Vol. 15 Greenspeakers Club
The Greenspeakers Toastmasters Club meets at a meeting place in the center of Murray Hill, a good residential area which is about 5-minute walk to the south from Grand Central Station.
The club meets twice a month, in the evening from 19:15-21:00 on the 2nd Thursday and on the 4th Tuesday of every month.
The Greenspeakers is full of harmony, and the members welcome you shrewdly, smoothly and sincerely.
The meeting starts with an “Invocation,” which is a short, message-centric-speech with a recent epiphany, or a discovery of the speaker.
At the meeting I attended, The Word of the Day was “Vindication”,
which means proof, avenge, protection from attack, etc.
I liked this word.
The prepared speeches were all tactfully delivered, yet philosophical and were about the speaker’s view of life.
In the after-party (Nijikai), we talked a lot about the speeches not only on delivery skills, but also on the contents.
At the meeting, I was suddenly asked to deliver an “impromptu prepared speech” because one speaker failed to appear.
The speech title was decided by the floor, “The new U.S. President’s winning speech”, and I had to pretend I was the U.S. President from NYC!
“Okay, so be it!” I thought, and spoke audaciously.
Fortunately, I enjoyed speaking, because they were so receptive.
I finished speaking at 7:18.
My individual speech evaluator was dynamite.
She claimed herself to be a spiritualist!
She started, “Marc, you were a politician representing NYC in your last life, and you were gunned down by an assassin!
So, you sounded authentic and formidable, even with no preparation at all.”
We laughed like hell.
She continued.
“You seemed to imitate President Obama. You spoke smoothly, I think.
Be that as it may,
I personally felt it wasn’t you, because you did not seem to speak from your heart.
Plus, I think you resemble to Mr. Donald Trump much! Yes,,, Very much so.
Now, I would suggest that you establish your own Brand, and speak as you do.
Do sound like you do. Does it make a sense?
For that, I would like to say, ‘Know Thyself. ‘
Good Luck! I’ll pray for your further improvement. Thank you for your Impromptu Prepared Speech!”
“I need to brand myself, to do so, I must know myself”,,,,, this was a great takeaway for me.
Did she become the best evaluator?
As a matter of fact, they do NOT vote for the best in any session at this club,
just like so many others in the United States.
Especially, at the Greenspeakers, they focus upon discussions on Speech contents after regular meetings.
At the after-party, over some coffee or beer, they talk earnestly about speech messages and stories.
I was at the center of discussions on the night, and I immensely enjoyed talking about speakers’ desirable attitudes, minds, and philosophy with them.
Here in Japan, usually, we discuss mainly speaking skills, delivery technique,
how we move, etc.
I think it’s a good idea to pay even more attention to speakers’ mental attitude and philosophy, plus, speech contents and talk about those things after the meeting,
at the after-party, , “Nijikai”.
We exchanged opinions vehemently.
“Evaluations in the European Continent, in Britain, America, and in Japan are slightly different from one another, because of cultural differences.
For Example,,,,,,,” the discussion went on and on until almost twelve midnight.
The Greenspeakers TMC is full of honest and kind members whose club climate is harmonious, philosophical and full of messages.
Its venue is only a few-minute-walk from the famous “Kitano Hotel”, so please do plan to say hello to dear members of the Greenspeakers Toastmasters Club whenever you are in Manhattan New York!
