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:

!Sdrawkcab Gniteem

Club president Sharon Lipinski led our first backwards meeting in a long time and the result was much hilarity!

A backwards meeting is exactly that - it runs the entire meeting in reverse order. First the meeting is adjourned, then control returned to the Toastmaster, etc. Speech evaluations are done before the speeches, and table topics questions answered before they are asked.

Art Terry's (backwards) General Evaluation:


Here is the entire (backwards) Table Topics portion:


Arnie Buss (pre) evaluated Scott Yeatman's Icebreaker:


Scott Yeatman's Icebreaker Speech The Right Woman:


Carl Thormeyer (pre) evaluated Katharine Daniels Kurz's #9 speech:


Katharine Daniels Kurz's #9 speech Women, Media, Revolution:


Jim Burlison (pre) evaluated Staney Wong's # Speech:


Stanley Wong's # speech What Did I Get Myself Into? My Marathon Story:


Nell Turley's Humorous remarks:

Chaos

Art Terry led an orderly meeting with a chaotic theme!

Moyara Ruehsen won best table topics:


Sharon Lipinski gave the first speech from the advanced Humorsously Speaking manual, Champagne Giving on a Beer Budget:


Sharon was evaluated by Art Testani:


Jim Burlison practiced his Humorous Contest speech, The Ah's Have It:


The next day, Jim won the Area A1 Humorous Speech contest - congratulations Jim!

The Best Lesson I Never Learned

Stan Wong was TMoD and chose a thought-provoking theme "The Best Lesson I Never Learned."

Scott Yeatman was the humorist:


Brian McGinnis won best table topics:


Tom Shih gave an advanced speech from the Storytelling manual, Raised by a Fool and was voted Best Speaker:


Tom was evaluated by Arnie Buss:


Suad Ali gave speech #8 Basic Services and was voted Most Improved Speaker:


Suad was evaluated by Kate Daniels Kurz:


Glenn Woodson gave an advanced speech Presenting an Award:


Glenn was evaluated by Art Testani, who was selected as best evaluator: