The first Regular Meeting for the year 2017 was held on Saturday, January 14 at Minapark. Thanks to renewed STMC Website, new visitors to Regular Meeting has been on the rise recently. As a result, three newcomers have joined our club during the past half-year and we had a great pleasure to have three guests in this meeting.

President Chen called the No.456 Regular Meeting to order and welcomed the guests. TM T.A. was introduced to explain “Word of the Day” that she selected to expand the vocabulary of the audience. The word was “Rejuvenation (noun)/Rejuvenate (verb)” which could be appropriate for elderly members to remember. An example sentence using that word filled the room with laughter.

Next, President Chen introduced TM S.N. to conduct the “Induction Ceremony” for Ms. Y.T. who was approved to join our club in the “Declaration Ceremony” held on December 10, 2016. After the inductee finished reading out “A Toastmaster’s Promise”, STMC members recited the pledge to support the new member.

Then, President Chen introduced TM T.N. as “Toastmaster of the Day (TMOD)” to start the main program. To begin with, TMOD reminded all speakers to use microphone effectively and called for all role takers, Grammarian, Ah/Uh Counter, Vote Counter and Timer, to briefly explain their roles for the benefits of the guests.

TMOD introduced Joke Master TM K.T. to have the audience relax by telling some funny stories. The first story was about a boss asking his secretary to take all copies before destroying old documents. The second story was about a conversation arising from difference in pronunciation between a man and a lady sitting on the bench in California. The third story was about a man who could not get water without buying a tie in the desert. Last story was about a pet cat transformed into a charming young human by the magic only when the keeper remembered that the animal had been sterilized.

We moved on to Prepared Speech Session. As usual, we had five speakers. The first speaker, TM K.I., delivered the speech titled “Say it right” based on the Manual “Competent Communication”. His delivery was like an English class asking the audience to find right English words in four Japanese sentences using “ARM” or 腕 in Japanese”.

The second speaker, TM A.M., delivered the speech titled “Overwork or Death” based on the Manual “Persuasive Speaking”. His delivery was related to recent news that young female employee of “DENTSU” committed suicide from overwork, including his experience of hardworking days in his company.

The third speaker, TM A.S., delivered the speech titled “Forgetfulness” based on the Manual “Humorously Speaking”. Humorous stories of her forgetful husband made everyone laugh and she also provided some training ways to improve memory-working area in our brain.

The fourth speaker, TM S.N., delivered the speech titled “History of Genetic Study” based on the Manual “Storytelling”. He explained us about cutting- edge technology in genetic study such as DNA structure, IPS cells and genetic modification using some effective visual aids.

The last speaker, TM K.K., delivered the speech titled “Your Home is Your Office” based on the Manual “Speeches by Management”. As temporary president, he suggested a new working system utilizing online network and TV conference to eliminate the social loss and energy arising from fixed working time and commuting problem.

Next session was Table Topics Session conducted by TM T.O. He prepared the following five questions calling for “quick thinking and speaking” skill.

Q1: What is your family routine to celebrate the New Year?
A1: TM Y.T. answered that her family routine on New Year’s Day is everyone has to drink alcohol such as beer or sake though only she can drink.

Q2: Did you visit a shrine or temple on New Year’s Day?
If you did, tell us about what you remember. If you did not, tell us what you think about the custom.
A2: TM Y.H. answered that she visited a shrine near her house to pray for the happiness of her family and her “rejuvenation” to be able to continue activities at STMC.

Q3: Do you think Japan will win the World Baseball Classic championship in March and if you think so, why?
A3: TM A.U. answered that he expects Japanese team will win the championship because Mr. Kokubo has been in charge of team manager for a long time and he is a reliable manager.

Q4: What was the most impressive thing when you visited STMC for the first time?
A4: TM T.K. answered that she felt the atmosphere of the meeting was so strict and cool that she was worried if she could continue this club. But gradually, she got used to it.

A5: Have you ever been to TSUKIJI market? If you have, tell us something about the impression. If you have not, tell us your opinion on the relocation of the market from TSUKIJI to TOYOSU.
Q5: TM E.M. answered that he has never visited TSUKIJI market. As a former civil engineer, he thinks TOYOSU market should be opened since the building has been already completed.

After a 10-minute break, Evaluation Session was started by General Evaluator TM Y.U. with five evaluators. The evaluators provided their personal opinions and suggestions to the prepared speeches according to the speech objectives in the Toastmaster’s Manual.

Finally, TMOD announced the following Award Winners.
The TMOD Award: TM M.K. for his preparation and setting of a computer and a projector for three speakers.
The Best Table Topic Award: TM Y.T.
The Best Evaluator: TM A.T.
The Best Prepared Speaker: TM A.S.

Comments from the guests followed and the meeting was closed on time.