Shout out to our guests of the evening: 

​- Blaire
- Bianca
- Aditia
- & Laura

for coming out and experiencing the amazing, awesome, and occasionally strange Toastmaster club we call SF Toastbusters. 

Our theme of the evening called "Active Listening", was lead by our very own Arjan who came up with the idea based on...something I forgot (yes, I know it's ironic that I wasn't listening entirely, give me a break I was writing a bunch of stuff down). 

To start off the meeting Arjan handed out white pieces of blank paper. Then, he had us write down everything that was on our minds, anything. So here's what I wrote down: 

After that wonderful exercise we had another moment where we broke off into pairs to put into practice some active listening. 

Some things that Arjan pointed was how active listening requires us to be fully engage to the point where we can paraphrase and even include feedback. He had us talk about what our dream job would be or what we would ideally want to go for Holiday. 

Me being me, I really didn't know what I'd do, but nonetheless I babbled on about random stuff while my partner had to take it all in (sorry Linda). 

And of course, the highlight of the evening, where we got to learn more about our two members Linda and Libby!

They were vulnerable and graciously share with us their stories and that captivated all of us. They spoke about things we could we really relate to that involved their personality, their character, and overall willingness to take a chance on something new and exciting.

Great job both of you on your first speech and looking forward to hearing many more! 

I found it funny that we couldn't shake Victor's hand throughout the meeting because he was sick. Given the habit of our usual handshakes, this called for awkward attempts to fist bump. We should totally make that a thing form now on, we're just cool like that.

Of course, let's not forget the amazing story that Kenn shared about having apparently gone through an initiation period with the Church of Scientology.

Just in case they're reading this, let just say, that folks, is a story I may never forget.

...Oh, and it's not "Jennifer". Her name was Stefanie! Just another one for the books there. If you were at the meeting, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about unfortunately.

Kudos to Terri for throwing another awesome Happy Hour at Gotts. Burgers were great, drinks were drinks, and the conversations were a thrill with stories and interesting facts. I learn a lot from my fellow SF Toastbusters.

​Ya'll know so much.

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WORD OF THE DAY: "EERIE"

USED IN A SENTENCE: "It was a dark and eerie, Tuesday night when the ghost was spotted in the boardroom of the YMCA." (it was probably just me looking pale before my speech).

SPEAKING TIP: Vary your hand gestures to help illustrate your talking points.

It's difficult to concentrate on anything before you go up for a speech.

Tuesday was one of those days. I, along with fellow member Terri, both had speeches this past Tuesday and we were quite relieved to see that it was a small crowd consisting of all members and one guest. So small that I made the announcement to remove two of our five tables, they're big tables! Kinda.

Wilson, aka Mr. Quantum Fantasy (which I still don't get), lead us as the Toastmaster of the evening, giving us these cool Hawaiian lays (which I still don't get either).

Ah, but Mr. Quantum Fantasy had a trick up his sleeve. He began by asking us what kind of dream we had. Then lead us in a group conversation about how we can divide up one million dollars. THEN said something the along the lines of, you are forever trapped in the eternal abyss...okay I need to write this stuff down.

It was some kind of eerie remark. (man, I'm on a roll).
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 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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