Summer Reading

Immediate Past President Jim Burlison chose the season-appropriate theme of "Summer Reading" for today's meeting. Jim gave the humor himself:

Kyle Tobin-Williams gave her #2 speech Strategic Art of Day at Disney: Mastering the Mouse:

Kyle was evaluated by Cristine Lambarte:

Matt Balint was voted Best Speaker for his #4 speech Life's Lessons From Your Favorite Hobby:

Matt's evaluator Jarrod Smith was chosen as Best Evaluator:

Most Improved Speaker Tetyana Marhgolina  rounded out the speeches with her #7 Short, Ugly, abnd Common:

Tetyana was evaluated by Carl Thormeyer:

Toastmaster Goals

Incoming President Don Free led off the new Toastmasters year with a theme of "Toastmasters Goals." We began with induction of the new club officers by Area Governor Rich Gierman:

Fred Sadler was the humorist extraordinaire with an original limerick:
Returning member Cathy Lee won Table Topics:
Best Speaker was Jack Jackson with his #2 speech So You Feel Lucky?:
Jack's evaluator, Art Testani, was selected Best Evaluator:
Most Improved Speaker Celine Lai gave her #32 speech Human Research Protection Program:
Her evaluator was John Mahler:

Gettysburg 150 Anniversary

TMoD Art Testani chose the 150th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg as the theme.

Jarrod Smith won Tabe Topics:l

Carrie Glenn was voted Best Speaker as well as Most Improved for her #2 Speech I'm Sorry, So Sorry, Please Accept My Apology:
Carrie was evaluated by Chuck Burton:

June is Bustin Out All Over!

Fred Sadler Busted out June with his Carousel-inspired theme today!
Humorist was Kyle Tobin-Williams:
Leisel Iverson won Best Speaker with her #3 Dancing in the Dust:
Leisel's evaluator was Carl Thormeyer:
John Mahler was Most Improved with his #4 Why the Marines Should Keep Weapons Off Drones:
John was evaluated by Carl Thormeyer:
Tables topics was won by Pat Hanson:

What is the Fondest Memory of Your Father?

TMoD Cristine Lambarte paid tribute to Fathers everywhere in advance of Sunday's Father's Day. The meeting featured three Icebreaker speeches - a record, according to club statistician Carl Thormeyer!

Leisel Iverson gave Opening Remarks:

Table Topics was won by Amy Treadwell:

Kyle Tobin-Williams' Icebreaker What Me Worry? garnered her Best Speaker:

Tetyana Margolina evaluated Kyle's speech:

Most Improved Speaker was Carrie Glenn with her Icebreaker Etiquette Can Save Your Life!

Annette Cain evaluated Carrie:

Jack Jackson finished off the Icebreaker meeting with Seven Principles for Myself:

Jack's evaluator Carl Thormeyer was selected Best Evaluator:

World's Oceans

Annette Cain was TMoD and her theme was the World's Oceans.

Pan Hanson gave Opening Remarks:
Celine Lai received Best Speaker for her Icebreaker Military Spouse and Duty Stations.
Jim Burlison was her evaluator:
Thomas Mallory won Most Improved Speaker for his Icebreaker Tell Me About Yourself:
Arnie Buss evaluated Thomas and was selected Best Evaluator:
Fred Sadler gave his third #3 The Physician Assistant - Then and Now:

Fred was evaluated by Tetyana Margolina:

Holiday Weekends

Carl Thormeyer was TMoD and brought a theme of Holiday Weekends - appropriate, being the Friday before one!

John Mahler gave Opening Remarks:

Leisel Iverson won Best Table Topics:

Michelle Gomez was the Most Improved Speaker for her #3 speech Saving Hearts

Arnie Buss was Michelle's evaluator and was selected Best Evaluator:

 Tetyana Margolina was voted Best Speaker for her #6 speechThe Loser Takes All

Jarrod Smith evaluated Tetyana:

Internet Memes

John Mahler debuted as TMoD with a contemporary theme of Internet Memes - see below for the ones John created for the meeting!

