Dear Fellow Toastmaster!

Ready for some catharsis? It’s time for turning a new leaf and letting go of the old!

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Other GGTM Club Events

Full list in GGTM Calendar!

Toastmasters Leadership Institute

Saturday, August 9 • 8am-4pm (Genentech Campus, South SF)

​Step Up! Speak Up! Lead! ​The upcoming Toastmasters Leadership Institute is a transformative event packed with must-attend sessions and activities for District 4 Toastmasters. Event details and link to purchase tickets is on the Luma event. RSVP to be informed of day-of coordination

📈 July 16 Meeting Highlights

What a night! We kicked off our “Turning a New Leaf” themed meeting with a bang, thanks to Valeriy, who expertly served as our Toastmaster for the very first time. He set a though-provoking tone, reminding us that “Big change isn’t always seen as a good thing. Half the time big changes come involuntarily.”

With 28 attendees (8 being guests) we learned about what gives us catharsis - we heard everything from surfing and yoga to wrapping up a days work.

Thank you to our members who signed-up for roles to run this meeting: Angela, Tanya, Justin, Helen, Eugene, Omar, Sheila and Scott!

All 3 prepared speeches captured the different areas our fellow Toastmasters were passionate about:

• 🥬 Jay spoke about something he discovered recently, and how diet, sleep and relationships can be the antidote. Oh, and fiber. (2 minute special)

• 🔥 Scott dives deep into W.E.B Du Bois, how he fought for civil rights and handed the torch to the next generation of activists.

• 🤫 Sheila shares that while anonymity has immense power to strip away our fear of judgment (thanks to a thrifted book) - it has nothing against trust! (🏆 Best Prepared Speech🏆).

Sheila didn’t think giving a prepared speech was enough, so she led our table topics segment of the meeting as well. With an improv twist, she instructed each speaker to decide the next topic. This created a fascinating chain of stories! Anna spoke about how checking the boxes can mean different things for dating online vs in-person (🏆 Best Table Topic 🏆). 

• Thank you to the other folks who gave a table topic - Alberto, Divit, Juan, Andrea, Kevin, Alex L., Ping, Maz and Irene! Especially some of the guests!

Anna gave a passionate evaluation of Sheila’s speech, highlighting how sharing secrets can make us feel more connected with humanity (🏆Best Evaluation🏆). Double win for Anna 🎉 She will also be our TME for next week!

• Special thank you to Alex W’s roast evaluation of Scott! 🔥 

📚 Evaluation Tidbits📚

• Give the audience in the front the same attention as those in the back.

• When presenting a theme, make sure to connect the topic with the point. Hold your audience’s hand.

• Your use of language and hand gestures are a great way to amplify your message.

💗 Quotes of the Night 💗

“Big change isn’t always seen as a good thing. Half the time big changes come involuntarily.”
- Valeriy on his Toastmaster introduction

“Anonymity has immense power but it has nothing against trust. Trust reaches depths that being anonymous could never even go.”
- Sheila on her “What’s your secret” speech

“What I really want is to be loved and cherished.”
- Kevin on his table topic

📌 GGTM Club Business

• We tested the new GGTM Feedback Form to gather both quantitative and qualitative feedback. Please continue to give us feedback at [email protected]

• 🏅 Complete your pathways! Log your speeches and get an exclusive pin! You’ll also become eligible to compete once you are L2.

Benefits of your Toastmasters membership go beyond the club meetings! Check out these opportunities in the wider Toastmaster community and optimize your speaking and leadership growth opportunities!

• Volunteer to help run the Toastmasters Leadership Institute on Aug 9

  • Attending the TLI? Want to help run the event?

  • Reach out to Alex Wu or Denise Singh (District 4 Growth Director) at [email protected]
    

• Become a Toastmaster Area Director

  • District-level leadership role where you support 4–6 local clubs by checking in with officers, helping them grow, and sharing resources.

  • You’ll develop leadership, communication, and coaching skills — with training and mentorship provided.

  • Details below or reach out to our president Alex W if you want to learn more: https://www.d4tm.org/area-director

😎 Member Spotlight

Introduce yourself in the #ice-breakers channel in Discord!

🎉 Be part of the GGTM Newsletter! 🎉

Want to write a future issue or have something that you want featured with the club? Send a message to the #newsletter channel in Discord or let Omar or Sheila know!