Our Commemorative "Open House" 200th Regular Meeting on March 15, 2025

 This meeting was special in many ways.

First, it was our 200th Regular Meeting. At the beginning, President Mariko explained that the club was chartered in February 2009, and this was our 200th Regular Meeting, adding that we've been having some special meetings in addition to our monthly regular meeting.

Second, this meeting included an Induction Ceremony to welcome a new member, Kankan. After Vice President Membership Kazu gave a brief introduction of the inductee, we voted favorably to accept her as a member.  Kankan took the pledge by reading aloud "A Toastmaster's Promise," and members read aloud the "Club's Pledge" to officially welcome her. 

Third, as part of the Open House, we had a workshop on self-introduction with Rene's presentation, ranging from the benefits of effective self-introduction, the recommended structure, tips for a lasting impression, and the 4 P's Score Card, the characteristics of a great self-introduction. Following her presentation, participants worked in small groups to practice introducing themselves. Then, a representative of each breakout group demonstrated their self-introduction.

Fourth, we had a surprise call during the break from the club's founder, Kiyono, which made the meeting even more memorable.

Lastly, one member, Kama-yan, worked on a unique project called "Active Listening," where he served as Topicsmaster, the facilitator of the Table Topics Session for members and guests to practice impromptu speaking. He not only facilitated the session but also tried to give brief yet to-the-point comments after each speech.

We enjoyed a very special 200th Regular Meeting to celebrate the club's history. We look forward to strengthening our team work to keep on learning.

First Time Facilitating a Session: at the 199th Regular Meeting on Feb. 15, 2025

At our meetings, we have a Table Topics session, where members practice delivering 1-2 minute impromptu speeches on given topics.

At the last meeting, I took on the role of the Topicsmaster, the person who facilitates this session, for the first time. The meeting theme of the day was "Spread the Love," and I also prepared questions under the session theme "Love and Gratitude on Valentine's."

We can take small steps to get accustomed to different roles. I felt more nervous than when I was waiting to be called upon. However, by serving as the Topicsmaster, I learned how to manage the session smoothly within the allocated time while maintaining a warm atmosphere.

"Spread the Love": The 199th Regular Meeting: Feb. 15, 2025

As the President, Marilyn, proclaimed the opening of the meeting, TMOD (Toastmaster of the day), Eri started the meeting. Everybody noticed from the beginning a different, sweet, and warm atmosphere. Yes! It was post-Valentine’s Day. On both sides of the podium, there were dishes full of chocolate candies, and on the whiteboard, the message “Spread the Love” was decorated with colorful heart shapes.

Following each role-taker's explanations, messages of ‘Love’ were shared. The General Evaluator, Hiko’s message was queer, “It's unsuitable for a man to speak of love. Just silently drinking Sapporo beer is cool.

In the Table Topic Session, the theme chosen by Topicsmaster Madoka was also about ‘Love.’ We enjoyed hearing about various kinds of ‘Love’: young couples, older couples, friends, and families.

Another highlight was the Prepared Speech Session and the Evaluation Session. In the Prepared Speech Session, we enjoyed some exotic flavors. Yuriko delivered a speech titled ‘The Life of Nomads.’ The climate, geography, and cultural information she described provided us with a vivid image of the vast grassy lands in Mongolia. Kazu’s speech was ‘Jugaard, which is the Indian way of surviving difficult situations.

Next, the Evaluation Session focused on evaluating the speakers. Each speaker can grow through the cycle of preparing a speech, delivering it, and being evaluated. Of course, the entire audience, including the guests, can fully relish this growing cycle.

We have had the 199th Regular Meeting, so next month, in March, we will hold the historic 200th meeting. Let’s enjoy the special session at the upcoming meeting!

(by HIko)

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)