⚓ Toastmasters Meeting Invitation: “Anchored” ⚓

Join us for our next Toastmasters meeting, where we dive into the theme of being “Anchored.” This meeting is all about finding stability, grounding ourselves, and staying firm in our convictions while navigating the tides of communication.

Date: Tuesday, October 8th
Time: 6:45 PM
Location: Zum Königsstuhl

Meeting Highlights:

  • Anchored Speeches: Our speakers will deliver strong, rooted messages, reflecting on moments where staying grounded made all the difference.
  • Steady Table Topics: Prepare for impromptu speaking that will challenge you to remain composed under pressure, even when the conversation drifts.
  • Insightful Evaluations: Receive feedback that helps you anchor your communication style with confidence and clarity.

Featured Quote: “In the storm, we learn the true strength of our anchor.”

Come ready to explore how being anchored can empower your communication and leadership!

Acrobatics… – regular meeting 24th September

Dear all

One of our smaller meetings this year. But nevertheless full of energy, fun, and learning!

Let me remind you first about the announcements we made.

Base Camp Outage

There will be a Base Camp outage beginning on October 9, 2024, that is expected to last through October 25, 2024.

  • If you’re working on a project you may want to reference in that time frame, we recommend you download the project PDF by using the Print My Project link on the Your Evaluation page of your project. Plan to download any needed materials or wrap up any loose ends before Base Camp is inaccessible.
  • Completion certificates – While progress and credit will be transferred to the new system, certificates will not. If you would like copies of certificates you have earned, download and save them.
  • Additionally, to ensure your education progress is up-to-date and accurate when you log into the new system, ask your club officer to approve any pending Level completions and submit them on Club Central before October 9.

Contests

  • International Speech Contest will be held on 14 January 2025. All members, who have completed Level 2 are eligible to compete in this contest.
  • Table Topics and Evaluation Contests will be held on 11 February 2025. All members are eligible to compete it these contests.
  • The District will also hold an Online speech contest this year. We’ll figure out the details in due course and arrange a contest evening for this event.

Judging Workshop

Due to disruption caused by Covid, clubs, areas, divisions, and districts turned to online / hybrid judging models. The downside of this is that judging experience in clubs suffered. Roland and I will present a judging workshop in November to prepare our members for judging contests at the club and beyond. I hope to fill all judging slots from within our club, to give our members the necessary experience to also be able to judge outside the club in future. Date will be announced in next few days.

Grammarian Pietro explaining the word of the day

Reflections on our meeting

Toastmaster of the Evening, Joran conducted the meeting. He introduced each participant with an intro reflective of the theme of the evening: acrobatic. And each participant had their own interesting take on the question he posed them.

We listened to three excellent speeches. Gabriel’s ‘My wife ate the whole jar of Nutella’, dealing with don’t believe everything you hear. Anna spoke about her experiences as both a mentee and mentor in ‘Unexpected Learnings’. And, finally, Ishan proposed that God’s omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence is being challenged in ‘God has competition’. Our three evaluators, Nicola, Tatyana, and Etienne, provided constructive and useful feedback to our speakers. Topicsmaster, Roberta, challenged us with acrobatic themed topics, resulting in some interesting and humorous presentations.

Timekeeper, Zsolt, Ah-counter, Samira, and Grammarian, Pietro all did great jobs to keep us on time, and have us watch our ums, ahs, and p’s and q’s. In perhaps a first for the club, General Evaluator, Fereshteh, had opportunity to criticise herself. Having forgotten to turn her phone on silent, it started ringing midway through Gabriel’s speech… Gabriel, handled it like a pro. A reminder perhaps to all to ensure that phones are either switched off or in silent mode when we have speakers on stage.

Awards

Best Speaker: Anna

Best Table Topics: Harry

Best Evaluator: Etienne

Our next meeting is on Tuesday 8 October. We’re looking forward to seeing you all there.

Harry

Please click here for details of our next club meeting

🎪 Toastmasters Meeting Invitation: “Acrobatic” 🤸‍♀️

Next Tuesday, join us as we dive into the world of balance, agility, and flexibility—both on stage and in communication! This acrobatic-themed meeting will challenge us to think on our feet, adapt quickly, and deliver our speeches with finesse.

