastination. Extolling the virtues of never doing today what can be put off until tomorrow, Chance was entertaining as always and filled with humor. Chance Litton's #6 speech The Art of Procrastination:
Three excellent evaluations were given by Alex Bein (for Bill) Cathy Lee (for John) and Carl Thormeyer (for Chance). General Evaluator Brian Anderson completed the evaluation portion of the meeting with insightful overall feedback on the entire meeting and detailed evaluation of the speech evaluators, selecting Alex as Best Evaluator.
Eighteen members and three guests enthusiastically welcomed Eric Guttmann's first foray as TMOD, and all contributed to another great meeting! Donna Cunningham won both "Best Speaker" and "Most Improved" with her descriptions of her private spaces where she finds inner peace, while long-time Toastmaster (and one of our club's newest members) Art Testani treated us with an icebreaker of sorts, describing how he got into Toastmasters and what it has meant to him (see below for both speeches).
Best Evaluator was Robin Walker, who made the effort to coordinate with his assigned speaker (Donna) ahead of time. Best "Table Topics" went to John Armstrong.
On the Horizon: May 16-17: District 4 Spring Conference, Elections, and Speech Contest (our own Arnie Buss is representing Division A in the International Speech Contest, competing against speakers from the seven other Divisions!) See www.d4tm.org for details.
Art Testani's Advanced Speech from Public Relations, #1 "The Good Will Speech" titled Toastmasters, Gandhi, and Me:
With 18 members present and two guests (both of whom have decided to join), Brian Anderson led a picture-perfect, well-prepared, Marine-quality meeting as TMOD - with a theme of (you guessed it) - "Preparation"! Brian's performance was a tremendous example of how to execute the TMOD role effectively, efficiently, and with aplomb.
We had three excellent speakers, but no videographer (even though the camera seemed to be running from afar). There was a tie for "Best Speaker" between Robin Walker (Evaluate to Motivate module) and Alex Bein (who made his arcane thesis project understandable and fun). It might have been a three-way tie if Chance Litton hadn't gone overtime with his funniest speech since his Fall contest winner, which described his nominees for the five worst "bad-guys" of all time! For both Chance and Alex, it was their #4 speech in the CC manual. Robin did the Evaluation module his way, which made it much more useful and up to date. His outline is now on our Web page. Cathy Lee won "Best Evaluator" for her insightful evaluation of Robin, while Alex Bein was voted "Most Improved".
Emilie Staryak did a great job leading Table Topics on the theme of preparation or lack thereof, with new members Art Testani and Tito deJesus competing along with Fred Sadler. Fred won "Best Table Topics" largely on his uniquely skillful stalling techniques!
All the club's latest educational accomplishments have now shown up on the TI WHQ Web site. If they allowed us more than 10 goals, we would have 18 (including six CCs, five CLs, and 20 new members)!
With the recent and pending graduations of several very active members, our recruiting must continue. Our club has acquired former Toastmasters from other Divisions and Districts as members. This should enrich our club through the importation of ideas that have succeeded elsewhere.
With 18 members and 3 guests, we had another high-energy, action-packed and fun-filled meeting! Veteran Toastmaster Robin Walker presided over a fast-paced meeting with a very relevant theme of "Political Campaigns." Spicing the meeting with his personal experiences of being involved in campaigning, Robin was inspiring in his call to get involved with the political process. Robin, as usual, spiced up the meeting further by altering the normal format to give us some variety in programming --- speakers were first, then table topics, then evaluations! Fred Sadler led a theme-oriented table topics, which was won by Mary Lineberger's guest Erica Hemmingway, speaking about what she would do if Governor for a day. Erica is moving to San Francisco and hopes to join Toastmasters there.
Cathy Lee's Opening Remarks:
Robin Walker's introductory remarks:
Bill Gibbons presents his #2 speech, for which he won both "Best Speaker" and "Most Improved". He was evaluated by Angi Anderson, who won "Best Evaluator" for her effort.
Mary Lineberger, assisted by Carl Thormeyer, tackles an assignment in the Public Relations advanced manual involving a radio show interview.
The meeting ended with a recognition of Angi Anderson as the 2007-2008 NPS Toastmaster of the Year - congratulations Angi! She has been such an inspiration to the club with her warmth, energy, and enthusiasm ever since joining. She has served as VP Public Relations, during which time she revived our dormant club newsletter, as VP Education, where she effectively led and shepherded members to achieve their educational goals, to her current role as club president, where she continues to inspire with her leadership. Angi exemplifies by both word and deed what Toastmasters is all about.
And of course last but not least, you all know by now that Arnie won the Division A International Speech Contest on Saturday, and will compete next in the District 4 contest in May. Arnie also was awarded "Division A Toastmaster of the Year"! Congratulations!
Our awesome club also received special recognition as the first club in District 4 to achieve all 10 DCP goals and "President's Distinguished Club" status!
