Dear Fellow Toastmaster!

Forget the cold San Francisco zephyr, we’re bringing the heat!

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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 23 Meeting Highlights

We had a full house tonight! Anna made her debut as our Toastmaster for the evening and introduced our theme: Summer magic. We embraced the bright, warm and possibility-filled summer energy, and we all made it magical.

With 35 attendees (15 being guests) we learned about our favorite summer activities - we heard everything from the cold SF weather to spending time with loved ones.

Thank you to our members who signed-up for roles to run this meeting: Angela, Eugene, Alex W., Caitlin, Gene, Scott and Tavisan!

All 4 prepared speeches captured the different areas our fellow Toastmasters were passionate about:

• ☀️ Helen spoke about her volunteer work as a summer camp counselor. She brought the camp spirit to life by leading us in a lively rendition of “Alive, Alert, Awake, Enthusiastic” (2 minute special).

• 💍 Juan dove deep into his 18 months of wedding planning and the valuable lessons he learned along the way.

• 🚗 Omar shared why first experiences are important, even if we don’t think so.

• 🏀 Scott showed us the similarities between perfecting a jump shot and mastering public speaking, encouraging us all to sign up for speeches and to ask questions later (🏆 Best Prepared Speech🏆).

Tavisan led us through our table topics segment, sparking our imaginative side. From what new holiday we would introduce to which animal we’d talk to if given the chance. When asked what he’d do if we could run faster than the speed of light, Alex P. (guest) had a surprising answer: he’d use such power not for grand feats, but to simply prioritize time with loved ones, quipping that he’d “do nothing at the speed of light” (🏆 Best Table Topic 🏆). 

• Thank you to the other folks who gave a table topic - Irene, Shubham, Nithila, Benzi, Agasthian and Karishma! Especially some of the guests!

Nithila delivered a passionate evaluation of Scott’s speech, emphasizing how his inspirational metaphors encouraged us all to take our shot sign up and not shy away from the game giving speeches (🏆Best Evaluation🏆).

• Special thank you to Sheila’s evaluation of Juan and Kyle’s evaluation of Omar! 🔥 

📚 Evaluation Tidbits📚

• Pause and let people laugh.

• Be intentional with movement and volume.

• Make things bigger!

💗 Quotes of the Night 💗

“Don’t be the guy that goes to the gym and doesn’t shoot the ball.”
- Scott on his “Shoot first, ask questions later” speech

“Whenever I do anything for the first time now I’m well aware of the moment and embrace it, no matter the outcome.”
- Omar on his “You never forget your first” speech

“Do nothing at the speed of light.”
- Alex P. 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!

Take your Toastmasters skills into more stages throughout the city! Some of us headed to the Dandelion Chocolate factory last week, where we spilled the beans and Helen, Alex and Sheila got to share some secrets. We’ll be using a similar approach for our upcoming “City lights and Secrets” event!

🎉 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!