The Club Speech Competition: Feb. 1, 2025

The recent club competition at Senri Toastmasters Club was a remarkable event, highlighting the exceptional skills of our members. This time, we had four outstanding competitors: Tami, Munesan, Tenten, and Hiko, each delivering speeches that truly impressed the audience.

Members put the knowledge acquired at the previous workshop into practice as voting judges. This provided them with a hands-on experience, which helped members deepen their understanding of effective speeches.

During the interview session, we had the privilege of exploring the backgrounds of our competitors' speech crafting. It was enlightening to hear about the inspirations and meticulous preparations that went into their presentations, offering valuable insights into their creative processes.

We were also thrilled to see our newest member, Yuriko, actively contributing as the vote counter. Her enthusiasm and dedication were evident, and she played a crucial role in ensuring the smooth running of the event.

The competition was held in a hybrid format, allowing members outside of our home base to join, including one participant from Seoul.

Overall, the event highlighted Senri Toastmasters Club's supportive community. We look forward to more such enriching experiences in the future.

"Judges Training" from the 198th Regular Meeting on Jan. 18, 2025

We had a very educational judge training workshop. In our regular meetings, speeches are evaluated by members called evaluators. But, in speech contests, speeches are scored by judges. We learned the differences between evaluating and judging speeches, as well as the various judging rules and criteria.

What impressed me was the structure of the workshop. It consisted of four well-organized parts (1.　Explanation 2. Test Speech 3. Judging 4. Discussion), which made our understanding firm and clear. The flow of the workshop was so smooth that everything was easy to follow. Surprisingly, all the members will have an opportunity to serve as judges at the club competition in the next meeting.

In the beginning of our president Marilyn’s presentation, she repeated, “You will be the judge, you will be the judge”, while politely pointing at each of us. And she started with questions, instead of diving directly into her explanations. This way, she made the topic feel more relatable and made us feel more responsible for our roles in the next meeting. Her use of slides was very natural and excellent, adding more visual details in a supplementary way.

The second part was the test speech by Eri-san. As a matter of fact, I didn’t know what a test speech meant until the meeting started. Her engaging and organized speech was great material to practice judging with, and I tried to apply what I had learned while judging it.

Then, the last part of the workshop came. Members were divided into small groups, and in each group, we discussed how we scored the speech in each category.

I learned some of the most important points when judging speeches were fairness and consistency.

(Madelyn)

The 198th Regular Meeting: Jan. 18, 2025

Wow, we did it!

Our first meeting of 2025 was very packed, starting with Word Master Eri-san announcing Word of the Day, which participants are encouraged to use during the meeting, "Auspicious."

The main content started with Marilyn’s Judge Training Session with Eri-san’s test speech and group discussions on judging it, followed by three prepared speeches including Anne-san’s amazing debut as a Rakugo teller, and five evaluation speeches!

Marilyn’s workshop was very clear with a loud voice and lots of gestures. She excelled at detecting confusing parts beforehand and adding good examples and explanations, which made her workshop even easier to understand. In addition, Eri-san’s speech was too good for a test speech.

Each of the three prepared speeches was so interesting and attractive because they had the professional tastes of an engineer, a medical doctor, and a Rakugo teller.

As the “Word of the Day" went, this meeting was really an “auspicious” one to open the year 2025 with!

(Momo)

The 197th Regular Meeting: Dec. 21, 2024 “Capture the Year End”

2024 年最後のレギュラーミーティング！ 年末をイメージして、会場は赤いテープで彩られToastmaster of the　Day（ミーティングのホスト役）のAnne さんも赤い服で華やかな雰囲気でした。

今回は、ミーティングの様子を少しご紹介。

１：My Senri Experience

こちらは、千里トーストマスターズクラブで行っているショートスピーチセッションです。会員がトーストマスターズで学んだことや感じたことなどを 1～2 分程度で披露します。

今回のスピーチは、一人の会員が千里トーストマスターズクラブに入るまでの不安から入ってからクラブの温かい雰囲気を感じるまでの心の動きを感じられるスピーチでした。過去のスピーチの一部はこちらから見られるので是非ご覧ください。

２：Prepared Speech

こちらはトーストマスターズクラブのメインディッシュ。５－７分程度で事前に準備してきたスピーチを披露するセッションです。テーマは、各自の人生体験やモノの見方や、ユーモアにフォーカスしたスピーチなどバラエティに富んでいます。

注目すべきは今月から会員になったYuriko の初スピーチ！初めてとは思えないほどしっかり、そして堂々と自分の事を話される姿をみて感銘を受けました！また今後どのようなスピーカーになっていくのか大変非常に楽しみです！

3：Evaluation Speech

トーストマスターズクラブの特徴は、Prepared Speech に対して会員同士でEvaluation を行い、お互いを高めあっていくことです。

推奨されている方法は『サンドイッチ話法』。　「よかった点（感謝）」　「こうした方がよいという提案」　「よかった点（今後への期待）」と話し、スピーカーは強みに気づき、改善点に気づき、自己肯定感を高めることができます！

４：Table topic Speech

このセッションでは司会がお題を振り、メンバーは1－2 分程度の即興スピーチを披露します。 今回のお題は「年末」に即したもの。「今年、一番後悔したことは何ですか？」、「今年のパリオリンピックの思い出」などなど、この時期にマッチした良いテーマです。もちろんスピーカーは即興力を鍛えられますし、オーディエンスも今年を振り返ることができる良いTable Topic Speech でした！

さて2024 年のミーティングは本日で終わりますが、もちろん我々の活動はまだまだ終わりません！

2025 年Public Speech 少しやってみたい！英語で話してみたいというこちらをご覧の方々是非、クラブのホームページにアクセスして例会に参加してみてください👍

(Kazu)

Special Meeting: Mentoring and New Learning Managemante System: Nov. 30, 2024

 A Productive Thanksgiving: A Recap of Today's Meeting: Nov. 30.

