The Princesses were here!

Meet our princesses Georgia, Jennifer, Aramina and Dina! They gave their first speech today for us.
The theme for this year is united with our heroes.
Dina's hero was her mom for how she has always worked to provide for her family, and inspires her to do her best. She plans to attend Corban University as a pre-med student and become an ophthalmologist. Kristina was Dina's evaluator, and she talked about how she could feel how her mother has impacted Dina's life, and encouraged her to tell the story of her mom to the audience.

Aramina talked about how she believes that teachers are overlooked heroes, as they cheer on their students. She is planning to attend Linn-Benton Community College, then Western Oregon University in pursuit of a teaching degree. Lee was Aramina's evaluator who complimented how she was able to tell her story with a good flow to her speech. He suggested that after some practice that Aramina could cut back on her notes so that we could see her beautiful smile more. Svetlana also evaluated Aramina, who said she had wonderful posture.
Jennifer talked about how she had a cousin who joined the Marines and when she heard he was coming home designed a welcome home poster as a way to show that her family was united with their hero. Her goal is to go to a university to study political science, serve in the Peace Corp, and then attend law school. Avital was Jennifer's evaluator, who said that she was so brave for coming up to speak with a smile and waving at the camera. One suggestion Avital gave Jennifer is to take a breath and look at the audience even if she isn't saying anything to engage them in her speech.
Our final speaker was Georgia who said there are many heroes in our community, from volunteers to nurses and our police. Georgia looks forward to attending Oregon Coast Community College and later transferring to Oregon State University to pursue a degree in marketing. Lauralee was her evaluator, who told her that she was in IB classes, goes to OCCC and OSU right now, and is working in marketing for her job. One of the things that Lauralee noticed is that had a lot of good examples of who were heroes and recognized those who are normally forgotten about. She said that Georgia had a great ending by saying that the world would stop turning if there weren't the volunteers who make so much happen. A suggestion that Lauralee had was to practice her speech in the mirror so she could see her gestures and facial expressions. 
Kristina gave a table topic questions for the Princesses to answer. She was wondering which superpower that each of the girls would want if they could choose out of any power. Georgia's superpower is to be invisible. Jennifer's superpower was teleportation so that she can go to places like Disneyland. Aramina decided that if she had a superpower, it would be shapeshifting so she could experience being animals, being able to fly and different perspectives. Dina wanted her superpower to be healing.

Zoom Tip One

I have recently found that you cannot have the radio on, or any music going, while recording a Zoom session. The beginning of our meeting had the radio on, and while I tried to upload the video to YouTube, it was flagged for copyright. I ended up not being able to post it, as YouTube would not allow me to trim my video.

PRESENTATION MASTERY

PRESENTATION MASTERY
Mastering Fundamentals
• Ice Breaker
• Evaluation and Feedback
• Researching and Presenting
Learning Your Style
• Understanding Your Communication Style
• Effective Body Language
• Introduction to Toastmasters Mentoring
Increasing Knowledge
• Persuasive Speaking
Level 3 Elective Projects (choose 2)
• Deliver Social Speeches • Focus on the Positive
• Using Presentation Software • Inspire Your Audience
• Connect with Storytelling • Prepare for an Interview
• Creating Effective Visual Aids • Understanding Vocal Variety
• Using Descriptive Language • Active Listening
• Connect with Your Audience • Make Connections Through Networking
Building Skills
• Managing a Difficult Audience
Level 4 Elective Projects (choose 1)
• Create a Podcast
• Manage Online Meetings
• Building a Social Media Presence
• Question-and-Answer Session
• Public Relations Strategies
• Write a Compelling Blog • Manage Projects Successfully
Demonstrating Expertise
• Prepare to Speak Professionally
• Reflect on Your Path
Level 5 Elective Projects (choose 1)
• Lessons Learned • Leading in Your Volunteer
• Moderate a Panel Discussion Organization
• Ethical Leadership
• High Performance Leadership

Our Princesses are coming!

Georgia Richardson (far left) has a love for painting and photography. She has been taking advanced and International Baccalaureate (IB) classes and looks forward to attending Oregon Coast Community College and later transferring to Oregon State University to pursue a degree in marketing.

Jennifer Beltran Reyes has taken advanced and IB classes throughout high school. She was on the Newport High School volleyball and basketball teams. Her goal is to go to a university to study political science, serve in the Peace Corp, and then attend law school.

Aramina Leavitt is in advanced and IB classes. She has been dancing with the Newport School of Artistic Movement for 15 years and with Pacific Dance Ensemble for six years. She is planning to attend Linn-Benton Community College, then Western Oregon University in pursuit of a teaching degree.

Dina Jalel (far right) is working toward her IB diploma when she graduates this year. She has been on the Newport High School volleyball team for three years and volunteers at the Newport Public Library during the summer. She plans to attend Corban University as a pre-med student and become an ophthalmologist.