Date: Tuesday, [Insert Date]
Time: 6:45 PM
Location: Zum Königsstuhl
Theme: Acrobatic

Meeting Highlights

  • Acrobatic Speeches: Our speakers will push the boundaries of creative expression and balance their words like a true acrobat on a tightrope.
  • Flexible Table Topics: Get ready for some spontaneous speech challenges that will test your ability to pivot and adapt under pressure.
  • Elevating Evaluations: Receive feedback that will help you strengthen your communication agility and maintain poise in any situation.

Featured Quote: “The art of communication is the language of leadership. Balance your thoughts, adapt your words, and soar with grace.”

Come ready to jump into the action and see how agility in speech can translate to excellence in communication.

Underground Railroad – A Journey Through Words – regular meeting, 17-Sep-2024

This week’s Toastmasters meeting, led by Pietro as Toastmaster for the first time, focused on the weighty theme of the Underground Railroad. Under his steady guidance, the meeting progressed smoothly, showing his digilent preparation and setting the stage for an insightful and challenging session.

Vanessa, serving as General Evaluator, led her team with precision. Alice acted as Grammarian, encouraging mindful use of language throughout the meeting, with the word of the day “bewildered” drawing much use and attention. Joanna kept participants in check as the Ah & Vote Counter, and Tatjana ensured that everyone adhered to their speaking times as Timer.

The speeches were the highlight of the evening.

Thomas delivered an impressive impromptu speech titled “Money or Jail,” stepping in at the last minute and showing remarkable poise under pressure. His ability to organize his thoughts and convince the audience to timely pay their fines on such short notice was truly inspiring.

Next, Zsolt took a creative spin on a Table Topic posed by Vadim at a previous meeting with his speech “An Essay to Vadim.” He explored the complex question of “justice vs. forgiveness” through the lens of game theory, providing thought-provoking insights that left the audience with much to reflect on.

Yesenia followed with a lively recount of a kayaking trip gone awry in her speech “Kayaking Lessons.” What was meant to be a romantic outing quickly turned into a source of tension, but her lighthearted approach highlighted the importance of communication and conflict resolution in relationships.

Evaluations and Table Topics

The evaluators—RichardElias, and Joran—all provided insightful feedback that helped the speakers hone their skills. Each brought a unique perspective, offering constructive advice and praise in equal measure, further contributing to the overall learning experience.

The Table Topics session, led by Sabina, presented thought-provoking and uncomfortable questions based on the meeting-theme-inspiring book “The underground railroad”. Despite the challenging nature of the topics, participants engaged bravely and offered compelling responses.

Winners and final thoughts

As the meeting drew to a close, the well-deserved awards were handed out: Zsolt won Best Speaker for his intellectual exploration of justice and forgiveness, Roland was named Best Table Topics for his quick thinking and flawless delivery, and Richard earned Best Evaluator for his sharp and helpful feedback.

In conclusion, this meeting was a powerful reminder of the importance of stepping out of one’s comfort zone. Whether delivering an impromptu speech, tackling challenging Table Topics, or offering constructive evaluations, every participant demonstrated the core values of Toastmasters: growth, courage, and the pursuit of excellence.

Richard Bruckner
Please click here for details of our next club meeting

Toastmasters Meeting Invitation: “Underground Railroad” 🚂

Step back in time with us as we explore the incredible stories of courage, resilience, and humanity from the era of the Underground Railroad. This meeting invites us to reflect on the power of communication in fostering freedom, justice, and equality.

Date: 17. Sep. 2024
Time: 6.45 p.m.
Location: Zum Königsstuhl
Theme: “Underground Railroad”

Meeting Highlights:
•⁠ ⁠Historical Speeches: Our speakers will be inspired by the period of the Underground Railroad, drawing lessons on leadership, courage, and communication from one of history’s most impactful networks for freedom.
•⁠ ⁠Empowering Table Topics: Engage in impromptu speaking sessions that challenge you to think about the modern implications of resilience, justice, and standing up for what is right.
•⁠ ⁠Constructive Evaluations: Receive feedback that helps you strengthen your voice in advocating for change and empowerment.

