Zuriberg Toastmasters Club

2024-02-272024-02-27

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭-𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫, 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 🌞🌞, 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 🥇🥇 – Area Contest report by Christina Yap

Thanks to Christina Yap for allowing us to re-post her report from her double awards at the E4 Area Contest.

I am deeply honoured and thrilled to have received two No. 1 awards at Toastmasters. In this post, I share the recipe for success.

For those of you out there who are up for your next challenge, may it inspire you to embrace challenges with a #growthmindset. Everyone else has a role to play too! Read on..

🚀 𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐞𝐭 🚀
“𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸.”

Nine months into my Toastmasters journey, I was selected to represent my local Toastmasters club at the annual area speech contest. Last Friday, as I stood next to seasoned competitors, I could have succumbed to nerves.

However, I chose to embrace the opportunity. My passion for continuous learning, #personaldevelopment and the thrill of embracing new challenges kept me focused on the mission. As we navigate the AI revolution, I believe that cultivating a growth mindset and readiness to approach challenges with collectedness becomes more essential than ever before. This contest was a great opportunity for me to walk the talk.. 😉

All I had to do was be myself, try my best, apply all my transferable skills, knowledge, experience. And see what happens with a healthy dose of spontaneous #creativity…

The result?
🌞 𝑯𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅: I received “𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆” awards in the
🥇 ‘𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯’ and
🥇 ‘𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘴’
categories. I am truly humbled by the next opportunity to compete at the Divisional level…

𝐌𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬?

🎙️ 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑨𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒔: The spellbinding techniques and motivational speeches delivered by my esteemed competitors truly inspired me. I learned much from observing everyone in action and by what they shared.

🌟 𝑬𝒏𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝑬𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆: Everyone played a role in supporting the event in a hybrid context. A heartfelt thank you to our host, UBS, for providing the venue and every individual who collaborated to make it a success.

🙏🙏 𝑫𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆: A big thank you to all the judges, my distinguished Zuriberg Toastmasters Club, committee and members for their much valued feedback, support and vote of confidence. Immense gratitude to my mentor, Roland Straub, for believing in me, Dr. Vanessa Stournari for her support, Alice Nuslova, PMP® for her guidance and to Ben Nordemann for introducing me to this fun path!

𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲?
There’s a first time for everything! We just need passion, readiness to embrace new challenges and a supportive network!

𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥: where everyone has the opportunity to learn, grow and hone their #leadership skills.
Where Leaders Are Made✨

2023-11-172023-12-09

A Night of Vibrancy amidst Hibernation – meeting 14th November

Dear Zuriberg Toastmasters,

Tuesday’s gathering was far from hibernation—it was an evening of vibrancy and growth! Despite a last-minute change in venue, Ana Maria, our adept Toastmaster of the Evening, skillfully guided us through the night, showcasing the power of preparation in handling unforeseen challenges.

Our Table Topics Master curated a session inspired by the animal kingdom, leading to engaging impromptu speeches. Seline’s witty response not only avoided a frog kiss but earned her the Best Table Topics Award.

Special guest Santhiago, our former member and current Area Director, enlightened us about his role in Toastmasters Organisation. What is his vision for his year of service? His efforts are focused to enhance our public speaking journey through intra-club speeches, with available slots for the upcoming club Walk the talk—contact our VP Education Alice for a chance to participate.

Speaker highlights

Pietro: Infused his speech on decision-making with acting flair, humor, and vivid storytelling, showcasing the importance of creativity on stage.
Joran: Landed the Best Speaker Award with a tall tale that was imaginative, absurd, and humorously enriched with body language elements.
Vadim: Explored stoicism with parallelism and philosophy jokes, delivering a well-structured speech with strong takeaways and audience engagement.
Habiba: Shared insights into her leadership style, navigating us through her personal experience with emotional vocality. Trust and empowerment were key strengths in discovering her democratic and liberating leadership style. Thank you Habiba for sharing your story with us!

The art of evaluations

Our General Evaluator, Sabine, provided insightful feedback to all evaluators, emphasizing how well they demonstrated the speakers΄strengths and areas for improvement. Michelle received the Best Evaluator Award, celebrated for her unique style.