Carl Thormeyer was the Humorist

Leisel Iverson #2 won both Best Speaker as well as Most Improved for her #2 speech, The Hands Have It:

Don Free was the speech evaluator for Leisel:

Pat Hanson gave her #8 speech High Heels: Sexy or Fracture Waiting to Happen

Fred Sadler was selected as the Best Speech Evaluator for his feedback to Pat

Kate Daniels Kurz won Best Table Topics

The memes:

When the Student is Ready, the Teacher will Appear

Art Testani pulled double-duty as TMoD and speaker. His theme and speech were from the quote by Gandhi "When the Student is Ready, the Teacher will Appear."

Jim Burlison was Humorist:
Chuck Burton won Table Topics, while Table Topics Master Leisel Iverson was part of a three-way tie for Most Improved with Chuck and Art:
Art gave an Icebreaker speech When the Student is Ready, the Teacher will Appear:

Art's Evaluator, Kathleen Hanselmann, was selected Best Evaluator:
Arnie Buss won Best Speaker for his Icebreaker My First Love:
Arnie was evaluated by Sheila Dundon:

TM Resources to Help Us Succeed

Sheila Dundon stepped forth to be TMoD with a theme very close to our heart at NPS Toastmasters! Namely, Toastmasters resources to help us succeed.

Matt Balint gave Opening Remarks:

Chuck Burton's #2 speech The Ins and Outs of Scuba Diving garnered him Best Speaker as well as Most Improved:
 Chuck's evaluator was Jarrod Smith:

Sheila doubled as a speaker as well, with her #8 project Using the NPS Website to Help You Succeed:

Sheila's evaluator Pat Hanson was selected Best Evaluator:

Matt Balint won Best Table Topics:

Texting Motorists Still Ignore Danger Warnings

Cristine Lamberte was TMoD at today's meeting, and she chose the sobering theme of the dangers of texting while driving.

Sheila Dundon was the Humorist:

Best Speaker was Pat Hanson with her #7 speech, The NOT To-Do List: Multi-Tasking from the Top:

Pat's evaluator was Art Testani:

Most Improved Speaker was Tetyana Margolina with her #5 speech, Stringing the Beads:

Best Evaluator Fred Sadler evaluated Tetyana's speech:

Birthdays

Fred Sadler was TMoD and chose a theme of Birthdays to celebrate the birthday of his twin brother, Blair.

Pat Hanson won Best Table Topics:
Chuck Burton's Icebreaker speech, Where the Outsider Looks, earned him Most Improved Speaker:

Tetyana Margolina was Chuck's evaluator:
Liesel Iveron's Icebreaker speech, Three Wishes, garnered Best Speaker:
Liesel was evaluated by Jim Burlison:
Brennan Kemper gave his #2 speech, Time Management (no video)

Brennan's evaluator, Kate Daniels Kurz, was chosen Best Evaluator:

St Patrick's Day

Kathleen Hanselmann was TMoD and chose a theme of St Patrick's Day

Pat Hanson was the humorist:
Carl Thormeyer won best Best Table Topics ("in a pinch"):
Don Free gave his #8 speech Remember the Alamo:
Don was evaluated by Arnie Buss:
Bill Coloe gave his #2 speech The Importance of Having Fun:
Bill was evaluated by Pat Hanson:
Kate Daniels Kurz  gave project #4 from Speaking on Television, The Press Conference:

Kate was evaluated by Carl Thormeyer:

Name That Tune!

Monique Fountain has us dancing in the streets will a theme of "Name That Tune" - the importance of music in our lives.

Humorist Arnie Buss had a musical groaner:

John Mahler won Best Speaker for his #2 speech Good Fats:

John's evaluator Shane Grass as selected Best Evaluator:

Carl Thormeyer gave a #3 project from the advanced manual "Speaking to Inform" titled The Lunch Box:

Carl was evaluated by Arnie Buss:


Art Testani won Best Table Topic:

Moving!

Pat Hanson did a stint as TMod with the theme of "Moving". Together with an unforgettable word of the day - nostumania - we were all in for a real treat!

