Toastmaster Magazine Reading Gathering in January

By Sherry Lee

Grand Toastmasters Club's first Toastmaster Magazine reading gathering took place this morning at Ikari Cafe in Hsin-tien. There were five of us, four club officiers and one new member. We studied three articles in January issue, 1. The Art of Speechwriting by David Zielinski Page 10; 2. Visualize Success--And It Can Be Yours by Judy M. Bailey Page 24; 3. The Joy of Journaling by Joy Lardner, DTM Page 27.

Liya Huang took charge of Article 1 and shared with us her experiences about the art of speechwriting, including the research process, one word after another, and writing for the ears. She echoed with Hal Gordon to daw a picture with words and cited the famous remark of President Franklin Roosevelt's "I hate war". She agreed with Marilynn Mobley, the really great writers and speakerss give us insight and make us say, "I never thought of it that way".

Carrie Chiang took charge of Article 2 and shared with us her ture story of the power of the will. When she opened the magazine, turned to page 24, read the article, she was overwhelmed by the contents. It was like a taylor made article for her because she just visited a dream shop she wished to own. She announced her goal, visualized it, and she is on her way to take action. We wish her all the best!

Yvan Chu took charge of Article 3 and was proud of her sense and ability to decipher the nationality of the writer. While reading the article, she felt the writer was not a US citizen. She was right. Joy is Canadian. She also compared the joy of journaling with the happiness of game playing to get a token of encouragement by achieving a goal at a time.

As the hostess of the first reading gathering, I encourage every participant to practice visualization of the goal and journaling to spark the creativity in our spare time as the homework to upload on Grand's website for other members' reference. 1. Visualize the Goal with Five Senses (page 26); 2. Write down 10 things you like about youself, five good things that happened today, five goals you are working on and 10 things that bring you ease. (Page 28)

Reading Toastmaster Magazine with the young is no different from with the golden ladies. It is fulfilling and inspiring to see the young Toastmasters get motivated by the authors and ready to take their advices and follow their footsteps to become a better communicator and leader in their lives.