What is in the horizon?

A lot of events are coming! Animal kingdom may hibernate in winter, but Zuriberg Toastmaster make good use of the cold rainy days to hone our public speaking skills!

November 21^st – Regular Meeting with theme Music and Riccardo as TME!

November 22^nd – Cross-club speech opportunity – contact Alice for seizing it.

November 28^th – Award Dinner with Roland as our Host! Information to follow!

December 12^th – Regular Meeting with theme Last Minute with Christina as TME!

December 19^th – Christmas party –surprise, confirm attendance in Easyspeak!

The evening was a testament to the diverse talents within our club, fostering an environment to learn, grow and excel together.Let’s carry this inspiration into our next meetings!

Warmest wishes,

Vanessa Stournari

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

Vanessa Stournari

2013-04-21

Meeting 16. April 2013, Report by Kevin Boomsma

Nicola von Lutterotti, Vice President Membership, opened the evening and after welcoming our guests for the evening, reminded all of us to register for the Toastmasters Division E Spring Conference that takes place on April 27th in nearby Zollikerberg. More information is available at http://tmspringconference2013.wordpress.com/.

Former Area Governor Celine Horan announced that our club officer committee elections are coming up on the 14th of May and reminded us that serving the club as an officer is a great way to not only learn leadership through experience but also a chance to give back to the club.

Hui Mei Liew Kaiser (evaluated by Kevin Boomsma) opened the speaking session of the evening with her 4th speech in the Competent Communicator track entitled “Malaysians flying home to vote” in which she shared a personal story of how she and other Malaysians abroad go out of their way to make it back home for elections. Just as impressive were the efforts made by Malaysians in their homeland to help those abroad return home for the elections. Hui Mei’s speech was a source of inspiration to go that extra mile for the benefit of of the collective, whether they are our countrymen or fellow club members.

Ben Nordemann (evaluated by Martin Hahn) introduced us to an alternative approach in medicine in his 9th speech in the Competent Communicator track entitled “Biophotons – a better way?”. Ben introduced us to the realm of biophotons by first explaining what biophotons are and from where they emanate. He then described the current methodology of utilizing biophotons in the emerging field of biontology for diagnosing and treating disease through administering light therapy as part of a holistic approach. The topic captivated the audience and initiated an impromptu Q&A session immediately following the speech!

Nicola von Lutterotti delivered a Table Topics session that will go down in the books as one of the most encouraging sessions ever. Contestants had the opportunity to elaborate on something that is or was their favorite. I believe that I even saw a show of hands for the opportunity to be called on next! Even two of our guests tried their hand at the 1-2 minute speech. Guest Toastmaster from the TM Club of Budapest Csaba Kötcsei told us how his favorite occupation would be bus chauffeur. When asked about his favorite activity in retirement, guest Barry Wynter told us not only his favorite activities but also shared some Jamaican wisdom on living well by stating, “We get up early in the morning so we have more time to relax.”

The winners of the evening were Martin Hahn for his speech evaluation and our guest Barry Wynter for his Table Topics speech (and tip on how to relax).

2013-03-20

Meeting 19. March 2013, Report by Celine Horan

Last night we had a great meeting full of great speeches!

Noah Pikes gave his Ice Breaker speech: “Cries, Roars, Songs, and Words.” He opened by making us feel relaxed with his calm, honeyed tones. He shared about his book, The Sound of the Voice, and took us on a journey back to 1941, to the Blitz and a special letter his mother wrote to him. In the middle of his speech, he grew very excited when he talked about the man who had inspired him, author Roy Heart, and enlightened us with the information that the human voice has an octave range of six.

Even though this was his first speech, he showed no nerves and was brave enough to give us a vocal demonstration. Noah’s Ice Breaker was eloquent and wonderfully enthusiastic, and he even managed to include the word of the day: elucidate. Well done, Noah!