Bill Coloe was the humorist:

Don Free's #7 speech Where Are the Children? garnered him Most Improved Speaker:

Don's evaluator, Matt Balint, was also the best evaluator:

Annette Cain practiced her award-winning Tall Tales speech A Bloated Tale and was voted Best Speaker:

She was evaluated in a round-robin manner by the entire club, in preparation for the Area contest tomorrow:

LUCK - Of Any Kind

Amy Treadwell chose "Luck" as her theme, and proved that it wasn't luck that led to a fantastic meeting!

John Mahler won Best Table Topics:

Michelle Gomez' Icebreaker speech Stop and Smell the Roses garnered her Most Improved Speaker:

Michelle's evaluator was Arnie Buss:

Tetyana Margolina gave her #4 speech Gone with the Wave and was voted Best Speaker:

Her evaluator Don Free was also selected as the Best Evaluator:

Tall Tales and International Speech Contests!

The winner of the Tall Tales contest was Annette Cain with A Bloated Tale:

Arnie Buss came in second place with The House on Cherry Lane:

Arnie won a hard-fought International speech contest with Do It Anyway:

American Presidents

Don Free was TMoD and gave all kinds of fascinating information about American Presidents. (Who knew that there have been 47 Vice Presidents?)

John Mahler was Humorist:

Jarrod Smith won Best Table Topics:

Bill Coloe won Most Improved) for his Icebreaker speech Two Suitcases and a Thousand Bucks:

Tetyana Margolina was his evaluator:
 Matt Balint  won Best Speaker with his #3 speech:
 Sheila Dundon was his evaluator:
 Kathleen Hanselmann gave her #4 speech The Little Old Lady from Pasadena:

Her evaluator Amy Treadwell was chosen as the Best Evaluator:

Speaking Extemporaneously

Kate Daniels Kurz chose "Speaking Extemporaneously" as her theme today.

Arnie Buss gave the Humorist/Opening Remarks:

Fred Sadler won Best Table Topics:

John Mahler won Most Improved Speaker for his Icebreaker I Just Can't Wait to Get Out to the Fleet:

John's evaluator, Jim Burlison, was Best Evaluator:

Sheila Dundon  gave her #4 speech Thank Heaven for Little Girls' Fathers: Providers of Life's Lessons:

Sheila was evaluated by Annette Cain:

Best Speaker Don Free gave his #6 speech, They are Driving Me Crazy:

Don was evaluated by Jarrod Smith:

Giving Back

Art Testani's theme of 'Giving Back' he;ed create a generous atmosphere for today's meeting!

Michelle Gomez gave Opening Remarks

Best Table Topics was won by John Mahler

Fred Sadler gave his second #10 speech (and earned his second CC) with Love Stellan

Carl Thormeyer evaluated Fred's speech
While the Best speaker and evaluator were walkovers, Chuck Burton was voted Most Improved for his Table Topics response:

Responding to Bad News

Sheila Dundon was Toastmaster of the Day (TMoD) and chose "Responding to Bad News" for her theme.

Kate Daniels Kurz gave Opening Remarks:

Fred Sadler won Best Table Topics:

Most Improved speaker,  Jarrod Smith, gave his  #3 Bahrain and its Relevance in the Middle East

Jarrod's evaluator was Art Testani

Arnie Buss gave his  #8 Let's Make a Deal - Why You Should Always Switch Doors and was voted Best Speaker

Tetyana Margolina was selected Best Evaluator for her feedback to Arnie:

Gratitude

In her first time as TMoD, Tetyana Margolina ran a polished meeting with a season-appropriate theme of "Gratitude."

Kate Daniel Kurz brought the youngest Toastmaster, Nicholas, who joined her for Opening Remarks:

Nate Hayes channeled President Obama in his winning Table Topics speech:

Best Speaker Carl Thormeyer led off with project #2 from advanced manual "Speaking to Inform" entitled Israel and You:

Carl was evaluated by Arnie Buss:

Most Improved Speaker Shane Grass gave a #2 speech Finding Your Way:

Shane's evaluator Matt Balint garnered Best Evaluator in his first time performing the role:

Elections

Returning member Pat Hanson chose the theme of elections for today's meeting.

