Welcome back!!
This meeting was special in that we had a speech by Chiho, a member who has been extremely busy for a couple of years. This does not mean she has been away from the meetings entirely. She has been joining our meetings on and off and tried Table Topics speeches once in a while. Yet, her busy schedule has prevented her from committing herself enough to serve in a role for a long time. This was partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the preventive measures put in place, her work got more demanding.
That is one of the virtues of Toastmasters. Toastmasters have four growth principles, namely Experiential learning, Peer feedback, Mentoring, and Self-paced program. Unlike at schools, each member can progress at their own pace. When you are busy at work or at home, you can slow down and still continue on. When you have a lot of time, you can join every meeting and deliver speeches and take roles. Obviously, it is not a good idea to take too many speaking slots. Yet, you can move ahead with different projects more quickly when you have time.
At this meeting, Chiho delivered her first prepared speech in a couple of years. We all loved it and she won the Best Speaker award!! Congratulations! (Too bad that she was online and we couldn't take a good shot of her making her speech.)
Again, in Toastmasters, we can set our own pace. Even when your schedule gets tight, you don't have to "drop out." Your club is always there and club members are waiting for you as long as you are eager to continue learning.
This meeting was special in that we had a speech by Chiho, a member who has been extremely busy for a couple of years. This does not mean she has been away from the meetings entirely. She has been joining our meetings on and off and tried Table Topics speeches once in a while. Yet, her busy schedule has prevented her from committing herself enough to serve in a role for a long time. This was partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the preventive measures put in place, her work got more demanding.
That is one of the virtues of Toastmasters. Toastmasters have four growth principles, namely Experiential learning, Peer feedback, Mentoring, and Self-paced program. Unlike at schools, each member can progress at their own pace. When you are busy at work or at home, you can slow down and still continue on. When you have a lot of time, you can join every meeting and deliver speeches and take roles. Obviously, it is not a good idea to take too many speaking slots. Yet, you can move ahead with different projects more quickly when you have time.
At this meeting, Chiho delivered her first prepared speech in a couple of years. We all loved it and she won the Best Speaker award!! Congratulations! (Too bad that she was online and we couldn't take a good shot of her making her speech.)
Again, in Toastmasters, we can set our own pace. Even when your schedule gets tight, you don't have to "drop out." Your club is always there and club members are waiting for you as long as you are eager to continue learning.