Konrad, our second speaker, gave us insights into student life in his speech “Give a Chance,” and he talked about his dad. To illustrate his points, he used slides with great ease and to great effect. He adhered to the simple rules of one-idea-per-slide and the-more-visual-the-better. He achieved this very well, making his well-prepared, detailed speech very easy to follow and enjoy. Well done, Konrad!

Adrian Engler evaluated Konrad and pointed out the simplicity of Konrad’s slides and his strong connection with the audience. He gave a detailed and balanced evaluation in his own inimitable style, and we enjoyed his evaluation very much. So too did Michelle Sabatini give an enthusiastic and balanced evaluation of Noah’s first speech, encouraging him to continue the work he had started in her usual gentle, humble manner, with the radiant smile we have all grown to love.

Both evaluations were excellent, given that neither had even the luxury of the dinner break to consider their points in more detail. This shows how flexible Toastmasters can be and how they do their best work under pressure. Congratulations to you both!

David Ermen hosted the table topics and asked a fun question about dreams that inspired some very weird and funny answers.

Nicholas Allen told us about his friend who can never stay awake on a train and who always ends up far from home (more often than he cares to admit). Thomas Koetzsch told us about his maths teacher at boarding school who yelled “Yawn with your mouth closed!” Guest Sonja talked about a depressed hamster, Thomas Portenseigne told a story about something chasing him through the African bushes, Henrik warned us to be afraid of cornflakes, I talked about a monkey and a Louis Vuitton backpack, and last but not least, Georgio revealed how Harry Potter got the philosopher stoned, to roars of laughter from the floor.

Listener Christian Funke decided to take the strange things that were uttered throughout the evening out of context, which made for interesting listening and caused us all to laugh out loud.

We were not even in our new home, Blue Monkey, but this did little to dampen our spirits. Although a number of guests did make mention that they preferred the Blue Monkey over our temporary abode, even having said that, they all agreed that they had a great time and were impressed with the speeches and structure.

I must say that I too was impressed with the guests, who all did a great job in the table topics portion of the evening, so much so that our guest Sonja, together with Thomas Koetzsch, won best table topics. Kudos to you both!

Thanks to Kevin Boomsma, Toastmaster of the evening; Michelle Sabatini, Sergeant at Arms; and David Ermen, Acting President, for your enthusiasm and flexibility under the many last-minute changes, nevertheless creating an evening that was fun and enjoyable for all. To all of you, well done!

Here’s to our next meeting.

2012-11-04

Meeting 30. October 2012, Report by Martin Hahn

"We, the Oviri", Olivia Coker — “We, the Oviri”, Olivia Coker

Nicola von Lutterotti (evaluated by Adrian Engler) got the evening off to an interesting start by thinking about the nature of communication. Citing research on primates, she suggested that only humans have the capacity to cooperate and, correspondingly, communicate. While I would have liked to debate Nicola with some rivalling research that clearly shows animals exhibiting altruism and cooperative behaviour, I applaud her efforts to make us feel good about communication and to think more deeply about it.

Inspired by a TED talk, David Ermen (evaluated by Celine Horan) continued the scientific agenda by asking if our body language can actually have an effect on ourselves (not just on our audience). Using his own body as an example on stage, David explained how different poses affect people’s confidence and even their hormone levels. His speech was as interesting as it was practical for everyday life, not least for the topic of public speaking without fear.

Olivia Coker (evaluated by Nicholas Allan) delivered a colourful speech on the colourless prints by Paul Gauguin. Setting the scene – and drawing the audience into it – at the Kunsthaus Zurich, Olivia painted a vivid picture of the artist who at the end of his life described himself as a savage. “We, the Oviri” was a tour de force of art, civilization, and psychology – passionately delivered and sparingly supported by visuals, to mark yet another highlight in Olivia’s outstanding collection of speeches she delivered over the past years.

Fiona Wallace-Mason’s table topics were distinctly amusing and reminded me of “Whose Line is it Anyway?”, as she asked a number of people to pick obscure items from a bag and talk about them spontaneously. Objects included a chocolate bar, a broom stick, a pack of (magical?) mushrooms, and cinnamon sticks.

