Williams Lake Toastmasters Club
1118 Lakeview Cres V2G 1A8 Williams Lake, BC, Canada

Our weekly meetings are still happening - but we're meeting online these days! Send a message if you want to drop in for a visit! You can also email [email protected] for info.

We had a small meeting tonight but we had members attend from far and wide... 4 from Williams Lake, 1 from 100 Mile House, 1 from Kamloops and 1 from India!

I’m having a big quarantine New Year’s party Thursday night. None of you are invited!I’m having a big quarantine New Year’s party Thursday night. None of you are invited!

Wed. Dec. 16th is last Williams Lake 2020 Toastmasters and features an ugly sweater contest.

# Ugly Sweater contest on Wed Dec 16 at Williams Lake Virtual Toastmaster's last meeting of 2020. Yall come!

Yet another successful Williams Lake Toastmasters meeting. 90% of our members were in attendance! (That's 9 out of 10 members... we're small, but mighty.) The theme was "Germs" and it was fascinating to hear everyone's unique views on this topic. The timing "lights" even matched the theme!

Williams Lake Toastmasters Club has experimented with Virtual and also Hybrid meetings with great success. If you'd like to attend, please email me at sdvhnew.com and I'll see you get more info. It's a Wednesday night delightful way to spend a mid-week evening. I promise, You'll like it!

To join this week's meeting, click the link below: You should be able to join a few minutes early to make sure your microphone and camera are working. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81165043548 Conference ID is: 811 6504 3548 Passcode is: District96 (no spaces, and the capital 'D' is important!)

Harvest Season is the theme for September 16th Williams Lake Toastmasters meeting. Interested? It's an hour much more entertaining than some of the TV or Netflix shows and features folks you might even know. You don't have to leave home to join this week's meeting. Just click the link below: You should be able to join a few minutes early to make sure your microphone and camera are working. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81165043548 Conference ID is: 811 6504 3548 Passcode is: District96 (no spaces, and the capital 'D' is important!)

Take some time tonight to watch our newest 2020 World Champion of Public Speaking, Mike Carr!

Want to get better at Table Topics (impromptu speaking)? Check this out...

This is brilliant!

For our year-end celebration this year, we decided to have an in-person meeting at Boitanio Park. The theme for the meeting was "Hats".

Congratulations and thank you to everyone who worked so hard to help our club earn Distinguished Club Status!

Our first ever virtual open house was a spectacular success! Robert and Rae each presented their final speeches to earn their Competent Communicator awards. We had 5 guests in attendance, one of whom has become our newest member, qualifying us for Distinguished Club Status for the 1st time in club history!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3-e8EYBUmk

Our meeting theme tonight was "What Does Your Garden Say About You?" Check out our timing "lights"!

Want to change your life? Contact us at [email protected] to find out how!

We have had such engaging meetings over the last 2 weeks that I have completely forgotten to take a screenshot to post online! Tonight we had 2 speakers. Raj completed his 3rd Pathways speech incorporating feedback from last week to make improvements on his first presentation. He created a powerpoint and added some excellent visuals to enhance his speech on COVID-19. Then we had a guest, Sandy McKee from Fort Nelson eNRGy Toastmasters, present a speech on what Toastmasters is all about. Talk about eNRGy! We are always looking for new members, so if you would like to learn about how Toastmasters can help you, send us a message and we'll provide you with a link for our next online meeting next Wed, May 27.

Starting to lose track of how many online meetings we have had... still experiencing technology glitches here and there but learning how to roll with them! We had 10 members at tonight's meeting. Thanks to Justin for chairing... great job for your first time, especially for someone who has never attended a face-to-face meeting! We had a great inspirational message from Bob and Bev used some creative props for timing (complete with smiley faces!)... a green pepper, a yellow lemon and a red pepper (which we didn't get to see much of.) Looking forward to joining up with CNAT (Cariboo North Advanced Toastmasters next week for a joint Division D meeting.

Thanks to Tom Ireland from Prince George for an excellent workshop on Table Topics this evening!

Invite your friends and family to our online Toastmasters meetings. When they become a new member... you both get $10 Tim Hortons cards!

Join us online. Guests are welcome!

An excellent meeting tonight. We learned a new strategy for organizing a speech called "Then, Now and How" followed by a round of Table Topics based on the theme of "Rebirth and Regrowth".

Another excellent joint Division D meeting tonight. Congratulations to Tanya from Williams Lake Toastmasters on a fabulous Icebreaker speech. Can't wait to hear your next one! Welcome to Justin, the newest member of Williams Lake Toastmasters. And thanks to Kerry and Tom from Prince George on some very informative educational sessions! Well done, everyone!

Great meeting tonight! 19 people from clubs in Williams Lake, Quesnel and Prince George in attendance. Doing it again next Wednesday, April 1 at 7pm. (No foolin'!) If you're interested in attending, send us a PM and we'll send you the link.

Word of the day... an opportunity to increase your vocabulary and practice using it. See if you can write a sentence using the word AND incorporate it into conversation today either online or with people who are with you. For more information on the word see comments below.

Williams Lake Toastmasters had their first online meeting tonight. There were a few hiccups but 13 people attended, including our division director and 2 guests and there was no shortage of laughter. Table Topics were conducted by Sherry Foster and her able assistant, Sissy Sparkleshine. The Best Table Topics Award went to Sharon Duffy. Looking forward to next week! Take that, Corona Virus!

