Saturday, July 21, 2018

Jul 21, 2018 Toastmasters Meeting

It was a wet rainy club meeting today aptly themed "Rainy Season Is Here Again!" By the amount of members and new guests gracing the meeting, it was obvious that the monsoon rains from typhoons "Inday" and "Josie" weren't enough to dampen the Toastmasters spirit.

Shown below are those who attended the meeting.

Standing (L-R): Jude Ola, Russell Santos, Jeff Ganaba, guests Bry and Marvin, Marlon Sanchez, Chris Camacho, Mark Nuqui, guests Grace and Marlyn, me, Renzo Vergel de Dios, Nath Batac, Micha Vergel de Dios, Krissy R. guest Bing, Ed Ramirez.

Seated (L-R): Cristina Yung, Leah Catapia, Dolly de los Reyes, Duchess' kid and Duchess Munsayac,

(photo credits: Leah Catapia)


Officers Meeting and Club Guests

Before the club meeting, we had the usual Officers Meeting at the nearby Hilaga room. It was Ching's first time to preside the club as official President. Leah as Immediate Past President attended and provided advise and guidance.

We had five first-time guests at the club meeting. Guests Bry and Marvin work for Wells Fargo and came to observe the meeting. Hopefully, they will be setting up a corporate club at their office. Then there were the ladies: Grace, Marlyn and Bing.

Since I was the TOD or Toastmaster of the Day, I asked the guests to briefly introduce themselves. Bry from Wells Fargo is shown below standing and giving a few words.

(photo credits: Leah Catapia)


Heavy Downpour during the Club Meeting

Just as the Prepared Speeches portion was starting, we heard the thunderous sound of rocks pelting on the roof. It was a heavy downpour so strong that we didn't hear the first speaker Krissy. Fortunately, Gather had a portable sound system that we were able to borrow.

Shown below is Duchess delivering a "Speaking with Praise" speech honoring Leah Catapia. If it looks like I was photo-bombing Duchess here, I wasn't. I was just turning down the volume of the portable sound system. At this time, the rain had started to lighten up and wasn't as loud as before.



Toastmaster and Evaluator

I actually didn't expect Duchess to come after she excused herself from the program. But she did come, and I was volunteered to be her speech evaluator.

In the photo below, Leah, who is Duchess' honoree, was called on stage to receive a small token of appreciation from Duchess. Since, I was watching from the side of the stage as Toastmaster of the Day, I wrote my evaluation notes standing up!



Evaluation Speech Without Notes

At the Evaluation Section of the program, I delivered my evaluation for Duchess' speech. This was probably the second time that I delivered an evaluation speech without notes. The first time was, I think, in the recent UPS Alabang Club Meeting where I evaluated Myzza.


I was pleasantly surprised that Chris Camacho, our Guest Evaluator, observed how I didn't use notes in my evaluation speech and I think he seemed impressed. Chris was the District Champion for Humorous Speech last year.

He added that this was the second time he saw me as TOD. The first time, he recalled, was at the Oct.7 Toastmasters Meeting.

The technique of not reading evaluation notes is not entirely new. I got the idea from a former member and Area Director last year, Ian Lagutan ACB CL. Ian was an inspiration to me and the last time I met him was at the Nov.4, 2017 Toastmasters Meeting where he was a guest evaluator.

I marveled at how Ian was able to evaluate speakers effortlessly, all from memory. Very impressive. I suppose being young and not having memory gaps is on his side. Haha. Anyway, I'll try to challenge myself and deliver my evaluations without notes from hereon.


Trying Out My Radio Voice

When it was my turn to evaluate Duchess at the meeting, I continued to use the microphone even if the others didn't. I'd rather not strain my voice unnecessarily, I thought.

Since I was holding the microphone, I decided to put on my not-so-good "radio voice" and announced, "Toastmaster Duchess, this evaluation is brought to you via C.O.D. - Content, Organization and Delivery!"

I really thought it sounded like a cool introduction. DH heard me say it out loud at home and said it sounded like a commercial. Haha. So henceforth, just for fun and variety, I shall be using it as a starter in my evaluation speeches!

Shown below is a scanned copy of the program for today's meeting.


And that's... a wrap!