Another great crowd of 19 members and two guests enjoyed our April 4th meeting, which was ably run by first-time TMOD Elie Ishag with his theme of Spring. Impeccably dressed and professionally smooth, Elie navigated us through another soul-satisfying meeting featuring Cathy Lee's #10 speech and John Armstrong's #3 speech. Cathy completed her requirements for the "Competent Communicator (CC)" award with a wonderfully motivating talk about spiritual encouragement, and won "Best Speaker" as well! John won "Most Improved" with his talk about the importance of our national parks. Winning "Best Table Topics" was Glenn Woodson, who took the opportunity to plea for volunteers for the upcoming Sea Otter Classic bicycle races at Laguna Seca, while GE Fred Sadler chose Carl Thormeyer as "Best Evaluator" for his review of Cathy's #10 speech.
The new members keep rolling in (to replace those leaving), as first-time guest Walter Bilger joined immediately, and another first-time guest Tito deJesus indicating he would be joining soon. Welcome, Walt!
Cathy Lee's completion of her CC gives NPS TM six CCs for the year, which goes a long way toward helping District 4 meet its goals. Go to http://www.d4tm.org/ to see NPS Toastmasters standing alone atop District 4's Distinguished Club Plan ladder from over 200 clubs between San Francisco and King City!
We will miss Elie and Rosetta Ishag, who are returning to their other home in London this week, but they will be coming back to Carmel in July.
Although the electricity was out, there was no shortage of star power, when a fearless band of Toastmasters from Club # 2032 met in the third floor hallway of Glasgow Hall using the natural light available from adjacent windows. TMoD Fred Sadler opened the meeting with some historical information on TM's dedicated founder Ralph Smedley.
Speakers included Cathy Lee presenting a fascinating advanced speech on "Hardwired for Happiness", Rachelle Onishi demonstrating the game of "Balderdash", also an advanced manual speech and Arnie Buss giving his #5 speech from the basic manual (his third time through) entitled "Listen". Evaluations were by Emilie Staryak, Cathy Lee and Art Testani.
Arnie Buss was awarded best speaker by vote counter John Armstrong, Cathy Lee won most improved and new member Art Testani won best evaluator. Donna Cunningham was the timer. Elie Ishag and one distinguished guest - Nancy Buss provided support and kept the sparks flying.
With 21 members and 2 guests, Donna Cunningham's first time as TMoD was to a well-attended, full, and fun-filled meeting. Choosing a theme of "Celebrations" in keeping with today being graduation day at the Naval Postgraduate School, Donna expetly guided us through the various parts of the meeting smoothly - one would hardly know this was her first time doing it. Congratulations!
We began the meeting with Acting President Fred Sadler inducting Art Testani, our newest member, into the club. Art has been in Toastmasters for a number of years before moving to San Juan Batista. Welcome Art!
Margaret Stevens led a rousing Table Topics, putting Glenn Woodson, Art Testani and Elie Ishag on the spot. Glenn carried the day winning Best Table Topics speaker.
Three outstanding speeches followed. First Rosetta Ishag gave her #4 speech Profits of the Journey, painting eloquent word pictures of a twenty year journey about growth as a mother - from the "oyster bed" of an empty nest to a spiritual awakening that has been made manifest in her relationship. Rosetta was voted Best Speaker for this wonderful account of her journey over the past 20 years. Next, Leena Oh gave her #4 speech The House on Silver Springs Lake. She related her fond memories of a beloved vacation house. Finally, Emilie Saryak gave her #3 speech Lessons Learned in Napa about the anniversary weekend of wine tasting she and her husband went on, in which they learned to love wine tasting. She won Most Improved speaker for her entertaining and informative peek into wine tasting and Napa Valley. Three excellent evaluations were given by Arnie Buss, Eric Guttman, and Alex Bein, with Arnie being given Best Evaluator by GE Elizabeth Guzman.
The meeting ended with Arnie being acknowledged for having won the Area A1 speech contest and also for having been selected Toastmaster of the Year for Area A1. Congratulations!
Hello fellow TMs! I am posting to share that I observed and evaluated Joyce Laker this week in her #3 Speech: Public International Law & Diplomacy: Case Study of Darfur. Joyce presented a well-organized speech on the complexity of this conflict: including the roles of the various political and diplomatic bodies. It was a very professional and informative speech. I truly wish it had been recorded because I learned so much and was very inspired by her presentation. We can expect to see many more powerful speeches from Joyce as she shares her passion about humanitarian issues in Africa with us.
And on another exciting note, I have just received an update from past NPS TM member and Monterey Institute graduate, Fumie Nakamura. She came to the us as a shy pastry chef from Japan. She found her passion at the Monterey Institute, but she found her voice at the NPS Toastmasters Club. She has gone on to work for the United Nations, and just recently completed an assignment in Darfur. Here is a link to an article that was published about her work in Sudan in the newsletter of the United Nations Development Programme. She is now back in New York at the United Nations Headquarters and she tells me she will join the UN TM club there!
