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.
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.
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!
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!
Well. Perhaps not quite so much into the wilderness, as members stayed on familiar ground and delivered five inspiring and informative speeches.
The theme did, however, provide the Toastmaster of the Evening, Anna, with some great introductions of the speakers.
First up was Vanessa, who shared her first experience hiking with Michelle and Anna, and what she had learnt. Svetlana and Rafael both presented Level 2 projects – Understanding your communicational style, and both provided us with insight into communication patterns and styles. Svetlana explaining on Passive, Passive/Aggressive, Assertive and other styles. Rafael mimicked the style of a typical pilot. Making the point that the style is deliberate to instil a sense of confidence in passengers. Calm, Self-assured. Nothing can go wrong while I’m in control… Joram and Harry both completed Level 1 of their current pathways projects. Joram asked if the price is right? And, Harry’s takeaway message was, ‘Engage. Before you judge.’ which earned him the Best Speaker award.
All our evaluators provided valuable feedback to the speakers, with Michelle receiving the Best Evaluator award.
Thomas presented us with a series of topics based on the Wilderness theme. Michelle took this award as well. On top form, our Michelle!
Alicja was our timer of the evening. She explained clearly what the timing requirements were for each section of the programme (Prepared Speeches, Evaluations, and Table Topics), and provided the speakers with feedback on how long they had spoken for.
Vassilis chose the word vacillate as our word of the day. His feedback, on the use of our language, showed there’s always opportunity for improvement. Ah-counter Anton kept tabs on our use of filler words. And Fereshteh, as General Evaluator, gave us great feedback – especially as regards the introduction of speakers. We welcome speakers on stage, accompanied by applause. Then announce their name, title, title, name with no further applause at this point.
Our programme featured two major changes: Our Sergeant-at-Arms now calls the meeting to order, shares a few house-rules (like mobiles off or quiet), points out the toilets to guests (and forgetful members), then introduces the President.
The other change is that the timer works with the TME. Announcing times immediately before the prepared speeches, evaluations, and table topics. This way, the timing is clear in the speakers’ minds. The timer also provides the actual time for the speaker at the end of the session.
Our next meeting will the last before our summer break. We still have a few roles open for the evening. Please go and sign up. And, if you can’t make it, please mark yourself as not attending. I look forward to seeing you there! Please click here for details of our next club meeting
This is the first newsletter you’ll be receiving from me as President of Zuriberg Toastmasters Club. I am immensely proud to have been selected to lead this club this year. And will give my utmost to continue in the tradition of making this club a top club in District 109. In fact, it is my aim to make it the top club among top clubs.
One of the first tasks we’ve set ourselves as a committee is to have all seven officers trained during the Club Officer Training window. So far, we have four of our officers trained. This already puts us way ahead of other clubs.
In my first address as president, I spoke about “People who give of their time to serve their community”. In this case, our committee. First, they serve the immediate community. Us. The Club. And then by maintaining the club in a healthy, successful manner, striving for excellence, they are able to serve the wider community. The people who make their home in Zurich and surrounds. The team epitomising the words of Dr. Ralph C. Smedley’s, when he said: “We work together to bring out the best in each of us, and then we apply our skills to help others.“
Each of our 2024/25 officers introduced themselves and their aims for this year in a short speech. First up was our Immediate Past President, Vanessa, who mentioned that among her aims is to start an initiative to create an opportunity for advanced speeches for advanced speakers. Next up, Vice-President Education, Anna, who is available to help you reach your goals. VP Membership, Samira, will continue the fine tradition we have of welcoming guests and converting them into members. VP Public Relations, Richard, addressed us via video from Las Vegas. Promising to continue in the fine manner he has looked after our external communications. New to the committee, Elias takes on the task of Secretary – a key link in our organisation. Another stalwart, our Treasurer, Thomas, promised to keep looking after our money diligently and ensure that subs are submitted on time to TMI HQ. VP Mentoring, and Past President, Roland set out his vision for ensuring that every member who wants a mentor wi ll be assigned one. And how, through mentoring you become acquainted with your club’s culture. Finally, it was the turn of our two Sergeant-at-Arms, Vadim (in person) and Yesenia (via video) to share their aims for the year. Both new to the committee, they’re already showing why it is important to bring new blood on board, with their suggestion that we trial an electronic voting system for Best Speaker, Evaluator, Table Topic. Each of our committee members were also presented with an officer pin, which they can wear proudly at work, Toastmasters, or wherever they want to show off their commitment!