February 20th Meeting

Our International Speech contest club level was this Tuesday. Brian was the chairman of the contest, and gave us information about what happens at a contest. Everyone received a judging sheet with the criteria for the speeches. Each person was to fill out their sheet and hand the bottom piece into the ballot counters. He also handed out the evaluation contest sheet, where everyone was to judge the evaluators on their content.
Our contest speaker was Dave, who gave his speech half the man I used to be. He came in wearing the clothes he used to wear at 450 pounds, and said there is a person here missing today. He was quite glad this person is gone and assured us he would never be found again, because Dave got rid of him. Dave then announced that he is now below half the weight he used to be. Seven years ago, Dave decided that his hip was hurting so much that he was going to have to do something about it. After meeting with a doctor, he was told he needed to loose over 100 pounds before they could do surgery on his hip safely. While Dave tried to loose weight, he was not close to his goal by the end of the first year. Meeting the doctor again, he was referred to a weight loss clinic where they required him to loose more weight to prove that he would continue on his journey of weight loss if he got the gastric bypass. At the end of his speech he said that today he was shedding his old clothes, and life a butterfly bursting from it cocoon, Dave has been transformed into a new person.

Tom was our test speaker for our evaluators Dave and Avital, as shown in the video above. To end the meeting, everyone practiced filling out their judging slips, and how people were scored. 

Zoom Update!

Hello All,

Our WiFi has been significantly improved this week, and the signal came across very clear. The video still came across, even when all of the members had their video on! I have a recording of the meeting on our Youtube channel. This should fix our bandwidth problems. If you would like to check out our latest meeting, the video it provided below!

Have a great day!

February 13th Meeting Review

Ruth was the Toastmaster of the day, whose theme was what we love to hate. She ran the meeting from online, having the speech evaluators present the objectives of the speeches before they were given. She also had the general evaluator lead the evaluation part of the meeting. The general evaluator was Avital, who gave her perspective of the meeting from online. Avital congratulated the club on getting much better wifi, where all of the online members could have their video on with no problems at the meeting. She suggested that the grammarian present the word of the day from the front at the beginning of the meeting so everyone can use it throughout the meeting.
The first speaker of the day was Linda, who gave her first ice breaker through Pathways. She talked about her book that she wrote about love, forgiveness and compassion. On Linda's journey, she learned that it was not about what the other person did to you, as all humans have faults, but that you have the power to choose, of your own free will, to forgive and show compassion. This is the power that all humans have, that will help them exercise the love that is within them, and show compassion to others. Her evaluator was Brian N, who said that her ice breaker was very effective in giving us an idea of who she is. While there were things to improve on, he said she did a great job of communicating her ideas to the group. One suggestion he had for Linda is that she could lay out her speech on a piece of paper with bullet points so that it is easier to read without having to pick them up.
Our second speaker of the day was Kristina, who gave her ice breaker for the path Visionary Communications. In her speech, Kristina walked us through how she did not like school when she was growing up, with the tests, assignments and writing. However, she found a class that brought more experiential learning into the classroom. They would run across poles thirty feet up with another student as a spotter. As a college student, she studied experiential learning, and has now travelled the world to teach businesses to work as a team. Brian H was Kristina's evaluator for her ice breaker. He said that she did very well presenting herself, and not showing any nerves that she could have had. One suggestion that he had for her was to share a little more of her life outside work, so that we could get to know more of who she is. 
Dave was the Table Topics Master of the day, whose theme was a whopper. Jalene told us about how she was riding her motorcycle with her husband, and as they were travelling, they arrived at their destination on New Years Eve. The town they were in was mostly closed down for the holiday, and they decided to go to a restaurant for dinner at one of the only restaurants open. Tom was the second speaker who told us the recipe for how to make a Burger King whopper. Jalene was the winner of table topics.
Lauralee was the grammarian of the day, whose word was Cherish. Svetlana was the timer of the day.

Events Coming Up

February 20th, 2018- International Speech Contest
February 27th, 2018- 1st Princess visit
March 20th, 2018- Loyalty Day Princess Open House

February 13th Roles

Ruth will be the Toastmaster of the day, evaluated by Avital. There will be two speakers of the day, Linda and Kristina. Brian will be the evaluator for Linda, and Diane will evaluate Kristina. Dave will be Table topics master of the day. Lauralee will be grammarian and Svetlana will be the timer of the day.

Our Zoom Link

https://zoom.us/j/503657370

February 6th Video

February 6th Meeting

Brian H was the Toastmaster of the day, started off with a Bang! whose theme was Onamonapia. As first time Toastmaster, he talked about how his mom, a English teacher, taught him how words are fun, and snap crackle pop! he found he loved language. His evaluator was Ruth, who said that the meeting started on time, and that the technical problems were handled in stride, though suggested we may have a person designated to technology who is not a part of the meeting. Ruth was also pleased at the fact that our inte/8*9--rnet issues should improve by the next week.
Tom was our first speaker of the day, who had some technical issues on Yaquina Toastmaster's side. However, he was able to record his speech, which is linked below!

