Big Words

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, Season greetings, Happy New Year.. Our next meeting is January 13th, 2011. Hope to see a big crowd at our next meeting. A big welcome to our newest member Dan Flick.

Our Toastmaster Theressa Frasch, noting that it was the anniversary of publication of the first American dictionary, used Noah Webster for the day's theme. Webster, as well a bringing out the first US dictionary, also published the first America spelling book, and was a lobbyist helping to created our country's copyright laws.

If you have to do a presentation at work our club is a great place to practice. That is what Bang Parkinson did. The club acted as the school board while she did a PowerPoint presentation on bringing a new copier system to the school district.

Another great thing about the club is the things you learn. Roger Wells shared his knowledge of the development of the calender with the club. If you worry about the Ides of April. Beware on April 13th not the 15th.

Mike DeLeon brought three words of the day. Ultimate, Penultimate, and Antepenultimate. Ultimate is the last in a series, the end, whereas penultimate is the second to the last in a series and antepentultimate is the third to last.

See you all next year! For next year's schedule see the Schedules and Roles page.

Infused with Veteran's Day

Our last meeting was at the Infusion Cafe because the ERAC was closed for Veteran's Day. Darlene Burrill was our Toastmaster with the theme of Veteran's Day which was also the topic with a bit of a twist. Our topic master Jean Schmidt had us getting into character as we described veterans in different periods of history. Mike DeLeon paid tribute to his five uncles telling their World War II and Korean war experiences. Theresa Frasch gave us a lesson on seminars.

Our next meeting will be Thursday, December 9th at our usual meeting spot. For a list of who is doing what see our Schedules and Roles page.

Give Me Liberty

October 28th 1886 was the dedication of the Statue of Liberty so our Toastmaster, Mike DeLeon, used that his theme of the meeting, giving us some history and statistical data on the monument.

Carrying along with the theme Jean Schmidt brought us the word "Freedom".

Kieth Weir gave a speech where he talked about the different stages of Halloween. He spoke how as we age we change our view of the holiday. Roger Wells in a speech titled "Why Do They Do It?", he wondered people feel they have to exagerate their public resumes.

Since Keith was also Table Topics Master, members had a chance to express opinions of Halloween duringTable Topics.

Our next meeting is November 11th which is Veteran's Day so ERAC will be closed. We will be meeting at Infusion Tea & Coffee (15607 1st Ave So). See the Schedules and Roles page for who's doing what.

Change in Venue for Veterans Day

We have a change in venue for our meeting on November 11 - Veterans Day. Our normal location will be closed for the holiday. Instead of not meeting we will move our meeting to a local coffee shop: Infusion Tea & Coffee:










Infusion Tea & Coffee
15607 - 1st Ave S
Burien, WA, 98148

206-436-8440

http://www.infusionteacoffee.com/

They have a nice room we can meet in and good coffee, tea, and breakfast items we can purchase for our break. It will be a fun break from the usual! Invite your friends for a spot of tea and a speech :-)

The Icebreaker

Our last meeting was a real treat. We heard one of our favorite kinds of speeches, the ice breaker, from our newest member Michael Reid. He gave us a bit of his personal history and talked about his need to always be improving. He has certainly come to the right place by joining Toastmasters.

We got a preview of the area speech contest when three of the contestants, Roger Wells, Theresa Frasch, and Darlene Burrill practiced their contest speeches. The practice paid off. All gave much improved speeches and gave great performances. Darlene brought home the 3rd place trophy in the Humorous Speech contest!

For next week's schedule be sure to check the "Schedules and Roles" page.

Laughter Galore!

Our last meeting was our club's humorous speech contest. We have a great contestant in Roger Wells. He entertained the club talking about the adventure in growing old. The winner of our topic contest was Darlene Burrill.










Agenda October 15th

Toastmaster.......................................................................Mike DeLeon
Pledge................................................................................. Bang Parkinson
Speech 1 (Ice Breaker)..................................................... Michael Reid
Speech 2 (Contest Practice).............................................Roger Wells
Speech 3 (Contest Practice).............................................Darlene Burill
Speech 4 (Contest Practice).............................................Theresa Frasch
Food and Joke....................................................................Jean Schmidt

The Area 41 Contest is the next day (Friday the 15th of October at ERAC) Be sure and come because it means a lot to the speaker to see some familiar faces.


Area 41 Fall Contest

A Serendipitous Meeting

We had a great open house meeting. Theressa Frasch, our Toastmaster, used speaking lessons from "The Karate Kid" as her theme. We got some great advice such as get help, practice, if something works keep it up, and discipline and respect always win.

If you had an occasion to use the word "serendipity" after our meeting that was serendipity, a marvelous coincidence. Roger Wells brought us the word serendipity.

Since last week was the start of school our topic master Mike DeLeon asked us to talk about some of our school memories.

With an election coming up Kieth Weir used the occasion to give a speech on referendum 52. He was able to fit it into the TM manual lesson 9 speaking to persuade. Jean Schmidt spoke from the advance manual and talked on how Toastmasters changed her life.

September 23rd is our club humorous speech contest where we will chose someone to represent our club at the Area Humorous Speech Contest.

Toastmaster......................................................... Jean Schmidt
Food and Joke..................................................... Mike DeLeon
Contestants.........................................................Roger Wells and Kieth Weir
Evaluation will be on a round robin basis.
If any one else would like to participate feel free to prepare a 5 to 7 minutes humorous speech

Seattle Summer Was Not Ubiquitous

We had a great last meeting of the summer with Darleen Burrill as our toastmaster, who used summer as her theme. Both speakers gave book speeches. Our newest member Gerri Barker gave her ice breaker and gave us all something to look forward to at future meetings. Bang Parkinson, speaking from an advance manual on story telling, entertained us with a tale about building relationships titled "Uncle John and Jojo". The word "ubiquitous" seems to pop up all over the place, which is appropriate since it means the state of being everywhere. Ubiquitous was our word of the day. Our topicmaster Jean Schmidt had us talking of back to school memories.

Getting Ready for Our Open House

We are getting ready for our Open House! Dusting, vacuuming, polishing the silver...

Actually, what we are doing is getting ready for you! We are making name tags and guest packets. We're preparing speeches and food. We're getting ready to show you what a Toastmasters meeting is all about.

Two of our members are going to give speeches, we'll play Table Topics, we'll evaluate ourselves on how well we did and then get ready to do it again next week. We'll leave plenty of room at the end of the meeting for questions and answers so you can ask away!

So, won't you please join us? We promise it will be a fun morning - and of course there will be coffee! At the break we will even serve a light breakfast. Bring a friend and see what Toastmasters is all about.

Four Speaking Lessons from "The Karate Kid"

Thursday, September 9, 2010

7:00am – 8:15am

6:45 am for Guest Packet, Coffee and Juice

A light breakfast will be served at the break

Highline Public Schools Building

15675 Ambaum Blvd SW, Burien

Across the street from Azteca, next to Hi-Line Lanes

South Classroom - Follow the signs!

Contact Theresa at burienbreakfast@gmail.com

www.burienbreakfast.blogspot.com

Using the Opportunities We Are Given

Theresa had the opportunity to be the acting president since Bang was out of town. She opened the meeting by welcoming our three guests: Tim, Norm and Randy and welcoming our newest member: Gerri!!

After the flag salute Jessica reminded us we have the opportunity to behave contrary to the way people expect with her thought of the day.

Jean Schmidt took her opportunity as Toastmaster to bedazzle us with her polished agenda including the times we should be starting each event. She wowed us as she single-hsndedly took on the roles of grammarian and timer, too. She led us through a meeting filled with opportunities to improve our speaking skills.

Jessica had the opportunity to tell us "The Best Kept Secret" and shared some of her recruiting stories with us. Theresa made us pretend we were business owners and she told us why we needed to jump on the social media bandwagon with "All A-Twitter."

Roger gave us the opportunity to find out what would happen if we were caught in sudden uncomfortable situations - how would we handle ourselves. Even a couple of our guests participated in this lively Table Topics session.

Our guest Tim won the best Table Topic award.

Roger won the best Evaluator award.

Jessica won the Best Speaker award.

Next week's schedule is posted here.

Jean's bedazzling agenda is posted here. All you need to do is copy and paste, then fill in the blanks.

Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contest

Our Club’s Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contest will be held at our next meeting - September 23rd.

The purpose of a speech contest is to provide an opportunity for speakers to improve their speaking abilities, to recognize individual Toastmasters as an encouragement to all, and to provide an opportunity for all Toastmasters to learn by observing speakers who have benefited from their Toastmasters training.

Each contest focuses on a particular set of skills, providing a terrific opportunity to learn about a specific area of communication. Many wonderful benefits accrue to those that participate.

• Contestants are afforded a wonderful opportunity to improve their skills in preparing and delivering a speech in a competitive environment

• Members not competing are provided the opportunity to learn by observing speakers who have benefited from their Toastmasters training

• The audience is provided an interesting educational program, entertainment, and FUN! This is a good time to invite guests.

• For the Fall Contests – everyone who is a member can participate! It doesn’t matter whether you have given 1 speech or 100.

Contests are held twice a year, once in the Fall and once in the Spring.

• Each of these contests begins with the Club Contest 9/9/10
• Club winners compete at the Area Contest (approximately 5-6 competitors) 10/15/10
• Area winners go on to the Division Contest (approximately 5-6 competitors) 10/22/10
• Division winners compete at the District Contest held in conjunction with the District Conference (seven competitors per contest in District 2) 11/13/10

The Table Topics Contest features a 1 to 2 minutes response to a question posed by the Contest chair. Contestants are taken from the room and each is brought into the room and given the same Table Topics question. No contestant hears the question or anyone's response prior to their turn on stage. They are judged on how well they respond.

The Humorous Speech is 5 to 7 minutes in length. Humorous speaking, which must be substantially original. Any quoted material must be identified during the presentation. The speech must be a thematic in nature (opening, body, and close) and not be an act or a monologue. It should be "clean" humor; avoid objectionable language, anecdotes, and material. Vocal variety, gestures, and speech content all play a part in a successful humorous speech.

In the Humorous Speech Contest the speeches are judged using a different set of categories, which include how well humor was used. Judges evaluate contestants with a rating system on a wide range of criteria. These rating scores are summed into a single score. The score is used to define a ranking of the top-three candidates. A count is used to determine the winner from the rankings. Each contest has a special tie-breaking judge, who ranks all candidates; this ranked list is used to break any ties in the contest..

Please plan to participate in our upcoming contest. If you have any questions, comments, and inquiries – please direct to Area 41’s Contest Chair – Sam Clemmens at sclemmens@earthlink.net.

Oh No! I'm the Toastmaster!

Being the Toastmaster is a big responsibility. It takes some planning and forethought. Here are 10 steps to being a great Toastmaster in Burien Breakfast Toastmasters:

1. Contact all of the members with roles and make sure they will be in attendance. If not, find their replacements now.

2. Connect with evaluators and speakers early in the week. Get introductions from speakers. Remind evaluators to connect with their speakers.

3. Send your introduction as Toastmaster to the President.

4. Arrive at the meeting early to distribute agendas and make sure all your players are in attendance. If you need someone to fill in, arrange that as quickly as possible before the start of the meeting.

5. Make sure to introduce the players for the meeting and have them explain their role.

6. Use the meeting guideline to keep the meeting on time.

7. After each speaker, ask members to write comments for the speaker and then remain silent for a minute to allow members to complete their notes.

8. After the last speaker, remind members to vote for best speaker.

9. After the last Table Topics, remind members to vote.

10. After the last evaluator, remind members to vote.

There you have it! Follow these guidelines and you will do just fine. Remember you can ask any of the officers for help, especially if this is your first time as Toastmaster (or second, or even third). We are here to help!

More Than Just Public Speaking!

Toastmasters Clubs are far more than just public speaking. They build confidence, communication and leadership skills, says Bruce Bulloch, a member of Toastmasters and the author of this great article about Toastmasters in the West Seattle Herald. You can see a Toastmasters club meeting in action by watching this video (clips of course!).

You can hear all about what makes Toastmasters a great organization by listening to this podcast by Bruce Bulloch.

But what if you don't live in West Seattle?

Burien Breakfast Club is the answer! Burien Breakfast Club meets the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month from 7am to 8:15 am at at 15675 Ambaum Blvd. S.W. Burien, WA 98166. We get you to work on time!

Come join us for a fun morning including coffee, light breakfast goodies, and an opportunity to meet new people striving to improving their communication and leadership skills just like you.

Summer Time!

After a bit of confusion we got down to our new meeting format:

1 Introduce the Toastmaster

2 Pledge and inspiration

3 Word of the day

4 Speeches

5 Joke and Food

6 Topic session

7 Evaluations

8 Business Meeting

It's summer time and Bang used that as her theme for the day's meeting. Commencement is the transition of what follows and also the word of the day brought to us by Roger. During hurricane Katrina Darlene volunteered by sending supplies to New Orleans and she related those experience at the club. Jean worked from an advanced manual presenting a program on how to use the Toastmaster program in reaching your goals. As our topic master Theresa had the club giving ideas for improving the club and bringing new people.

Next week's schedule is posted on our Schedules and Roles page.

Getting to Twenty

The Advice we got from Table Topics today on building our membership was outstanding! Here is a list of things we could get started on:

• Have a BBQ with a competition in storytelling, joke telling or bring in some politicians

• Put fliers up at the library, in your apartment complex, at the market, coffee shops, at work (We have a great flier - attached - print it out and spread the news!)

• Have a guest speaker with some controversy (like FDR impersonator - Does anyone know a local controversial celebrity or such)

• Think of 3 guests you could invite and why - Jessica chose Jay, he is an early riser and a businessman - a good combination for our club

• Thinking ahead to our club Humorous Speech contest - let's publicize it in the B-Town blog, in the Highline Times, let's play up FREE food (maybe have a special breakfast for the event), everyone bring a guest, special invitations to past members

• Some other things to try that Xandria brought up - Open House, doing another community event (Mercado Latino on Sunday afternoon anyone?), talking to local businesses

Burien Breakfast at the Block Party

Burien Breakfast Club members Keith, Darlene, Jean and Theresa were out and about this weekend promoting our club at the Olde Burien Block Party. They talked to a number of people interested in hearing more about Toastmasters and a few interested in our early morning club.

Keith gave a Table Topic question to Tim Fahey - candidate for King County Council District 8. After Sunuppers Advanced Club Member Patricia counted his ums he said he better join us this Thursday morning before he has to do much more public speaking.

All five clubs from Area 41 were represented at this event. A drawing will be held to give away two free memberships. Many contacts were made - Area 41 hopes to gain some new Toastmaster members wanting to improve their speaking skills.

Let's Go On Vacation!

We got off to a great start of the new Toastmaster year with an installation performed by our Area Governor Steve Kennedy.

Getting right into Toastmasters, our newest member Keith took over the duties of Toastmaster. His theme was rejuvenation of spirit. July being the kick off of the vacation season Mike, our topic master, wanted the group to share some vacation ideas. Our word of the day was "consanguineous" an adjective meaning having a common ancestry.

In a speech using facial expressions and body language Roger talked about growing old. Theresa led a mini discussion about changing the meeting agenda. It was decided to have our business portion at the end of the meeting. Dennis Bauer a guest speaker, who will be giving a seminar on storytelling, spoke on enhancing your speeches with stories.

Summer Seems Intangible

It's official summer started on June 21st and Mike our toastmaster took the opportunity to tell the club about some of the traditions and history surrounding the celebration for the summer solstice. Our newest member Keith brought us the word of the day, "intangible". an adjective meaning that which can not be touched easily defined, formulated or grasped. Better speaking is an asset from being in Toastmasters but some of the advantages are "intangible". In a world that is becoming more diverse, out topic master Roger had us opining on cultural differences we encounter. The first speech in the manual, the icebreaker, affords us the chance to get to know new members better and in his first speech before the club we had a chance to meet Keith. In a speech emphasizing body language Jean entertained the club with the trials and tribulation on her recent trip to Italy.

A big thank you to Theresa for making our new name placards. As well as having our names on the front, they also have a chart of our manual progress on the back facing us urging us on to complete those manual projects.

July 17th is Olde Burien Days and Area 41 will have a booth touting Toastmasters. This will be a great opportunity to bring some new people to the club. Think about volunteering on that day.

July starts Bang's new term as President. By the enthusiasm from her new officers, Educational VP Jean, Membership VP Theresa, Secretary/Treasurer Mike and Sargent-arms Keith it looks like it should be a great year. Be sure and come as Area governor Steve Kennedy installs the new officers.

Burien Breakfast member is in the News!

Area 41 Has More Fun

Toastmaster and Burien resident Steve Kennedy attended the District 2 Changeover Meeting last Saturday, where he was officially granted the status of Area 41 Governor as the Toastmaster fiscal year begins July 1, 2010. Our own B-Town Blog Sales Whiz, Theresa Frasch is his trusty assistant in charge of Marketing and Public Relations.

Toastmasters International (as the name implies) is an international organization with more than 12,500 clubs in 106 countries. In order to help keep things moving along the clubs are divided into Regions, Districts, Divisions and Areas. Steve and Theresa’s Area 41 has five clubs in Burien and Des Moines.

Read the rest on the B-Town Blog!

Toastmasters Leadership Institute

Burien Breakfast's new officers attended Toastmasters Leadership Institute this past Saturday. Bang, the President, Jean, VP of Education, Theresa, VP of Public Relations and Membership, and Keith the Sergeant at Arms.

They heard inspiring keynotes by District 2 leaders and went to training sessions specifically for their offices so they will know how to serve the club better in the coming year.

Four of Burien Breakfast's Toastmasters Officers have attended training (Mike had to work, so he will do his at another time), so now they have achieved half of Point Number 1 towards achieving their Distinguished Club status. Only nine and a half more to go!

Graduation - the Start of Something New

'Tis the season of marking the beginning of something new. Our toastmaster, Theresa, made that point with a graduation themed meeting.

Joan introduced the word "thesaurus" a book containing synonyms. Keeping on the graduation theme, Mike had the members talking about their thoughts, memories, and advice on graduations. In our two speeches we had a touching story and an icebreaker. Darleen moved us with the inspirational story of a man who was in a fire as a youth and went on to help and inspire others. We all got to know Theresa much from her icebreaker.

New Officers!

Burien Breakfast has elected new officers for the new 2010-2011 year, beginning July 1, 2010. Bang Parkinson will be President, Jean Schmidt will be the Vice President of Education, Theresa Frasch will be the Vice President of Membership and Public Relations , Mike DeLeon will be Secretary/Treasurer and Keith Weir will be the Sergeant at Arms.

Thank you to the officers who served last year. We appreciate your time and dedication.

Let's move forward and strive to be a Distinguished Club this year. With everyone's help we can do it!

Frequently Asked Questions

When and where are the meetings?

There are educational sessions occurring at 7am on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month from 7 to 8:15 AM at 15675 Ambaum Blvd. S.W. Burien, WA 98166.

How much does Burien Breakfast Toastmasters cost?

Dues are made up of Toastmaster International and local club dues: $32 paid every six months, in March and September. Memberships established at an interim period are on a prorated basis. For first time Toastmasters there is an additional one time fee of $20 which includes two manuals and other materials.

What is the time commitment required for participation in Burien Breakfast Toastmasters?

The club meets twice a month on 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month from 7:00 to 8:15am. Attendance and participation are the cornerstones of the learning process, yet in our club we are very understanding and flexible about unexpected work conflicts which cannot be avoided.Depending on your needs you should expect to spend a minimum of 5 hours+ per month including attendance and preparation.

Who are the members in the Burien BreakfastToastmasters club?

We are a community club from a variety of different backgrounds and ages. Since many of the members are using Toastmasters as a tool to improve work performance (i.e. teaching, one on one, leading meetings, giving presentations, communication, public speaking, and leadership skills, etc.), a common understanding helps us help each other improve these sought after work and life attributes.

What are the benefits of joining this Toastmasters club?

This club is a safe, secure environment to build confidence in the following areas: alleviate fear of public speaking, practice presentation skills, learn to better persuade and convince others. It also helps its members think more quickly on their feet and is a good place to network with others with similar interests.

What are the meetings like?

The meetings are an hour and 15 minutes long. A typical speech meeting consists of two to three speeches (5-7 minutes each) and the evaluations of the speeches (2-3 minutes each), as well as Table topics which is an impromptu speaking topic that provides members a chance to speak at random for 1-2 minutes each.

How can I learn more about Burien Breakfast Toastmasters and what it has to offer?

Feel free to talk to any of our officers and members. Visit our blog (http://burienbreakfast.blogspot.com/), call or email our President Dan (206) 664-1406 or burienbreakfast@gmail.com.

A Typical Burien Breakfast Meeting

Our meetings run from 7:00am until 8:15am. The format is usually the same for each meeting unless we are having a special meeting or the Toastmaster wants to change the format.

At 7:00am the President calls the meeting to order and welcomes everyone. When we have guests our club president will have each member give a brief introduction - if time permits. The club president then introduces the Toastmaster for the meeting. (The Toastmaster acts as master of ceremonies.)

The Toastmaster - will have a theme for the meeting and set the stage by calling for the thought of the day and introducing his or her team.

The Grammarian - offers a word for the day and listens for good and poor grammar. We try to use the word of the day for all speaking parts of the meeting.

The Timer - keeps the meeting running on time. Most speeches are for 5 - 7 minutes in length. The evaluations are 2 - 3 minutes and table topics (impromptu speaking) run for 1 - 2 minutes.

The Vote Counter - gathers and tabulates the voting after each portion of the meeting. At the end of the speaking portion of the meeting he or she will hand out the awards with the Toastmaster.

The Table Topics Master - involves members who don't have a speaking role in the meeting by asking them a question and have them get up and answer it.

The General Evaluator - evaluates the overall meeting.

The Evaluators - work with the speakers and will give them a written evaluation if a speaker is working from one of the manuals. Additionally, each evaluator will give a speaker an oral evaluation.

The Speakers - will deliver a presentation of their choice. The manuals all have clear objectives but the speaker selects the topic.

An average meeting will have 5 - 7 table topics followed by two speeches. Then the Toastmaster leads his or her team for the evaluation portion of the meeting by introducing each of the evaluators and then by asking for reports from the grammarian, timer and hand out the awards with the vote counter.

The speaking portion of our meetings is usually completed by 8:10 am. The Toastmaster will return control of the meeting to our club president.

The president will ask for feedback from our guests, announce the schedule for the following week and handle any remaining club business.

The meeting will be adjourned at 8:15am.

Your First Visit

We welcome you with open arms! No need to make a reservation, just show up 5 - 10 minutes before 7:00 am on our meeting morning and we will get you started. We meet the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month from 7am to 8:15am.

Park in the ERAC parking lot and enter through the double doors. Follow the signs to Burien Breakfast Toastmasters.

You can contact Theresa at burienbreakfast@gmail.com or (206) 588-5088.

We look forward to seeing you!

How Do I Learn? - Competent Communication Manual

Competent Communication Manual

This manual, which has 10 speech projects, is the first step in the communication track. It helps develop your speaking skills one step at a time. Every project builds upon what you learned in the preceding project.

As you prepare and present each project speech you'll learn the importance of organization, how to use body language and voice to convey your message, select the right words and use visual aids.

You also learn how to speak persuasively and inspire others. An evaluator will give your feedback on each speech you present and help you to improve.

When you complete this manual you are eligible for Competent Communicator (CC) recognition. Complete the CC application in the manual and ask your vice president education to submit it online to World Headquarters. You'll receive a CC Certificate and, if this is your first CC award, two Advanced Communication manuals free of charge.

The ten projects are designed to help you grow as a presenter. They are:

1. The Ice Breaker (www.turbobase.com/tools/IceBreaker.pdf)
2. Organize Your Speech
3. Get to the Point
4. How to Say It
5. Your Body Speaks
6. Vocal Variety
7. Research Your Topic
8. Get Comfortable with Visual Aids
9. Persuade with Power
10. Inspire Your Audience

Each project has a clear set of objectives but you select the topic! You can click on the Ice Breaker link to download that project.

This information is provided from the Toastmasters International site at: http://www.toastmasters.org/education.asp

A Toast to Self-Improvement

By Theresa Frasch

Looking to enhance your resume, improve your interviewing skills, become a leader, enrich your business presentations, polish your sales skills, upgrade your team-leading abilities, or strengthen your listening skills? You can accomplish all this and more at the Burien Breakfast Toastmasters Club.

About Toastmasters

Toastmasters is a worldwide non-profit organization that has a presence in more than 70 countries. It is dedicated to helping members develop and enhance communication and leadership skills. The organization achieves this goal through regularly scheduled meetings that allow participants to gain practical experience in:

Holding meetings -- each meeting members play various leadership roles and become accustomed to the process of meetings.

Extemporaneous speaking -- a session called "table topics" provides opportunities for members to speak for a few minutes on topics assigned on the spot. This helps participants to become more comfortable with thinking and speaking on their feet.

Prepared speaking -- two or three members present short, planned speeches on various topics. Speakers have predetermined goals regarding skills to practice, such as persuasion, voice, language, use of gestures.

Evaluation -- individual members evaluate each meeting and speaker, enabling speakers to receive constructive feedback and members to learn to listen and evaluate speeches effectively.

Getting Started

Burien Breakfast Toastmasters is open to everyone. New members are accepted on an ongoing basis, and visitors are always welcome. We meet at 7:00AM on the second and fourth Thursday of every month at the ERAC15675 Ambaum Blvd. S.W. Burien, WA 98166.

Visit our blog http://burienbreakfast.blogspot.com/ to learn more about our group or contact Theresa for more information: tfrasch at gmail.com or (206) 588-5088.