Alice led a very interesting Table Topic session, tasking the speakers to present as politicians – most of whom had done something dodgy and having to explain their way out of this ‘scandal’. Pietro won the Best Table Topic award. Perhaps there’s a latent politician lurking within… being able to turn dodgy dealings into a speech of success.
Having changed our process so that the timer announces times before prepared speeches, evaluations, and table topics, we had slight confusion. With General Evaluator pointing out that the instructions for the role had not been updated at the time he was preparing for the role.
Our next meeting, on 16 July, is themed “Urban” with Anna in the Toastmaster of the Evening role. We look forward to sharing this evening, the penultimate before the summer-break with you.
“You give but a little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself [your time] that you truly give.”
We stay resolute and continue our steadfast journey in public speaking. With 25 members and guests attending last Tuesday, we had a fabulous evening, demonstrating perseverance in every sense.
Our TME Samira introduced our speakers promptly, presenting their goals and seamlessly weaving the theme of the day, “resolute,” into their introductions, giving the night a natural flow and energy.
Speaker Highlights
Kevin completed his path in Presentation Mastery with his speech “Reflecting on Your Path.” Over the last two years in Toastmasters, Kevin learned to never let the kid inside you leave, keep learning as a child, and never get disappointed by failure. With this mindset, he believes you can thrive in any sector, including public speaking. And guess what? He earned the Best Speaker award!
Richard reintroduced himself to the club with his Icebreaker, sharing the best journey of his life to Mongolia. With his newly discovered humorous path, his authentic facial expressions, descriptive language, and vivid metaphors delivered an enegaging and entertaining speech. We can’t wait for more of Richard’s humorous adventures!
Pietro introduced us to the leadership styles that have most impacted him, all from shared experiences and speeches at Zuriberg Toastmasters. He realized that there isn’t just “my,” “your,” or “his” leadership style, but that we should always adapt ourselves to the situation. Sounds like a recipe for success, Pietro!
The Art of Evaluations
Sabine, Joanna, and Roberta provided empathetic and insightful evaluations, educating us and our speakers on what they did well and should keep doing exceptionally. They also offered room for improvement, suggesting small efforts that could make a big impact in our persuasive power. Keeping the dynamics through the whole delivery, applying pauses (especially after jokes), and improving vocal variety were some of their tips. Roberta was granted the Best Evaluator award!
Joran and his team—Roland, Aliscia, and Suavek—provided the general evaluation of the evening, elaborating on every role and all critical aspects, including timing, ah counts, vote counting, and grammar.
Closing
A grand finale of Table Topics, led by Harry, lifted the spirits and made us work in pairs to handle crises in a resolute way. Yani and yours truly, went home with the Best Table Topics award by finding a resolute way to oppose the newly voted law to forbid TikTok! No worries, this is not going to happen!
What Is on the Horizon?
The Toastmasters year is coming to an end, but the summer is at its marvelous peak! We continue our journey together in the most creative and entertaining way with our very own Zuriberg Toastmasters Mystery Dinner on June 25th with Anna and Michelle as our hosts!
There will be fun, good food, many winners, and on top of all, our yearly raffle. Buy your tickets, and you may be the big winner of tickets to Cirque du Soleil in Zurich in October! Here is the link (also shared in WhatsApp).
