May 22 Meeting

Hello all, we hope that everyone has been enjoying the weather and getting outside a bit this past week! Our latest meeting was a good one and we thank all who came out and added to our session.

Dumindra served as Toastmaster for the first time today, and she did a good job of being welcoming and encouraging while leading the meeting. Congratulations Dumindra and we look forward to seeing more from you! Table Topics Master Sam asked questions such as "what is the biggest thing you learned that you didn't know when you were younger?" that got participants to practice impromptu speaking and share a little bit about themselves with the group. Guest Pardeep provided an evaluation that included helpful points and insights. Congrats on your first evaluation man! Laura gave a great analysis including points for improvement as the Table Topics Evaluator. General Evaluator June provided feedback for all of us to learn from.

We thank all who were able to come out to our meeting this past week. We look forward to our next meeting and welcome all members and guests to join us. Public speaking is a valuable skill for everyone and practice is always a good thing!

May 8 Meeting

Hey everyone! As the weather finally starts warming up and it starts to feel like we're close to summer, we hope everyone had a great week. We enjoyed our last meeting and thank all that came out and contributed!

Toastmaster Sam got the meeting started with the theme of "important job skills", and we shared skills that we think are key during our introductions. Speaker June gave a speech about our awesome club President Charith. She talked about qualities we all appreciate in him as a leader and a friend, and she engaged us with a great speech. Congratulations June! Table Topics Master Stella provided an interesting question during the session, which was "what would you do if you only had 1 day left to live?" June gave an intriguing and multifaceted answer to that one! Speech Evaluator Heather gave insightful points during her evaluation, while Norman also provided a very good analysis. Chi Chi was very encouraging and helpful during her Table Topics Evaluation.

We had a good time together at our past meeting this week. Thanks to all who came out, and we welcome members and guests to join us for our next meeting this Wednesday!

May 1 Meeting

Hello all! We congratulate all students on finishing up the school year and wish everyone a great beginning to their summers. UM Masters will be running meetings all summer at the usual time (every Wednesday from 12-1), and we hope that you will join us over the next few months! We enjoyed our time together at this past meeting, and thank all who came out and contributed as we begin the month of May.

Toastmaster Jasmine provided meaningful transitions between speakers and made speakers feel welcome when coming to the podium. Congrats to Jasmine on her first time in the role! Speaker Norman gave a speech which included material about education and STEM fields of expertise. He provided good detail on the topics and spoke articulately and confidently. Dumindra was our second Speaker and she gave her icebreaker speech which included topics related to her life, such as work, traveling as well as personal experiences she wanted to share with us. She had an engaging stage presence and gave a strong speech, and we look forward to seeing more from her in the future! Speech Evaluator Laura provided good points and was clear in her delivery, while General Evaluator Heather was thorough and gave practical feedback for members to learn from.

Overall we had a productive meeting and thank all that came out! We welcome members and guests to join us this Wednesday at our next meeting and improve their speaking skills!

April 3 Meeting

Hello all, I hope everyone is doing well as classes end and we get into exam season. Our last meeting went well, and we thank everyone who was able to come out!

This meeting's Toastmaster Heather got us started with a theme that's on all of our minds, which is the Spring season. During introductions we shared what things we like most about Spring, including the anticipation built up over the Winter and the beginning of being able to enjoy the outdoors and warm weather again. Heather also provided good bridging between speakers to keep up the flow of the meeting. Chi Chi was our Speaker, and she spoke about a topic that's been at the centre of a lot of debate and media attention lately, which was the carbon tax. She did a great job of picking a topic that was relevant and caught the interest of her audience, and explained different sides of the issue effectively and with enthusiasm. Table Topics Evaluator Charith was thorough and gave solid and specific feedback to participants. General Evaluator Norman evaluated those that hadn't been evaluated yet, and brought up good points about speakers and how the meeting went.

We thank all who joined us for our first meeting in April. We welcome all members and guests to join us for our next meeting this Wednesday!

March 27 Meeting

Hello all! We wish everyone the best as we head into April and the last month of the school year for students. The club got back to our regular style of meetings after our contests the last couple of weeks, and we thank all who were able to come out!

The Toastmaster of the day was Sam, and his theme of the meeting was "instinct". This brought about some interesting discussion during introductions about when we should trust our instincts and how we can mix taking them into account with thought and analysis. Our Table Topics Session included discussion about Toastmasters and what our opinions were about various aspects of it, which gave us all the opportunity to analyze Toastmasters in a compelling way. Speech Evaluator Charith gave a concise evaluation while providing relevant feedback, and Table Topics Evaluator Seongtaek was thorough in his analysis of the session. General Evaluator Heather gave a well structured evaluation of the day's meeting, and provided insightful observations to the club.