Tom's evaluator was not present today, however Yaquina Toastmasters was able to try a new technique. During our round robin evaluation, Svetlana told Tom that he was able to bring empathy to the immigrants on the Oregon Trail, and that he presented a lot of interesting information. Ruth focused on Tom's gestures and said that being able to show more body language to the camera was very effective, though did caution to make his gestures intentional. In the Toastmasters room, Brian H talked about how Tom had some very interesting information that he presented, though Brian H did correct the pronunciation of Willamette. Brian N was the last round robin evaluator who mentioned that he saw the email about what Tom wanted to focus on. Like Ruth, Brian N liked how Tom stood back so the camera could capture more of his gestures. While there were technical issues, he thought Tom brought in some good humor and was able to emphasize his gestures enough that the camera could catch his expressions. 

Linda was the Table Topics master of the day, whose theme was making others smile. She asked Kristina what she did yesterday that made another person happy, and what animal sound would she associate with it. Kristina talked about how she was able to connect with some friends and cawed. Dave said that he slept after his night job, and so he caught Zzs for his sound. Both Kristina and Dave won table topics. 

Svetlana's word of the day was wholeheartedly. The timer of the day was Jalene. 

February 6th Roles

The Toastmaster of the day will be Brian H, evaluated by Ruth Michelle Hart. There will be two speakers of the day, Tom Colling evaluated by Michelle Alba-Lim. The second speaker will be Diane, evaluated by Lee. Linda will be the table topics master. Svetlana Rakhimova will be the grammarian of the day, and Jalene Case will be timer.

January 30th Review

The Toastmaster of the day was Julia, whose theme of the day was vacation. She talked about how she would soon be going on vacation, and her love of spending time with her family. Laurie W was the evaluator of the day, who reminded us to talk about the objectives of the speech and complimented Svetlana on her evaluation of Lakota's speech. She also complimented Svetlana on her unique perspective for how Lakota can improve his speech through his online background.
Lakota was the first speaker of the day, who gave his first Pathways icebreaker. He talked about his love for adventure. From skiing, fire fighting, and jumping out of perfectly good airplanes, Lakota loved the thrill of the adrenaline rush. As a wildland firefighter, Lakota travels to go fight fires around the United States. After a very bad injury that his friend got on the job, Lakota decided to tame down his job, and not go into the most risky positions. During this transition, he decided to take up meditation and he goes on sabbatical to take time for himself. As he started down that journey, Lakota found that both meditation and jumping out of airplanes giving him the same type of peace through presence of mind. Svetlana loved his speech, and all of his mini stories that he told throughout his speech. She said that Lakota was very good at eye contact, and being able to tell his stories in an engaging way. One of the suggestions that Svetlana had was that he could put up an engaging background to enhance his online presence.
Avital was the second speaker of the day, whose speech was from the better speaker series. She gave the example of an airplane taking off, which is the same as a speech taking off where the most problems can occur during the beginning of the speech. Avital talked about how you can start with participation, such as asking a question to your audience, or take a poll of your audience. Another way that a speaker can start the speech is through suspense. As an example, Avital started pretending to lurk around, stalk a creature that was not there, and preen herself. "I am a cat!" she said as the answer to who she was. Lee was the step in evaluator for her speech. He loved how Avital used different personas throughout the speech to add interest. Another thing that Lee liked about the speech was that she used the plane example because it made a lot of sense for how it could go wrong. One suggestion that Lee had for Avital is to make sure her visual aids are up and can be seen by everyone.
There were no table topics because of time restraint. The word of the day is sabbatical by Christa. The timer of the day was Linda.

STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIPS

STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIPS
Mastering Fundamentals
• Ice Breaker
• Evaluation and Feedback
• Researching and Presenting
Learning Your Style
• Understanding Your Leadership Style
• Cross-Cultural Understanding
• Introduction to Toastmasters Mentoring
Increasing Knowledge
• Make Connections Through Networking
Level 3 Elective Projects (choose 2)
• Deliver Social Speeches • Focus on the Positive
• Using Presentation Software • Inspire Your Audience
• Connect with Storytelling • Prepare for an Interview
• Creating Effective Visual Aids • Understanding Vocal Variety
• Using Descriptive Language • Effective Body Language
• Connect with Your Audience • Active Listening
Building Skills
• Public Relations Strategies
Level 4 Elective Projects (choose 1)
• Create a Podcast • Manage Online Meetings
• Building a Social Media Presence • Question-and-Answer Session
• Managing a Difficult Audience
• Write a Compelling Blog
• Manage Projects Successfully
Demonstrating Expertise
• Leading in Your Volunteer Organization
• Reflect on Your Path
Level 5 Elective Projects (choose 1)
• Lessons Learned
• Moderate a Panel Discussion
• Prepare to Speak Professionally
• Ethical Leadership
• High Performance Leadership