Winners of the evening were Nicholas Allan (Best Evaluator), Robert MacKenzie (Best Table Topic Speaker and guest), and Olivia Coker (Best Speaker).

The session was concluded by Marcel Cattin, who almost brought the house to tears with two rather sassy jokes.

2012-10-07

Table Topics and Humorous Speech Contests

Table Topics Contest Winners — Table Topics Winners: 1st, Marc Suter; 3rd, Fiona Wallace-Mason; 2nd, William Horan

Humorous Speech Contest Winners — Humorous Speech Winners: 2nd, Nicholas Allan; 1st, Marc Suter

We started with Table Topic hosted by Ilka Gehlhar. Each contestant was asked to promote his/her own new book titled “Our Iceberg is Melting”. Henrik Karlsson started off by bringing up the seriousness of environmental issues we had on our planet. Marcel Cattin diverted the topic from “iceberg melting” to “ice breaker” as in an opening for a speech introduction. Fiona Wallace-Mason gave an energetic “I love iceberg!” start and connect icebergs to childhood memory. Adrian Engler gave a “matter of fact” stand and urgency about the topic of climate change. William Horan made a hilarious presentation on showing us a run-down of “don’t believe anything-anyone says” chapters on the book. Cameron Roy took the “two PhD doctors searching for answer” proof on global warming. Nicholas Allan expanded on “luggage-carrying” pinguins on the cover of the book. Finally, Marc Suter opened with some serious questions, continued with some fuel facts, and ended with sense of urgency to promote people to act.On Oct 2, we had our club’s Table Topic and Humorous Speech Contests. Tonight’s format is a bit different from our usual meetings. First, the speech order is drawn by lot on the day. Second, we have no evaluation, only ranking and results for the speeches. Not to mention our first two winners for both categories will be representing our club at the Area Contest on Oct 13! Talk about pressure!

On our second half of the meeting, after an introduction from our club president Olivia, we started with humorous speech contest. Nicholas Allan kept us entertained in “Sleepless in Transit”, with tales of his own traveling experience on long-haul flights and stories of his friend sleeping through stops and managed to keep missing his stop in one drunken evening. Marc Suter showed us some powerful techniques on how to stop losing things with “Count & Bundle”. Unfortunately, Fiona Wallace-Mason was disqualified due to timing.

Congratulations to all the winners! Wish you best of luck and success in the Area Contest!

2012-08-30

Debating workshop at the District 59 Conference in Bonn

We congratulate our club member Nicholas Allan for having his workshop on debating included in the program for the District 59 Fall Conference in Bonn. As we know from trying the format in our club meetings, it is not only educational, but also a lot of fun for the participants and the audience.

Continue reading “Debating workshop at the District 59 Conference in Bonn”

2012-07-27

Lakeside Meeting Review

All that we had envisioned for our summer gathering was realized on Tuesday.

Through Angela Saxby’s beneficence and the exceptionally good mood of the Zurich weather gods, Mosquito Hill and Zuriberg Toastmasters ascended the stairs of the Zurich Rowing Club to arrive at a spectacular, sweeping view of white sailboats adrift on glittering cerulean waves, rare inspiration for a relaxed, vibrant and buoyant Toastmaster evening!

We had hoped to enjoy a fantastic event on the lake, to give every member the opportunity of becoming part of a larger circle of aspirants on this challenging rhetorical journey, and to expand and deepen our understanding of how we can accomplish our goals as leaders and orators.

With speakers, evaluators, and Table Topics Masters from both clubs, we witnessed a variety of topics, performance styles, and analytical approaches which must have given all of us fresh ideas to bring to our regular meetings. Congratulations again to Christian Langenegger as Best Speaker, Merin Chacko as Best Table Topics Speaker, and Angela Saxby, Florian Hehlen, and Piotr Skoczylas, who tied as Best Evaluators.

Add to the educational program copious contributions of wine, dinner, and laughter, and we accomplished a rewarding synergy of mood and meaning which none of us will ever forget. We trust that this event only marks the beginning of a tradition of successful collaboration between the three English-speaking Zurich Toastmasters clubs.

Thanks again to everyone for a great time!