Category: Weekly Window

In honor of Labor Day, the theme of our August 29th meeting was "Job Appreciation." Allison graciously filled in as Toastmasters at the last minute, giving a short introduction about thankless jobs.

We were lucky enough to have two prepared speeches:

• Asad delivered the first speech within level 2 of Dynamic Leadership: Understanding Your Leadership Style, in which he outlined the structure of a good project, including its timeframe, multiple people from different levels, and the end results produced.
• Sally delivered a speech from level 3 of Presentation Mastery, entitled "Getting Started with Pathways" and encouraging members to print their projects ahead of the presentation to avoid technical glitches that can occur unexpectedly. Be sure to check out more Pathways-related content in Sally's VPE Corner.

Usamah served as Table Topics Master for the day, using the theme "Perceptions" as inspiration for his prompts.

• Sally spoke about the most valuable lessons she gained from her parents: Age and Experience.
• Christine shared what most brings her joy working at MD Anderson, relating how much she appreciates seeing employees taking the time to help patients who seem to be lost or in need of assistance.
• Asad spoke about what he most enjoys during his time off, sharing his recent use of apps to help organize his speeches and timing.
• Allison shared the earliest time in her life that she could remember being thankful, relating information about the opportunities of her early childhood.

• Best Speaker: Sally
• Best Evaluator: Joann
• Best Table Topic: Christine
• Word of the Day: illustrious

Do you have an attitude of gratitude? Sally introduced this theme as our Toastmaster-of-the-Day, explaining the value of being able to find the silver lining, even when things aren't going well. She told the story of deciding to go to lunch on a day that had been particularly trying, only to discover that her car had a flat tire. AAA was able to replace her tire and, because of her bad day prompting her to go out, she didn't have a flat tire when she was already late (to her dancing class later that day).

In a day of firsts, Maxine gave her Dynamic Leadership path's Icebreaker speech today, speaking about her "passion pyramid" -- the things about which she is most passionate -- as a way to let us get to know her better. Asad served as Evaluator for the first time, providing a constructive evaluation of Maxine's speech. Congratulations to both of you!

Joann used today's theme of gratitude and the Word-of-the-Day, resilience, as inspiration as Table Topics Master, asking Loni to speak about the person within the past year for whom she is most thankful. Usamah was asked to speak about an occasion in his life that has built his sense of thankfulness, which he responded to by speaking about his wife's journey with cancer. Finally, Allison explained that she felt grateful toward her parents because of the opportunities she was afforded growing up.

We hope you will join us next week!

• Best Table Topic: Usamah
• Word of the Day: resilience

Karl served as Toastmaster at this week's meeting, providing a warm introduction full of personality and a bit of perspective on what it's like to turn 50 years old, a monumental event he's celebrating with a 30+ mile run this weekend. Happy fiftieth, Karl!

This week, members were treated to two wonderful speeches from Asad and Sally. Asad delivered a research-based presentation about the Process Communication Model, focused around reframing communication from the viewpoint of the recipient (the person being spoken to) instead of the viewpoint of the speaker. Sally gave her final speech within level 5 of the Team Collaboration Pathway, sharing with us some of her experiences over the course of all five levels of progress. Congratulations on your path completion, Sally!

• Best Speaker: Sally
• Best Evaluator: Loni
• Word(s) of the Day: ardent / argent

During this week's meeting Jonathan delivered a speech entitled "Flustered" in which he spoke about dealing with life when things don't go according to plan. Asad spoke about how to achieve happiness, emphasizing the importance of developing human connections through active listening and "tell me more."

Maxine served as Table Topics Master this week, prompting volunteers to finish the story beginning with "I have bats in my attic..." Karl convincingly constructed an entire ecosystem of interdependent organisms that must also be living in his attic to sustain an apex predator like the common bat, while Joann gave a dramatic performance in response to her terror that the bats in her attic might be the kind that feast upon blood.

• Best Speaker: Asad
• Best Table Topic: Joann
• Best Evaluator: Loni
• Word of the Day: alacrity

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Despite being a light week in terms of turnout, members were treated with not one but two full-length speeches given today, including Tina's first Icebreaker! Tina employed a unique method to teach us all more about herself by telling a story that illustrated several personal characteristics: the desire to plan ahead, the determination to be adventurous, and the ability to adapt when her carefully laid plans went awry. Fabulous job, Tina!

Asad spoke today, championing the importance of Risk Management. While we are all mostly fortunate to generally not have to think about risk probabilities and likely impact, Asad gave us all pause to think about the risks we regularly face and how we might be able to mitigate them.

• Best Speaker: Tina
• Best Evaluator: Joann
• Best Table Topic: Allison
• Word of the Day: fraught