Featured Quote: “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” — Harriet Tubman

Come join us for an inspiring session as we draw from the lessons of the past to shape a future of freedom, equality, and justice.

Tolerance was the theme of the evening – regular meeting September 10th

Thank you Zuribergers for another fun evening and thank you Fereshteh, our Toastmaster of the evening, for taking on the challenge for the first time and organizing a flawless evening!

Speakers

We had three speakers this evening: Vanessa, Roland and Vadim. Vanessa gave us her “Hiking 102” speech for the second time, complete with backpack, hiking poles, and other equipment. It was an excellent use of props to support her message. We learned some tips on how to pare down the weight of our hiking packs, while leaving room for non-essential essentials : in Vanessa’s case – a small bottle of Greek olive oil 🙂 Roland began his speech by apologizing for choosing a boring topic “Patient Directives as a form of digital self-determination in e-Health”. His project involved a speech followed by 13 minutes of Q&A, which we could easily have extended to half an hour, because it turns out his topic was not boring at all. We had endless questions about a topic that is relevant to us all – how do we best legally express our medical care wishes in the case that we become incapacitated. Vadim delivered the last speech of the evening “Are you taking the stairs?” a mentoring speech that was well-delivered and earned him his very first Best Speaker ribbon!

Insightful evaluations and challenging table topics

The evaluations were also high quality, with Tatyana even relying on the new FREEE technique we learned during our improv workshop in August to evaluate Vanessa. It reminded us that evaluators can focus on many different aspects of a speech, including breathing technique.

Thank you Suavek for the challenging and “extremely complicated” (to quote Joran, our General Evaluator for the evening) table topics of the evening. We will miss you and hope you come back soon.

Congratulations Vadim on winning Best Speaker, Joran for winning best Table Topics, and Tatyana for winning best evaluator!

Announcement: novice speech competition

As I mentioned in the meeting and on WhatsApp, there is a novice speech competition taking place on October 26th (online) and November 23rd (in-person finals). This is a Switzerland-wide speech competition open to everyone who hasn’t yet completed Level 2 of a path. It is an excellent opportunity to get some competition practice in and get to know some Toastmasters outside of our club. If you would like to participate, please let me know asap.

Wishing you a lovely Saturday evening!
Please click here for details of our next club meeting

Anna Franzen

🌍 Toastmasters Meeting Invitation: “Tolerance” 🤝

Join us for a special Toastmasters meeting where we embrace the power of tolerance. In a world that grows more diverse every day, the ability to listen, respect, and communicate across differences is more important than ever.

Date: 10th September 2024
Time: 6.45 pm
Location: Zum Königsstuhl
Theme: “Tolerance”

Meeting Highlights:

  • Speeches Celebrating Diversity: Our speakers will explore how tolerance shapes our personal and professional lives, offering insights on how open communication fosters understanding.
  • Inclusive Table Topics: Take part in impromptu speaking sessions designed to challenge your perspectives and build bridges across differences.
  • Constructive Evaluations: Receive feedback that strengthens your ability to communicate with empathy and respect.

Featured Quote: “Tolerance is giving to every other human being every right that you claim for yourself.” — Robert Green Ingersoll

Join us as we celebrate the beauty of diversity and learn how tolerance can help us grow, connect, and lead in a more inclusive world.

A Committee’s Journey on the Via Ferrata

Last weekend, our committee members decided to take team building to the next level by stepping out of our comfort zones and embracing a thrilling adventure. The ultimate goal? To have fun while deepening our connection as a team. So, what did we do? We embarked on an unforgettable journey along the Via Ferrata in Pinut!

