Toastmasters Eclectic Voices

How great is it that we can have hybrid meetings that allow so many more people to participate?!?

Today's meeting saw an in-person appearance from Marshall Major (say what?) 😱 and included his speech on Identifying Your Leadership Style. We don't get the smiles and laughter out of him in quite the same way when he's on Zoom!

Nancy led a Table Topics round that had us considering the differences between decisions and choices. I think we are all still pondering this one!

Last but not least, Julie was the winner of the table topics round. Congratulations, Julie!

Past member Chris Ealing made a surprise appearance last week when she dropped off a giant bouquet of balloons to help us celebrate April and May birthdays. 😱

Thank you, Chris, for your always generous doses of care, joy, mischievousness, and LOVE!

Nancy's speech this week provided encouragement for us all to make progress on our speaking skills without the pressure to be perfect. She included templates that outline simple ways to map out a speech and had us do an exercise to see how quickly and easily it can be done.

Let's continue to remind ourselves that "practice makes progress"!

It does not always lead to perfection.

And most important of all -- keep HAVING FUN!

A fine example of this sentiment was Bipasha's exercise in mapping out a speech idea which can best be described as "a love letter to her car".

🤣 😂 🤣

Today's meeting consisted of sharing ideas on how to remain calm through the storms of life.

We had answers ranging from counting blessings that remain, walking away, closing a door, spending time alone in nature, shifting/lifting the energy in a room, learning from the experience for what one may do better the next time around, and finally- a shot or two of whiskey. 😂 We can always count on our club for creativity, levity, and laughter. 😂

One more fun thing- our guest Suryan from India joined us for the second week in a row! Woot, woot!

🎉 🥳 🎉 WOW wOw WoW!!! 🎉 🥳 🎉

Today's meetings contained so many reasons to celebrate.🎊

Our hybrid online/in-person meeting model allowed for people to tune in from Montana, Africa, and India.😱

We celebrated Cinco de Mayo and Leslie Jennings Major's birthday. How often does a person have the chance to be serenaded by people from multiple states and countries all at the same time? Happy Birthday, Leslie! 🎁 🎂 🎈

Last but not least, we celebrated a Table Topics tie between new guest Lisa and current member Lumuli Wanyonyi. Congratulations Lisa & Lumuli! 🥂🍾 🎊

Welp, Thursday's meeting was a bit of a hot mess!

We started out frustrated and confused and ended up laughing when our team discovered the glitches the last couple of us have had with Pathways had nothing to do with Nancy's PERFECT tireless efforts and instruction and had everything to do with glitches in the TM International system!

By the end, we were letting out frustration through laughter when Nancy asked Tyrone to send her his photo of a pig pushing a beer - she earned one after that session! 🤣 🤣 🤣

We greeted more new faces today in a hybrid meeting with the Teton Toastmasters club.

It's been a great experience for both clubs so far, doing what we love best— learning from one another's unique life experiences and perspectives, and enjoying each other's company!

Last week Eclectic Voices celebrated its 23rd birthday! 🎉🤩🎈🥳🎊🎉 And we had the extreme pleasure of past members returning JUST to help us celebrate. 🧡 🥰 🧡

A panel Q & A was held to recap the memories - the ups and downs, how we navigated them successfully, and what makes this club GREAT! (*Hint*... It's the PEOPLE, of course!)

Today's meeting centered around tactics and strategies for those times when we find ourselves in the "Battlefield of the Mind".

Jan Bracken won the table topics round for sharing strategies she uses during meditation. One strategy challenges her to think about what she's thinking about, and heightens her awareness so that she is reminded to focus on "more positives and fewer negatives".

Additional insights shared:

"Bad isn't necessarily bad, it's a challenge." ~ Bipasha Barman

"Be brave enough to soften what is rigid in our hearts." ~ Pema Chodron, shared by Nancy Denniston

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain." ~ Vivian Greene, shared by Megan Carney

And finally- a reminder from Beth Williams last week that "Life is hopeless, but not serious." 👈 Not sure why that one cracks me up, but it just does! 😅

Another fabulous meeting brought to you by Eclectic Voices!

Last week's St. Patrick's Day theme meeting was so much fun! We even had Toastmasters from Wyoming join the festivities.

