Friday, April 8, 2016

APRIL 2016 Newsletter

APRIL's Theme: April Showers!!
Created by Steve Garvin

From Garrett:
April showers are a great time to wash off the bike in the rain in time for national bike month, which is every year in May. Or, if you (tragically) don’t have a bike, consider picking up a cheap one at this year’s Tacoma Bike Swap at University of Puget Sound. Date to be announced but it’s usually early or late May. If you have any questions about how to get back in the saddle talk to Garrett.

Hey Toastmasters, learn how to tie your shoes in just under three minutes during this TED talk. What I like about the speaker is his subtle use of humor.




UPCOMING EVENTS:

April 29-May 1 Spring Conference, LaQuinta Inn, Tacoma
Valuable keynote speakers and education sessions! Boost your Toastmaster's experience - register today: http://d32.toastmastersdistricts.org/SpringConference.html

May 5, 6:30-8:30pm  How to Write a Speech in 10 Minutes! at the Asia Pacific Cultural Center, 4851 South Tacoma Way. Ted Corcoran, Past International President of Toastmasters, is conducting this interactive workshop. For $10, you'll gain insights on crafting and delivering speeches from a man who has spoken all over the world.


MEMBER BIOS: Here's an opportunity to learn more about our some of our fellow Toastmasters!

Steve
I'm a creative, loving person who enjoys helping others design lives of deep satisfaction. I am a husband, father, artist, writer and teacher. The thing I most want to accomplish is to use up my days in service of my purpose. Along the way creating programs and materials.

Mel West, the Executive Biker. 
I help engage, align and accelerate companies so they can ride the freedom highway. My goal is tochange one person, one team, or one organization at a time to encourage collaboration, energy, and momentum. I joined Toastmasters to improve my speaking skills in a safe and fun environment, where I can make mistakes and learn from them where it doesn't cost me anything but my own humility. I want to have a solid keynote that will compliment my new book that I am writing called "Your Freedom Quest: Riding the Highway to Success in Business and Life" and be ready to hit the main stage, so I can have a larger impact in the World.

Mary
I'd like to share a little of why I'm a member of multiple clubs.
      I joined Toastmasters in 1998, as a favor to a friend during a membership contest. For the next few years, I stayed within the club (Tacoma Bureaucrats), serving as a club officer, attending trainings and contests. One day, someone talked about an 'advanced club' that met monthly. It focused on evaluations. Every speaker received at least four evaluations for each speech. Yikes! It sounded intimidating. It took another year before I had the courage to visit, and I was hooked. Rather than being overwhelmed at receiving so many evaluations, it was very helpful. Each person concentrated on a different aspect of the speech. I felt I really grew as a speaker.
     The most valuable aspect of joining another club was to see the varied ways that meetings were run, and to hear different speakers and how they grew in confidence. Over the years, I've helped form clubs, coach clubs to strength and health, and visited many clubs in Western Washington and in many states. I'm currently a member of three clubs: Tacoma Bureaucrats (Wednesdays, Noon), Sound Advice (monthly, with a focus on leadership) and BeGes. The most recent club I joined was BeGes, in June 2015. I enjoy the members, the meetings, the humor, and the topics people share during speeches. I find being a member of multiple clubs keeps me learning and challenged as a listener and speaker. Let me know if you're interested in hearing more about belonging to multiple clubs.

Garrett
I come for the fun and what I would call diverse inspiration. We have a great club and there is never a Friday where I don't learn something new, either about a subject that was unknown to me, or about one of our members. There is usually a speech, or part of a speech, that gives one pause to reflect on. As far as what I want out of toastmasters, as club president, I want total world domination over all other TM clubs. That's it!