What’s it like to have a monstrous hag welcome you into a dark room, where a corpse lies on a table, surrounded by candles? Or to have a vampire as the program host? How about having Professor McGonagall of Hogwarts as the general evaluator? And the speakers – how about listening to Count Dracula, a swashbuckling pirate lass, a colorful harlequin, and a red devil?!

This was the scene at the October 26 meeting of the Metro Manila Toastmasters Club (MMTMC) at Sulo Hotel, where Halloween was the theme of the night. And what a night it was! MMTMC President Josephine Mines, dressed in black, welcomed members and guests, led by DTM Edith Garde, who was the meeting’s General Evaluator. From devil horns, monster masks to witch hats, MMTMC members dressed up in the spirit of fun, even as they delivered speeches and evaluations.

And the winner of the best costume? TM Jopet Velasco, the colorful court jester! 

Here are some scenes from the MMTMC Halloween Party!

Metro Manila Toastmasters Club (MMTMC) rolled out its welcome mat to two new members and one returning member, who were officially inducted last October 5, 2009. In photo above, Club President Sipen Mines (rightmost) administers the oath of membership to Josephine “Jopet” Velasco and Magnolia “Maggie” Uy (second and third from the left, respectively), who are new Toastmasters, and Andrew Diaz (second from the right), who was reinstated as a MMTMC member after a few years of absence.

Serving as their mentors are MMTMC Sgt-at-Arms Lynne Gamboa, ACG (leftmost) for Jopet, Immediate Past President Joy Gatdula (third from the right) for Maggie, and Past President Tootz dela Torre for Andrew.

Welcome to the newest MMTMC Toastmasters! Your fellow members are all looking forward to your speech projects!

In its October 5 meeting at the Sulo Hotel, Metro Manila Toastmasters Club (MMTMC) had the pleasure of having Past District Governor (PDG) and Past International Director (PID) Cristine A. Temblique, DTM as General Evaluator for its first Advanced Speakers’ Night.

The Advanced Speakers’ Night showcased the more seasoned speakers of MMTMC, particularly those who are working on their advanced communication modules. Among those who delivered their advanced speech projects were Club President Sipen Mines, CC-CL, Immediate Past President and Area 2 Governor Joy Gatdula, CC-CL, and Past President Freddie Dela Cruz, ACB. The other Toastmasters were not left out, however, as they also participated in the meeting’s program, especially in the Table Topics portion. Officers from Emperor Toastmasters Club – President Jean See, CC and Immediate Past President Zaldy Co, ACB — also joined in.

As General Evaluator, PDG/PID Temblique gave a lot of insightful feedback not just on the individual speakers and their respective evaluators, but also on the overall running of the meeting. Among the nuggets of wisdom that she shared with the Club were:

• An evaluation of a speaker’s performance is just an opinion by the evaluator. It is still up to the speaker to accept or reject the comments given, and to decide whether the speech project objectives were indeed met.
• There may be instances when a speaker disagrees with the feedback given by his/her evaluator; however, it is better to respect the opinions given and learn from them.
• For Table Topics (TT), the topics need not be limited to quotations. Innovative exercises can be introduced into the TT portion such as “complete-the-sentence” questions, or by showing pictures and asking the TT speakers to comment on them or develop related stories.
• For added variety, the meeting program can follow set themes.
• The printed program should also contain useful information that members can “take home” with them after the meeting, such as the membership directory, or the history of Toastmasters or of the Club.
• Practice good cellphone etiquette during meetings to avoid disruptions.
• Applaud judiciously to avoid “applause fatigue”; such as when doing rounds of introductions, the members can be asked to hold their applause until everyone has finished introducing themselves.

As a closing note, PDG/PID Temblique commended MMTMC for its 30-years of existence as one of the leading Clubs in the country. She noted that the Club would not have lasted this long if it did not have committed officers and members and a collective passion for public speaking and leadership.

And she definitely knows about commitment and leadership! PID/PDG Temblique was District Governor in 1998-1999 and became International Director from 2001 to 2003. During her term as PDG, the Philippines (District 75) was ranked No. 2 in all Toastmasters districts worldwide. She was also the first woman in Asia to become International Director of Toastmasters International. She also became Distinguished Toastmaster twice - a testament to her dedication to excellence as a Toastmaster.

“Just always remember to learn while having fun, and to have fun while learning,” PDG/PID Temblique said.