With 23 members and 6 guests, Glasgow Hall room 389 provided a "packed house" for Alex Bein in his inaugural venture as TMoD. And what a fantastic meeting Alex ran! Alex's theme of "New Beginnings" was appropriate on many levels. At this meeting, we said goodbye to Zeki Yildirim, and wish him all the best in his return to Turkey, his beloved home.
From the inspiring opening remarks by Joyce Laker about "new beginnings" and a mother's love...
...to the thorough and positive evaluations, the meeting sizzled with energy and excitement.
Adopting a prepared speakers-first format, we were treated to Zeki's #4 speech Goodbye in which he gave a heartfelt summary of his time in Monterey and specifically his appreciation for NPS Toastmasters. He finished with an invitation to come to Turkey to visit him - be careful of what you ask for Zeki, we might just take you up on that! Zeki was voted "Most Improved" speaker for his farewell effort.
Alex Metz conducted a clinic on Table Topics with great questions, which were followed by terrific answers. Robin Walker narrowly won Best Table topics speaker.
The program concluded with the kind of quality evaluations we are accustomed to hearing. Leena Oh evaluated Zeki and gave encouragement and some good suggestions for improvement.
Don't forget:
Dues are due - get your check for #39.00 to club Treasurer Warner Howser
Tomorrow (March 22) - the Area Table Topics and International Speech Contests, to be held at the Salinas Agricutural Center on Abbott Road in Salinas.
Smedley Saturday is March 29, and will be held in Glasgow 389 at 1 pm (our usual club meeting room), not at La Mesa. Please contact Fred Sadler if you have a speech to give, or if you would like to complete a role in your CL manual (Evaluator, TMoD, Timer).
Last week's blog was late in getting posted - be sure to check it out. Just scroll down a bit!
Chance Litton has returned - and our meeting was full of his energy, humor, and enthusiasm (some sample "Chance-isms are below)! Epitomizing the attitude of our remarkable members, Chance stepped in to be TMoD and ran a thoroughly entertaining and fun-filled meeting. With a theme of "What's in a Name," we learned many things about the origins of our names. Not the least of which was our TMoD's official name being Charles (Carlos) Chance Litton. And that one must be verry careful when Googling his name!
Eric Guttman ran table topics with a creative game where the participant drew a card with a well-known personality and had to give an introduction as that person. Brian Anderson proved why he is our current club champion at table topics with his impassioned rendition of Col Jessup from "A Few Good Men," Emilie Staryak was charming as Blessed Mother Teresa, and Bill Gibbons was super as superman. Chance Litton won the day with his hilarious rendition of Borat.
Three fantastic speeches followed. In his #3 speech Corban Spraker presented a compelling case for optimism about the future of democracy in the world of Islam.
Next, Masami Maeda, in her #3 speech described her experiences as a "Japanese woman teaching English to Spanish-speaking students." Masami was voted most improved speaker.
Elie Ishag finished the prepared speeches with his #5 Are We Headed for, or Are We Now in a Recession, in which he made a very complicated topic accessible to a lay audience. Elie got the nod as best speaker for his eloquent expounding on the economy.
The speeches were followed by three excellent evaluations. Alex Bein evaluated Corban, Brian Anderson evaluated Masami, and Cathy Lee evaluated Elie. For her positive feedback and constructive suggestions, Cathy was awarded Best Evaluator by General Evaluator Angi Anderson.
Another fabulous meeting!
Don't forget that dues are due - bring your check ($39 for six months payable to NPS Toastmasters) or send it to the treasurer, Warner Howser.
Next Saturday, March 22, is the Area A1 Contest - come support Brian and Arnie as they compete in the Table Topics and International speech contests. It will be at the Salinas Agricultural Center on Abbott St. in Salinas, starting at 9:30 a.m.
The next Smedley Saturday will be Saturday, March 29 at 1:00 at Glasgow Hall, Room 389. Let the VP Education Fred Sadler know if you wish to give a speech. This is a great opportunity to accelerate your progression though the manual! Remember that Icebreaker and #10 speeches are to be given in the club; anything else is fair game for Smedley Saturday.
We had 16 members, but no guests, so President Angi suggested, bring a friend to the next meeting! It would have been a fantastic meeting for any visitor to observe - Emilie Staryak was just brilliant in her maiden voyage as TMoD!! With a very timely theme of Daylight Saving Time (no 's'), she smoothly and expertly guided us through a fun-filled and action-packed program.
Emilie welcomes the next speaker:
After the requisite introductory procedures, Emilie turned to Elizabeth Guzman to conduct Table Topics. Elizabeth challenged Masami Maeda, Leena Oh and (returning after a too-long absence) Chance Litton. All three gave excellent responses, and Chance won best Table Topics with a hilarious reminder of why he is the reigning District 4 humorous speaker!
