Toastmaster Meeting 3rd January 24
Starting at 21:00 Asia/Tokyo
Venue Online Club
ZOOM online meeting schedule is here,https://briocheslaboulange.wixsite.com/diversity/meeting-s
Happy New Year, everyone! Have you made your new year’s resolution?
Last year I wished I could go abroad, and I made it. I spent my winter holiday in Vienna, Austria. Even though I suffered misfortune such as losing my smartphone there, I met wonderful people from different countries and enjoyed my journey a lot!
As soon as I got back to Japan, I heard the news that there was a big earthquake in Ishikawa prefecture. As a victim in the great earthquakes in 2011 and 2016, I have felt them so much. I really hope things will get back to normal very soon. Hang in there!
Now we were ready for our very first meeting for the year! 7 members got together and shared their experiences during their winter holiday. Kimiko-san held a concert and she was a lead violinist. Wow! I didn’t know that. Takako-san was hectic working at her clinic even on New Year’s Eve. For example, she got emergency calls one after another (Otsukaresama deshita). Erika-san enjoyed skiing in Toyama. Sounds like she was a very good skier. Aki-san looked very happy to get a Christmas present for herself. Yuki-san was also busy working and just stayed and relaxed in her hometown. Last but not least, Kazuko-san visited a shrine and then she went to a hot spring spa and had a very good time over lunch with her running mates. How diversified we were!
Next, the main session Prepared Speech got started. The first speaker was Erika-san! Her speech title is ‘Introduction of an African country’. Her speech objectives are: to research and present an unfamiliar topic; organize the speech clearly to maximize audience understanding; craft clear and engaging transitions between main sections of your speech; use and cite sources to support speech content, make source list available. The country she introduced was Republic of Burundi. I hadn’t even heard the name of the country. It is one of the poorest countries across the globe with a lot of problems in terms of logistics, public health, and the stable internet connection, It was a very informal speech, indeed. Thank you, Erika-san!
The second speaker was Takako-san! Her speech title was ‘What is leadership?’. Her speech objectives were to present a speech that shares the experience completing this path, including the progress made, the skills learned and developed as well as a celebration of the achievement, in a style that supports the speech content. It was an intriguing speech. I haven’t thought about what leadership really means before.
Thirdly, we had an impromptu speech session called Table Topic. Kimiko-san was the table topic master, and she organized the session very well. She prepared 6 questions and due to the time constraint, we just tried the 3 questions: please share us your New Year’s Resolution; what is your favorite food in the New Year?; reflect on the past year and please share a memorable moment that brought you joy or inspiration. All the speakers made a positive comment for the new year. I’m pretty sure this will be another year of great progress for us!
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