Townsend Toastmasters (SoMa)

  We are thrilled to announce that we are hosting a second virtual story slam! Members will compete to tell the best story around the theme “Good Times, Bad Times.” Think of it as extended table topics where you tell us a happy story marred by a tragedy or a tragic story with a redemptive ending.  Storytellers: You have 5 minutes to take the *virtual* stage and share your story. We have 6-7 participants competing to win over the audience with their tale. External club sign ups are closed for this round. Audience: You'll be one of the judges! At the end of the meeting you will all get to vote on your favorite story. You will be sent a google form link during the meeting. To Attend: There is no charge to register or attend. You must register to attend . Once you register, we'll send you a confirmation email that includes the link to tune in on November 30. We will begin promptly at a 12:05 pm that afternoon. You are welcome to bring your lunch. It's sure to be an entertaining...

Hello Townsend Toastmasters club! Join us for a special meeting this Monday where club alumni will be leading a workshop on how to take your speech evaluations and table topics to the next level. See you there!  

As someone whose job is all about public speaking, one thing I love about our club is that it’s a great place to experiment. I was able to take advantage of this when I served as Toastmaster on Feb. 1 and led a meeting that was dedicated to Table Topics.  I had the club utilize the Zoom “Annotate” feature. You can use to allow attendees to mark up images with various tools. You can add specific shapes, draw lines, select different colors etc. I had been interested in how such tools could be used with a map to talk about our experiences with different places.  I used Zoom’s screen sharing feature to display a map of San Francisco. Our Table Topics started with me picking a particular SF location and asking the speaker to give a hypothetical tour of the site. They were welcome to provide factual or fictitious information. At the end of each Table Topic, we then used Zoom’s poll feature to vote on whether we thought the speaker was telling the truth or not.  Each Ta...

Wish you could speak up in meetings with more confidence? Do you hold back and not say much because you’re worried you’ll say the wrong thing or be judged?  Join Townsend Toastmasters for this special fun event where we'll get to practice speaking on the spot, off the cuff and impromptu! It’s a safe, friendly environment to play around with answers to a topic. Come to participate, or come to watch and enjoy (and perhaps participate next time!) Here’s how to register for this no-cost event: email us at  tt-membership@googlegroups.com  or fill out this form

Just as each individual Toastmaster member has goals, so too does each club. Here’s what you helped Townsend nail this past year. President’s Distinguished Club This is Toastmasters International’s highest recognition. We've achieved the award two years in a row. The criteria, or “club goals” to attaining this award: a mix of members completing Pathways levels, membership stats, officers trained, and administrative items completed. March Madness Clubs renewing at least 75% of their base membership by April 15 receive $50 in District 4 credit (our club is in District 4). Smedley Award and Smedley Stretch Award Clubs adding 5 or more new, reinstated, or dual members between August 1 and September 30 receive the “Smedley Award” from Toastmasters International. Clubs that add 7 or more new, reinstated, or dual members during that time also receive the “Smedley Stretch” and earn $50 in District credit. Plan 4 Success  Clubs that send a copy of their completed...

The votes and feedback are in and our first ever Story Slam was a smashing success!  We had 6 speakers (Rodney, Akshay, Jenny, Bernice, Roberta, Kathleen) who all did an excellent job telling really interesting and informative stories in very engaging ways. The virtual story slam brought in 5 guests and 2 from out of the country!  One from Toronto and another  from Holland. Best Story: After the vote tally the winner is Kathleen !  Amazing achievement considering she delivered her first ever speech today which was a captivating story about her recent work and the challenges of a census enumerator. Best Storyteller: Jenny !  Who told us an impassioned and harrowing backpacking story.

Looking to improve your speaking and leadership skills? Ignite your career? Win that job interview?   We are a part of Toastmasters International , which has helped people all over the world with their communication and leadership skills. Ours is an open club that provides a warm welcoming environment to improve your speaking skills. We have members from companies around the area and everyone is welcome to join us. How Does It Work? A Toastmasters meeting is a learn-by-doing workshop in which participants hone their speaking and leadership skills in a no-pressure atmosphere. Guests are welcome - Please email us! (We're meeting virtually due to COVID-19) Questions?  Drop us a note .

Come one, come all for an afternoon of epic storytelling from the comfort of your home. Experience one of Townsend Toastmaster’s special quarterly events that encourages members to develop speaking skills in a new setting. This is our first story slam and the theme is PERSONAL STORY. Think of it as extended table topics where you tell us a recent personal story that was funny, heartfelt, or impactful to you. For the more adventurous types, we will also offer up some theme/topic ideas for members who want inspiration to come up with an impromptu story. Storytellers: You have 5 minutes to take the *virtual* stage and share your story. We have 6-7 participants competing to win over the audience with their tale. External club sign ups are closed for this round. Audience: You'll be one of the judges! At the end of the meeting you will all get to vote on your favorite story. You will be sent a google form link during the meeting. The winner will achieve Epic Glory. To Attend: There is no...

Congratulations to Jane and Lindsay! Thank you both so much for representing Townsend Toastmasters to compete in the Area C1 Speech contest last evening. We are all proud of you and a BIG thanks to Bernice and Ping for attending and cheering for them. Jane and Lindsay will move up to complete next level, which is the Division C with over 30 Toastmasters clubs and 500 members, on  April 17, 2019 , between 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm at UCSF Mission Center, San Francisco. Townsend Toastmasters club is a great club and I am proud to be a part of the club officers team to lead the club. Our members continually push themselves to the next level. Over the past year, we have been working together to achieve goals after goals, improving public speaking as well as leadership skills. We will continue and keep the momentum going. Congratulations again to our proud members, Jane and Lindsay! Simon Chan President

Ping Ho , one of our charter members of Townsend Toastmasters and a club mentor at a newly formed club called Cloudflare Toastmasters, was recognized during the charter ceremony last Thursday. She mentored this new club from the start to a fully functioning Toastmasters club. Simon Chan was recognized as a co-club mentor of Cloudflare Toastmasters at their charter ceremony Roberta Guise  also successfully mentored a new Toastmasters club from start to finish. It's Aon's corporate club called Insuring Pros Toastmasters. We are all proud of you Ping, Simon & Roberta !

Contest Chair : Peppe Ragusa Chief Judge : Roberta Guise Judges : Melanie, Victoria, Jennifer, Sophia Timer : Meghan Ballot Counters : Simon, Scott Sergeant at Arms : Maria Vargas International Speech Contest : Jane Guo Evaluation Contest :   1. Lindsay Brock   2. Bernice Lim

Maria, Scott, Jane & Roberta organized our clubs 10 Year Anniversary Luncheon : Great luncheon today.  Thank you to everyone for attending, including Jane for her great Toastmaster duties; Simon for his intro speech and recognition of all the charter members; Rodney, Aliya, Bernice, and Ping for their wonderful words of reflection and future hopes for the club; and finally, but not least, Scott's great Table Topics idea that had everyone in attendance to participating.  Here's looking to another inspirational 10 years.

Recent lunch during the meeting as a part of Member Appreciation Day !

Aliya Janjua our Toastmaster and the mentor for TechWomen had two special guests over for a speech. Both of them gave excellent speeches and made it a memorable event.

Congratulations on Education Awards ! Simon Chan  ( Pathways  L1 Innovative Planning) Roberta Guise  ( Pathways  L1 Presentation Mastery) Christopher Chiasson  (Competent Communicator) Ping Ho  (Advanced Leadership Silver)