Welcome back Chance!
Three prepared speeches followed. Bill Gibbons gave an eloquent and moving Icebreaker, The Day I Changed My Name, about how he went from being known in college as "Wild Bill" for his partying ways to "Bible Bill," when he found his faith path with the encouragement of a friend. Margaret Stevens entertained us with a hilarious #2 speech How Not To Write a Speech that gave explicit and detailed instructions about how to avoid that next speech - something we all can use! ;) Cathy Lee finished with a poignant and informative #8 speech about color blindness Seeing Green. For her efforts, Margaret was voted both best speaker as well as most improved speaker. Congratulations Margaret!
Three great speeches received three great evaluations. Michael Barksdale gave a compassionate and insightful evaluation of Bill's Icebreaker, throwing in a well-placed reference to St. Augustine in the process. Arnie evaluated Margaret's nearly flawless performance and managed to find a few suggestions for improvement, and finally Angi Anderson gave thorough and thoughtful feedback to Cathy, topped off with a very useful suggestion for the mechanics of running a Powerpoint presentation. Michael was selected best evaluator by General evaluator Fred Sadler, who also gave a terrific summary of the meeting as well as encouraging feedback to Emilie.
Bill Gibbons' Icebreaker speech The Day I Changed My Name.
Margaret Stevens' #2 speech How Not to Write a Speech
Cathy Lee's #8 speech Seeing Green
Don't forget:
Dues are due!
Saturday March 22: Area A1 Contest, Salinas Agricultural Center at 9:30 a.m. Come and support our club's speakers Arnie and Brian
Saturday March 29: Smedley Saturday, La Mesa Community Center, 1:00 p.m. Come and give that speech you've been dying to give, try your hand at evaluating, or just come for the fun and companionship!
With 15 members and 1 guest, we celebrated the Bisextile with an exciting meeting featuring two #2 speeches by two of our newest members. Cathy Lee guided the meeting with a rather different theme of "Urban Legends" and throughout it regaled us with some of the more interesting ones, like spiders under toilet seats and the like.
Table Topics Master Arnie Buss had three victi.. ... er members play a version of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me's "Stump the Listener" challenge. Three stories were read, and only one of them was true - the others were Urban Legends. Mary Lineberger, Carl Thormeyer, and Rosetta Ishag all tried to guess the right one, and Mary won Best Table Topics for her reasoned and well-crafted response.
The first speech was John Armstrong's #2 Bitten by the Golf Bug, which included both an informative brief history of the game and its origins, and some of the reasons he gets such pleasure from playing it. John was awarded Most Improved Speaker for his speech.
The second speech Joyce Laker giving her second speech Accountability to the Poor, a heartfelt and passionate one that persuaded us to look more closely at the plight of the poor and of the problems of poverty. Joyce won Best Speaker for this.
Speech evaluations were likewise well executed by Mike Barksdale and Zeki Yildirim, in his first evaluation. For his concrete suggestions to Joyce, Zeki was given Best Evaluator by General Evaluator ("what's this thing called?") Carl Thormeyer.
Cathy Lee tells another plausible Urban Legend, and then ponders how anyone could believe some of these things...
John Armstrong's #2 speech, Bitten by the Golf Bug.
Joyce Laker's #2 speech Accountability to the Poor.
There were four excellent prepared speeches on this Smedley Saturday orchestrated by TMoD Fred Sadler. Three guests joined us at the La Mesa Community Center from 1 pm -3 pm.
Masami Maeda won "most improved" for her # 2 speech entitled "My experience with Japanese Immigrants" - a prescient discussion of the plight of people who are displaced and replaced when governments change and don't think through their policies. Evaluation was by Karen Woodson.
Corban Spraker's #2 speech "The entropy of life" used examples from his experience, which can cause disruption to a smoothly functioning life such as being in a hurry and putting your mind on vacation. Alec Metz was awarded "best evaluator" for his spot on assessment of Corban's excellent # 2.
Fred Sadler's # 4 speech from the advanced manual "Speaking to inform" entitled "Blood pressure - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly" included an opportunity for all present to measure their own blood pressure and question the implications. Glen Woodson evaluated and Fred won "best speaker".
Glenn Woodson's advanced speech from the "Technical Speech" manual addressed "Civil Affairs:An Education and Training Model" in 8 to 10 minutes followed by question and answers ably provided by Glen. The power point presentation revealed a fascinating glimpse of Glenn's work on a very important topic. Evaluation was by Fred Sadler.
What a great way to spend a cold and rainy Friday afternoon! We got off to a great start by inducting another new member, Lt Col Bill Gibbons from Fleet Numerical. We also celebrated the fact that Alec Metz has completed all his speeches for Competent Communicator - congratulations Alec!