On May 11th, the annual District 109 welcomed its Toastmasters members spanning over 16 countries at Bosphorus in Istanbul, where the West meets the East. What a better place to celebrate diversity and delve into leadership workshops, motivational keynotes and the Speech contests!
The conference opened with a motivational keynote by Verity Price, the first speaker from Africa and 6th woman in history to win the World Championship of Public Speaking in 2021. In her speech, Verity made us aware of our choice in life: to react to what happens or shape our own reality. “The future is owned by women and men crossing their imaginary bridges to grow out of their comfort zone”. She further observed that the nature of our question determines how we think about something; the way we speak about our dreams will determine if we make them happen. In other words, your word creates your world. Ask inspiring questions and mind your internal world.
Narrow Combat for the District Trophy
The key highlight of the conference was the speech contest. Some speakers admitted to having trained for months and waited for years for a District-level victory! The atmosphere of friendly competition was phenomenal, and the performances on stage were nearly indistinguishable from those of World Champions.
This year, the Zurich Toastmasters Club made it into the hall of fame, bringing back not just one but two awards. Mila Myrsep earned a well-deserved 1st place in the International Speech Contest.
Marika Dubiel made her club, Toastmasters Innsbruck, proud by earning 1st place in the Evaluation Contest.
Our VP Mentoring and future President, Harry, as contest chair, granted the awards to the International Speech Contest District 109 Winnersduring the Gala
Giada Sartori placed first in the Table Topics Contest by answering the question: “Do you like your neighbours?” Her experience as an Italian living in Switzerland made her speech flow naturally, from the heart, and shook the audience with laughter. In this specific competition, the learnings on how to perform best during table topics were numerous:
Do not rush into your story. You have up to 30 seconds to think through your speech before starting to talk. Use them to generate a broad idea of what you will say
Use pauses. Pauses are always important, but they are a magic gun for Table Topics, since they not only add intensity to your sentences, but also give you time to think through the next one!
Do not start describing what you see. Table Topics speakers, even experienced ones, might find themselves out of ideas. When this happens, avoid rambling about your environment. Pause, think about the next step in your story, and go on.
Use storytelling. An inexperienced Table Topics speaker might explain that its neighbours are loud because they play music all the time. An experienced one would bring us into the action using characters, scenes and the impact they had on them. The best way to engage an audience is to tell them a story.
With all these tips in mind, who wouldn’t want to give it a try? Zuriberg Toastmasters is eagerly awaiting its next District Contest winner, taking a break this year after numerous past successes. Could you be the next one?
Yet, to be fair, Zuriberg did not stand on the sidelines. In fact, our club supported contestants by volunteering for various roles and literally setting the stage for their success. Our member Harry Loots served as the Contest Chair, letting his poise and natural speaking talent shine every moment he was on stage. Karina Castella served as the Chief Judge in a complex hybrid setup. Additionally, Christina Yap held a workshop where she illuminated the impact of generative AI on society and revealed strategies to become bot-proof.
Having fun and celebrating nice moments was also part of the conference, in a beautifully organised Gala
Workshops: The Diversity of a Caleidoscope
Workshops covered a broad ground of topics related to communication and leadership. In his Cosmopolitan Communication talk, Ramin Kaweh pointed out that public speaking cannot be mono-dimensional as we live in a globalised world and encounter many cultures during our lifetime. The three key elements to navigating cosmopolitan communication are Recognition: of the self, Respect: appreciation of cultural differences, and Reconciliation: when there are differences.
Jessica Breitenfeld, from Barcelona Toastmasters, taught the art of saying no assertively. Stronger barriers do not mean being stricter; instead, one can elegantly say no or seek a win-win situation.
