Category: Club meetings

Dear Zuriberg Toastmasters,

Last Tuesday night, we delved into the theme of “artificial,” exploring its multifaceted meaning in the context of 2024. After the President’s opening remarks, the gavel smoothly transitioned to our Toastmaster of the evening, Roland, who guided us through insightful speeches that challenged our perceptions.

Speaker Highlights & Evaluations

Fereshte shared a deeply personal journey in “The Day I Was Born,” inspiring us with her resilience in navigating life’s challenges. Kevin’s evaluation highlighted her eloquent language and encouraged her to infuse her delivery with local variety, igniting a spark of motivation in us all.

Marco motivated us to navigate the era of knowledge accessibility, offering strategies to sift through information plethora to be a knowledge advocate. His persuasive speech left a lasting impact. Selin’s evaluation praised Marco’s structured argumentation, guiding us through a journey of intellectual exploration.

Slavek’s icebreaker “Reality” seamlessly wove together personal anecdotes and a love for media, warmly embraced by our club. Alessandro’s evaluation highlighted the powerful impact of Slavek’s parallel storytelling approach, drawing us into his world with authenticity.

Thomas S, visiting us from the Rhetorik Club Zurich, engaged story-telling prowess in his speech “Courage,” inspiring us to embrace growth beyond our comfort zones. Gabriel emphasized the role of anecdotes in effective storytelling, enriching our understanding of Thomas’s message.

Gabriele demonstrated in his speech, “A Toastmaster’s Journey to Tranquility”, illuminated how yoga can enhance public speaking, sprinkled with delightful humor. Tatyana’s award-winning evaluation celebrated Gabriele’s masterful use of humor and engagement techniques, reminding us that with dedication, we can hone our craft.

Table Topics

Under Aaron’s adept guidance, our table topics session danced with creativity, seamlessly weaving the theme into spontaneous discourse. Thomas M.’s quick wit and charm earned him well-deserved recognition as the Best Table Topic Speaker.

Concluding Thoughts

This session showcased our community’s ability to embrace complex themes, encouraging exploration and personal reflection on the artificial aspects of our lives. Let us continue to explore, learn and grow together!

What is in the Horizon?

Join us for these exciting upcoming events!

April 23^rd: Humorous Workshop with Mike Casa

April 30^th: Regular Meeting – Dream with Richard as Toastmaster of the Evening in L200

May 15^th: General Assembly – Elections (quorum required) 

Stay tuned for more updates from the Toastmasters world, including the May 3rd Joint Meeting Area E4 – details to follow & District 109 Conference in Istanbul May 10^th – 12^th 

Warmest Regards,

Vanessa Stournari

President Toastmasters Zuriberg Club Vanessa Stournari

Dear fellow Zuriberg Toastmasters, 

This week, we returned to our beloved hall in Zum Königsstuhl (aka the former Blue Monkey) for a debate evening on the motion: “This house believes that we should colonize another planet.”

The debate

The proposition team, composed of Nicola and Pietro, argued passionately, inspiring us to emulate our forefathers who set foot on the moon and urged us to “think big”!

Conversely, the opposition team, consisting of Aaron and Elias, believed that our focus should be on addressing Earth’s problems, such as poverty. They criticized the proposition team for diverting attention from these pressing issues, contending, “They bring dreams; we bring facts.”

Joran, the Debate Chair, effectively maintained discipline by managing the timing allocated to each speaker, which facilitated a productive discussion. At the end, Tatyana, our General Evaluator provided critical feedback on the debate which will enable us to be even better next time!

The table topics

After a delightful meal, Samira transported us to another universe with her inspiring questions that ignited unique stories: Thomas shared his discovery of Thomas’ Planet, Micheleelucidated the differences between men and women, Vassillis demonstrated his laser gun prowess, and myself, Kevin described his transition to becoming a space slave owner. Thomasclinched the victory ribbon!

