Liberty Village Toastmasters Toronto

This meeting was full of insights.

Toastmaster James kicked it off by describing his recent experience with meeting the man with the hero burger. To James’s surprise, the man is a speaking coach and an author of Amazon Canada’s best selling book. But James wouldn’t have known if he didn’t take the leap to introduce himself. The message: opportunity is nearby, we just need to take the initiative to greet it.

We inducted our newest member, Louise Guo! Her enthusiasm and smile are just one of the many reasons why we are excited to have her as part of our team.

Speaker Louise Bark shared us her childhood experience, which was full of insurmountable difficulties. How she transcended beyond her circumstances and changed her life is truly inspirational. Now she is on mission to help others through her volunteering services to 5 organizations. What an admirable courage and spirit!

Speaker Olga gave us tips in surviving power outages, which included carrying cash, flashlight, buckets of water, and a can opening. Practical and common sense approaches, but we all seem to forget in times of panic so prepare ahead.

To keep current with our times, we also had debates! It was a very close match between Mireille versus Louise Guo and Luke versus Dave. Topics included free post secondary education and reading versus writing the English language

Of course, we ended with our traditional fun table topics. Winner was Jose, our guest who declared that opportunity is not luck, but all preparation! How else could he have been one of the only 10 percent who passed all his CMA exams in one shot?

Next meeting, we will explore new opportunities to learn and develop so be prepared for it.

Our returning toastmaster John Kjarsgaard is our Toastmaster! Speakers: Bob and Cara

The meeting began and we inducted in new member Mireille.
She then was brave enough to give her first speech, the Ice Breaker in which she told us about moving from Cameroon to the UK to Canada.

Next we heard from Wes Vick, giving us a speech about his friend who he finds inspiring, Ben Brown. What stuck with me is Ben’s ability to ask for things without embarrassment. which resulted in delicious ribs for some lucky volunteers.

Finally, we heard from an advanced storytelling manual from advanced speaker James Tran. James regaled us with a story about a man looking for shortcuts, and fast lanes. The message – don’t compromise your integrity to find a fast track.

And finally Table Topics was led by Mohammed, and the winner was our guest Louise! Congratulations Louise!

It’s natural for us to react to life, returning like for like. That is responding to kindness with kindness and cruelty with cruelty. However, Toastmaster Bob challenge us to go against this instinct. Next time when someone wrongs you, respond with kindness. Try it and you will be amazed of how things will turn out to your favour!

This philosophy was certainly embraced by our speakers.

When Dave graduated during the time of high unemployment, what did he do? He invested into a coffee shop, travelled to several countries and met the girl of his dream. Indeed, he is ‘living’ his life.

When the electricity was out, how did Stanley respond? He didn’t cry like you know who would. He did the best of what he could. Took care of his health and went to bed early.

And Andrew? Andrew went against the common myth. The myth that leadership is about the title and power. He taught us that leadership is about relationship and credibility. Anyone can be a leader. We just need develop the right qualities.  The 4 qualities he mentioned include: forward-looking, inspiring, competence and honesty (FICH).

Congrats to our guest Mireille for winning table topics!

The message is clear: Life is what you make of it not what was given to you.

Don’t forget. This week, we’re hosting our club contests!!!

Humorous and Tabletopics contests
Hosts: Mohammed and James
Chief Judge: Karoline

Contestants, and volunteers, please arrive at 6:00 pm to be briefed.