Feb. 19 – Family Connections

Submitted by Melanie K

This year Family Day was celebrated on Feb. 18. Alberta was the first province to celebrate Family Day as a holiday. Toastmaster Melanie K chose family connections as the theme for this meeting. Club members shared their Family Day or family weekend stories. Melanie opened the meeting with some quotes about family and was curious as to how some people not close to or involved with their families made their way through life. Family though, is not always related by blood (DNA).

Having somewhere to go is a home.
Having someone to love is a family.
Having both is a blessing. ~Unknown

Dan M made an inspiring speech (Project#10) from the Competent Communicators manual regarding politics and reasons to be more interested in politics, especially since there are two elections this year – provincial and federal. Most importantly, get out and vote, many people died for the rights and freedoms we take for granted today!

Rick L and Estella M tied for best Table Topic speaker. Thank you Edith B for your enlightening and thought provoking questions related to family and achieving success!

Our next meeting is March 5.

Club speech contest is March 19. If you are interested in either participating in the speech contests (International Speech and/or Evaluation) or volunteering to assist with the contests, contact VP Education, Dan M.

February 5/19 – Chinese New Year!

Submitted by Cherry C.

This meeting was filled with Chinese New Year snacks, surprise red pockets and lots of laughter.  Only exceptions, I was looking for wine and Melanie K was looking for fortune cookies and we found none.  Sergeant-at-Arms Estella M. decorated the room with Chinese New Year blessings and the 12 red pockets represented the 12 signs of animals as shown (see pictures).  Everyone opened a red pocket to discover one or two chocolate coins and a list of characteristics for each animal.  Two members found lucky money in their red pockets; the Rat and the Pig. This year being the  year of pig and the rat being the 1st animal in the Zodiac.  Toastmaster Cherry C started the meeting by telling us all about the “Year of the Pig.”  For those who were born in 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, or 1995. 

W e learned that Pigs are the symbol of wealth, their chubby faces and big ears are signs of fortune as well. Those born between the months of January and February may have a dual or overlapping personalities between two animals.  As per the Lunar calendar, there are either 29 or 30 days per month, thus it is approximately 11 days shorter than the Solar calendar.  Therefore, Chinese New Year falls in either January or February.  Estella made a great speech about the 12 Zodiac signs. In addition, we had five table topics speakers, evaluations and we also got to read the rest of the red pockets to learn about the characteristics of each animal (https://activitiesforkids.com/chinese-zodiac-bookmarks/).

This was Estella M’s first venture into humorous speeches.  To warm up her audience, she told us why the tiniest Rat became the first among 12 animals and the pig being the last in 12.  Estella lives in a power house with an ox, a lamb, a dragon and a tiger.  Because of love, their house always produces the best result, the optimal collaboration and harmony in all things.  The audience was not only warmed up but also filled with awes that Estella was not only able to put together a power point speech overnight but also delivered a fun‑filled humorous speech with lovely gestures and smiles. Rick L was Estella's speech evaluator who gave a very thorough evaluation expressing what he liked and areas for improvement.

Eileen S, led Tabletopics, had questions on some not well‑known Chinese New Year customs and asked five intriguing questions, which required lots of imagination. Both of our guests Rohit and Susan took part in table topics.   Rick L won the best Tabletopics telling us he was born in the year of dragon; therefore, he didn't have to pretend, he gestured toward his body with confidence and said: "What

you see is what you get; all here!"  Edith's granddaughter Susan graciously accepted the role of Grammarian & “ah/um” Counter. Susan had natural listening skills in noting all the Word of the Day (Pig) used and accurately counting all the ahs/ums. In addition, she also accepted the challenge of Tabletopics speaker.  Melanie juggled between responding to a Tabletopic and General Evaluation, but we all know that she handled it liked a breeze!

 

Rick won the best evaluator and the best Table topics; he was also our timer.    

Come join us February 19 at 7 pm Revera Residence at Riverbend.  Melanie K will be out Toastmaster and our Area Director Nayyer Ahmed will also be attending.
 

January 29/19 - Achieving the Impossible

Submitted by Edith B.

Our meeting was full of potential (knock, knock).  Toastmaster Rick L started the meeting telling us about Barry M, a fellow Toastmaster and his efforts in achieving what many of us would think is impossible. He gathered over 100 people to hear him speak. Well we didn’t have that many at our gathering but we did have a full meeting with two great speeches, table topics, evaluations and a song or two.  Happy Birthday VP Ed Dan M! 


Dan M gave a keynote address on how to give killer presentations and Eileen S spoke/sang the praises of mentorship telling us about her own Toastmasters journey.  They tied for best speaker. Their speech evaluators gave very thorough evaluations pointing out what they liked and suggesting improvements. Rhys D won best evaluator - the second time this week!


Cherry C led Table Topics asking some very thought provoking questions causing members to dig deep into their past and day to day lives.  Rick L won best Table Topics telling us how he applies “achieving the impossible” philosophy to his work every day. Grammarian Estella M had excellent listening skills in noting all the superb phrases used.  Melanie juggled timing, evaluating and responding to a table topic, but she did it all with great audacity. 


As general evaluator, Cherry C noted we didn’t achieve the impossible with a perfect meeting but we came close.  And we are certainly going to try again next week when we celebrate Chinese New Years. 


Come join us February 5/19 at 7 pm Revera Retirement Living in Riverbend.  Cherry C and Estella M, with hopefully the assistance of Wendy L, will tell us all about the “Year of the Pig.” This will be of particular interest to those born in 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, or 1995. Learn why Pigs have a beautiful personality and are blessed with good fortune in life.

Summary from November 20/18 Toastmaster’s Meeting “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”

Submitted by Edith B.

For awhile it looked like Lingo Advanced Communicators’ Meeting theme was going to be its “word of the day - shambolic.” Thank you Grammarian Eileen for such a unique word!

With the meeting theme in mind, our very own Dr. Dave travelled a great distance to be our Toastmaster for the evening. He truly lived up to these words from the best-seller and still favourite graduation gift. ....

“You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself

any direction you choose ...”

We were delighted that the little guy with the yellow hat (Dr. Dave), book in tow, became our direction and lead us through our meeting.

Our last workshop for 2018:

How to Run Effective Meetings
Facilitator: Eileen Szakacs ACB, ALB 
Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm 
St. Augustine's Church 6110 Fulton Road (across from Michael Cameron Arena) - Edmonton 
Seating is limited. Please register in advance through Eventbrite. See Lingo’s home page for further details. $5.00 will be collected at the door to cover costs associated with the workshop.