The adventure begins

We had an incredible experience on our via ferrata in Pinut! After a pleasant hike up to the bottom of the rock, we put on our gear and began our ascent — one step at a time. The views from there were breathtaking, offering a completely new perspective. After climbing and working up a sweat, we made our way to the summit of Pinut, where we enjoyed some refreshing drinks! It was a well-deserved break after all our efforts. All that was left was the descent, which seems much easier after all the climbing. We all arrived at our end destination safe and sound – and most importantly, we all made it! What a great outing, thanks Harry and all our fellow participants for the great company!

                                                                                                          Samira, VP Membership

A First for Everything

Last Sunday marked my first-ever Via Ferrata experience! We were fortunate to have our president, not just a seasoned Toastmaster but also a certified mountain guide, leading the way. His expertise reassured us throughout the journey, making the climb feel both safe and exciting. An unexpected highlight, aside from the stunning views, was discovering a small hut at the summit where we could purchase cold drinks based on an honor system. Only in Switzerland!

                                                                                                                      Anna, VP Education

The Power of Team Bonding

This weekend, I had an amazing experience climbing my first Via Ferrata with my fellow committee members. The ascent was thrilling but a bit demanding. What truly made it memorable was the sense of camaraderie we experienced throughout. Each member contributed their unique strengths, whether by offering motivating words, sharing laughs, or imparting lessons about this type of activity. The trust and support we have developed in our TMs gatherings translated to the terrain. It was a great reminder that the connections we form in the club extend well beyond our meeting room.

                                                                                                                      Elias, Secretary

Stay curious and awake, and life will  grand you whatever experience you need at the moment

Having been all in for a team building experience together with my fellow Zuriberg Toastmaster Committee members – I was less than thrilled about the prospect of climbing up some steep rocks – fitted with helmet, security gear and the whole spiel! I always considered mountains primarily useful to ski down in winter… and in summer to go for long contemplative hikes at best! I never felt the urge to be in competition with Capricorns. But past Sunday came, and after gathering in Flims off we went! – embarking on what Samira calls a ‘pleasant hike’ but what felt like Tantalus’ tortures to me (and that was before the climbing even began). The experience of the climbing was interesting – but what was spectacular were the views from different angles and perspectives while literally hanging in the rocks! With all the reservations and huffing and puffing I felt much alive, enjoyed the Team’s banter and support and after a long and eventful day was thankful for a truly enticing, new experience.

                                                                                              Roland, VP Mentoring

From Fear to Fun: The Transformative Power of a Supportive Team

Stepping out of my comfort zone among great companions in a supportive environment has shown me that success in reaching new goals is almost guaranteed. The blend of support, diversity, and camaraderie transforms any challenge into a memorable experience. Even if the goal cannot always be fully achieved, the fun and connections made along the way are what you will cherish most. Thank you, Harry, Anna, Roland, Elias, and Samira, for an incredible day!

Yours truly, 

Vanessa, 

Immediate Past President

A memorable improv evening – Special event 27th August

Fellow Zuribergers,

It’s been almost a week since we enjoyed a truly energizing workshop with Tara Brodin, a talented Canadian improv and acting instructor who lives right here in Zurich! We all owe our thanks to Vanessa Stournari, our immediately past president, and her months-long effort to make this workshop a reality.

Tara reminded us that great speeches are made up of a lot more than just well-structured sentences and paragraphs. In fact, only 7% of the message an audience receives comes from words, while the vast majority of communication is actually transmitted through body language and the tone of our voice. With Tara we all stood in a circle and explored the range of our voices with handy techniques and acronyms such as FREEE (Feel, Respirate, Elevate, Energize, Enjoy). For those of you who couldn’t make it, ask fellow members for some tips!

Tara is a founder and director at the close encounter theater –https://www.closeencounterstheatre.com/ – and offers improv and acting courses. Quite a few of our members have taken part in her classes in the past (Vanessa, Elias, Alice, Tatyana & more). 

In addition, at the beginning of the meeting, we were able to listen to a brief presentation by Stephanie Chen, Toastmasters’ District 89 Finance Director, who gave us a glimpse of the wealth of TM clubs that exist in China. It was a reminder that we are part of a vast ecosystem of speech lovers here at Toastmasters, and that “Toastmasters Tourist” (where TM members systematically attend toastmasters meetings in every city they visit), is real and a cool way to travel.

