The regular meeting No. 474 was held on November 11 at Mina Park with 22 active members and three guests. Although the meeting started at 15:10, one hour later than the regular schedule, all attendees gathered on time. Thanks to SAA who sent us the reminder beforehand.
Following President N. N.‘s statement to call the meeting to order, Word of the Day “Yield” was announced by Ah-Uh Counter TM K. T. He explained with a lot of simple examples that “Yield” has various meanings.
Business Session
In the business session, some important issues were announced. Those are as follows:
The financial documents must be kept for five years, and discarded after that.
The joint meeting with Kamakura TMC will be held on May 19, 2018, and we cancel the meeting on May 12 instead.
The yearend party will be held after the regular meeting on December 9, 2017. The party will be from 17:30 to 20:30. The details will be informed later.
Toastmaster of the Day
Toastmaster of the Day TM N. S. introduced her assistants, Grammarian TM T. O., Ah-Uh Counter TM K. T., Vote Counter TM Y. O., and Timer TM L. C. Since we have three guests including one former Toastmaster, the assistants explained their roles briefly for the guests.
Joke Session
Then TMOD introduced Joke Master TM M. H. who put paper mustache on her face at the beginning, which made the audience burst into laughter. She told two more jokes. Making jokes seems to be very difficult because each joke needs to make audience understand its punch line immediately. Moreover, telling jokes seemed to need some techniques because the speaker has to make the audience keep listening without getting tired. That is why being a joke master is hard to fulfill its duty. TM M. H. completed her duty.
Prepared Speech Session
We had four speakers for Prepared Speech Session. Since they all were fascinating, talented and powerful speakers, the audience excitedly waited for the first speaker being introduced.
The first speaker was TM J. Y. Her project was “Competent Communication Project #5 Your Body Speaks”. Her speech title was “November 11, the Entertaining Day in China”. TM Yu’s concern was that the single people in China purchased a lot of things for gifts on November 11, the Day of Singles, because they wanted to get romantic relationships with someone. She alleged that the good relationships couldn’t be built by money or gifts. Her sincere personality had been reflected in the speech.
The second speaker was TM A. U. His project was also “Competent Communication Project #5 Your Body Speaks”. His speech title was “What Did You Dress Up as?” He showed his picture in which he dressed up as Freddie Mercury on Halloween. He advised us to consider three key points for dressing up on Halloween. The speech was very funny. Especially, the funniest point in the speech was that his advice was useful only if you would dress up and train in a gym on the day of Halloween.
The third speaker was TM Y. T. Her project was “Competent Communication Project # 9 Persuade with Power”. Her speech title was “Travel to Face Myself”. She told us that traveling alone made her being free and strong through various experiences including the encounter with a subway accident. The audience obviously came to respect her braveness through the speech.
The last speaker was TM M. K. His project was “The Entertaining Speaker Project #4 A Dramatic Talk”. His speech title was “Telephone Sale”. He actually played as himself and a telephone salesperson. He showed us many types of telephone sales talks from his own experiences. Although his wife realized that any telephone sale must be avoided, he easily fell into a trap. His speech made us burst a lot of laughter.
After each prepared speech, Q&A Session was held. We had this session the second time. There were two questions in average about each prepared speech, which led not only the questioners but also the audience to deeper understanding of each speech. We were able to find a new horizon to enjoy and learn more about a prepared speech through this session.
Table Topics Session
Table Topics Master TM T. I. asked five questions. Since all topics were seasonable and adaptable, all five respondents, TM A. M., TM M. I., TM T. K., TM T. K., TM E. M., and TM H. S. answered vividly and freshly.
The topics were:
What is the most impressive event or incident in this year?
What is the most pleasant event or incident in this year?
What it the most touching novel, drama, or book in this year?
What is the most regrettable event or incident in this year?
What is the most sorrowful event or incident in this year?
Evaluation Session
After a little bit shorter intermission than usual due to being behind the schedule, the evaluation session started. General Evaluator TM K. K. explained the keys of evaluation, which made members reconsider the effect of evaluation. Then each evaluator, TM Y. H., N. N., Y. W., and Y. H. evaluated each speech appropriately, humorously, and significantly. Each evaluation helped not only the speakers but also the audience for their future improvement.
Award Presentation
TMOD Award was given to TM M. I. because of her superb answer at Table Topics Session although this meeting is for her first time as a member.
Best Table Topics Award: TM M. I.
Best Evaluator Award: TM Y. H. (As the result of the tie-breaking vote)
Best Prepared Speech Award: TM Y. T.
At the end of the meeting, President asked for short comments from three guests. All of them expressed that they enjoyed the meeting a lot.
Listening to their comments, all members were pleased and hoped they join us.
By N.S.
