ENTHUSIASM!!!!

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:


Donna Cunningham's #2 speech A Piece of Peace:

Preparation!

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.

Political Campaigns

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!

Spring has Sprung!

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.

Sorry no video this week.

Lights Out - Smedley

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.

Celebrate!

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!

NPS TMs from the Monterey Institute Weigh in on Sudan Conflict

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!

New Beginnings

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!

What's in a Name?

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.
  

Daylight Saving Time

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!
  

Urban Legends

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.

A Smashing Smedley

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.

Next Smedley is March 29. See you there.

Leapin Leapers it's a Bisextile!

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.

Elie Ishag's winning Table Topics:


Emilie's speech Swim, Bike, Run:


Elie's evaluation of Emilie's speech:


Arnie's speech The Education of Mr. Spock:


Carl's evaluation of Arnie's speech:


Alec Metz's speech My Dinner with Arnie:


Angi's evaluation of Alec's speech:

Happy Birthday NPS Toastmasters!

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!

Passion!

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.

Continue to Dream

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:


Glenn Woodson's evaluation of Mary's speech:

Surprise!

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?)

Alex Bein's #3 Speech, The Fair Tax:

Mentors

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, Zeki Yildirim, 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.

Zeki's #2 Speech Do Not Procrastinate!

Arnie #3 Speech You're Going to Wear THAT?!?

Changing of the Guard

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:

Elie's #4 Speech, The Decline of the U.S. Dollar:

Elizabeth's #5 Speech, No Resolutions Here!:

2007 Holiday Table Topics Gift Exchange

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.