Now – what can you do to practice all those new skills Tara brought to your attention? You can sign up for roles and, in particular, speeches! Tomorrow is a committee meeting, so you have plenty of time to sign up and prepare a speech for next Tuesday, September 10th! See you then!

Your VPE,

Anna Franzen

Notes on the meeting bygone… – regular meeting Aug 20th 2024

Thank you for an enjoyable evening, filled with great speeches and contributions from our delightful post-antediluvian audience of members and guests.

The speeches

On our first meeting since the summer break, we had four of our members present four distinctively different speeches. Fereshteh told us how important her PhD mentor was to her in helping her find her voice in her community. Alice told us how she learnt from her Mysterious Maverick Luca, was supported by Luca, and eventually outgrew Luca. Both of these speeches were from Level 2 ‘Introduction to Toastmasters Mentoring’ projects. We got to know both Tatjana and Ishan better through their superb Ice Breakers. Tatjana’s sharing of her core values resonated with us. Receiving a special mention for her natural use of body language when illustrating her nephews and nieces spontaneous ‘Toastmasters’ meeting. Especially as this was an Ice Breaker speech. Ishan’s analogous comparison of the Persian prophet Zarathustra to his own path in developing a ‘startup’ drew some fascinating insights into the teaching of a prophet who had influence on many of the world’s religions including Zionism , Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Zarathustra or Zoroaster is best know after the philosophical work of Nietzsche, “Thus Spake Zarathustra”.

The Evaluations

Evaluations from Michelle, Elias, Anna, and Richard were well-thought-out and to the point. All provided suggestions for improvement for the speakers. Suggestions which each and every one of us can learn from, even if we were not the speakers standing in front of the audience on the night.

The Table Topics

Table Topics challenged the speakers to compare contrasting ideas and present which may be best. Speakers showed that striking a balance between (for example) tradition vs innovation is equally important. And that the one without the other may not be possible. This was a good choice of topics, which speakers, including guests, were able to relate to and construct meaningful speeches.

The rest

Our Toastmaster of the Evening, Nicola, was her usual efficient self, as she conducted the evening, keeping to time, and bringing each participant on stage with a well-thought-out introduction. The Timer (yours truly) became so engrossed in the first speaker’s speech that he forgot to show the green card until nearly 30 seconds had passed. I should add that he did manage after this slip, to show the cards at the right time. Which reminded him how important it is to be fully focused on the task when you are the timer. General Evaluator, Joanna, commented on what was overall a well-run meeting. Despite dinner only being served twenty-five minutes into the break to some of our attendees, which resulted in them still eating when the meeting reconvened. An area where we can definitely seek improvement from the catering staff. Kevin challenged us to use the word ‘bygones’ 15 times in our speeches. He thought he had failed when he was only able to count 13 bygones from speakers. But th en sneakily slipped in one of his own so that we stood at 14… And before long we had our 15… even though Kevin had sat down by this time. Our Ah-Counter Gabrielle, shared some tips on how he is managing to avoid erms and ahs that all of us can learn from.

One area where I think we can improve on is how we conduct our Table Topics sessions. Recently, we’ve developed a habit of asking for volunteers. Which does not always work, and often lead to wasted time. The intention of Table Topics is two-fold: to teach members to speak extemporaneously. Off the cuff. And to give members who do not have a role an opportunity to participate. So the way to conduct it, is to identify members without a role. The topicsmaster call on these members to present a topic. It is okay to ask if any of the guests want to volunteer. But we give our members a first chance to speak. And they do not have an option. See also the Topicsmaster role description on our website: https://zuribergtoastmasters.ch/roles-at-meetings

Awards

Awards went to, Alice for Best Speaker, Anna for Best Evaluator, and Roland for Best Table Topic. Fereshteh received a Level 2 Completion Award and our two Ice Breakers, Tatjana and Ishan received Ice Breaker ribbons!

Next meeting – 27 August: Improv Workshop

Please click here for details of our next club meeting

Harry Loots