Table Topics was won by Monique Fountain:

Brennan Kemper won both Best Speaker as well as Most Improved Speaker with his Icebreaker speech Life's Little Instructions:

Brennan was evaluated by Sheila Dundon:

Jim Burlison gave an advanced speech from Speaking to Inform entitled College Education (you need to watch it to "get" the title!):

Jim's evaluator, Carl Thormeyer, was selected Best Evaluator:

Halloween

TMoD Kathleen Hanselmann had another Halloween-themed meeting today!

Humorist Monique Fountain relayed a spooky story with a twist at the end:

Monique also won Best Table Topics:

Katharine Daniels Kurz gave the #1 project from advanced manual "The Professional Speaker", Moving Humanity Forward Through Women's Perspective She was voted Best Speaker:

Kate was Evaluated by: Carl Thormeyer, who was also selected as Best Evaluator)]

Sheila Dundon gave her #3 speech Growing Flowers from Bulbs: A Minimal Investment with a Big Payoff

Sheila was evaluated by Art Testani:

Evaluations

Art Testani was TMoD and chose Evaluations as his theme - very appropriate for Toastmasters!

Humorist was Jarrod Smith:

Tables topics was a tie between Fred Sadler and Glenn Woodson:


Tetyana Margolina won both Best Speaker and Most Improved Speaker for her #2 speech, Lost and Found:

She was evaluated by Jim Burlison:

David Cho gave his #5 speech, Animal Kingdom in Southern California

Dave was evaluated by Pat Hanson:

Kathleen Hanselmann finished the prepared speeches with #3: Providing High Touch Service in a Military Environment 

Her  evaluator, Arnie Buss, was selected Best Evaluator:

Membership

First-time TMoD Don Free chose "Membership" as a theme and expertly led a well-timed meeting.

Carl Thormeyer and Beverley Schmidt tied for Best Table Topics:

Monique Fountain was voted Most Improved Speaker for her #3 speech The Leatherman Club:

Monique was evaluated by Carl Thormeyer:

Arnie Buss gave a #5 Noticing Body Language and was voted Best Speaker:

Arnie's evaluator, Fred Sadler, was selected Best Evaluator:

How to Say It

Cristine Lambarte's theme this week was "How to Say It" - responding to difficult conversations.

Humorist Fred Sadler possibly set a record for the fastest Opening Remarks:

Art Testani and Tetyana Margolina tied for Best Table Topics.
Art followed by Tetyana:

Beverly Schmidt won the "trifecta" as Best Speaker and Most Improved (plus her Icebreaker ribbon) for her #1 speech Painting and Me:

Beverly's evaluator was Moyara Reuhsen:

Kathleen Hanselmann gave her #2 speech Father Dad:

She was evaluated by Carl Thormeyer:

Arnie Buss gave a #3 speech How to Respond to Criticism, Part I:

His evaluator, Fred Sadler, was selected Best Evaluator for his feedback:

Embarassing Moments

TMoD Moyara Ruehsen's meeting was anything but embarrassing - a terrific meeting! But her theme for the day was Embarrassing Moments. She started off with some political embarrassments from recent years:

Continuing in a political vein, Don Free gave his #2 speech Gavel to Gavel, and won both Best Speaker and Most Improved:

Art Testani evaluated Don's speech:

Fred Sadler regaled us with his #8 speech Twin Stories:

Fred was evaluated by Jim Burlison, selected as Best Evaluator

Veteran Carl Thormeyer won Best Table Topics speaker:

A highlight of the meeting was Jarrod Smith's Word of the Day, flamablamablous.

Birth

Monique Fountain was TMoD for today's meeting, appropriately themed "Birth." For, as we were meeting, our VP Education, Kate Daniels Kurz was giving birth to our newest Toastmaster, Nicholas Ryan Kurz!