It was good to get back to our normal routines and hear everyone's contributions to the meeting. We had a good time and thank all members and guests for coming out. We welcome all who are interested to come join us for our upcoming meeting this Wednesday!

March 20 Meeting

Hey everyone, hope you are all doing well! This week we held our second speech contest of the year, the international contest, where participants were welcome to speak about any topic. We enjoyed the meeting and thank all participants and guests that made it possible!

Heather started the contest off, with a speech discussing ways we can deal with stress and anxiety. She provided examples, and was articulate as she delivered a well structured speech, so we thank her for doing a great job! Our second speaker was Sam, and he talked about the importance of keeping an open mind. He did a good job of explaining each reason, and maintained effective eye contact when speaking. Our last participant was Norman, and his speech focused on if smart phones really have a positive overall effect on society. He provided examples including the social impact that they have, and his pacing was very even throughout his speech. 

Each speaker delivered a strong and thought provoking speech, and we thank them all for stepping up and providing their own unique perspectives. Next week, we return to our usual meetings, where all are welcome to participate! We invite all members and guests to join us this Wednesday, have a great week!

March 13 Meeting

Hello all, hope everyone has had a great past week. It was a special meeting this week, as it was our Humorous speech contest, and we commend our 3 members who participated for stepping up to the challenge and all bringing something different to the stage!

Shakti was our first speaker, and she discussed her experiences in Canada while making comparisons to life in her home country. Shakti has a natural sense of humour, and her personality shined through as she engaged the audience with very funny observations. Chi Chi spoke second, and she talked about the different ways people can communicate and show love to one another. She offered a really good variety of examples, and found moments of humour within the ways some people communicate which the audience enjoyed. Our final speaker was Thomas, and he described what going to the gym is like when you are new to it. He acted out funny moments many of us have likely found ourselves in, and he had great timing in his delivery.

We can definitely say that all of our speakers entertained us, and thank you to them for participating! Next week we will have our second speech contest, which will be the international contest where participants can talk about any topic. Guests are welcome to come in and watch, so feel free to come and join us this Wednesday!

March 6 Meeting

Hello all, we wish everyone all the best as we begin March and head towards the tail end of the school year. We all enjoyed our last meeting with the club and we thank all those who were able to join us!

Our speaker for the meeting was our VP of Education June, and she spoke about mental health, how to deal with our thoughts and things we can do to take care of ourselves. She discussed the important subject with confidence and good pacing, and we congratulate her on doing a great job.

Table Topics Master Norman smoothly conducted the session and clearly explained how table topics works. Speech Evaluator Heather was thorough in her evaluation of June's speech, and offered more than adequate glow and growth points. Table Topics Evaluator Shakti gave detailed feedback when she evaluated participants, and was very comfortable in front of her audience.

We had a good time with all those that came to the meeting, and we appreciate their contribution. Feel free to join us this Wednesday at 12 for our next meeting!

February 27 Meeting

Hello all, we had a good time at our final February meeting today! We wish everyone good luck on any last midterms they've got coming up, and thanks to all who were able to come out and participate today.

Today's Toastmaster was longtime member June, who provided a great theme for the meeting; "change". We were able to share personal changes that have had an influence on us, and it was great to learn a little more about people at the meeting. June was a very good Toastmaster, as she made sure the meeting had a good flow to it and provided additional commentary as was necessary. Grammarian Heather did a good job providing a word of the day that we were able to use frequently when we spoke during the meeting, which was "eloquent". She also went above and beyond with her Grammarian report, discussing not only the number of times the word was used but also highlighting several examples of when colourful language was used during the meeting.

Our first speaker Shakti did a wonderful job with her "icebreaker" speech, sharing some details about herself with the club. She was very comfortable and had a captivating presence onstage, and we look forward to seeing her fine tune those skills even further on her Toastmasters journey. 

We're happy to have had our members and guests join us for the meeting today. Have a great week, and we welcome you to join us next Wednesday!

February 20 Meeting

Hey everyone, we were happy with our turnout for our reading week meeting! Thanks to all guests and members that were able to make an appearance.

Toastmaster Heather came up with the intriguing theme of "intention", and during our introductions we talked about what we intended to get out of today's meeting. Grammarian Shakti came up with a solid word of the day this week ("conundrum"), which we were able to incorporate into our dialogue when we spoke. Speaker Sam's speech today was about podcasts and their benefits, and he was smooth in his delivery of the content. Our second Speaker Charith gave a speech centered on cellphones and networks, and he was very confident as he provided easy to understand explanations on the topic.

During the Table Topics Session, Shakti said that if she could broadcast one message to the world, it would focus on open mindedness and religion. Norman was clear and thorough in his Speech Evaluation. General Evaluator June gave great feedback about what she perceived from the meeting as a whole to our members.

