Best Table Topics Award Kazuko-san!
Best Table Topics Award Mikiko-san!
Best Table Topics Award Paul-san!
Best Table Topics Award Takako-san!
Oh! You must wonder why no less than 4 speakers got the award. Yes! We had only Table Topics Session, but it consists of 2 different parts, which should be fun activities. Let’s see how they went😊
Meeting Theme: Table Topic Marathon
Toastmaster: Hideo-san
Word of the day: vitiate introduced by Paul-san
The meaning: to destroy or damage something
e.g.) American Military powers should never be vitiated by political concerns.
Timer: Midori-san
Grammarian: Hideki-san
Ah Counter: Kazuko-san
Table Topics Session conducted by Yukimasa-san
Part I
He explained how to join the session first. 11 members except him had a chance to speak by choosing each out of 20 questions. 20 questions?! I couldn’t have made up so many if I were Table Topic Master. Wow!
1) What do you love most about yourself? ( I love this question as well as her answer below😉)
Takako-san has been getting more positive toward life. She tries to enjoy her life by putting herself into something she likes, for example, joining as many as events possible including Toastmasters with her friends and family members.
2) Which do you like to wear, casual or formal?
Paul-san shared his experiences when he attended his friend’s wedding. Originally, he was going to wear a T-shirts, but his friend had him to buy a suit. Still, he likes to wear a casual clothing, which make him feel more comfortable.
3) Do you like to work in team? And why?
Hideo-san likes to work in team. While giving some examples of playing team sports such as tennis and baseball, he showcased his experiences of winning as a member of each team and emphasized how much he loves them.
I agree with him. It is more fun and often said two heads are better than one😉
4) What makes you happy?
Megumi-san gave some examples to make her day, and one of them was about her adorable son. He was sitting beside her during her speech. One day when she came back home from work, he ran toward her and gave her a hug with a big smile😊 Besides, he tried encouraging her, who looked sad, by giving a big hug. At the end of her speech, she pretended to be sad to show us how he hugs. Looking at the scene made me smile😊
5) Do you usually evaluate objectively or subjectively?
Yuki-san usually evaluates things subjectively. (I am very sorry to say, but I could hardly hard what she said in the middle of her speech due to my poor listening skill.) Lastly, she described how she evaluates speeches and applies the technique to her job.
6) Are you interested in new things or historical things?
Mikiko-san is interested in the latter. Reflect herself, her interest is remains and something historical. She tried new things, but something historical seems attractive to her. Another example she gave was the movie about the legendary star Freddie Mercury.
7) What makes you angry?
A wonderful guest said that she gets angry easily, but when something bad happens to her, she sometimes does. She once kept waiting for her friend for a very long time. Even though she managed to keep her promise and arrived their meeting place on time, her friend didn’t appear yet. She is such a punctual person that she could hardly stand the situation.
I agree with her way of thinking and understand how important it is respectful and considerate to others.
8) Who impresses you?
To Kazuko-san, there are so many people who impresses her that she can’t pick up one particular person, but those who do their best are impressive. As a runner, especially when she saw older runners make every effort to cross the finish line, she gets moved. Then she shared her experience when a man at the age of 83 inspired her never to give up running the other day.
My father used to be a marathon runner and participated in the Hakone Marathon, one of the most famous races. I respect him a lot because he makes every effort to do something challenging and never gives up. Thanks to him, I try my best in everything. I am not good at running, though. Haha..
9) What have you done in the past that makes you proud?
Hideki-san can move his ears so quickly that he once tried moving them even more quickly like Dumbo from a Disney movie.
We have been proud of our members, who can make up a funny story to brighten the atmosphere like him😉
10) What lifts your spirits when life gets you down?
LanAnh-san actually had the experiences and tried looking on the brighter side of everything. When she feel depressed, she happened to see an old man who was trying to get out of a difficult situation. That encouraged her to move forward.
Part 2
Wow. Yukimasa-san prepared 20 photos for speakers. Amazing! The rule for the other was to make up a story or give some comments based on the photo a speaker randomly picked up. They don’t know what each photo was like until they selected.
I hope what I’m going to describe below will help you imagine what each picture was like.
1)A cute kid wearing a cap at an event in kindergarten is looking up someone (maybe his / her mother or father)
2)A lovely lady with a curly hair is looking at something and laughing with her each finger crossed.
3)There are some tall trees along the street, which make a lot of shade.
4)There are a set of blown-colored chair and small table (or a footrest ), piles of books, a yellow-colored glass vase and other objects, which I can’t recognize, in a living room with the wall painted white.
5)The picture shows a village or a small town surrounded by woods on a sunny day. Outside the wood, there is a small lake. You can see many buildings including apartments that look similar each other. They have light brown roofs and white walls. In the middle of the area, there is a church standing out the background of the clear blue sky.
6)A big picture of a cat. I am not a cat person and I can’t tell what the cat is called. Maybe a tortie ［tortoiseshell］ and white cat? Yukimasa- san is a big fan of cat and I guess he can tell😉 The cat has big ears and eyes.
7)There are about 20 men and women holding a balloon in one hand and some certificate paper in another respectively in a room. They are members of a Toastmasters club. They look very happy because they got an award? That must have been a happy occasion like anniversary, celebration, or others.
8)2 women and a man are clapping their hands to praise something or someone. They are all smiling. I guess they were listening to someone’s wonderful speech.
9)White and pink cosmos in a someone’s garden? Or just in an open space. Lovely! Just yesterday I suddenly decided to drive to a cosmos field while my kids were at school. It was such a perfect day to appreciate them and I couldn’t resist it. Nature always heals my soul, indeed🌸
10) A rock star in a band is singing and playing the guitar. Looks like he is deeply into his own world and singing to his heart’s content.
I’ve got speechless. The latter part of the session must have been much more challenging off-the-cuff speeches! How creative the speakers as well as Table Topics Session Master Yukimasa-san were! Outstanding! Kudos to our Diversity members👏👏👏
Honorable readers, how did you like our new style to conduct Table Topics Session? 😉