District 109 Director Margherita Brodbeck Roth together with artist Hilarie Burke from St Gallen Toastmasters unveiled the world of method acting, a technique where an actor seeks to emotionally identify with a part. Participants ended up eating an imaginary banana or enacting an interaction between a dog and a monkey. The important question was “How did it feel?”, in other words, ‘Did you truly taste the banana?’ The goal of method acting is to deeply connect with the character and its emotions. Only by fully embodying the character can acting appear truly authentic. This applies to a certain extent for public speaking, too.
There were many more fascinating topics that could make for an entire book, but we prefer if you join us next year and experience the conference with us!
Ramin Kaweh presenting various aspects of the Cosmopolitan Communication Talk
The Grand Gift Finale
On Sunday, Verity woke up the weary participants with another fascinating, thought-provoking keynote. How could she not, when she follows the GIFT approach! For Verity, speech is a gift she gives to the audience. She Gets clear on the message, Intentionally crafts her story (this is the purpose), Fills in the gaps so any type of audience understands it (irrespective of culture, profession, etc.), and Ties it all together (no new ideas at the end!). As with any other gift, the speech must be beautifully packaged: with an interesting title as luxurious wrapping paper, and well thought out, with the recipient in mind. Once you have your message, don’t wait until the end to reveal it. Make your message permeate throughout the story in different ways. By the time you say your closing words, it gets accepted by the audience. Voila!
This conference was full of learnings, pleasant encounters, and nourishing talks, wrapped in the oriental ambiance of the mystical city of Istanbul. Next year’s District conference will take us to a different scenery, to the middle of the Mediterranean.
Hope to see you all in Malta!
Our Club showed a strong presence at the District Conference – with our banner decorated with the most ribbons, speaking of our accomplishmentsOur District 109 in full power, celebrating the closing of a successful conference and rejoicing at the prospect of meeting next year in Malta!The iconic Blue Mosque in Istanbul, cultural landmark making Istanbul a great place for engaging into personal growth
Many kudos of our committee and members contributing to this Blog and especially to our President Vanessa and VPE Alice for beautifully bringing it all together!
Little did Horace know, when he coined “Carpe Diem,” that his words would inspire millions, including our vibrant meeting last Tuesday evening.
The theme “Carpe Diem,” or seize the day, set the stage for an empowering evening. Guided by our charming Toastmaster of the Evening (TME), Harry, we dove into a world of inspirational speeches, with “mindfulness” as the word of the day introduced by our Grammarian, Samira. Kevin’sthought-provoking table topics further challenged us to envision how we would seize opportunities in various scenarios.
Speakers’ Highlights
Gabriel ignited our spirits with his leadership journey. He shared how he adapted various leadership styles in his first managerial role. His speech was organized and impactful, crowned by a motivational quote from J. Maxwell, “Leadership is about a life influencing another,” earning him the Best Speaker award.
Ana-Maria masterfully explained how AI works through storytelling, comparing AI training to how pigeons are trained to identify images of brain cancer. She demystified AI, presenting it as a fascinating narrative with a clear take-away message: AI is a powerful tool, not a threat.
Alessandro delivered a powerful speech titled “Beyond Resilience: The Lessons of Stoicism.” He educated us with philosophical insights, providing practical lessons on leadership and resilience. His structured approach and compelling content fulfilled his project’s aim to write a speech with purpose.
Yesenia shared her leadership style, emphasizing self-discovery and embracing one’s true self. She introduced us to “Biodanza,” balancing her experience with motivational insights. Understanding your leadership style, she explained, is about mastering your emotions.
Vadim shared a heartfelt toast for his project on Evaluation and Feedback. He recounted his transformative journey within our club, from a guest observer to an actively engaged member. His story of overcoming anxiety with the help of a warm welcome and bold advice was truly inspiring. A small gesture might have such an influence on one’s personal journey.
The Art of Evaluations
Evaluations are the cornerstone of our growth. Our dedicated evaluators—Fereshte, Richard, Thomas, Anna, and Roland—listened actively and provided insightful, constructive feedback. They celebrated our strengths and highlighted areas for improvement with empathy and motivation. Roland’s exceptional feedback earned him the Best Evaluator award. Key takeaways included the power of pauses in complex topics and using simpler language for clarity, and easier pronunciation.
