Feb. 19th, 2015

We had an outstanding meeting Feb. 19^th.  Our Toastmaster Russell spoke about “Divorce” and its characteristics. It made us feel like not getting divorced.  We had 3 speakers. Sandra spoke on extra ordinary productivity and how to be more effective.  We should focus first on areas that are important.  We should spend 10 minutes daily on planning as well as allocate time for weekly planning. Edie educated us speaking on the many contributions and benefits mosses and lichen provide, such as modifying earth’s atmosphere.  She provided a great deal of visual and hands on examples.   Colleen played her violin and dressed the part for her Ice Breaker speech. We learned a great deal about her life. Lydia was our Table Topics Master provided members with opportunities to speak extemporaneously.  Lydia also brought wonderful Chinese treats.  We had great evaluators: Christine and especially Bill and Kathleen!  Karen did a wonderful rap up and evaluation of our meeting.  Two contests are coming up.  Our next  lineups looks intriguing!

Fun meeting Feb. 12, 2015

Edie was the beginning toastmaster until the official toastmaster arrived.  We had two speakers.  Jim made a hot speech on this last Wednesday’s rally which was about Healthcare for all Oregon.  His contingent got to speak to every single legislator.  Lydia spoke about how we can decide that Friday the 13^th is a good day and spoke of get ready for valentines day.  Kathleen was her evaluator.  Russell really shined  during table topics using quotes from different people on sex. He would say a quote from a famous person on sex and you had to respond to it.  This was an  excellent Table Topics subject.  Eddi really outdid herself as a snack master.  Bringing decorations for Valentines Day and bringing foods for different types of diets.  She has little valentines cards for everyone.  We had 4 guests who really love the program.   Thanks to Kathleen’s for submitting this entry!

The next meeting is going to be exceptional because Bill will be flying in from Tempe, Arizona!  You don’t want to miss this one!

Feb. 5th meeting!

Ellen Ino stepped in as toastmaster at the last minute and did an admirable job befitting her vast experience as a toastmaster.  She ably carried through the existing theme of “Reflections”.

Karen Semprevivo spoke about “Radon gas in Portland, Oregon:  Are you in danger of exposure?”  Her lively talk featured a slide presentation focusing on the hidden danger of radon gas, how it got to Portland in the first place, and how to get your dwelling checked.

Ann Kroetch once again spoke on the benefits of being a toastmaster in “Look for the best in people.”  I enjoy the way Ann continues to use Toastmasters in her speeches showing us how it can improve our lives. Chuck Melikian told us about “The end of the day philosophy.”  He gave us the goal of trying to live our lives so that when we reflect on our day at its end we are satisfied that we did good for others and ourselves.  I especially enjoyed Chuck's personal examples and how they told us more about him.

Jim Robison's table topics session levered the theme of reflections beautifully.  He asked who had certain characteristics or history and picked from among them.  It lead to a series of personal, thoughtful table topics.  The highlight was a table topic by a second-time guest, Prajwahl.

Lydia Hoover lead the evaluations as general evaluator.  She gave her own thoughts on the three speeches during her general evaluation and said she thought it was an excellent meeting.

The evaluators were Henry Exerjian (Karen), Brinn Hemmingson (Ann), and Russell Pike (Chuck).  Each demonstrated their skill at highlighting the strengths of their evaluated speech, gently making a suggestion for improvement, and encouraging the speaker to higher speaking achievement.

Christine Seed was grammarian.  Her word of the day, the royal “we”, created a thoughtful dialog.  It was used several times during the meeting.

Edie Gillis once again made us think and this time as listener made us laugh from time to time as well.  Her questions really challenged us remember what we had heard throughout the meeting.

Colleen Seckler was timer, which was her first meeting role.  She gave a thorough report that demonstrated she is learning to speak succinctly.  She was also snack master – yum.

Much thanks to Russell for keeping us posted!

Toastmasters.org Updates

Toastmasters.org Updates

Our redesigned website launched in December. Since then, the following updates have been implemented or are in progress:

• Website FAQs offer tutorials to aid in navigating the site.
• The Find a Club Advanced Search tool helps users locate clubs by country or district, and you can export the results to a spreadsheet. Find it in the Leadership Central section under Club Officer Tools and District Leaders Tools, which are available after logging in.
• The Search function provides results for both products and content. You may choose to view either.
• Enhancements to both the Search and Shop functions will be made throughout the first quarter of 2015.

Member feedback is a key reason these improvements are being made. We appreciate your comments and review them regularly. Please email us your feedback.

Fantastic meeting January 29th, 2015

Our meeting's turnout was fantastic! Sandra spoke sincerely of gratitude and her experience with toastmasters. Henry had a power point presentation speaking on how we can get more Democratic votes by educating voters among other strategies. Kevin's table topic involved picking a saying such as "You can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear” or “as lucky as a 3 dollar bill” and speak about it. . Kathleen was our illustrious Toastmasters spoke about health care, climate change; Health conscience Karen got Gluten free crackers and popcorn! Karen also informed us that the evaluation contest will be March 5 and March 12 will be the speech contest.  We are certainly looking forward to this Thursday's meeting!