Glenn Woodson, in his fourth time as TMoD this year, ran an exciting and innovative meeting with the theme of "Leap Day" - or "Bisextile" as we learned. Being a "Leaper" himself, he shared interesting information about the history and meaning of February 29.
Table Topics Master Leena Oh challenged Elie Ishag, Warner Howser, and Masami Maeda with questions on the theme of Leap Year. When the voting was finished, it was Elie who was declared best Table Topics speaker.
Emilie Staryak led off the prepared speeches with her Swim, Bike, Run, the second speech in the CC manual. Emilie took us through the experience of competing in a triathlon, and she was awarded Most Improved speaker. Arnie Buss followed with his "Icebreaker" speech (his third one) The Education of Mr. Spock, telling how he is learning to be more right-brained. Alec Metz finished with his first speech as a fresh new CC, My Dinner with Arnie, relating his experience the previous afternoon visiting the Talk the Line Toastmasters club in Soledad Prison. Alec got the nod as Best Speaker for his speech, the first in the advanced manual "The Entertaining Speaker."
Three terrific evaluations followed: Elie, in his first speech evaluation, evaluated Emilie. Carl evaluated Arnie, and Angi won Best Evaluator for her evaluation of Alec's speech.
Thirty-seven years ago tomorrow NPS Toastmasters club was chartered, so today we celebrated with cake (graciously brought by Cathy Lee). We were joined by several guests, including honorary member and past Area A1 Governor Rachelle Onishi and present Division A Governor Tim Childers. Tim presented the club with the world's biggest coaster in recognition of 2032 being the first club in District 4 to reach President's Distinguished status.
Today was also the club's Table Topics and International Speech contests, and it was quite an exiting competition! As contest chair and Toastmaster, Cathy Lee asked the question "Tell us the story that explains the Mona Lisa's mysterious smile." The creative responses are below. When the ballots had been tallied, Brian Anderson was the winner, with Glenn Woodson second.
Glenn Woodson's Table Topics Response (She was happy about the volunteering going on):
Brian Anderson's Table Topics Response (She was responding to a bodily sound by Da Vinci):
Alex Bein's Table Topics Response (Da Vinci was cracking her up):
Michale Barksdale's Table Topics Resonse (She was happy about the Enlightenment):
Brian Anderson led off the International Speech Contest with a creative speech about his difficulties in Toastmasters following achieving Competent Communicator and what he plans to do about it. He was followed by the other half of the dynamic "Team Anderson," Angi, whose gave us three simple steps to learning to "love what you have." The final speech was given by Arnie Buss, who persuaded us to "listen" before trying to be heard. When the dust settled, Arnie was declared the winner, with Brian a close second.
Brian Anderson's speech I Lost My Voice.
Angi Anderson's speech Happiness
Arnie Buss's speech Listen!
Please come to the Area Contest March 22 to cheer your contestants as they compete against other clubs in Monterey and Salinas!
In keeping with the season of Valentine's Day, TMoD exraordinaire Mary Lineberger chose Passion as the theme of today's meeting. And what an appropriate theme for such a fantastic and impassioned meeting it was! Michael Barksdale's got us started with an excellent reading of a poem for opening remarks. Brian Anderson expertly led the assembled Toastmasters through Table Topics filled with various dimensions of passion. One of our newest members, Joyce Laker, beat out Arnie and Emilie for top honors with her response, the highlight of which was her list of things she would "leave behind" - like hatred, intolerance, and bigotry.
We were then treated to two Icebreaker speeches by our newest members. First Corban Spraker (A Fork and a Bump in the Road), spoke about what happens when you continually choose the road less traveled - and how a life-threatening bike accident helped him continue to make mindful choices in his life. His effort garnered him Best Speaker.
The second Icebreaker was by John Armstrong (Photographic Memories), about how photography helped him stay connected to the past without having to be tied down by it and how digital photography has led to electronic pictures gathering electronic dust instead of photographic prints gathering actual dust.
Finally, Zeki Yildirim gave his #3 speech Turkieya - My Country Turkey, an entertaining and informative travelogue of the different regions of Turkey with their customs and wonderful history. He showed how Turkey is indeed the bridge between Europe and Asia, and finished by extending an invitation to all to visit him when he returns there. Zeki received the nod for "Most Improved" speaker for this.
Corban Spraker's Icebreaker A Fork and a Bump in the Road.
John Armstrong's Icebreaker Photographic Memories.
Zeki Yildirim's #3 speech, Turkieya - My Country Turkey
Reminder: Next week is the club's speech contest for Table Topics and International Speech. Come and hear our club's members compete for who will represent NPS at the Area contest (and beyond)! Please contact Steve Skaggs if you wish to compete in the International contest and Cathy Lee for the Table Topics contest.
