Meeting

April 30, 2015: President’s Report

At this Thursday’s meeting at Voyagers we all examined our Core Values as Toastmaster Amy G led the meeting with Hal S as General Evaluator.

 

Terry H stepped in as Topic Master at the last minute when the previously scheduled Topic Master texted that his car had broken down on the I-8.  From Mark S we found out about the meaning of Core in addition to bad puns.  Jan C described Values and how her vocabulary has expanded to include words she didn’t use before.  Natalie M shared how travel abroad can expand your core values.  Julia S was then given the assignment of telling what to do when your core values conflict with the core values of another person.  Donna G exceeded all her core values and declared that when she can’t find an expert she becomes the expert.  Indre F discussed the recent fad of improving your body’s core. And even our Toastmaster didn’t escape Table Topics as Amy G was tasked with expounding on how her core values have changed over time.

 

We then went on to the core of the meeting with two advanced speeches from the Communicating on Video manual.  DTM John W interviewed best selling author Natalie M about her recent book “A Pearl Harbor Survivor’s Expose on Pride, Prejudice, and Prostitutes” and her experiences in publishing on Kindle.  Everyone was impressed with the planning, marketing, and business logic that went into publishing this book in the online market.  These advances speeches received excellent evaluations by Diana B and Nancy J.
For those of you interested, here is a link showing Vin Diesel who was very prepared for his own interview a few years ago:
  • Best Table Topics: Donna G
  • Most Improved: Julia S
  • Best Evaluator: Nancy J
  • Best Speaker: Natalie M
Our next meeting will be led by Jan C with the theme of “Procrastination”.  This will also be Nancy J’s final meeting before she migrates back east for the summer so show up to wish her well.
Meeting

April 9, 2015: President’s Report

As some of you predicted, this week’s meeting went as planned.  
The theme of the meeting was “Reverse Meeting” concluded by by Toastmaster Diana B.  John W followed as General Evaluator.
  • Best Table Topic: Lynn P
  • Most Improved: Nancy J
  • Best Evaluator: Felicia D
  • Best Speaker: Mark E
The evaluators were all extremely specific in their advice to the speakers letting them know the parts of the speech they enjoyed and giving examples from the speeches.  Speaker Terry H shared with us his storytelling skills.  Mark E gave a Toast to Voyagers to celebrate the first 32 years as a group.  And Nancy J got everyone into shape (or shapes) as we experienced the basics of yoga.
Linda T took over as TopicsMaster with a set of retrograde topics.  Donna G told us about retrograde retirement.  Lynn P shared retrograde randomness of Spring break and the story of the little girl who told about her mother with tattoo of grapes “because she loves wine”.  Justin H described learning backwards.  Jan C  reminded us that life is in cycles and about Zumba gold.  And poor Karen W discussed what it was like to do business and conduct interviews while a chef kept bringing her food.
Meeting

March 26, 2015: President’s Report

Have you too still haven’t found what I’m looking for?  (See reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EabB55IYyOg )  Maybe that’s because you missed last week’s meeting led by Alan H with the theme of “Search Strategies”.  Diana B assisted the search as General Evaluator leading her team to find what was missing from the perfect meeting and the perfect speech.
Joji P led the search through table topics.  Donna G  shared her experience buying red bar stools “that were sooo cute” even though the on-line reviews warned the the enamel would chip a lot. Jan C was given the task to explain how she researched papers when she was in school.  Nancy J  revealed that AAA will not only unlock your car if you get locked out, they will also unlock your house if you lock yourself out (or at least they will try).  Julia S told of her quest to buy luxury items in China over the internet using a Chinese VPN.  Jerry M was given the open ended question of finding something he is looking for right now.  Terry H  avoided the topic of the last time he was searching for something on Facebook.  And Indre F described the search process and decision making that led her to Voyagers.
Two speakers then filled the prepared speech section of the meeting.  Delores P presented “The Power of Positive Mindset” with  a two phase demonstration on the power of positive and negative thought.  Then Angelique H  revealed “The Purpose of Life” as she shared both professional experiences and research she had gathered from a variety of sources.
  • Best Table Topic: Nancy J
  • Most Improved: Delores P
  • Best Evaluator: Mark I
  • Best Speaker: Delores P
Huggie Award: A shared award to Alan H, Delores P, Amy G, and Joji P for being benevolent and stepping up to fill openings in the schedule this week
Meeting

March 19, 2015: President’s Report

This past meeting we all travelled (in our imaginations) to Costa Rica as Mark E shared his experiences and stories of this Central American country with us.

Linda T was our guide in Table Topics. We found out from Manshu A why we should go to Costa Rica (the answer is “because Nicaragua doesn’t sound as nice”.) Indre F then shared with us how she tortured her future husband by forcing him to walk two hour across Rome. Natalie M convinced us of the advantages of speaking Spanish in Paris (it turns out to be slightly more useful than speaking Mandarin in Paris). And finally, Mr. and Mrs. E entertained us with the traditional Costa Rican marriage whistle song.

Speaking from the advanced manual “Special Occasions” with speech number 1 “The Toast”, Amy G led the club in a tribute to Ted Geisel in a speech entitled “Commemorating Dr. Seuss.” Cynthia P then informed us with speech number 6, Vocal Variety, entitled “FIRST Robotics”. (Cynthia, thank you for introducing the word “coopertition” to my vocabulary.) For more information on FIRST Robotics, visit http://www.usfirst.org/ or http://www.sandiegoregional.com/ . The prepared speeches were rounded out with Mike R giving speech #4 from the Persuasive Speaking manual with “Article 5 of the Constitution: A Solution as Big as the Problem”.

Best Table Topics: Manshu A
Most Improved: Cynthia P
Best Evaluation: Jan C
Best Speaker: Cynthia P

Reminder again that dues are due. Please bring your $63 payment to Jerry M at the next meeting.

Meeting

March 5, 2015: President’s Report

Stardate: 2015-03-05

This week Felicia D led us on an on-going mission to the Star Trek universe. We visited strange new worlds, sought out new life and new civilizations, and boldly went where no one has gone before.

John W gathered his away team for a visit to Table Topics. (“Dammit, Jim! I’m a President, not a Topics Master.”) Jan C bewitched us all with her tale of the holodeck. Terry H discussed the downside of transporters. Our guest, Indre, shared with us how she would keep the food replicators busy making berries. Julia S made use of the advanced 23rd century medical tricorders to discover why her cat was gaining weight. Amy G analyzed machines to determine if they were intelligent and self-aware. Jerry M used his magnetic personality to explain how in the future we will cope without pockets. Fascinating!

Kara D then shared with us from the Storytelling manual speech number three, “The Moral of the Story” with a speech entitled “Getting Yourself to Share”. Kara’s speech managed to share, and teach, and entertain (and for those of you who haven’t heard it, Kara has a lovely voice).

Best Table Topic: Jerry M
Best Evaluator: Jane F
Most Improved: Julia S
Best Speaker: Kara D

One more reminder, the Area 12 speech contest is tonight, Friday, March 06, at 6:00 p.m. at the CalTrans offices at 4050 Taylor Street in the Garcia Room 1-125. See the attached flyer for more information. Show up to cheer Mike R and Mark I as they represent Voyagers.

Away team, our work here is done. Beam us up, Scotty.

See you next Thursday,

John W

Club #5315 Est. 1983