Jarrod Smith gave his #2 speech Let's Do Business:

Jarrod's evaluator, veteran Fred Sadler, was given Best Evaluator:

Moyara Ruehsen, working on her second go-around on the CC manual, gave speech #5 entitled The Circular Flow Model of the Economy:

Moyara was evaluated by Cristine Lambarte:

Tables Topics was won by new member Matt Balint:

Family

NPS Toastmasters' favorite newlywed, David Cho, chose the appropriate theme of "Family" for the meeting. And we had two Icebreaker speeches.

Humorist Don Free told a funny story about two boys with unusual names:

 First Icebreaker speech was by Annette Cain, A Short Story About a Long Run. Annette was voted Most Improved Speaker and also tied Pat Hanson for Best Speaker:

Annette's evaluator was Arnie Buss:

Returning member Pat Hanson decided to go through the CC manual a second time, and started with Pitches for the Pat Hanso Stories, for which she tied with Annette for Best Speaker:

Annette's evaluator, Kate Daniels Kurz, was selected Best Evaluator:

Humorous Speech Contest and Evaluation Contest

The annual Humorous and Evaluation Speech Contests were one of the best in memory!

The winner of the Humorous Speech Contest was Pat Hanson with Aging Positively: Second Place was Arnie Buss with I Just Can't Catch a Break: Third place was Don Free, I Gotta Go: The test speaker for the Evaluation Contest was Rich Gierman, How to Move a Pool Table: Evaluation winner was Kate Daniels Kurz: Runner-up Art Testani: Third place Jarrod Smith:

The Competent Leader Manual

Veteran Carl Thormeyer chose as his theme "The Competent Communicator Manual"

Returning to the "traditional" agenda, we began with Opening Remarks by Arnie Buss, in which the meeting was to be hinted at but not given away:

Moyara Ruehsen won Table Topics:

Newest member Tetyana Margolina won both Best Speaker and Most Improved for her Icebreaker speach, Tumbleweed or Rolling Stone?

Tetyana was evaluated by Arnie Buss:

Shane Grass spoke more of his passion for flying with his #2 speech Everyone Wants to be Superman:

Art Testani was Best Evaluator in his feedback to Shane:

Let's Dance!

Kate Daniels Kurz chose a secret theme of "Dance"for a sparsely-attended, but enthusiastic and excellent meeting.

Carl Thormeyer gave Opening Remarks, in which he hinted at (but did not reveal) the theme of the meeting:

Monique Fountain won Best Table Topics for her description of whales feeding in the Bay:

Fred Sadler gave a #5 CC speech, What I Learned at the Roast Last Saturday:

and was evaluated by Carl Thormeyer, chosen as Best Evaluator:

Arnie Buss inaugurated his tenth CC with an Icebreaker, Not By Myself:

He was evaluated by Don Free:

Friday the Thirteenth

Jim Burlison used the date-appropriate theme of "Friday the Thirteenth" for today;s meeting and sprinkled interesting facts about why it is a feared date throughout the meeting.

Jarrod Smith started off with some humor:

Shiela Dundon won Best Table Topics:

Don Free gave his Icebreaker speech It's a Good Life and was voted Best Speaker:

Kate Daniels Kurz was selected Best Evaluator fro her feedback to Don:

Most Improved Speaker was Cristine Lamberte, giving her #3 speech Without Imagination There Is No Action:

Mayara Ruehsen evaluated Cristine's speech:

This Week in History

Jarrod Smith led his first meeting as TMoD like a seasoned veteran. His theme was "This Day in History."

We began with Humorist Shane Grass:

Moyara Ruehsen won Table Topics:

Kate Daniels Kurz gave speech project #2 from Speaking on Television, an interview given by Fred Sadler for his TV show. Titled Building a Caring Economy, Kate won Most Improved Speaker honors:

Kate was evaluate by Shiela Dundon:

Art Terry completed the CC manual with his  #10 speech Stopping to Move Forward, and in additon to earning his CC was also voted Best Speaker:

Art was evaluated by Fred Sadler, who was chosen as Best Evaluator:

Gloves!

Moyara Ruehsen followed Fred's theme of Hats from last week with one of Gloves this week!

