October 17 Meeting

Hey everyone,
Hopefully everybody is getting through their midterms alright so far as we get into the middle of October. Thanks to all who made the time to come out to the meeting this week!

Today's theme was "Strengths and Weaknesses", and we began the meeting by each sharing some of our own strengths as well as areas that we're trying to improve. Charith was today's Toastmaster, and he really set the tone for a great meeting from the beginning by creating a positive and friendly environment. He thoroughly explained each segment of the meeting and ensured that everything ran smoothly. Speaker Heather did a great job with her speech this week, which discussed the differences between how kids grew up in her generation compared to the generation her children are growing up in now. She brought up interesting points for us to consider, and provided real life examples that made her speech engaging to the audience. Table Topics participant Chi Chi gave a creative answer to the question "would you rather be a child or an adult forever" by saying that she would want to physically be an adult who possesses child like qualities.

All in all this past week was a great time. Hope everybody has a good week and we'll see you next meeting!

October 10 Meeting

Good job to all who joined us for this past week's meeting!

Our theme this week was "first times", and in our introductions we shared "first times" stories from our personal lives. First time Toastmaster Lisa had no problem taking control of the meeting with ease and confidence. She came prepared with a humorous article she had read this past week for today's joke of the day, and did a good job of providing commentary between segments of the meeting to keep things flowing. Charith did a really great job as today's Speaker, with a speech that explored and explained "Advanced Analytics". He did a good job of engaging the audience, and using practical examples to make complex info digestible to everyone listening. Table Topics Evaluator Heather gave a concise evaluation of the session with insightful feedback for all participants.

It was another enjoyable meeting together, and we'll see everybody next Wednesday!

October 3 Meeting

Hey everyone,

Hope October is treating everybody well so far. It was a great start to the month this past meeting for the UM Masters group!

Norman switched it up a little bit for us this week by volunteering to do humour, and shout out to him for mining our classic joke book to find a gold nugget! Lisa was our speaker for the first time today, and she did a good job of concisely delivering her "elevator pitch" style speech. She had a solid introduction explaining her speech, as well as a body and conclusion. Chi Chi lead our table topics session with questions that got intriguing responses from participants, including questions such as "If you could talk to your younger self, what advice would you give to them?" Speech evaluator Heather did a great job offering advice to Lisa on her first speech about her strong points as well as a couple of tips to improve. Soentaek delivered a thorough table topics evaluation, with a very good analysis of each participant. 

Overall good contributions from everybody who came to the meeting, and we look forward to seeing you all next week! 

September 26 Meeting

Hey everyone,

Thanks to everybody who made our last meeting in September a good one! 

This week, Seongtaek did a fantastic job of volunteering to be the Toastmaster, and showing up prepared to perform the role really well. We have seen great growth from Seongtaek since he has become a member, and he is a great example of how helpful of a tool Toastmasters can be. We were able to learn more about the origins and meanings of our names during introductions today, and Lisa's word of the day, "disappointment", helped us to explore a unique topic that doesn't always come up in a typical meeting. June gave a very fitting speech for the group on the topic of becoming a better speaker, and she showed her level of experience through her insightful tips and great use of personalized examples during her speech. Chichi did a good job stepping up when we needed a Table Topics Master, and gave valuable feedback to participants.

All in all a great meeting, and we hope to see everyone back at the beginning of October. Have a great week and see you this Wednesday!

September 19 Meeting

Hello everyone,

Thanks to everybody who came out to this week's meeting for making it so productive and enjoyable! 

We began with introductions, and everyone shared insights into what the most important things they learned in school were (this was a good chance for us to use today's word of the day, which was "organized"). Guest Lisa volunteered to be today’s Table Topics Master at just her second meeting, and did a great job of coming up with questions and getting volunteers to come up and share their answers. This kind of willingness to “step up to the plate” when there is an opportunity is exactly what helps us to get better, so congratulations! During the Table Topics session, Inaksha gave an interesting answer to what his favourite subject was, talking about courses in English having interesting lectures but his strengths being in math. Norman confidently delivered a speech about the “5 second rule” that had a really solid structure, and he made sure to keep the audience engaged throughout. His helpful suggestion to the group to count down from five in our heads next time we’re hesitating when we know we should be taking action is a good reminder to not overthink things! Table Topics Evaluator Heather did a great job of concisely pinpointing what each participant did well and what they could improve upon. Thanks to first time guest Thomas for being today’s timer. Overall the meeting went well, and we hope to see everybody again next week!

September. 12 Meeting

Hey everyone,

Our second meeting since the beginning of the school year was full of both great participation and energy! Thanks to all the members and the several guests that showed up and contributed.

Toastmaster Heather did an excellent job conducting the meeting efficiently and made sure to add commentary that enriched the discussion. The highlight of the day was the honest and engaging Icebreaker speech given by Inaksha. Congratulations! He confidently shared details about his background including his early life and family, personal challenges and how he works to overcome them, and he did an excellent job. Guest Boaleg didn't hesitate during the Table Topics session to step up and talk about a proud moment in his life involving an educational achievement. June gave thorough and insightful feedback to each of our Table Topics speakers, and Charith gave a helpful evaluation to Inaksha for his first speech with the group. It was a very enjoyable meeting, and it was great to see so many take the opportunity to step up and speak. We all must remember that doing is the only way we can improve, which is why we all joined in the first place!

May 30 meeting

Hello Everyone, 

Another productive meeting for UMMasters Club!  Thecla Athayde, Program Quality Director, made a club visit and did the Educational Session on Pathways. The new program was well received by members. 

Toastmaster June, conducted the meeting in a smooth manner and ended on time. Congratulations to Sam for completing his CC Manual with a dynamic speech on the theme - "Super Dad".  Sam shared many qualities of his Dad giving him the earned title of Super Dad. Soentaek evaluated Sam's speech using the sandwich method.  He showed confidence and stood up to the plate with strength. There was exceptional vocal variety for Soentaek. The Table Topics (TT) Master, Kapilan was ready to step into the role of table topics on the spot with excellent  information on  explaining what TT is all about.  Past member Mark,  came as a guest and volunteered to be the timer, giving a detailed timing report at the end.
Overall, another enjoyable meeting for the club!

Submitted by: June LaRonde

February 21 meeting

Hello All,

We had a bit of a 'quagmire' for our meeting today. Thanks to all those members who did not give up and followed our direction. The university  was experiencing a power outage which caused many buildings to be closed. We had to make a quick decision in moving the meeting place. Thanks to Stephen for his quick suggestion in using the U of M Armes building close by.

In spite of the set back, the meeting went well. Helen as Toastmaster was calm, confident and professional in her leadership role.  She conducted  the meeting with ease from beginning to end, was efficient in updating the agenda by filling in the available roles. Congratulations to Sam for delivering a speech from the Competent Communicator manual about conflict resolution. Additionally, shout out to Ben as the Grammarian who chose the word of the day to be "Quagmire", a very fitting word. Stephen led the Table Topics Session and did an excellent job as well. Congratulations to our guest  Sherif, for stepping up to the plate  and taking part in the Table Topics session!

Overall, another wonderful meeting session for UMMasters group!