The Table Topics round produced a tie between one of our members and one from Teton Toastmasters ~~~

Congratulations to Beth Williams and Steve Gale! ✨🥳✨

Congratulations to Jan Bracken for her table topics win! 🥳🤩🎉

Holy cow ~~~ did Nancy ever go over the top with her Mardi Gras theme as Toastmaster! She baked a traditional King's cake, educated us on the colors of Mardi Gras (🟢🟣🟡 Green= Faith, Purple=Justice, Gold=Power), and provided us with the history behind the celebration. Tyrone also brought the vibe with some VooDoo dolls from the French quarter. 😱

So many showed up in full celebratory spirit wearing symbolic colors as well as beads and masks. 🥳 🎭 🎉

Bryan gave a bone-chilling speech on some of the most notorious inmates in the Idaho State Penitentiary. Unfortunately, I missed getting pictures because I was too engrossed in his storytelling!

Last but certainly not least, Megan won the table topics round. 🤩 🏆 Congrats, Megan!

Self Awareness Wednesday 💜🦁💜

Here we are practicing "looking in the mirror" for this week's OPEN HOUSE!

The theme is "Mirror Talk". What do you value and love about who you have become through Toastmasters?

Get ready to answer some fun questions on this topic Thursday, February 24th, 12:05 pm, 4883 W Malad St A, Boise, ID 83705.

Don't forget to bring a guest!

Here we are practicing "looking in the mirror" for this week's OPEN HOUSE!

The theme is "Mirror Talk". What do you value and love about who you have become through Toastmasters?

Get ready to answer some fun questions on this topic Thursday, February 24th, 12:05 pm, 4883 W Malad St A, Boise, ID 83705.

Don't forget to bring a guest!

A BIG welcome to our TWO new members, Andy & Julie! We are so excited to have you in our club! 🥳

New member Julie was our most recent table topics winner. Go, Julie! 🥳 🎉 🎊 🤩 💃 ✨

Great Meeting this week! Long-term members shared what brought us to Toastmasters and what keeps us coming back.

See the post below this one for the list of reasons why we LOVE Toastmasters!

It was a fabulous meeting this week with our President Beth Our Our President Beth honored each long-term member this week and asked us to share the reasons why we joined Toastmasters and why we are still here so many years later.

What is it that brings us back?

Here is what was shared:

Leslie Major (15 yrs membership):
Leslie was invited to a meeting by an old boss. She initially worked on overcoming nerves around presenting but stayed for the support and creativity. AND - she just plain loves us! 😍

Nancy Denniston (13 years): Nancy was not encouraged to speak when she was a child. She believed she had to speak perfectly or not at all. She also wanted to work on eye contact in conversations as she was quite shy. Now she is a confident speaker with a massive range of expressive tricks in her bag as well as commanding a colorful and broad vocabulary.

Jeff Jensen (12 years): Jeff was always looking to improve personally and professionally. He noticed from his first Toastmasters meetings that the difference between being able to stand and deliver a presentation vs. delivering a truly compelling and highly polished speech was like night and day. He stays for the camaraderie of personal relationships and continued growth.

Jan Bracken (12 years): Jan had just moved here from CA when she joined Toastmasters as a way to meet new people in the community. She has stayed for the social interaction and FUN Eclectic Voices provides.

Lumuli Wanyonyi (11 years): Lumuli didn't know what to expect from his first TM meeting but quickly became enthralled and decided he wanted to learn more about how to conduct a professional and engaging meeting. He stayed for all the fun he was having and continues to have to share his life stories and wisdom from living in so many diverse cultures.

Marshall Major (11 years): Marshall wanted to become a stronger and better leader. He also loves the continued mentoring role he is able to play to help others become better versions of themselves. As a former Opera singer, Marshall has a flair for the dramatic, so we all look forward to seeing him share more of this gift in the future!

Bipasha Barman (8 years): Bipasha needed to learn to present professionally to large groups of engineers. She stays for the supportive environment and warm friendships made in the club over the years.

Stephanie Mullani (7 years): Stephanie was initially looking to engage with more adult-level conversations after being home with small kids for so many years. She was soon hooked by the program's clear path to help her hone her communication and leadership skills and stays for the wisdom she gleans from the many unique, eclectic perspectives and what she considers her personal group of supportive and knowledgable "life coaches".

Nancy won our table topics session on a very 'transparent' (theme of the meeting), humorous story about her childhood.

It was a Table Topics Trifecta last week with Lumuli, Steph, and our guest Andy all crossing the finish line together!

Last weekend's TLI was AMAZING!

The activities in the breakout sessions had us all laughing as we learned more about unique personality types and engaged in activities that had us imagining how personality traits opposite of our own would communicate.

And now - continuing educational opportunities are happening for the next several months with trainings that anyone can participate in!

Here is the schedule.