First time Toastmaster of the Day Michale Barksdale led the club through an action-packed and emotion-filled meeting. The 20 members are 4 guests were all treated to some remarkable speaking. Mike's theme of "Continue to Dream" resonated with everyone in attendance, and was also very synchronous with the prepared speeches.
Table Topics Master Glenn Woodson threw out some challenging questions. Alex Bein was asked about how to respond to a question asked by one's boss when attention had wandered. Donna Cunningham talked about her "third wish" being getting over fear of public speaking; if there was an award for the slowest sentence, Donna would have won hands down! Finally, Robin Walker spoke of his dreams and how the efforts in achieving them is an integral part of his values, for which he won Best Table Topics Speaker.
We were treated with three remarkable prepared speeches, starting with Joyce Laker's moving Icebreaker speech about following her passion for social justice, especially for women, having grown up in an area of the world for which justice is often just a dream. Luke Lazzari continued with a thrilling true-life adventure with a helicopter, and a caution about being so eager to reach the destination that safety takes a back seat. Finally, Mary Lineberger departed from her prepared speech to give an impassioned impromptu one about the importance of giving speeches about which one is truly passionate.
Joyce Laker's inspirational Icebreaker speech Led by Passion.
Luke Lazzarri makes a dramatic point during his #6 Speech GetHomeItis.
Mary Lineberger's speech, which was to have been What You Don't Know CAN Hurt You:
With a theme woven around the idea of being prepared for the unexpected, Glenn Woodson as TMOD led another fantastic meeting of NPS #2032. Seventeen members and four guests enjoyed a real switcheroo... all persons with roles not requiring significant advance preparation were reassigned to other members as they entered the room via a sealed envelope! For example, Steve Skaggs - originally assigned as Timer - became the Grammarian, while Zeki Yildirim - originally assigned as Grammarian - became the Timer! And so it went.
We voted in and inducted three new members. Welcome to Joyce Laker, Corban Spraker and Eric Guttman!
Eric Guttman won Best Speaker for his Icebreaker, while Karen Woodson was voted Most Improved. Their speeches, along with Alex Bein's speech, are posted below. Best Evaluator was Brian Anderson, while Carl Thormeyer won Table Topics by default as no-one else qualified timewise!
Thanks to Robin Walker as Table Topics Master and Alec Metz as General Evaluator, both of whom had been originally scheduled to perform the other role!
Eric Guttmann's Icebreaker speech, My Wife Says I'm Eclectic, But My Friends Say I'm Doing a Tour of the Services
Karen Woodson's #5 Speech, The Friendly Skies (Or Are They?)
With 14 members and 7 guests, we had another full and action-packed meeting! Club President Angi Anderson begin the first full meeting of her reign by turning over the reins to VP Education Fred Sadler to be acting President. Fred began with recognition of Arnie Buss' achieving Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM), the highest communication and leadership award in Toastmasters. Arnie was treated to a "hug line" consisting of the club's other DTM, Carl Thormeyer.
Angi, sporting a glamorous new hairdo, expertly guided the club through another fabulous meeting. As TMoD, Angi chose the theme of "Mentors" - people who help guide us and from whom we learn. Toastmasters emphasizes mentoring, and the NPS Toastmasters club is a great example of that. Angi turned the introductory "tidbits" around by ststingwhat qualities she admired and learned from for each functionary. What a terrific theme and message for all the NPS Toastmasters!
Tables Topics were superbly run by Brian Anderson, who asked challenging questions about mentoring, with Carl Thormeyer voted best Table Topics Speaker.
One of our newest members, ZekiYildirim, led off the prepared speeches with an informative and entertaining perspective on "Procrastination" for his #2 speech ("Organize Your Speech"), for which he was voted Most Improved Speaker. Arnie Buss followed with a #3 ("Get to the Point") in his third time through the Competent Communication manual, titled You're Going to Wear THAT?!?, a look at entrapping questions and how to avoid them, for which he received Best Speaker.
Two superb evaluations were given by Fred Sadler (evaluating Zeki) and Michael Barksdale (for Arnie). In Michael's first evaluation, he demonstrated the sandwich method, offering both encouragement as well as helpful suggestions for improvement. Fred likewise gave a detailed and useful evaluation of Zeki's speech, for which Fred received Best Evaluator.
The New Year brought in Monterey's worst storm in many years, which knocked out power and forced the cancellation of last weeks meeting. As is our wont, the club simply cranked things up a notch by starting 2008 with a fantastic meeting! With 21 members and 2 guests, we continued the trend of well-attended meetings.
We were convened by outgoing President Robin Walker and quickly held the induction of new officers, ably executed by District Parliamentarian Carl Thormeyer, after which our incoming President Angi Anderson had control of the meeting. The Robin Walker administration achieved all 10 DCP goals, a record for our club at least, and the clear front runner of District 4. Congratulations to Robin and his awesome team of officers! Angi began her term by induction our newest member, Kelley Calvert, who jumped right in by acting as vote counter for the meeting.
