Encinitas Toastmasters

6/4/26 - have you ever eaten a slice of pizza that’s unusually crispy with minimal excess grease and a punchy flavor from the jump? Well, that was this uniquely delicious meeting. This meeting was so yummy it’s not even funny

Ingredients:

FIRST TIME TOASTMASTER LAUREN SMITH with her “younger you” theme which resulted in lots of existential reminiscing from many in the audience, as well as a guessing game featuring secretly acquired baby photos

BEST TABLE TOPICS - MAHESH KOLAR and JAMES METSZINGER’s important parliamentary debate round with the topic “in-n-out burger vs baby food”. An excellent and civil round, you two.

BEST EVALUATOR - as always, JACOB PANANGAT is honest, unguarded, and intellectual, which was a perfect fit for the speech he evaluated (see below)

BEST SPEAKER - “Buckle Up Buttercup” by ALISON SHOMAKER shows a subtle, yet masterful storyteller revealing only 10% of her full power for us. About motherhood, pet ownership, mistakes, lessons learned, drugs, etc… she will do great things

We shall see you all next week :)

Last night's meeting (Thursday, May 28) was a case of quality over quantity. We had a lower-than-usual attendance, likely because of the Memorial Day holiday weekend a few days earlier. Still, we had fun and even one most interested guest. Below are the winners: L to R: Donna for Enthusiasm; Joey for Table Topics; Haley for Best Speaker; and Robert (as usual) for Best Evaluator.

5/21/26 - This Democracy themed meeting was also one with a deep theme of commemoration - Oline Case’s commemoration of her mother and Robert Perry’s commemoration of Keith Eck - I always appreciate a thematic meeting, and this one was extra thematic and beautiful

BEST TABLE TOPIC - Ambrosia Shomaker’s POWERFUL statement on how, if democracy was a person, it would be the annoying yapper in the room who would encourage the group to commit to the things that truly matter

BEST EVALUATOR - JC Keville, who is a jack-of-all-trades

BEST SPEAKER - Robert Perry’s BEAUTIFUL short-notice speech portraying Keith Eck’s battle against the gods, and how he persisted. This one left a mark.

5/14/26 - Savannah Broderick’s Murder Mystery Night

Thank you for solving this case with us, we couldn’t have done it without every single inquisitive toastmaster and their interrogations of these suspects.

5/7/26 - GREAT work this week, most especially to our first time toastmaster Alison Shomaker, who NAILED it! I think we have a ToastMasting prodigy on our hands! JC’s “2 Truths, 1 Lie” speech stole the show, despite going overtime, Peyton Cabano gave her best performance yet, and Joe Rogers gave some of the best food-related table topics questions since last year.

ENTHUSIASM AWARD - Brion Case

BEST TABLE TOPIC - A Guest’s Opinings on his spotify playlists

BEST EVALUATOR - Pat Rarus

BEST SPEAKER - Peyton Cabano

"Strong Foundations" was yesterday's meeting theme, with Toastmaster Craig Wenzlick keeping our event interesting and on time. Everyone did very well with Pat Rarus and JC Keville taking on two roles.

Here are the winners from L to R: Josh as Best Evaluator for Savannah's speech; Savannah as Best Speaker; Michelle earned the Enthusiasm ribbon for giving an impromptu speech about monkeys at the SD Zoo, and Janet for Best Table Topics. Congrats to all!

Our JC Keville poses with Mark Brown, Toastmasters International World Speaking Champion, who told her that she has a special gift [for speaking, entertaining.] We agree!

Several ETM members attended the Toastmasters District 5 Spring Conference this past Saturday, April 25. Our own JC Keville represented ETM in the Tall Tales contest. Although she did not win, JC really enjoyed herself and learned a lot at the various breakout sessions.

Pictured below L to R are ETM attendees Kevin Rigney, Cindy McNab, JC Keville, Margarita Pinhas, Veronica Barraza, and Keith Thornton.

Mahesh, as last evening's Toastmaster, led an interesting and on-time meeting with a compelling theme of "Voices That Shaped Us." Thank you, Mahesh.

Here are the special voices who won awards for their exceptional performances (L to R): Sean for Best Table Topics answer, Joey for Best Evaluator, and Lauri for Best Speaker. Mahesh also gave virtual Enthusiasm ribbons to Kevin, Sean, and Cindy for "stepping up" at the last minute to fill vacant roles.

First-time Toastmaster Hayley Fernandez managed a spirited and on-time meeting yesterday with her theme of "The Year of the Horse." It's great to see our new members "step up" or should I say "gallop" toward the role of Toastmaster!

Pictured are the winners (from Thursday, April 9): L to R: Natasha for Best Speaker; J.C. won the Enthusiasm ribbon; Bryan won the Best Evaluator honor, and guest Ernest earned the Best Table Topics prize. Congrats to all!