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!

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!