The evening concluded with us putting theory into practice by applying our newly acquired skills in a practical session, debating the ballot process. Congratulations to the opposition team for winning the debate!

What is next? 

We hope you enjoy another adventure in our Club and eagerly anticipate our next regular meetings:

• On the 26th March, the theme of the evening will be “’Travel’ and will be orchestrated by Gabriele
• On the 9th April, the theme will be “Artificial” and the TME is wanted! 

(The two evenings will take place in Zum Königsstuhl).

Get ready to dive into the worlds of ‘Travel’ and ‘Artificial’ at our next gatherings!

Warmest Regards, 

Kevin von Niederhäuser,

VP Membership Zuriberg TMC
Please click here for details of our next club meeting

Dear fellow Zuriberg Toastmasters,

It’s hard to believe that our 21^st meeting of the Toastmasters year has already concluded, and what an inspiring evening it was!

Svetlana led the way as our Toastmaster, guiding the session with finesse! She seamlessly introduced our speakers, each one offering their unique take on the theme of “strategy.” A special thanks to Denisse, our General Evaluator, and to her team Michelle, Vassilis amd Mathieu for ensuring a constructive yet empowering evaluation throughout the meeting. 

Speakers’s highlights 

Monica delivered a thought-provoking speech titled “How should I survive in a world full of ideals?” within Project Leadership Development #3-8. She skillfully delved into the question of whether we set unrealistic ethical standards, presenting a philosophical topic with a deeply conversational and engaging tone.

Zsolt tackled the theme of “Environmentalism” in his Presentation Mastery #1-3 speech, introducing vocal variety and powerful gestures. His content and delivery earned him the well-deserved title of Best Speaker for the evening.

Joran took us on a humorous journey with “I should have told Laurence”, in his Project Presentation Mastery #1-4 speech, shedding light on some unfortunate leadership examples he encountered in his career.

A warm welcome goes to Innocent, who embarked on his Toastmasters journey with the “Icebreaker” speech for Project Presentation Mastery #1-1. He effectively introduced himself to the club, showcasing he is guilty of an authentic speaking style and a charmingly humorous personality. He set a positive tone for his future speeches. A warm welcome to the club, Innocent!

The art of evaluations

Our evaluators—Yani, Elias, Christina, and Kevin—provided insightful feedback, strategically analyzing the speeches with empathy and encouragement. Kevin was recognized with the Best Evaluation award for his outstanding contribution.

Table Topics 

Our impromptu speech session was orchestrated by Richard, who took us on an engaging journey of alien invasion scenarios, showcasing creativity at its best. Tatyana won the Best Table Topics Speaker award, convincingly assuring us that an alien invasion is nothing compared to the challenges we, the earthlings, create for ourselves.

Closing Thoughts 

A heartfelt thank you to all who contributed to the wonderful atmosphere and the success of the evening, showcasing our commitment to personal development and effective communication within the strategic framework of Toastmasters.

What is on the horizon?

Looking ahead, let’s continue our journey to public speaking excellence in the upcoming meetings. As we experiment with different locations until we return to the familiar Blue Monkey, seize the opportunity to try different stages, starting with a theatrical stage

February 27^th – Regular meeting with Theme New Beginning and Michelle as the TME (Gross Saal in Karl der Grosse)

March 12^th – Regular Meeting with a shocking Theme and Joanna as the TME (L200)

Special Events: 

Area E4 Contest: Friday, February 23^rd 17:30 to 22:00 in Europaallee (or join online) come to support our club winners, Thomas, Christina, Elias and myself, Vanessa at the international, evaluation and table topics speech contests. Engaging speeches and mingle with the other Toastmasters clubs of our area (Walk the Talk, Credit Suisse Corporate Club and St. Gallen TMC). Hier is the registration Link  https://forms.gle/bM5PaeFXCVHLECZZ9 

Area E4 German Speech contest: Saturday, February 24th online 

How are speeches of our area doing in German? Join to explore and maybe support 😊