10/31/2016

リレーエッセイ I ♥ Toastmasters "Fantastic!"

 “Toastmasters is a fantastic club!” I thought so when I attended the 2014 Toastmasters international convention in Kuala Lumpur half a year after I joined the club. Two or three thousand Toastmasters from many countries got together and appreciated listening to fascinating world-class speeches. It was absolutely an exciting moment of truth.
   The 2014 Kuala Lumpur convention, including the then world champion of public speaking, Dananjaya Hettiarachchi (He is supposed to give a keynote speech in this coming Fall Conference in Hiroshima) and many memorable experiences with my fellow members of and out of the Kochi club, has been the catalyst that drives me to stay in toastmasters.


(Kazuyo Kunisawa)
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I would like to hand the baton to TM Nagasaki.

10/25/2016

Agenda: 127th Regular Meeting (2016.11.28)

DATE&TIME: 19:00-21:00, Monday, November 28, 2016
VENUE: Room 2, Sogo-Kenkyu Building, Kochi University

*Be sure to bring your leadership manual

19:00  Call to Order by President
           Introduction of the Guests

19:03  Greeting by Toastmaster:    TM Sawada
           Word of the Day: Word Master: TM Nagano
           Introduction of Evaluation Team
             General Evaluator: TM Kunisawa
                 Timer: TM Miyoshi                Vote-Counter: TM Shinomiya
                 Ah-Counter: TM Shinomiya       Grammarian: TM Piper

19:10  【Table Topics Session】  Table Topics Master: TM S. Nagano
            *Timer’s Report & Vote

19:30  Intermission

19:40 【Formal Speech Session】
   Speaker 1: TM Cooley
     (CC #9 , Persuade with Power, 5-7 min)
     Title: Skin Deep
   Speaker 2: TM Tomonaga
      (AD #6)The Technical Briefing
     Title:It is good to be bilingual

      *Timer’s Report & Vote

20:10 【Evaluation Session】   General Evaluator
    Evaluator 1: TM  Nagasaki
    Evaluator 2: TM  Y. Nagano

   *Timer’s Report & Vote

20:35 Report
    Ah-Counter, Grammarian, Word Master
    General Evaluator’s Comments
    Sharing (5 min)
    Address by Toastmaster
20:45  Award Presentation      President: TM Nagano
20: 50 Business Session
21:00  Adjourn

10/24/2016

リレーエッセイ I ♥ Toastmasters  "Why I joined Toastmasters"


To me, “Why did you join Toastmasters?” is a very interesting question which everyone answers differently. Many people join Toastmasters to become better speakers of English, but as someone who speaks English as a first language, I find myself excluded from this group. I would say that while I am a native speaker of English, I am not a native speaker of public speaking.

Giving speeches is like learning a completely different language. There are rules and structures that you must abide by when giving a speech that in daily conversation come off as just awkward or presumptuous. So first and foremost, I joined Toastmasters to try to become fluent at public speaking. After 3 years, I am still not quite there yet, but I continue growing as a speaker which is something that drives me to keep pushing myself to be better.

Secondly, I love creative writing, and strangely enough giving speeches presents me with this opportunity. When you give a speech, you should be excited and looking forward to people hearing what you have to say. Therefore, it is important to make a speech that is both personal and personalized that allows you to share an experience with your audience. If you give a speech that is dry and boring, it won`t be a good speech.

Lastly and most importantly, I joined Toastmasters to rid myself of my phobia of speaking in front of an audience. Ever since I was young, speaking in front of an audience, big or small, made me nervous. I would start fidgeting, stuttering and even sweating profusely as I tried to get my nerves under control. While I am still not an expert in this department, I have gotten better at it with each speech I give in Toastmasters.

That concludes my story. One of many that started by answering the simple question “Why Toastmasters?”So what are you waiting for? Ask yourself the question “Why Toastmasters?” and see where it takes you.
(Jeffery Wong)
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 I nominate TM Kunisawa to write next.

10/12/2016

リレーエッセイ I ♥ Toastmasters 「無鉄砲さと英語」

先日、TVを見ていると、40年も前の忘れていた青年時代を思い出す体験がありました。地方都市の食堂を訪れる人にカメラをまわし暮らしぶりや想いを報道する番組でした。それは私が学生時代をすごした街で、当時から安くて評判の店でした。
私はタイムトンネルに落ち、昔の面影がゆっくり脳裏に浮かびました。学生生活に、突拍子もなく飛び込んだサークル活動など。
 
 私がトーストマスターズクラブに入ったのは八年前です。
思いだしてみると、そこにも無鉄砲な自分の性格があったような気がします。というのも、それまで30年余、私の生活は英語とまったく関係ないものだったからです。会のことをよく知らず入り、その後なんとか継続できたのも、メンバ-のみなさんのあたたかいご支援の賜物だと感謝しています。
英語以外のさまざまなことも学びあう組織としての活動に、私も微力ながらがんばりたいと思います。
 
 
(Kazuo Hayashi)
 
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次の書き手をTM Jeffrey Wong にお願いしたいと思います。

10/07/2016

リレーエッセイ I ♥ Toastmasters 「Falling in love with… 」

When I gave a formal speech for the first time in Kochi Toastmasters Club, everyone in the room listened to me intently. The evaluator for my speech complimented me on the speech and gave me sound advice. That was the moment when I fell in love with Toastmasters.


(Sachi Nagano)
 


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Mr. Sergeant at Arms, HAYASHI will you be the next writer, please?

10/05/2016

リレーエッセイ I ♥ Toastmasters         「きっかけは高知新聞夕刊でした!」

英語力をつけたい、アウトプットを強化したい。
いい方法はないかな?と探していたとき
高知新聞の夕刊 「仲間にどうぞ」の記事が目にとまりました。
 
「高知トーストマスターズクラブって???」
事前の知識がまったくないまま
見学してなんとそのまま入会することに。。。
 
気がつけば8年と4か月の月日がたっていました。
盛り上げ上手なメンバーのスーパーポジティブなパワーの
おかげで楽しいトーストマスターズライフを楽しんでいます。
 
職業も年齢も住んでいるところもまったく
ばらばらなメンバー。
けれど英語が好き、スピーチに対する熱い思いを
共有するメンバーの方たちとの交流は
何にも代えられない宝物です。
学ばせていただくことがいっぱいで
尽きることがありません。(感謝)
 
さて8年4か月前の私に
一言。
 
「よくこの新聞記事を見つけたね。そして勇気を出してクラブのドアを
ノックして良かったね!」
 
(友永紀代)
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さて 次のリレーエッセイは

ほぼ同期(少しだけ先輩)の永野さちさんに

お願いしたいです。
 
よろしくお願いします。

The Area Contest in Imabari

The Area Contest was held in Imabari on 2nd October 2016.

TM Jessica Cooley made an attractive speech in the English table topics speech contest!It was really impressive!! We are very proud that you made such wonderful speeches.

TM Sachi Nagano won the first prize in the Japanese table topics speech contest! She will be the representative of Area 72 in the Division Contest in Kobe. Congratulations!!


10/04/2016

Kochi Toastmasters Club 125th Regular Meeting Minutes

Kochi Toastmasters Club 125th Regular Meeting Minutes
Date: September 24th  2016
Location: Kochi University of Technology (KUT), Eikokuji Campus
Attendees: TM Nagasaki, TM Kunisawa, TM Sachi Nagano, TM Kitaoka, TM Tomonaga, TM Adachi, TM Hayashi, TM Hashimoto, TM Shinomiya, TM Wong, TM Kamisaka, TM Miyoshi and TM Cooley
Absentees: TM Ando, TM Tomii, TM Yoshimoto, TM Fukuda, TM Sawada, TM Rai, TM Tsuchihashi, TM Machida, TM Youichi Nagano and TM Kumon
       15:00; Call to Order and Opening Remarks by President TM Sachi  Nagano:
I`d like to call the 125th Regular Meeting to order. I`d also like to introduce our 2 guests, Aya Mitsui and Piper O`Dowd as well as our toastmaster for this meeting, TM Kunisawa.
       Introduction of Guests: Piper and Aya introduced themselves.
       15:03; Greetings By the Toastmaster of the meeting, TM Kunisawa:
Welcome to the meeting. I am very happy. There are two announcements. One, TM Sawada is not here so TM Nagasaki is now the vote counter. Two, we will use a new procedure for the Timer`s report: In each speech session whether it is Table Topics, Formal Speeches or Evaluation, the speakers will give their speeches first, afterwards the Timer will give their report indicating whether or not the speech  has qualified, finally there will be the voting session for people to vote for which qualified speech they liked best. Also, TM Nagasaki would like to mention that he has made a formal speech planning sheet and a role sheet to help us make Business Sessions run more smoothly. I hope you will enjoy the meeting by participating. The meeting has three parts: Table Topics, formal speeches and evaluation.
       Word of the Day by TM Sachi Nagano: TM Sachi Nagano introduced the word `content`. It is an adjective that means being happy enough, but not satisfied.
       Introduction of the Evaluation Team by TM Hayashi:
-Timer: TM Miyoshi
-Vote Counter: TM Nagasaki
-Ah Counter: TM Wong
-Grammarian: TM Adachi
       15:10; Table Topics Session presided by TM Shinomiya: TM Shinoniya wanted to prepare TM Cooley and TM Sachi Nagano for the upcoming Table Topics Contest in Imabari by asking them interesting questions that would require them to work their brains. She also asked other members as well. Some examples of questions she asked include “Ten years from now what will you do”?, “If a humanoid robot showed up at your house, how would you use it”?, “If you had a universal translator whose voice would you like to hear translate”?, and “If you had to present something at an exhibition in 2116, what would it be”?. 
       15:40; Formal Speech Session presided by TM Kunisawa:
-TM Cooley did her 8th speech in the Competent Communicator Manual. The goal was to get comfortable using visual aids. Her speech was about working in customer service. She started her speech by explaining a strange case in which a student got lost trying to get to the museum she worked at. She showed us a map showing us exactly how far the student was from the museum. She then went on to explain how despite having studied in anthropology, she was not able to find work in her field and instead navigated the perilous confines of the customer service industry having worked at a children`s and arts museum as well as an expensive cosmetics company that sold cosmetics that don`t even work. She used pictures to help illustrate her points. Overall, she has had many experiences good and bad and learned many things. She feels that she likes helping people and values kindness above all else.

-TM Nagasaki gave a speech from the Successful Club Series on Moments of Truth. He started by saying that “We have to work hard to make our club great. We need to be in good standing and have a healthy club”. He explained how Moments of Truth are a way to help make our club better. There are 6 Moments of Truth:
-First Impressions
-Membership Orientation
-Fellowship, Variety and Communication
-Program Planning and Meeting Organization
-Membership Strength
-Achievement Recognition
After finishing his explanation, he then had members get into groups to evaluate our club based on these Moments of Truth and discuss ways to improve in the areas where we are lacking.

16:20; Evaluation Session presided by TM Hayashi:
-Evaluator for TM Cooley: TM Kamisaka
-Evaluator for TM Nagasaki: TM Tomonaga
       16:25, Evaluation Team Reports:
-Ah Counter` Report: TM Wong
-Grammarian`s Report: TM Adachi
-Word Master`s Report: TM Sachi Nagano
-General Evaluator`s Report: TM Hayashi
       16:25; Sharing and Awards (Given by TM Nagasaki):
-TM Cooley and TM Kitaoka won the “Best Table Topics Award”.
       16:40; Business Session presided by TM Nagasaki:
The following roles were decided for the next meeting:
-Toastmaster of the meeting: TM Wong
-Word Master: TM Hayashi
-General Evaluator: TM Tsuchihashi
-Timer: TM Rai
-Table Topics Master: TM Tomonaga
-Vote Counter: TM Hashimoto
-Ah Counter: TM Kunisawawa
-Grammarian: TM Cooley
-Formal Speech: TM Miyoshi, TM Adachi and TM Sachi Nagano
-Speech Evaluators: TM Kunisawa, TM Sawada and TM Shinomiya

       17:00; Meeting Adjourned

10/03/2016

リーフレット"Kochi Toastmasters Club is waiting for you"を掲載しました。

クラブ案内リーフレット "Kochi Toastmasters Club is waiting for you"を掲載しました。例会の開催日時などが掲載されています。ご覧下さい。




リレー・エッセイ " I ❤️ Toastmasters" を始めます

クラブのメンバーが、Toastmastersの魅力を語る リレー・エッセイ " I ❤️ Toastmasters"を始めます。お楽しみに!




Kochi Toastmasters Club 124th Regular Meeting: pic

Hello! I'll share this photo from Kochi Toastmasters Club 124th Regular Meeting. As you can see from the picture, the meeting was fantastic!
I'm looking forward to the next meeting too! :)