Kamehameha Toastmasters Newsletter
KTM Brings Christmas Cheer to Kissaten
KTM members gathered at Kissaten on Piikoi Street on December 8 for our annual Christmas Party. This year, we switched from the “thieving” Santa format to a speech challenge based on the theme, “Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Come.” Everyone participated in the contest, even our guests. Winners for each category were Alfred (XMAS Past), Charles (XMAS Present), and Joy (XMAS Yet to Come).
Ten KTM members and three guests at Kissaten.
Charles, District 49 Director for TM Year 2015-16, said, “This year I was most impressed and blown away by all of the guests who gave a table topics speech. I was thrilled to learn so many things about Christmas in the Philippines. What I appreciated the most is Club President Nick for leading us this year and XMAS party chair, Joy, for organizing an excellent event!”
The food was excellent and the camaraderie was even better! If you’re wondering…yes, that’s Connie in the foreground. She’s back, and joining in the fun!
January Meeting Sheds Light on Table Topics
Our club meeting on January 12 featured a panel discussion by former District 49 officers, Tanya and Joy. Among other things, both of them offered tips and pointers to members about how to prepare questions, call on speakers, and fulfill the role of Table Topics Master. Tanya reminded everyone that the Table Topics Master has free rein to pose questions and should not feel limited to the theme of the meeting.
The Notebook (Nope, we don’t mean the movie version.)
There’s a new addition to our “bag of tricks” at KTM. It’s green and it contains helpful advice about filling roles at club meetings. TM already offers publications about filling roles, but this 3-ring binder offers short, practical tips about various roles. It will help mentors train new members as well as refresh the memories of experienced members about our protocols and procedures.
Improve with Improv
Have you been reading Toastmasters Magazine? If so, you’ve seen in the June, 2015 issue how improvisational exercises can improve your skills as a speaker. Last fall, KTM members guffawed as they tried a few. They will be offered every quarter. If there is a full slate of prepared speeches, however, it will be rescheduled. We will also need at least six participants per round. Tentative dates: Feb. 24 and May 26.
Help is Here!!!
Do you need help with the content or delivery of one of your manual speeches or a special event? Just come a bit early (around 5:45 p.m.) to our club meetings and ask Joy. Joy is a former District 49 Evaluation Speech champion. She also coaches a middle school speech team in her spare time. If you’re lucky, you may run into Charles, a former District 49 Humorous Speech champion. KTM also boasts the membership of a former District Table Topics champion, Beth, but she generally does not attend meetings during tax season.
Got ideas? Hey! If you’ve got ideas for stories in our next quarterly newsletter on May 4, please send your information to Joy by April 29. Mahalo!