Leena Oh was in her first time as TMoD, and ran a smooth meeting with a theme of New Years Resolutions. Eschewing Table Topics due to the officer inductions, we were treated to Masami Maseda's Icebreaker speech, Elie Ishag's number 4 speech and Elizabeth Guzman's #5 speech. Elie got the nod as Best Speaker, while Masami was elected Most Improved Speaker.
Evaluations were expertly given by seasoned Toastmasters Mary Lineberger, Robin Walker, and Glenn Woodson, with Robin getting the nod from General Evaluator Angi Anderson as Best Evaluator.
Masami's Icebreaker Speech, How English Became My Friend:
The meeting was filled with holiday cheer in a distinctly Toastmasters way as 14 members (and one guest) participated in the annual NPS Holiday Table Topics gift exchange meeting. Ably chaired by TMoD Carl Thormeyer and timed with great precision by Team Anderson, a festive and fun time was had by all.
We got off to a great start as Emilie Staryak chose a quonset-hut shaped present that turned out to be a leather-covered box with Chesapeake-flavored peanuts. She successfully defended her gift against two strong challenges by Angi Anderson and Carl Thormeyer. Here Emilie expresses delight in the reminder of Maryland: Sterling helps Glenn choose a gift. Fred attempts to steal Angi's book of questions.Angi successfully defends her gift. Carl unsuccessfully attempts to steal Emilie's gift.
A packed meeting was superbly orchestrated by TMoD Alec Metz, on the theme of Vindication and Atonement. With 23 members and one guest, it was a great tournout for the holiday season.
A rousing table topics led by Alex Bein was won by perennial favorite, Brian Anderson who scanned his 100 favorite movies at warp speed, picked a winner and discussed it in the allotted time.
The prepared speeches offered an opportunity for our newer members, with two Icebreakers and a #2. All were outstanding and reveal more talent for our already loaded club. Robin Walker was voted best Evaluator.
December 14 will feature our annual party and gift exchange.
ZekiYildirim's Icebreaker speech -Traveling:
Steve Skagg's #2 Speech - Happy New Goal:
Alex Simmons' Icebreaker Speech:
The meeting had one bittersweet note as we bid a fond farewell to Ryan Squires, who is graduating from NPS with a Masters Degree in Operations Research and will be heading off for fame and glory. Ryan's wry wit and memorable "West Virginia" grammarian reports will be long remembered.
Today a number of milestones were celebrated. With 24 members in attendance, we had a full and fun-packed meeting! Milestone #1 was a "first" for Emilie Staryak filling in as acting Sergeant at Arms. She did a great job getting the room set up and starting the meeting. Next, President Robin Walker announced that our own Chance Litton is the District's funniest speaker! He then passed out pins to all NPS Toastmasters for being the first club in District 4 to achieve "President's Select" status. He recognized Arnie Buss for achieving Advanced Communicator Gold, which gives the club its eighth goal out of ten for the year. Congratulations also to Arnie who now qualifies for Distinguished Toastmaster - the highest award given by Toastmasters International!
Brian Anderson as TMoD led the meeting with Marine precision, on the theme "Groupthink"- that mob mentality groups possess that can suppress creativity or encourage dissenting opinions.
Two outstanding speeches followed - a #3 from one half of the globetrotting Ishags, Rosetta, who spoke of her son's dyslexia and how that was a challenge as well as a gift; and Alec Metz, who inspired us to travel the world and learn about other cultures. This was Alec's #10 speech, and with it he achieved Competent Communicator status and our club will have fulfilled its 9th goal (once the paperwork is filed with World Headquarters)! Alec Metz was voted "best speaker", Rosetta Ishag - "most improved" and Fred Sadler received "best table topics" for his response to Luke Lazzari's question about group think.
Rosetta Ishag's #3 speech, Dyslexics are Anything but Dumb!:
Alec Metz'1 #10 Speech, Inspiration Indeed!
In the business portion of the meeting, a new slate of officers was elected for the January-July 2008 term. Our new club #2032 officers will be:
President: Angi Anderson VP Education: Fred Sadler VP Membership: Michael Barksdale VP Public Relations: Emilie Staryak Secretary: Cathy Lee Treasurer: Warner Howser Sergeant at Arms: Steve Skaggs
Congratulations to our new leadership team.
Mark your calendars for December 14 for the annual Holiday Table Topics Gift Exchange meeting! Bring a wrapped, unisex gift costing no more than $10. It is always an hilarious time - hosted by Carl Thormeyer.
