#15 meeting

Count your blessings! ------ this was the meeting theme of the day.

It was a new expression to me and touched my heart. One of the blessings for me is to be a member of this online Diversity Toastmasters Club, indeed. Although there is an ‘off-line’ Toastmasters club in my hometown, it is hard for me to participate in the meeting, leaving my kids home at night. Yukimasa-san, whom I have known at Leadership Toastmasters Club in Tokyo for almost a decade, understood my difficult situations and he launched the online Diversity Toastmasters club. His sincere dedication to the club enables anyone to attend the meeting from anywhere in the world. In addition to the convenience, every time I attend the Diversity club meeting, I feel welcomed and often laugh with a friendly atmosphere. Seeing is believing! You can visit us whenever you want :)

Today we had..

16 participants from Germany, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Nagano, Hyogo, Tokyo, Tokushima, & Fukuoka.

Toastmaster: Naoki-san

Timer: Yukari-san

The meeting theme: Count your blessings

(It means to tell someone to be grateful for the good things in their life.)

Word of the Day: prodigious

(It means very large or great in a surprising or impressive way.)

6 members used this word during the meeting.

(Naoki-san is the best user, 8 times if I remember correctly)

Best prepared speaker: Takako-san

Best evaluator: Naoki-san

Best Table Topic Speaker: Asami-san

The meeting started right on time as usual. As a warm-up, we made small talk. Sounded like everyone had been enjoying “Golden Week”, feeling relaxed by walking, exploring the town, playing the piano, playing golf, and others. Then, Naoki-san conducted ZOOM function drill much better for us to clearly understand it. I mean, he made it even beautifully by using a power point. What an excellent facilitator he was! He was so good at introducing each speaker as well. I’m always impressed!

Now it’s one of the most exciting sessions: prepared speeches. The first speaker was Surat-san! During “Golden Week”, he practiced hard to get ready for the day. His speech title was “My life within 6 mins”. With the time limit, he succeeded in introducing himself to the audience with an articulate slide-show presentation. To begin with, he said he doesn’t like to make a speech, but he seemed to be very confident throughout his speech. He was born in a land of smiles, Thailand. (His smile is very nice :) )He has been working for a well-known automobile company. Although he usually communicates with his coworkers in English, he showed his good command of Japanese in his speech. Then he described his role models: Elon Musk, Jack Ma, and Steve Jobs. Finally, he explained why he decided to be a member of Toastmasters Club with a saying: practice makes perfect. I wondered if he really doesn’t care for a public speech. Fantastic speech!

The second speaker was Kaoru-san! She is my role model ;) I was astonished when I listened to her speech for the first time. She is a Japanese, but her English is not so-called “Japanese English” at all. Beautiful pronunciation, intonation and rhythm. Sounds like she is a native speaker. What’s more, she doesn’t use filler words such as umm, ah, and you know. And I have never heard her get tongue-tied in her off-the-cuff speech as well. Despite her outstanding English skills, she never acts all high mighty. She smiles from ear to ear while listening to other speakers with her modesty. Well, it’s high time to go on to her speech today ;) Her speech title was “First step is always the hardest, but…” She is not good at making decisions from each meal menu as a homemaker to teaching materials as a language instructor. But through her experiences, she realized anything can be rewarding in the end. For example, she usually chooses articles from prodigious amount of information for her reading class. It takes some time to prepare for her lesson. She feels very happy to know that her students understand her lesson and to see them smile after all. As joining a Toastmasters club, the first step takes great courage but it’s worth trying.

The last prepared speaker is Takako-san! Her speech title was “Two things that my father gave me.” In the introduction, we knew that she is so talented. She has been teaching Japanese and English as well as Japanese cooking class for tens of years. Also, as a volunteer she has published some guide books for foreigners living in her town.

Her vigorous activities were influenced by her father, who ran a Japanese sake maker. Though he didn’t learn English at school because of the war, he was asked to become a president for an English lover organization and sponsor for various events in the small town. Thanks to him, she had a lot of chances to see nationwide well-known people who engaged in English education. In her speech she said he ‘planted the seeds’ in her English skills and volunteer spirits. Amazing stories!

Let’s go on to the next session: Table Topic Speech (impromptu speech) session. The speech master was Megumi-san, one of the most dedicated members. She had a terrible cold but played her role very well. We realized that she was well-prepared for the meeting though she must have been very busy taking care of her baby. She had 9 questions for us and 4 attendees including the guests had a chance to speak.

- If you could go back in time and talk to yourself at the age of 15, what advice would you give yourself?

To Yukimasa-san, it was a precious moment when he had many opportunities to talk with his father and learned a lot from him. When he was 15, he broke his knee in playing soccer. It was a pity that he couldn’t practice soccer for a long time but thanks to the injured knee, he had more chances to talk with his father than expected. His father sent him to and pick him up at school by car for 2 months. It was a long drive and they had a very good time talking about many things.

- Share your story that you thought you were lucky.

Bao-san shared his story. He felt lucky when he passed an entrance exam for a prestigious university. When he took the exam, he didn’t have any confidence in the performance. Now you must feel very proud of yourself. Congratulations!

- Who mattered the most in your life? And why?

Her parents and family mattered the most in LanAnh-san’s life, saying “If she is healthy and happy, her parents and family feel the same.” But now things have changed a little. People around her matter as well. We understood she makes each encounter precious.

- Tell us the story that you said ‘Thank you’ to someone lately.

It had an adverse effect. I clicked video setting ‘off’ mode not to show my face, wishing Megumi-san wouldn’t ask me to answer the question. I am no good at impromptu speech. Anyway, it was my turn. Haha.. It was to my kids who I said ‘Thank you’ recently. One day my daughter said to me, ‘Thank you for being my mom’. I felt blessed and thanked them back, giving them a bigger hug than usual. I often scold them for their lazy attitudes and their fights, while I try to praise them, which may be rare and not enough. And I often feel tired because I must take double roles as their father and mother. My husband is living far away for his business. I assume they understand my situation and feelings. I am very proud of my thoughtful kids :)

Shall we move on to the last session, Evaluation? Surprisingly enough, all evaluators did a great job! It was very difficult to choose the best speaker. They pointed out good points in order, referring to the speech contents. Then, as for improvements points, they gave concrete examples and useful advice for a better speech.

It was a successful meeting again and I can’t wait for the next meeting. Why don’t you join us? :)