Today's meeting was a special one, filled with two insightful workshops. We kicked off the day with a session conducted by Yotchan on the new Toastmasters International Base Camp. She smoothly guided us through navigating the platform, highlighting key features like accessing paths and recording achievements. Yotchan's step-by-step demonstration was particularly beneficial for most of us who are first-time users, making the transition to the new system seem non-threatening and easy.

The second workshop on mentoring, led by Marily, focused on the important topics: personal goals, the mentor checklist, and the advantages of being a mentor. Most importantly, the session allowed for discussions about individual expectations, goals, and values.

Overall, it was a productive and enjoyable meeting, even on Thanksgiving Day. I'm thankful for the opportunity to learn, grow, and connect with our members.

Nanea, General Evaluator

The 196th Regular Meeting: Nov. 16, 2024

Senri Toastmasters: A Day of Ambition and New Beginnings

Last Saturday, November 16th, we had our 196th meeting, and really, was it exciting! Our theme for the day was "Ambition," and everyone really stepped up their game.

Tenten, our fearless Toastmaster of the Day, decided to ditch the notes and facilitated the meeting “freestyle”. The result? A super relaxed and friendly atmosphere that made everyone feel comfortable. And let's just say, the word "ambitious" was thrown around more times than we can count!

Horizon, a powerful metaphor, was used by Hiko to illustrate continuous improvement. It was a thought-provoking insight for all of us. No matter how many steps we take, the horizon can’t be reached. However, each step can bring us closer to our goals. He also emphasized vocal variety, gestures, and facial expressions in delivering an engaging speech.

Another Highlight of the Day was Madelyn, our newest member. She gave her first-ever speech, the Ice Breaker. We learned all about her unexpected experiences studying English abroad and how she accidentally stumbled upon our club at Senri Collabo lobby. This serendipitous encounter has led to a new chapter in her life, and we’re excited to see her grow as a speaker and leader.

Mune’s New Journey: Presentation Mastery. We’re excited to see Mune embark on a new path, Presentation Mastery. His speech was a real eye-opener, revealing his passion for baseball and soccer during his middle and high school years. His detailed descriptions of hard practice painted a vivid picture of his athletic past, making it hard to imagine the contrast between then and now.

Kama-yan’s Inspiring Speech showcased his skills as a storyteller. His vivid descriptions made it easy for us to picture him practicing hard to improve his backhand at Table Tennis. He thought deeply about his weaknesses and how he overcame them. We are looking forward to hearing this speech again after applying feedback from his sharp-eyed evaluator, >Momo.

We also had A Big Moment for Takashi, who took on the challenge of his first evaluation speech. He provided a thoughtful critique of Mune’s Ice Breaker, praising the clarity and organization of the speech. Takashi also offered some constructive feedback, suggesting that Mune could add more vocal variety and gestures to enhance the overall impact. Great job!

A Big Round of Applause is given to Tamiko for taking the challenging role of evaluating Mariko’s speech for the second time. Evaluating a speaker's progress and identifying improvements can be a delicate task, but skillful Tamiko handled it with grace and expertise. Terrific!

As we continue to inspire each other, we the members at Senri Toastmasters hope to achieve a fostering a supportive community where individuals can grow and learn together.

Anne, General Evaluator,  196th Regular Meeting

The 195th Regular Meeting: Oct. 19, 2024

"What an Impeccable Meeting!"

These were the right words to describe the 195th regular meeting at Senri TMC. 

The meeting went impeccably smooth starting from “Here’s My Trick.” This was a short friendly learning reminder of how to come up with one strong speech message. Just a recap of what was said (1) Use familiar words; (2) Storyline or content should be simple; and (3) Don’t pack too many ideas in one message.

The “Speeches” were impeccably prepared and impeccably delivered by versatile speakers. The topics ranged from learned personal experiences, trivialities of marital life, a heart-warming philanthropic act, and a cautionary speech on how to control one’s anger.

The constructive feedback during the “Evaluation Session” was likewise impeccable. Each experienced evaluator praised and gave clear and feasible suggestions to the speakers.

And the sometimes, “dreaded” “Impromptu Speech” proved not dreadful but with impeccably interesting topics that complemented both the speakers and the audience.

This impeccable club meeting has again empowered the dedicated members to be more effective public speakers.

By Rene

* You might be wondering why the words "impeccable" and "impeccably" appeared so many times in this piece. The answer is "Impeccable" was selected as the Word of the Day at this meeting. In Senri Toastmasters, a member serving as the "Grammarian/Word Master" selects a word as the Word of the Day, and members and guests are encouraged to incorporate that word or its derivative words in their speeches.