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Time Passages
“Time Management” was
the theme of the evening as 28 members and two guests filled the Warner
Center Marriott’s Ventura Room for the club’s regularly scheduled
meeting on August 24th. The evening’s Toastmaster,
Maisie Lee, used her opening
remarks to speak of the effect of time on our lives. “We chase time but
never catch it,” she said. Advising the assemblage about various time
management techniques she went on to observe, “If we make the very best
use of time, we will reduce both our workload and our stress.”
The Time of Their Lives
Donna Stewart
served as Topics Master for the Table Topics segment of
the evening’s program. A project manager in her professional life, Donna
explained to the group that an appreciation of “time” and how to use it
is important to us all. With that she launched into a series of
questions that asked ten WCTM members to explore this theme in relation
to their own lives. The group of time travelers included:
Glen Rankel,
Mohnish Sharma, Jason Thompson,
Chad Celi, Shelly
Bright, Loan Carrison,
Stuart Juggler,
Dennis Rowe, Marc Cohen, and
Bill Anderson. Taking the first place
ribbon for Best Table Topics was Bill
Anderson with his answer to the question, “Do you use a ‘To Do’
list?” Responding with an emphatic “Yes...and No”, the
organizationally-challenged Mr. Anderson described creating a series of
“To do” lists only to see them lost, forgotten or ignored due to the
crush of new projects and other unforeseen interruptions. “Sometimes it
seems that the best way to avoid doing something is to put it on
my To Do’ list,” he concluded.
Prepared Speeches: Two
on Two
The “Prepared Speeches” portion of the evening’s program
featured two terrific Icebreakers and two talks on business related
subjects that were both informative and extremely well done. Leading off
was Eleonor Arellano whose Icebreaker
entitled “My Life” took her audience on the journey that is her life.
Coming to America at the age of 20 with just $500 in her pocket after a
privileged upbringing in Manila, Eleonor described how her new life in
the U.S. forced her to learn not only domestic and professional skills
but also the value of freedom. “I had nothing with me but heart when I
came to the U.S.,” she said. “However, here I learned that dreams can be
achieved if you try hard enough.”
Eva Barry followed with her Icebreaker, “Escape from Paradise” in
which she described a similar but somewhat darker journey from the
seeming paradise of her childhood on a “tropical island in the Pacific”
to her current life as a respected professional in the United States. In
at times searing detail she recounted the experiences that changed her
thinking, her persona, and eventually her life. Shaking off both
cultural and familial restraints which frequently took a variety of
harsh forms, her moment of epiphany arrived when she realized, “The pain
of no freedom was greater than the pain of physical punishment.”
Speaking to a
different aspect of the American Dream, Don
West’s offering of the night, “A New Way to Think about
Investments” (speech #8 from the Communications and Leadership Manual)
provided the assemblage with an overall strategy for building an
efficient investment portfolio. Rather than attempting to “time” the
market, Don advised investors to create a disciplined strategy based
upon each individual’s tolerance for risk, their time horizon, and
target rate of return. Investment portfolios should be rebalanced
annually he went on to say. “Selling winners and buying losers will
improve your portfolio’s performance,” he said. “This helps you
eliminate emotional investing.”
Rounding out the
evening’s program was Rose Lane, DTM
whose speech from the Advanced Manual, “Little Things Make a Big
Difference” detailed how caring and consideration are important to both
interpersonal relationships and business success. “People want to get
their chimes rung not their buttons pushed,” she said. Contrasting her
experience with two Walnut Creek hotel clerks, one welcoming and
helpful, the other distant and confrontational, she described how the
difference in tone of these interactions colored her opinion of both
each person and their organization. “Always keep this in mind,” she
said. “Its not the major things you do for people. It’s the little
things that will help you achieve success.” For her effort in “ringing
the audience’s chimes”, Rose Lane was voted the evening’s
Best Speaker.
Evaluators Find Variety
The meeting’s final
segment, Evaluations, was led by General Evaluator,
John Graves, CTM / CL.
Summing up the gathering, the phonetically-minded Mr. Graves
observed, “Tonight we had a wonderful variety of speeches. My
congratulations go out to all. I love what all of our different accents
do. They bring such a rich coloration to the English Language.”
Individual evaluations were done by Erin O’Neil,
CTM (Eleonor Arellano), Beverly
Rankel, CTM (Eva Barry), Dan
Marzec, ATM-B (Don West), Carolyn
Goldman, CTM (Rose Lane). The
“Best Evaluator” award went to Carolyn Goldman.
Dennis Rowe on
the Mend
One of Warner Center
Toastmasters best speakers, Dennis Rowe, ATM-B, is on the mend
after suffering a mild heart attack this past week. Currently recovering
at home, Dennis assured Toasters Choice that he is doing fine and
will attend the 14 September meeting. Warner Center Toastmasters wishes
Dennis a speedy recovery and looks forward to seeing him on the 14th.
New Members
Warner Center Toastmasters is pleased to welcome Jason
Thompson to its Membership ranks. A recent graduate of Princeton
University, Jason is new to California, having moved to the Golden State
this past July. He works in health benefits financial consulting. Good
luck at WCTM and with your new job Jason!
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