We welcomed newest member Don Free:

Arnie Buss was the humorist:

Fred Sadler won Best Table Topics:


And, at Fred's Request, Arnie's response was also recorded.

Shane Grass gave his Icebreaker speech and tied for Most Improved Speaker:

Shane was evaluated by Art Testani:

Monique Fountain gave her #2 speech Coastal Conservancy and also tied for Most Improved:

Shiela Dundon evaluated Monique:

Art Terry won Best Speaker for his #9 Who's In Control?:

Arnie Buss evaluated Art and was selected Best Evaluator:

Hats - And a Trifecta!

Fred Sadler chose a creative theme of "Hats" for today's meeting. Fred of course wears many hats, both in and out of Toastmasters, not the least of which is serving as Division Governor for Division Awesome in District 4! Some of Fred's literal hats include the following:

Monique Fountain provided the humor:

Art Terry nabbed an exceedingly rare trifecta, winning Best Table Topics, Best Speaker, as well as Most Improved Speaker. All on the day he graduated! Congratulations on all these achievements Art!

Art Terry Best Table Topics:

Art's winning speech, #8 from the CC manual, From the Halls of Montezuma:

Art's evaluator was Dhiela Dundon:

Arnie Buss gave project #3 from the advanced manual Interpretive Reading, "The Monodrama," reading Alfred Lord Tennyson's Ulysses:

Arnie was evaluated by Kate Daniels Kurz, who won the only award Art Terry didn't, Best Evaluator:



Here's Art with Vote Counter Shane Grass and Toastmaster Fred Sadler:

 

Coffee or Tea?

Dave Cho debuted as TMoD, and chose a theme of Coffee and/or Tea. To underline the theme, he provided Toastmasters High Tea" with snacks to go along with the beverages. What a delicious meeting!

We were joined by three guests from the Monterey Institute Toastmasters club (from left to right) Peter Weldon (not shown), Max Falaleyev, Sierra Tan.  Peter wound up winning Best Table Topics. (The picture shows Sierra responding to a Table Topics question).

 Cristina Lamberte gave the opening remarks:
Jarrod Smith gave his Icebreaker speech A Man's Life:

Jarrod was evaluated by Arnie Buss:

 Carl Thormeyer gave a #8 from his third time through the manual, The Meaning of our Toastmasters Equipment, and was voted Best Speaker:
Carl was evaluated by Art Testani, who was also selected as Best Evaluator:

The Bucket List

Tom Shih led our meeting today with a theme of "The Bucket List." Jarrod Smith was the humorist: Jim Burlison won Best Table Topics, which consisted of the incoming club officers giving their campaign speeches: Monique Fountain gave her Icebreaker speech In Pursuit of the Egg and was voted Most Improved Speaker: Monique was evaluated by Moyara Ruehsen: Fred Sadler gave a #4 from his second time though the CC manual, I Am Sick - I need a Doctor! and was voted Best Speaker: Fred was evaluated by Art Testani: Arnie Buss gave a #8 speech from the CC manual, The Most Expensive Violin in the World: Arnie was evaluated by Carl Thormeyer, who was also selected as the Best Evaluator:

All That Jazz!

Shiela Dundon debuted as TMoD with a bang - or rather with some hot and cool jazz! Tables Topics was won by Jim Burlison: Dave Cho gave his #3 speech Building Resilience in an Era of Persistent Conflict and was voted Best Speaker: Dave was evaluated by Tom Shih: Moyara Ruehsen garnered Most Improved for her speech Breaking the Ice in Baghdad:

Moyara was evaluated by Fred Sadler, selected as Best Evaluator:

Springtime

Fred Sadler was TMoD with a theme of Springtime!

Past member and club president Moyara Ruehsen re-joined us and proceeded to win Best Table Topics Speaker:

Sheila Dundon was voted Most Improved Speaker for her #3 speech When Women Lead, You Will Succeed:

Sheila was evaluated by Tom Shih:

Jim Burlison gave an advanced speech from the Speaking to Inform Manual, To Be or Not To Be and was voted Best Speaker:

Jim was evaluated by Arnie Buss, who was narrowly selected as Best Evaluator:

If At First You Don't Succeed ...