We appreciate being able to fit in a good meeting this past week, enjoy the rest of your reading week and we will see you next Wednesday!

February 13 Meeting

Hello all, we hope everyone has a relaxing and productive reading week! It is a great time to take a pause in the middle of the semester, and we thank all who showed up to our meeting last Wednesday!

Toastmaster Sam chose the fitting theme of "Kick back and relax", and provided transitions between speakers to give a good flow to the meeting. Norman was our first speaker, and he was clear and articulate as he spoke about a mentor of his who has helped him with his English pronunciation, our club's very own June! A solid speech from Norman this week. Our second speaker was Heather, who spoke about her children and the things she has learned from each of them. She was confident and smooth in her pacing as she delivered the extremely engaging content of her speech, and it was nice to learn more about her. Great job Heather!

Seongtaek lead our brief Table Topics Session, in which we got a unique question and answer about how school administrations should deal with heavy snowfalls. Our guest Michael evaluated Heather's speech and provided an accurate assessment of the overall quality of her speech, and also included a growth point. General Evaluator June gave insightful comments about the meeting that gave us some interesting food for thought as we wrapped things up.

Thanks to everyone who made the meeting a good one, and we'll see you all this Wednesday!

February 6 Meeting

Hey everyone, we wish you the best of luck as we head into this final week before reading week! As midterms and assignments are starting to roll by, we thank everyone who made it out to our meeting last Wednesday.

Thomas did really well as our Toastmaster this meeting. He kept the meeting running smoothly and on time, and made sure to encourage all our guests to get involved, particularly in the Table Topics Session.

June was the Table Topics Master, and put a fun twist on the session by putting questions in a container for people to randomly pick, one of which involved telling a story based on the topic on the spot. As the Speech Evaluator, Heather provided specific and helpful feedback that all members of the club benefited from hearing.

Thanks to all who made it a great meeting, and we invite all members and guests to join us this Wednesday!

January 16 Meeting

Hey everybody, hope you are all having a good start to the new year and are really getting the ball rolling now that we're into the middle of January. We appreciate all that made it to our last session!

Heather transitioned smoothly in her role as toastmaster of the day, and gave life to the meeting with her warm smile. Thomas who was our grammarian introduced the word of the day, grateful. During introductions we all had the opportunity to share what we are grateful for. Someone noted that it is good to be grateful for the ‘little’ things that happen in our daily lives because they add to the bigger events.

Chichi did her icebreaker speech  titled “Dear World”. She introduced herself in the form of a letter to the world. She talked about her journey through primary, high school and university and her hopes for the future. Chichi’s speech had a poetic touch, and she used the basic structure of a speech.

 June was our table topics master and as usual, she presented us with some fascinating questions. One of them was “If you were not allowed to sleep, what would you do with the extra hours?” One of our guests, Ifan, took a proverbial stab at it and mentioned she would use the time to complete some chores, school work and other important tasks. Norman evaluated the speech, while Sam evaluated the table topics session. Both evaluators gave constructive, clear, and elaborate evaluations highlighting ‘glow points’ and ‘growth points’.

We concluded with a general evaluation in which everyone gave their feedback on their opinion of the meeting. Most of the attendees found it pleasant and enjoyed the ambience.

Thank you all for your participation, we look forward to the next meeting.

January 9, 2019 Meeting

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

January 9 Meeting

Happy New Year everyone!

Hopefully everyone enjoyed the holiday season, and is ready to return to the usual work and school routine. Thank you for coming out for the first meeting of the year.

Our theme was “Are You Ready?” Members and guests creatively infused the word of the day – and were enthusiastic in their introductions and descriptions of their holidays. June, our toastmaster of the day did a great job orienting the guests and making transitions between speakers. Also, she enhanced the meeting by recognizing Seongtaek as the most improved member.

Heather presented the first speech which was about New Year’s resolutions. She talked about the origins of New Year’s resolutions, and the statistics on how viable New Year’s resolutions are. In addition, Heather added flare to her speech by giving us her opinion on New Year’s resolutions, and recommendations on how we can be consistent with these goals. Norman was our second speaker and he discussed an important but often overlooked topic, “Communication Styles.” He concluded by saying, “If we understand our communication styles, we can adjust our communication styles as necessary.”

Sam and Lisa were the speech evaluators while Chichi was the table topics evaluator. They all gave brief but meaningful evaluations using the sandwich method. Our first-time table topics participant, Wendy confidently displayed her natural speaking ability when she answered a behavioural question Charith (today’s Table Topics Master) presented. Everyone who took part made the meeting all the more enjoyable.

Thank you to this week’s guests, Stella and Neil for being part of today’s meeting. It was a pleasure to see you all, and until next meeting, goodbye!