Intriguing presentations! 12-18-14

Due to last minute substitutions, Jim served as Toastmaster.

Edie served as Grammarian; as well as presenting a speech, and she provided us with "agent provocateur" as the word of the day.

We heard three great speeches.

Tamar presented "The Wage Gap, True or Myth?".  Tamar is expecting another child in May, so she decided to investigate some of the issues of a working mother earning an income, along with her working husband, and how incomes of men and women compare.  There is no question that the incomes of women are lower than the incomes of men.  The question is determining why.  She found several very informative studies that evaluated this, examining differences in types of jobs, differences in education levels, differences in years of on the job experience and other factors.  Taking into account all the identified factors, there is still a large gap between men's and women's pay that is not explained.

Edie then gave us a speech about police brutality, which included her own proposal for how best to reduce it.  She proposes that police maintain multiple methods of visible identification, which anyone on the receiving end could quickly recognize, and that if these requirements for identification are not fully maintained, their funding be cut off.

Karen then provided us humor by Roasting Russell Pike as "Russell The Romantic Rascal".  Karen told us that she is wondering how many times Russell will tell her that he met "the one" only to later say she was not "the one".

We look forward to next years enlightening, entertaining, educational presentations!  Merry Christmas, happy New Year and seasons greetings!

12-10-14 presentations!

Russell gave his closing arguments for us the Jury to show that Neanderthals were a kinder gentler being than those who survived evolution. Kathleen gave a speech on how building a reservoir of self-appreciation can add to your ability to give both positive feedback and self-improvement feedback. Giving and receiving appreciation is progressive work because it contradicts our $ driven society. Kathleen also engaged us in an activity where we gave ourselves appreciation and then used that same energy to exchange appreciation with a partner."  Lydia gave a fascinating speech!  We had a wonderful table topic session as well.  We look forward to this coming Thursday’s presenters, table topics, and evaluators!

A review of our cosy meeting 12-4-14

Jim opened the meeting right at 6:30. It was fitting that Toastmaster Russell Pike's theme for the evening was “I'll never stop the rain by complaining.”  During the meeting he surprised everyone when he related that Portland get more rain on more days than – Seattle.

First Speaker Edie Gillis gave a speech called, “In The Elevator.”  We learned that subjecting a captive audience to a sales pitch in an elevator just turns people off.   She said, Don't sell, connect.”  A good elevator talk is more like dialog and a dance.  She made great use of a hand-held flip chart and made us laugh.  Way to go, Edie!

Second Speaker Kevin Seed spoke on “Reading a Label.”  He handed out chemical labels and drew on his expertise as a landscaper to unlock their mysteries.  He said there were two things to know about chemical labels.  First, the label is a law.  Second, read the label.  He said that if there is no FDA number on the label to tell someone immediately.  Another great speech, Kevin!

Table Topics Master Henry Exerjian gave members Brinn Hemmingson, Jim Robison, and Edie Gillis and long-time member and current guest Sandra Wolicki (she is re-joining Portland Progressives) their choice of politics, law enforcement, and justice.  We learned that Brinn was a criminal justice major in college.  She said she had been in funny, loud protests without violence and that protesters that destroy property need to be stopped.  Sandra thought that body camera were generally good, but that we should analyze the costs and benefits.  Edie spoke out for more police accountability and that the D.A. is looking for prosecutions and not justice.  Jim talked about why the Democrats lost and said that money taking over the entire conversation during election season is bad.

Jim lead the evaluation session. 

Kathleen Clarke evaluated Edie's speech.  Kathleen liked Edie's focus on meaning and emotion.  She also praised Edie's creativity and especially the choreographed foot stomping introduction.  Kathleen said that Edie easily met her project requirements  by demonstrating “how to say it” with short, distinctive words.  Kathleen suggested that Edie should slow down a bit.

Even though Sandra was a guest, she stepped up to evaluate Kevin.  Sandra told us that Kevin had chosen a great topic for his “how to say it speech”.  She liked the catchy start and the repetition of the two points.  She liked his final recap and suggested that he end with a quote.  Sandra encouraged him to do more speeches.

Brinn was grammarian.  Five people used the word of the day, “exigency.”  She pointed out our verbal highlights and the few uses of filler words.  Christine Seed lead a short, punchy listener session that had us on our mental toes.  Peter Liu handled the timer activity flawlessly and gave a crisp report.

Jim told us that he enjoyed the meeting and that it was generally a good meeting.  He focused on our need for storage of equipment, a second guest book, and signage.  Without the storage, these were missing since Sgt. at Arms Chuck Melikian had them and was unable to attend the meeting.

It was a great meeting on a rainy day.  We look forward to our next wonderful meeting coming up this Thursday!  You don't want to miss it!

News from Toastmasters International for December

The Redesigned Website Is Here!

Toastmasters International’s redesigned website was engineered with your user experience in mind. It offers a sleek design, easier navigation, mobile-friendly access, an improved shopping experience and more resources than ever before. Leadership Central gives you quick access to all the management tools you need. Please note: You will need to log in to view Leadership Central webpages.

Last Call for 2015 Convention Presenters

Do you have experience addressing international audiences of 400 or more? Dynamic presenters are invited to apply by December 15 to speak at the 2015 International Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. Watch highlights of last year’s convention.