We got off to a great start by inducting newest members Monique Fountain and Jarrod Smith.

Arnie Buss was TMoD with a theme of "If At First Your Don't Succeed..."

The "opening remarks" were this video of Heather Dorniden's Inspiring 600 meter race:
Returning as a guest, past member and club president Moyara Ruehsen won table topics: Cristine Lamberte was voted Most Improved for her #2 speech Where Do You Want to Go? Cristine was evaluated by Art Testani, who was selected Best Evaluator: Fred Sadler won Best Speaker for his #3 speech (of his second time through the CC manual) Talk the Line: Fred was evaluated by Jim Burlison:

Winning the Lottery!

Inspired by the recent Mega-million lottery, Kate Daniels Kurz led us on a fanciful "what-if" venture - namely what if we won the lottery!


We also welcomed newest member, Beverley Schmidt!


Cristine Lambarte was opening remarks/humorist:


Table Topics was won by one of our guests, Timothy Barrett.


We had two Icebreaker speeches, both fantastic. Sheila Dundon was voted both Best Speaker as well as Most Improved for What Got Me Here With Help Get Me There:

Sheila was evaluated by Jon Barnes:


Michael Chankij's Icebreaker was entitled My Snowboarding Obsession:


Michale was evaluated by Arnie Buss, selected Best Evaluator:

April Fool's Day

In her first time as Toastmaster of the Day, Cristine Lambarte led like a seasoned veteran. She chose a theme of "April Fool's" - here is a portion of her introduction:


Graduation day at NPS generally prompts lighter attendence, and this was no exception. The one speech was by Carl Thormeyer, and it gave us all pause to consider a possible threat overseas. He gave speech #9 from the CC manual entitled Be Really Concerned:


Carl was evaluated by Jim Burlison:


Table Topics was won by Kate Daniels Kurz:

Baseball

Jim Burlison took us out to the old ballgame with a theme of Baseball at today;s meeting. Acting as the manager, he put himself in as humorist in keeping with the playing managers of yore:


Art Terry demonstrated why he was the club Table Topics champion with his winning response:


Laura Ramos gave an inspiring Icebreaker speech, Nothing to Be Afraid Of, that garnered her both Best Speaker as well as Most Improved:


Laura was evaluated by Arnie Buss:


Carl Thormeyer gave a #6 CC speech Make Your Voice Match Your Message:


Carl was evaluated by Stanley Wong, who was selected Best Evaluator for the meeting:

Leap Year

It was a bittersweet meeting, the last for outgoing President and outstanding member Sharon Lipinski, who is headed to far off places. The greybeards sent her off with some appreciations:


Jon Barnes led his first meeting as Toastmaster of the Day (TMoD) and took great leaps and bounds with his theme of Leap Year! :D

Jim Burlison was humorist:


Veteran Carl Thormeyer asserted himself in Table Topics with a win:


Dave Cho continued his inspiring speeches, garnering Most Improved with his #2 speech Efficiency - Set a Goal, Get Organized, Get it Done!:


Dave was evaluated by Scott Yeatman:


Sharon Lipinski closed with a humorous reflection at her time at NPS Toastmasters, A Look Back at the Lipinski Administration winning Best Speaker with her #5 speech from "Humorously Speaking" advanced manual:


Sharon was evaluated by Kate Daniels Kurz, picked as Best Evaluator:

Famous Quotes

Art Testani was TMoD with a theme of "Famous Quotes".

The meeting got off to a great start with the induction of two new members, Manny Bueno and Mike Chankij.

Fred Sadler amused us with an incident at the Black Bear Diner.


Mike won Best Table topics, getting off to a terrific start in Toastmasters!


And Manny was voted Most Improved:


The high points continued with Kate Daniels Kurz' #10 speech, Change the Media, Change Everything, for which she won Best Speaker:


Kate was evaluated by Jim Burlison:


Arnie Buss gave a #4 speech Listen From the Heart:


Arnie was evaluated by Carl Thormeyer, who was selected as Best Evaluator:


Finally, we honored Tom Shih as NPS Toastmasters' Toastmaster of the Year. Here is Tom being recognized by Sharon Lipinski, Club President, and Fred Sadler, Division A Governor:

Speech Contest!

