Written by Maria Lalla
Sincerity being the theme of the meeting was introduced by Toastmaster Andrew Valinskas. Andrew shared a interesting personal story from his youth related to his fondness for Star Wars figurines while at the department store with a childhood friend.
He spoke about some of the reasons why it’s so hard to be sincere sometimes, such as wanting to avoid conflict or being afraid of the consequences. He pointed out that sincerity helps build stronger relationships with the people that matter to you most; this applies also to the relationships businesses have with their customers. Sincerity also helps build stronger relationships with the audience when we are delivering a speech.
First Speaker: Maria Lalla Speech #4
Title: Finding Inspiration
Maria shared a personal story in finding inspiration through her photography work and a reflective period of when she overcame the sense of feeling uninspired. She also related it to how difficult it can be for us all in our work lives as some days you can run with an idea and other days you are frozen and can’t seem to move forward.
She left the audience with three take away points she used that day and which anyone can use in future to overcome feeling uninspired – 1 – Be open to new experiences – Taking the power back by making a choice to being open to new experiences by keeping yourself moving, 2 – Be Prepared – Use your skills to capture the moment when it happens, and 3 – Cease the moment – think of new fresh ideas always and cease the moment when it happens.
Second Speaker: Arvind Karir
Title: No Alternative
Arvind gave an inspirational story related to an experience he had while in Tel Aviv for a work trip. While out at a basketball game in Tel Aviv a colleague stated that there is “No Alternative” when it comes to winning, as the team was not doing well in the first few rounds and ultimately won the game in the end. Arvind reflected this onto his own life at work and is his motto on conquering situations in which there is high stakes and obstacles to overcome. He inspired all toastmasters to think there is “No Alternative” in our work and personal lives, anything is possible if you tell yourself there is “No Alternative!”
Table Topics by Andrew
The speeches where followed by a very creative table topics session lead by Andrew MacDonald. His topics for the session were drawn from top headlines including the Huffington Post and CBC. Table topic winner was John Krissilas with his entertaining speech related to Shakira being attacked by sea lions.
The meeting concluded with a great evaluation session including weekly reports on grammar, filler words, Ian’s quizmaster questions regarding the content of presentations and meeting timing. Helpful and insightful speech evaluations were delivered by Rose and Julian and focused on encouraging the speakers and offering special suggestions for improvement. Evaluations are what help us grow and learn as great speakers and listeners, thanks for all your hard work!
The meeting concluded at 8:00pm