Table Topics
Kevin’s table topics perfectly embodied the spirit of “Carpe Diem.” Questions like “What if you had all the money in the world?” and “Do you have a bucket list?” inspired members to share their dreams and stories. Many stepped up courageously, with yours truly, Vanessa winning the Best Table Topic award for a humorous tale of a bucket list wish gone wrong.
Closing
The evening concluded with our General Evaluator Joanna and her team—Samira, Zsolt, and Anton—offering valuable feedback. Their insights and our excellent time management, well-organized room and evaluations highlighting the speakers’ goals ensured a productive and inspiring session.
What’s Next?
As we move forward, let us harness the energy of “Carpe Diem” to elevate our Toastmasters journey. Step up, take on new roles, and deliver inspiring speeches. Each moment is an opportunity to grow, learn, and empower one another.
May 28th: Regular Meeting – “Paradox” led by TME Seline.
June 11th: Regular Meeting – “Luxury” led by TME Elias.
June 18th: Regular Meeting – “Resolute” (TME needed).
June 25th: Summer Party hosted by Michelle—RSVP essential for planning.
Embrace the spirit of “Carpe Diem” in every meeting.Take on roles, request speeches, and never let a moment pass without practicing and improving.
Another Tuesday, another whirlwind of wit, wisdom, and wonder at our beloved Zuriberg Toastmasters’ gathering!
Kevin welcoming Guests in our alternate venue, the L200
Our TME extraordinaire, Richard, set the stage on fire with a theme that spoke to the soul: dreams. As Eleanor Roosevelt famously said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams,” and boy, did we believe! Each member shared their unique take on the power of dreams, setting the tone for an evening of boundless potential and unwavering determination.
Speakers’ Highlights
Selin mesmerized us with her exploration of artificial intelligence and the ever-pressing question of whether humanity stands on the precipice of being overtaken by the “march of the machines.” With eloquence that soared to dizzying heights and a title that piqued our curiosity, Selin’s speech was a testament to the power of conviction and innovation.
We had Kevin regaling us with tales from the trenches of entrepreneurship in his keynote speech. Navigating the twists and turns of his maiden business voyage, Kevin showed us that chasing our dreams often leads us down unexpected paths and broadens our horizon. His engaging and well-crafted speech, earned him the well-deserved title of Best Speaker.
Of course, no Toastmasters gathering is complete without some Icebreakers to break the ice!
Harry kicked things off with the persuasive prowess of a seasoned orator. Drawing parallels between his life and the legendary Forrest Gump, Harry took us on a journey through his trials, triumphs, and public speaking aspirations. The audience was spellbound, and Harry walked away with a well-deserved tie for the Best Speaker award.
Anton stepped up to introduce himself to the club in his own authentic style. With a conversational tone that felt like catching up with an old friend and a clear structure that left us hanging on his every word, Anton left us eager for more of his storytelling prowess.
The art of evaluation
Suavek, Joanna, yours truly, and Aaron lent their keen insights to the mix, offering guidance and encouragement to our speakers on their journey of growth. From personal development tips to project-specific tweaks, their feedback was like a guiding light in the darkness, illuminating the path to excellence. Yours truly, was honored with the best Evaluator Award
A big round of applause to our General Evaluator Samira and her dedicated team Zsolt, Roberta & Pietro for their unwavering support. They kept us on track, nudging us ever closer to our goals with their wisdom and encouragement.
What is to come?
Let us keep dreaming, keep speaking, and keep believing. The world is ours for the taking, one speech at a time!
May 14th – General Assembly & Elections – attendance required to reach quorum
May 21st – Regular Meeting with theme Carpe Diem – TME wanted
May 28th Regular Meeting with theme Paradox with Selin as TME
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