Friday, May 27, 2011

Tip of the Week: The Pledge of Allegiance


This past week, Brooks’ Thought of the Day was a very interesting speech that focused on the history of the Pledge of Allegiance. The pledge dates back to 1892. The words “under God” were not included until 1954 by a Joint Resolution of Congress signed into law by President Eisenhower. There have been multiple court challenges to the addition of those two words, but the law has been upheld.  It seems that if you don’t want to say “under God,” then you have the right to not say it. Very interesting thought of the day, Brooks!

If you are in the role of “Thought of the Day,” you also lead the club in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.  A few of our members are not American citizens and aren’t as familiar with the words.  If you fall into this category, it still is easy to start the pledge!  Just face the flag and say “I pledge allegiance,” and the rest of us will take it from there.  By the way, in Electric Toasters no one is required to recite the pledge – it is optional.

By VP of Education, Jason Kent

Friday, May 20, 2011

Tip of the Week: Calling on people for Table Topics


We’ve been blessed with a lot of new members in the past few weeks!  What that means is that recently there have been meetings with one or more members that do not have a speaking role.  Those are the people that should be called on for Table Topics.  This way, everyone who attends the meeting will get a chance to speak.  

When you are Table Topics Master, make a list of the meeting attendees that do not have a speaking role, and call on them during Table Topics.  It is better to assign table topics by calling on people than by asking for volunteers to field a question.  Also, if we have guests at the meeting, the Table Topics Master should ask them before the meeting if they would like to field a question – that way they’re not put on the spot during the meeting.

By Jason Kent, VP of Education

Club Elections on June 1st


We have another special meeting on June 1 – our club officer elections!  Officers serve Electric Toasters July through June, and meet roughly once a month to chart the path of the club for the year.  Any member can run for any role, so please consider running for one of these offices, and talk to club president Jeff Brooks if you are interested.  Links to the role descriptions can be found on the Toastmasters International website:http://www.toastmasters.org/Members/OfficerResources/ClubOfficerResources/ClubOfficerRoles.aspx
·         President
·         Vice-President of Education
·         Vice-President of Membership
·         Vice-President of Public Relations
·         Treasurer
·         Sergeant-at-Arms

Monday, May 9, 2011

A “Who….Me?” About our New Member, Chris Trappe

Hi, my name is Christine Trappe (Trap-pee), but I use Chris most often. I joined Toastmasters over 7 years ago - as one of the founding members of a brand new club formed in Beaverton.  Starting a club up is an incredible experience, and we all were passionately driven to do really well that first year!! Since then I have achieved my CTM, and fully credit TM with a renewed self-confidence during such activities like job interviews.

Much of my life has been in technical positions that required concise speech, and communication skills, and TM has also strongly helped with that. Finally last year, I was able to fulfill a lifelong dream of doing a stand-up comedy routine - and although I doubt I'll ever do that again, simply having the wherewithal to get up in front of a crowd and perform was one of the highlights of my life. Interestingly, I have also had the opportunity to MC a large fund raising event with a local car club - and hope to be able to do so soon again. From someone who was afraid to talk assertively, to someone doing stand-up comedy, makes me amazed at the progress I've achieved and will hope to continue to achieve with the aid of Toastmasters.

Personally, I'm a woman of many many interests, including writing, painting, sculpture, philosophy, geology, baking, candy making, jewelry making, movies, auto racing... yes I said auto racing! But that's JUST one topic of content for many many future speeches!!! :)

By Chris Trappe

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Lunch Social Event Tomorrow, May 5th!


Another Electric Toasters lunch will be happening tomorrow.  See below for details.  I'm looking forward to seeing you at lunch tomorrow and feel free to invite friends!

1012 Southwest Morrison Street, Portland
Noon - 1pm

By Laurel Vallarta, VP of Membership