Also, Wednesday evening, December 12 at 6:00 p.m. at the Monterey Beach Hotel will be the Area Holiday Dinner and Table Topics Gift Exchange. This will be a catered dinner, social, and gift exchange. It is a great opportunity to meet toastmasters from other clubs in the area, as well as to enjoy a delicious dinner and have fierce fun! The cost is $30.60 per person - guests are welcome, and are also welcome to participate in the table topics gift exchange, if they bring a gift of course! Bring a check made out to NPS Toastmasters on the 9th-the club will underwrite $5:oo per person.
Seven members and three guests came out for the November 2007 edition of Smedley Saturday, NPS Toastmasters' monthly speech-a-thon. Ably emceed by Carl Thormeyer, perhaps still a bit groggy from his oh-dark-early stint on the KSBW morning show, the meeting featured three advanced speeches, including one from guest and honorary NPS member Rachelle Onishi.
Arnie spoke of a technique for negotiating a win/win outcome, and followed the speech with a participative demonstration of a couple trying to decide between a baseball game and the ballet. Arnie's speech Negotiating to Agreement from the advanced manual Interpersonal Communication:
Rachelle Onishi's accepted an award as the 1990 MVP of the NBA - a first for a 5'2" (and 3/4!) Japanese woman! Her speech Accepting an Award from the advanced manual Special Occasion Speeches
Finishing off the speeches, Fred Sadler reminded us to breathe from the belly, and showed us how. He was voted "best speaker" for his entertaining and educational presentation. His speech, Ahhhh, the Breath of Life! from Speaking to Inform:
We finished the meeting with three excellent evaluations: Cathy Lee, in only her second evaluation of Arnie's speech, Fred, doing double-duty, evaluated Rachelle's speech, and Robin evaluated Fred's speech, for which he was voted best evaluator. Robin's winning evaluation:
Today at the District Humorous Speech Contest, NPS's own Chance Litton took first place with his hilarious rendition of The Life and Times of Mr. Spock. Robin, Angi, Carl, and Arnie from NPS all attended for the fun-filled sand educational day, that was of course made all the sweeter by Chance's win. Chance's wife and daughter were also present to cheer him on. Congratulations Chance!
The Bayview contestant in the evaluation Contest, Kristian Crump, also won, completing a sweep of Area A1 in the District. Congratulations to Kristian!
Our club Treasurer, Warner Howser led a spirited meeting with a theme of "Cell Phones versus Land Phones." We started the meeting with 17 members and 4 guests present, and finished the meeting with 18 members and 3 guests - welcome to our newest member Alex Simmons! Alex wasted no time jumping right in to the club by being Wordmaster. We were also happy to welcome back Elie and Rosetta Ishag, who will be on the peninsula for another few months still. The both acquitted themselves wonderfully in today's Table Topics, but Brian Anderson was voted the best Table Topics speaker for his description of an extremely annoying gentleman having an argument with his cell phone in public. We also bid a sad farewell to Adam Otto, who has visited the club for the past few months as a guest, and is now off to Seattle, where he plans on joining a Toastmasters club when he arrives.
In yet another return, Elizabeth Guzman marked her return to the club "for real" with her #4 speech The Endangered Species Act. She won "Most Improved" for her moving speech.
Glenn Woodson achieved the milestone of Competent Communicator with his inspiring #10 speech The Glass is Half Full which included stories of his daughter who has struggled through a bone illness with pluck and courage. He won "Best Speaker" - congratulations Glenn of reaching the first milestone in your Toastmasters journey! Part I:
Part II:
As always, NPS evaluators stepped up to the plate with Angi Anderson and Fred Sadler giving stellar ones for Elizabeth and Glenn. Fred won "Best Evaluator" for his feedback that was insightful as well as emotional.
Toastmaster of the Day par excellence, Angi Anderson led a rousing meeting of fifteen club members and four guests on the theme of "playing grown up" with many fun and mind twisting permutations. There were 15 members and four guests, one of whom, Alexander Simmons, joined up right after the meeting! We were also honored by a brief visit by LTG (retired) Robert Ord, erstwhile Toastmaster and Dean of the School of International Graduate Studies.
We had three outstanding prepared speeches featuring Donna Cunningham's "icebreaker" entitled "You did what? (the short version) which was so good that she won Best Speaker. Arnie Buss described the preparation of the recent Division Contest which he chaired as part of an advanced leadership project he completed to achieve Advanced Leadership Silver status. Brian Anderson delivered a moving interpretive reading of the lovely Robert Frost poem "The Mountain" for which he won "Most Improved Speaker".
Amy Treadwell came away with best Table Topics Speaker for her accomplished response to Mary Lineberger's query about "the most difficult thing about being grown up". Best Evaluator went to Arnie Buss for his spot on assessment of Donna Cunninham's presentation. Robin Walker and Leenah Oh also provided high quality insightful evaluations.
Donna Cunningham's Icebreaker You Did WHAT?? - The Short Version
Arnie Buss's High Performance Leadership project report:
Brian Anderson's dramatic reading of Robert Frost's The Mountain:
