Union City Toastamasters Club is having its holiday meeting Tuesday, December 20 at 7:15 p.m. at its usual location. RSVP to UnionCityTM@gmail.com or 201-334-2713

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

If an immediate answer does not come to mind, maybe it’s time for you to dream again! And not just dream again, but take action to realize those visions!

There is a famous quote by Joel Barker that says:  ”Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world.” The power in realizing your dreams is in taking action to do so!

“Realizing Your Dreams” was the title of our meeting on August 9, 2011. Presiding officer, Penelope Chambers, ACB, CL, started off the meeting. Following her was Shafik Quoraishee who as Toastmaster for the first time ever! Congratulations Shafik!

Julian Hernandez, DTM was the Table Topics Master.  His questions were interesting and inspired participants to think about their current and abandoned dreams.  Members gave their definition of the American Dream, the Dream Team in Toastmasters, personal mottos they follow to reach their dreams!

Eliana Reyes, CC, kicked off the speech portions of the meeting with her short speech from the Special Occasions Manual. The purpose of her speech was to do a 2-3 minute Toast in honor of a person or an occasion of her choice. Eliana’s toast was in honor of Union City Toastmasters 15^th year anniversary (7 years from now).  The toast was relevant, inspiring and well done. The second speaker was Carol who completed Project #4 from the Competent Communication Manual. Her speech was entitled, “Mompreneurs.” Her humorous speech described the joys, struggles, and growing popularity of women who are both mothers and entrepreneur. As a “Mompreneur” herself, Carol shared personal stories on how working from home was not such a convenience at times, but the reward of having the best of two worlds in one, is truly priceless.

Tanya Furusa CC, CL and Wilmer Izquierdo, HCC served as evaluators. Their evaluations were specific and helpful. Lucy Kahn, ACS, ALB, Club Coach  was the Ah Counter/Grammarian for the evening was .  Arturo Moquete, HCC was the timer. Our presiding officer gave the general evaluation, and also provided the closing remarks.

Indeed the meeting was fun! Toastmasters and guests laughed, shared, and left inspired. The general consensus on realizing your dreams was: If you know what you want, go after it. Just do it. See it. Believe it, and take action to achieve it.

Self control was the focus of our meeting on August 2, 2011. Presiding officer, Penelope Chambers, ACB, CL, kicked off the meeting with a smile and welcomed everyone. She immediately introduced Eliana Reyes, CC who served as Toastmaster for the evening.

Wilmer Izquierdo, HCC served as Table Topics Master. Wilmers questions provoked thought, laughter, and a sense of reality to all who answered a question. Members confessed the areas where they need more self control, moments where they have lost their self control, and every day life examples that test how much self control one has.

Lucy Kahn, ACS, ALB, Club Coach completed speech #3 from the Training in Selling Manual. The title of her speech was “The Art of Selling.”  Lucy provided an informative handout that highlighted the steps to effective selling. She also role played a situation and put the steps to use. Her speech was informative and very useful. Penelope Chambers, ACB, CL spoke next. She completed project #1 Read a Story. The title of her speech was “The Life and Science of Percy Julian.” Penelope’s story was detailed and rather inspiring. She thoroughly described the journey of Percy Julian. It was not only his passion, dedication and perseverance that made him the man he was, but it was also his self control.

Carol and Analaine Dy served as evaluators for the first time! Both provided effective and helpful evaluations. The Ah Counter/Grammarian for the evening was Shafik Quoraishee. Takashi Hada was the timer and Tanya Furusa, CC, CL, served as General Evaluator. Penelope provided the closing remarks.

Overall it was a great meeting! Members were inspired to practice more self control in their daily professional and personal life. One of the tips given to strengthen this area was: “If you are disciplined with one thing in your life, you will be disciplined with the next.” So, today choose one area to work on, and the rest will fix itself!

Wilmer leading Table Topics

Shafik explaining the areas he needs more self control in.

Tanya admitting the goal he has yet to reach!

Carol laughing at her answer!

Penelope inspiring.

Lucy showing us the Art of Selling

Members of the Union City Toastmasters Club spoke to different people from the community who showed interest in becoming better leaders and communicators.

It was a successful night for Union City Toastmasters Club! Below are some pictures!

Julian setting up the table

Julian and Arturo speaking to the community

Julian explaining some of the benefits of being in Toastmasters.

Tanya won first place for the Table Topics contest. Both him and Shafik will be representing Union City Toastmasters Club at the Area contest this month. Congratulations!

Shafik delivering his speech

Tanya Furusa during Table Topics

Analaine Dy during Table Topics

Competent Communicators

Competent Leaders

Club Officers

The Club!

Imagine  walking barefoot on the soft summer sand. You just had a delicious breakfast and decide to make your way towards the kiosk to get a massage. When was the last time you found yourself in that place?

Summer is a great time to be with friends, relax, and of course travel. Some people travel every month. Others, once a year. Regardless if you are a frequent flyer or don’t do it as often, vacations are a great way to relax and enjoy the summertime!

Our theme for the meeting on July 19, 2011 was “Vacations”. Penelope Chambers ACB, CL, served as Toastmaster and Wilmer Izquierdo, HCC, as Topics Master. Wilmer elaborated table topics and integrated it with interesting questions for participants to describe their most memorable vacations.

There was one prepared speech but two speakers.  Lucy Kahn, ACS, ALB, Club Coach, spoke from her Advanced Manual Speeches by Management Project #1 The Briefing, title: “Set Goals the SMART Way”. Lucy demonstrated the importance of Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time bound goals to succeed. Shafik Quoraishee bravely made his icebreaker speech impromptu and did an excellent job. We learned more about Shafik’s spontaneous personality through his hiking excursion.

Speech evaluators were Julian Hernandez, DTM and Arturo Moquete, HCC respectively.   Analaine Dy served as Ah Counter/Grammarian for the evening.  The Word of the Day was ‘unfathomable’.  Unfathomable means vast, boundless, endless, limitless or impossible to comprehend.  Julian Castano, served as timer. Tanya Furusa CC, CL served as the meeting’s General Evaluator. The club President Penelope Chambers, ACB, CL provided the closing remarks.

Overall it was a successful meeting! After such a great time together the cherry on top would have been a nice vacation somewhere! Maybe, somewhere at a beach walking over to a massage kiosk!

It's not about WHAT you know, but WHO you know.

In a world where technology and social networking sites have been slowly taking over and helping people stay connected, how does one avoid being “social?” Is there really such thing as NOT being “good” at networking?

Networking is about connecting with another individual and building a meaningful and professional relationship.  This was the main focus of our theme on July 12, 2011.  In the absence of Penelope Chambers, ACB, CL, Tanya Furusa, CC, CL served as Presiding Officer. He also took on the role of Toastmaster and welcomed all guests with a smile and enthusiasm. Shafik Quoraishee served as Table Topics Master for the first time! Shafik entertained the meeting by asking some very thought provoking questions. His questions ranged from professional versus social networking sites to transitioning from network to network and handling “damage control” from one of these sites.

There were only two prepared speeches for the night.  Carol Solangy Jimenez completed Project #3 from the Competent Communicator Manual entitled, “Where Are You From?”  Her speech was creative and interactive. She spoke about the many times people have asked her, “where are you from?” And gave the audience three different answers one can use in the event this question causes aggravation. The first answer is: “I’m from here.” This implies that one is from the United States or their state of residency. In her case its New Jersey. The 2^nd answer is, “I’m from Planet Earth.” Sarcasm oftentimes drives the point home. Lastly, she said: “I’m from South America.

Julian Hernandez, DTM, completed Project #1 , from the Advanced Manual of Storytelling. His speech was entitled, “Zorro”  With a humorous twist and enchanting details, Julian reminded us all of our childhood days and gave a different perspective on love.

Speech evaluators were respectively, Eliana Reyes, CC and Wilmer Izquierdo, HCC.  The Ah Counter/Grammarian for the evening was Analaine Dy. It was her first time serving in this role and she did a phenomenal job!

Julian Castano served as timer for the first time and Lucy Kahn, ACS, ALB, Club Coach served as the meeting’s General Evaluator.  Tanya Furusa, CC, CL, provided the closing remarks and passed on the meeting to Eliana Reyes, CC, to go over some announcements. Eliana compiled a list of the different ideas members had for a possible “slogan.” After a short discussion and voting, the members chose the one phrase they felt best describes the club. As of Tuesday, July 12^th the club is now recognized as:

Union City Toastmasters Club: “Bringing Your Best Voice Forward.”  

How many of you have ever had a hard time communicating how you feel in a relationship? Perhaps there was a secret you wanted to share. Or maybe you were angry at the person. Or worse, you wanted to point out a disturbing truth to a friend but didn’t know how?

Efficient communication in any relationship is one of the most important pillars to any long lasting bond. Our theme for the meeting on July 5, 2011 was “Communication in Relationships”.  The presiding officer, Penelope Chambers, ACB, CL, initiated the meeting. She served as both Toastmaster and Table Topics Master for the evening.  Thought provoking, fun, and insightful are only a few words that describe the kind of questions she presented. Participants shared personal stories of ways they communicate in relationships, to personal philosophies on how relationships should be managed.

There were two prepared speeches for the night.  Luz Guzman, ACS completed Project #1 from the Persuasive Speaking Manual entitled, “The TM Backpack”.  Her speech started with a small role play where she demonstrated how to sell a TM backpack to a potential customer. Later she discussed some of the techniques for sales and then opened the discussion to the audience. Even in a sales transaction, communication in relationships is vital!  Lucy Kahn, ACS, ALB, Club Coach completed Project #2 , Organize Your Speech, from her 3^rd  Competent Communicator Manual. Her speech was entitled, “Who Packed your Parachute?”  Lucy used an inspiring story to help members think about people who have helped us along the way. Leaders who “prepare” the way for us should not be forgotten.

Speech evaluators were respectively, Tanya Furusa, CC, CL and Shafik Quoraishee.  The Ah Counter/Grammarian for the evening was Carol Solangy Jimenez.

Julian Hernandez, DTM, served as timer. Arturo Moquete served as the meeting’s General Evaluator. He provided very insightful suggestions on how to enhance the meetings and encouraged every participant with his remarks.  The new club President Penelope Chambers, ACB, CL provided the closing remarks.

The meeting was exciting! Overall, everyone left the night with a new idea of communication in relationships. Perhaps, interactions will be much easier when a problem arises!

There were two prepared speeches.  Carol Solangy Jimenez, completed her Project #2 Organize Your Speech entitled, “Child Labor”.  An emotive speech about the historical child labor activities and what they went through, working under difficult circumstances.  Wilmer Izquierdo, HCC completed Project #6 from the Competent Communicator Manual, Vocal Variety, entitled, “Change Your Mood”.  Wilmer grabbed the audience with motivational words that explained how exercise is good for changing ones mood.

Speech evaluators were respectively, Shafik Quoraishee and Julian Hernandez,DTM.  The Ah Counter/Grammarian for the evening was Lucy Kahn, ACS, ALB, Club Coach.

Tanya Furusa CC, CL, served as timer. Penelope Chambers, ACB, CL served as the meeting’s General Evaluator. Luis Morales, ACG, CL, Area 14 Governor presided over the club officer’s installation. The new club President Penelope Chambers, ACB, CL provided the closing remarks. Overall it was a fun meeting! The meeting marked the end of the Toastmasters fiscal year. July will be a fresh page!

Luis Installing Penelope as President

Luis installing Tanya as VP of Education

Luis Installing Eliana as VP of Public Relations

Luis installing Julian as VP of Membership