If you are looking for something to do while you are practising social distancing, join the Williams Lake Toastmasters Club for an online meeting tomorrow night (Wed., Mar. 18, 2020) at 7:00. Just reply to this post and we will send you a link to our Zoom meeting. Check out the following article to learn about 3 of the benefits of joining Toastmasters: confidence, friendship and encouragement. http://www.liveandlovework.com///benefits-of-toastmasters/

Congratulations to Williams Lake Toastmaster, Austin Weber, on winning 3 gold medals at the Special Olympics National Games in Thunder Bay in February! Way to go, Austin! https://issuu.com/blackpress/docs/i20200311040004777/18

The theme for last night's meeting was "Going Green". What does that phrase mean to you? We had a lot of different ideas about it! It was a lively meeting, thanks in part to our 3 guests! (2 prospective members and a member of Vancouver Toastmasters who happened to be staying in the Ramada where we have our meetings and saw our sandwich board in the lobby) The table topics award went to Sherry Foster for her impassioned plea to stop wasting time!

What a great meeting we had tonight! Only 7 people in attendance but so much fun. One of our newest members, Albert Slavic, served as chair for the first time and was officially inducted into the club on the same night. We also awarded pins to Raj Salaria and Shelly Harnden for completing their Icebreaker speech in recent weeks. And Bev Wassenaar came up with a very creative idea for Table Topics. Participants had to choose a prop and then speak about a proverb related to that prop. In the first picture, Albert Slavic speaks about the proverb "Wealth and power do not buy happiness" and in the second picture our VP Education, Robert Lion, discusses the proverb "A leopard can't change his spots".

So good to see Karaj smile with his Table Topics win!

Bev was tonight’s Chair, Karaj won Table Topics (2 min impromptu speech) and we all exercised our face muscles as Bev put it. Everyone did a good job. And we had fun. Theme was family day. Raj did his 2nd icebreaker speech and Tanya shared a joke. It was good to have 2 new guests and we hope they will come back.

I finally got back to Toastmasters (just barely--last Wed in Jan)...It was good to be back.

Great meeting with the theme being Road Trips. We had a informative education presentation, some funny jokes and creative and entertaining table topics. Everyone made progress and we all had fun doing our best.

The theme tonight was NO. We looked at no from different angles and learned that at Toastmasters you can’t always say no. Sometimes there’s a good reason to say no. We found out during table topics why Robert would say no to winning $2 Million! That was the winning Table Topics speech with award presented by president Rae. We have a few meetings left before our holiday break and always welcome new comers and guests.

Can you use this word in a sentence?

Wednesday, November 6 was a special meeting for Williams Lake Toastmasters. First of all, the theme was poppies which gave members an opportunity to share stories of what poppies and Remembrance meant to them. Secondly, we were honoured to present a special award to a very deserving member. Congratulations to Sherry Foster for being the first Williams Lake Toastmaster to complete the Competent Communicator Manual! (This is her second CC award... the first one was completed when she was a Toastmaster in Texas.)

As requested, Sherry Foster, here's your video! Next time we'll get the whole thing, but at least we got your Name-That-Tune section!

Another fun meeting where some members dressed up and we started off in the dark... Sherry did a Pathways Icebreaker speech and Bev led Table Topics. Members also enjoyed some candy and Donuts that Bob brought!

Tonights Table Topics Award winner was Robert who talked about which witch... the meeting theme was ghouls and goblins. Award presentation by Club president Rae Perry.

Last week Ken won the Table Topics Award. Ken advocated strongly for the pineapple party. Award presentation by Club President Rae Perry.

New member gets inducted! Bev gets her pin for starting Pathways with her Icebreaker speech and Bev gets Best Table Topics award for the night. It was a good size meeting and fun with the theme being Buck Off Dude! Can’t wait to hear the theme for next week.

Dear Members, Just in case if this amazing document was missed. Click on the link and download. https://drive.google.com//0B1B-Hs9UJBozaFBzT2ZiZDczM/view... Thanks Jaap Russchenberg for Sharing and the amazing Mark Snow for such great work always !!

Integrity: One of the four core values of Toastmasters International. Does anyone know the other three?

This past week we installed 2 new members. Table topics was fun as always and Bob was voted best TT speech. Next week we look at Pathways and how this can help us with speeches and lead us towards our goals.

The theme of our first meeting in October was "Pumpkins". We welcomed Area 43 director, Debbie Volpiana and learned many interesting facts about pumpkins. Chair Robert Lion presented the Table Topics award to Bob Sunner for his very informative explanation of the popular sport, pumpkin bowling (as illustrated in the 2nd picture)!

In addition to being the featured speaker at the Sept. 25th Williams Lake Toastmaster meeting, Vice President Robert Lion accepts Best Table Topics certificate from President Rae Perry. Guests are cordially welcomed to the weekly meetings on Wednesday, 7 pm, at The Ramada Inn. It's not too late to join this group and sharpen public speaking skills. Every meeting includes information, entertainment, fellowship and laughs!

It's Comic Book Day today - so that will influence our meeting theme! Come check it out!It's Comic Book Day today - so that will influence our meeting theme! Come check it out!

I’m not there this week but I know they are planning a fun time with food. If you’ve ever wondered what Toastmasters is about this is a good time to check it out.

Our first meeting back after the summer break was a great success. The theme was "I'd Rather Not" which sparked some very interesting conversation. Sherry Foster won the Table Topics award for the evening for answering the question "Would you rather have super hearing or super vision?" Being a dedicated musician and an avid reader, the choice proved to be too difficult to make so she ended her talk by saying, "I'd rather not" choose! Way to stick with the theme, Sherry! The runner up was Sharon Duffy who had some very convincing arguments as to why she would rather have toes as long as her fingers vs. fingers as short as her toes!

Our first meeting after the summer break is this Wednesday, September 11. Hope to see all sorts of people there!

Deadline October 01

Williams Lake Toastmasters executive officers celebrating the completion of their Club Success Plan! We used Mimi Nelson's values list to help us come up with our club values.