It's speech contest season again - International and Table Topics! Ably led by VP Education Jim Burlison with assists from Sharon Lipinski and Carl Thormeyer, we had a fantastic contest. Representing NPS at the Area A1 contest will be:

Arnie Buss, International Speech Contest
Art Terry, Table Topics Contest

Runner-up in Table Topics was Art Testani, who will represent the club at the Area contest if Art Terry cannot.

Arnie's speech was entitled Are We Here Yet?


All the the contestants gave excellent responses and are definitely blog-worthy

Kate Daniels Kurz:


Art Testani (Runner-Up):


Scott Yeatman:


Art Terry (Winner):

Civil Disobedience

Club President Sharon Lipinski chose a theme of civil disobedience, quite relevant in view of both the proximity to Martin Luther King Day as well as many of the recent events across the world.

Jon Barnes gave the Humorous remarks:


Arnie Buss won best table topics:


Glenn Woodson gave a longer speech #5 from the Technical Presentations manual entitled Environmental Services for the AT&T:


Glenn was evaluated by Stanley Wong:

New Year's Resolutions

Art Terry started the new year with a bang-up meeting, with the theme of New Years Resolutions.

Scott Yeatman got us in the mood with his humorous remarks:


Stanley Wong gave his #6 speech My Greatest Benefit of 2011 - which turned out to be his prospective engagement. Congratulations!


Stanley was voted Most Improved for the meeting and was evaluated by Jim Burlicon:


Sharon Lipinski gave the #2 speech in the advanced Humorously Speaking manual, When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Laughing, and was voted Best Speaker:


Sharon was evaluated by Art Testani who was selected Best Evaluator:


Fred Sadler finished with a #2 speech from the CC manual entitled Decisions:


Fred was evaluated by Tom Shih:

Year End Highlights

Jim Burlison was TMoD and chose a theme of Year End Highlights - a time to look back on the past year and reflect on the high points, both as individuals and as a club.

Nell Turley won best table topics:


Art Terry gave his 35 speech How To De-Escalate the Situation and Survive, and was voted both Best and Most Improved speaker:


Art was evaluated by Michelle Banazwski, who was also Best Evaluator:


Fred Sadler begin his second pass through the CC manual with his Icebreaker The Road Less Travelled:


Fred was evaluated by Arnie Buss:

Thankfulness

Michelle Banazwski as TMoD had a theme of Thankfulness.

Laura Ramos gave the humorous introduction as a poem:


Erstwhile member Angi Anderson won Best Table Topics (Angi and her husband Brian, another former member, were visiting Monterey for the day):


Amy Treadwell gave her #2 speech Nerves? What Nerves? and was voted Best Speaker:


Amy was eveluated by Kate Daniels Kurz, who was selected Best Evaluator:


Zeynep Yilmaz was voted both Most Improved and Best Speaker for her #5 The Henna Night:


Zeynep was evaluated by Arnie Buss:

Guilty Pleasures

Arnie Buss was TMoD today with a theme of "guilty pleasures." His include WWE wrestling and the reality show "Tough Love."

Stanley Wong won Best Table Topics:


Shamsul Rahman gave his Icebreaker speech A Kampung Boy and was voted Most Improved Speaker:


Shamsul was evaluated by Jim Burlison, who was awarded Best Evaluator:


Art Testani gave a #8 speech California Cancer Research Act and was voted Best Speaker of the meeting:


Art was evaluated by Stanley Wong:

Is a Fake Smile Better than No Smile at All?

Fake smiles - real smiles? Tom Shih addressed this question in today's meeting.

Margaret Stevens won Best Table Topics:


Scott Yeatman gave his #2 speech How Does a Helicopter Fly? (unfortunately the video starts in the middle of his speech:


Scott was evaluated by Sharon Lipinski:


Arnie Buss gave a #7 speech A Brief History of Marriage:


Arnie was evaluated by Art Testani: