Meeting Date: January 10, 2023
Theme: Toastmasters Pathways
Word of the day: boilerplate (noun; synonym= a standard)
Meeting agenda: https://easy-speak.org/view_meeting.php?t=515020

Welcome back Toastmasters! 

We hope you all enjoyed a couple weeks of rest and relaxation over the holidays. 

We are glad to see you back at our meeting tonight! 

Our Toastmaster, Gina, planned a meeting jam-packed with information that is helpful for Toastmasters to plan out their speech plans through Pathways. Members of Downtown Achievers will receive personal planners for help with tracking their progress and maintaining momentum this year. Those who are members but have not yet chosen their Pathway, may choose to peruse this Pathways Catelog made available by Toastmasters District 57 which details each of the Pathways.

If you have any questions about Pathways, speeches or Toastmasters in General, please reach out to us at downtownachievers@gmail.com

Our Table Topics session was a fun one! We asked attendees to elaborate on their goals as it pertains to their goals for this year. We all voted for this week's Best Table Topics Award, which resulted in a tie between 3 of our members

Liza responded to her question about [#Fun#NewExperiences] with total excitement for her wedding which takes place later this year. 

Alaine was asked to expand on her goals with regards to [#Exercise #Heath]. She revealed her plan for becoming a distance/endurance runner. To hold herself accountable, she is keeping focused on staying active no matter what and exercising all muscle groups by trying new things (snowboarding, skiing, skating, etc.). 

Kelli told us about her plans to [#Party #CelebrateGoodTimes] in honour of her son, who will be completing his doctorate program by the end of the year. There are plans in the works for a BIG BLOWOUT with friends and family after his graduation

President’s Update:

Our club meets every Tuesday, starting at 5:30pm EST. 

Our next meeting is on Tuesday, January 17th 2023. Join us virtually via Zoom:  http://us04web.zoom.us/j/785855230

We are looking forward to seeing you there!

Meeting Date: December 20, 2022
Theme: Find Your Passion
Word of the day: creative (adjective; synonym=imaginative)
Meeting agenda: https://easy-speak.org/view_meeting.php?t=512906

Adam was our Toastmasters for the evening. He told us his perspective on finding your passion in life; it is a powerful force. His passion for running as exercise and the game of chess make him feel as though he is being propelled forward; that he has found a purpose worth his time and energy. 

Our Table Topics Master, Ernesto, urged us to share about what propels us forward. The winner of the Best Table Topics Award was Alaine. Alaine's question was to describe what she loves learning about. She was passionate in her descriptions of travel as a means of learning about the world. She shared that current events also interest her. She makes time for her passion using Toastmasters as an outlet - every time she wants to learn about something new, she uses that ambition to write a speech about it. Most recently, about AI, the metaverse, and cryptocurrency. Without a doubt, she is passionate about learning new things. 

Thank you to all who made it to our last meeting of 2022!

Wishing all our Toastmasters and Guests a wonderful and happy holiday!!  

President’s Update:

Our club meets every Tuesday, starting at 5:30pm EST. We are taking a short break from meetings for the holidays =D 

Our next meeting is on Tuesday, January 10th 2023. Join us virtually via Zoom:  http://us04web.zoom.us/j/785855230

We are looking forward to seeing you again in the new year!!

Meeting Date: December 13, 2022
Theme: Nostalgia
Word of the day: reminisce (verb; synonym=recollect)
Meeting agenda: https://easy-speak.org/view_agenda.php?t=512233

Wonderful seeing our Toastmasters and Guests at tonight's meeting!  

Especially with the ability to look back on memories through social media, we can sometimes find that we are in a constant state of feeling nostalgia and it is a good feeling! Our Toastmaster, Alaine, asked us to consider the question: "What is it about nostalgic moments that make you so fond of them?"

Our Table Topics Master, Adam prepared excellent questions for each of us to reminisce about our past. The winner of the Best Table Topics Award was Davina, who identified a common theme that she often reflect upon - the High School Musical movies. This struck a similar cord for many of our members, and even more so with those who had the dvds, cds, posters, backpacks, etc.

Alaine presented a speech on Using Descriptive Language as part of her Level 3 of the Leadership Development pathway. Her speech was titled "Living in a Tech Dystopia" and shed light on new information and developments in technology that are oddly sci-fi come to life. Biotech, such as memory chips for humans which is being explored by Elon Musk's NeuroLink businesss. Another advancement is the modernizing of robots for war which includes robots that can recharge themselves, are virtually indestructible, and equipped with weapons. It seems inevitable that technology continues to progress and life will look more and more like a  Hollywood movie trailer. 

President’s Update:

Our club meets every Tuesday, starting at 5:30pm EST. 

Our next meeting on Tuesday, December 20th. Join us virtually via Zoom:  http://us04web.zoom.us/j/785855230

Note: December 20th will be our last meeting of 2022. Looking forward to seeing you there!