Going on job interviews? Giving a business presentation? Leading a meeting? Need confidence? Toastmasters is the answer!

The ability to speak well is crucial to success, but have you ever evaluated your speaking skills? Many people, if they were to seek feedback, would learn that they talk too much, or perhaps too softly, that they fill their sentences with “ums” and “uhs,” or that they are hard to follow. You might say that it’s the message that matters; but if you can’t put your ideas across in a way that makes people want to listen, that promotion or that leadership position could be a long time coming.

Toastmasters offers a formal, self-paced program that will help you learn to speak better. The two keys to this are practice and feedback. Toastmasters clubs provide a friendly and supportive setting where you can practice your public speaking, and receive constructive feedback. Darlene Burrill says, “Toastmasters has given me the courage to speak in front of a group in spite of my speech impediment.”

To learn more about Toastmasters attend an Open House at Burien Breakfast Toastmasters, Thursday, September 9, 2010. Arrive at 6:45am to receive your guest packet and get your coffee or juice. There will be a light breakfast served at break time.

Burien Breakfast Toastmasters Open House
4 Lessons on Speaking from “The Karate Kid”
Highline Public Schools ERAC Building
15675 Ambaum Blvd SW, Burien
Across the street from Azteca, next to Hi-Line Lanes
7:00am – 8:15am
Arrive at 6:45am for Guest Packets, Coffee and Juice
For more info contact Theresa 206-588-5088 or burienbreakfast.com@gmail.com

There will be three parts to the meeting, the prepared speeches, the evaluations, and “Table Topics”. The prepared speeches are usually of five to seven minutes long. Each member is given in a manual that sets out ten speech projects. Each of these has a specific goal, such as speech structure, using gestures, pauses and vocal inflection. These will help you learn how to express your ideas clearly and with confidence. Bang Parkinson, the President of Burien Breakfast Toastmasters, says that using the speech projects helped her gain confidence and feel comfortable presenting at board meetings at work. “Even though I still have my Chinese accent, people understand me better. Giving speeches at Toastmasters helped me to articulate well and to speak slower, clearer and smoother.”

After each speech an evaluator, usually a Toastmaster more experienced than the speaker, provides feedback. This takes the form of an impromptu speech and the objective is to give suggestions on how to improve future speeches because feedback is essential to learning.

For many people the “Table Topics” part of a meeting is the most frightening, yet this is also of the greatest benefit for those wanting to improve how they speak at work. In Table Topics each person is called upon to speak impromptu on a subject. If you’ve never done it before, delivering an interesting and well-structured talk to a group of attentive listeners without any preparation can be extremely difficult. Yes, the first time is hard, but it gets easier with practice, and that’s precisely the point. As Jean Schmidt says, “I used to be legally blind. Science gave me back my eyesight. Toastmasters opened my eyes. Now they can’t keep my mouth shut!”

Attend a meeting and you’ll find Toastmasters are more than willing to share stories of how Table Topics practice helped them at work. From explaining a project to a group of unexpected visitors to persuading colleagues to consider a crazy idea, being able to express thoughts clearly is essential to being viewed as both confident and competent. Roger Wells will tell you how Table Topics saved his dad’s life when with no preparation he had to convince medical authorities to hospitalize his dad at once.

You can learn these skills and more in a supportive, self paced, fun atmosphere at Burien Breakfast Toastmasters. Join us at our Open House September 9, 2010 at 6:45am or at any of our regularly scheduled meetings.

Burien Breakfast Toastmasters
Highline Public Schools ERAC Building
15675 Ambaum Blvd. SW
Burien, WA 98166
2nd and 4th Thursday of every month
7:00am – 8:15am

Prior to the grand opening of the new Burien location at 626 SW 152nd Street, Grand Central Bakery pledged to contribute a portion of the opening day sales to two local organizations. Today they followed through by handing over checks for 100% of their first day sales.

The two groups receiving checks this morning (Aug 27) were the Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence and the Highline Area Food Bank. Thanks to sales that set a opening day record for Grand Central, each organization received a check for $2,350.

Mike Werle, Executive Director of the Highline Area Food Bank, acknowledged the donation saying, “We’re very fortunate to have a business come into our community and latch on to organizations like ours.”

Maya Mendoza-Exstrom, President of the Highline Schools Foundation Board of Trustees, agreed and welcomed Grand Central to the neighborhood saying, “While we appreciate all of our community support, for a new business to step up like this is unprecedented.”

Photos by Michael Brunk. Click to view larger versions.

NPB Advertiser Archery Bistro (located at the Normandy Park Towne Center), would like our Readers to know about their latest food specials and events.

Here’s a letter from Chef Brandon about this week’s offering:

Hello!!! Chef Brandon here! This will be my last blog of the summer. I can’t believe September is almost here! Fortunately, September means that football season has arrived! Archery Bistro is your pro and college football headquarters!

Come down and have a burger and a brew, and cheer on your favorite team(s) all season long!

As I said last week, people are already booking their holiday parties with us. I would recommend you giving me a call, or stopping by in person to ensure you can book the date that you want!

Until Next Time,
- Chef Brandon

[Would you like to have a Blogvertorial story, Ad and/or Event Listing like this on a popular, fast-growing website seen by thousands of interested Local Readers every month? Email us for more info, or check out our Advertise page!]

NPB Real Estate Sponsor Prudential Northwest’s featured Open House for this week is a spectacular Sound view 2-bedroom condo just across the street from the water, next to Salty’s Restaurant in Redondo.

With a great covered patio/deck to enjoy, Redondo’s views and the beach, this unit offers a great, easy location, along with a club house big enough for wedding and family get-togethers.

Hardwood floors are only four years old, and there’s lots of storage and covered parking.

This unit is very clean and has fresh paint throughout.

Here are the details:

WHEN: Open House will be this Sunday, Aug. 29th, from 1pm – 4pm.

WHERE: 28120 S Redondo Beach Dr Unit 210, Des Moines, WA 98198

INFO:

• List Price: $249,900
• Listing #: 119453
• Beds: 2
• Baths: 1.00
• Year Built: 1962
• Approximate House SqFt: 815
• Home Owners Dues: $310

Appliances that Stay:

• Dishwasher
• Microwave
• Range/Oven
• Refrigerator

Unit Features:

• Balcony/Deck/Patio
• Skylights
• Top Floor

Marketing Remarks:

VIEW, VIEW and beach life!!

Spectacular Sound view 2 bedroom condo with a great covered patio/deck to enjoy.

Redondo’s views and beach, just across the street from the sound and next to Salty’s Restaurant.

This unit offers a great, easy location, club house big enough for those wedding and family get-togethers.

Hardwood floors are only 4 years old, lots of storage and covered parking.

This unit is very clean and has fresh paint throughout.

Click here to see the full, detailed listing.

Click here to view all of Prudential Northwest’s Open Houses.

[Would you like to have a "Blogvertorial" story, Ad and/or Event Listing like this on a popular, fast-growing website seen by thousands of interested Local Readers every month? Email us for more info, or check out our Advertise page!]

Looking for something to do this weekend? Here’s a round up of events happening around the area:

• Saturday – Saturday Morning Jazz Set at Dubsea Coffee
• Saturday – Fantastic Fruits & Vegetables At This Week’s Des Moines Waterfront Farmers Market!
• Sunday – Mark Your Calendar For This Sunday’s B-Patch Garden Day!
• Sunday – Advertiser E.B. Foote Winery Hosting Jazz Night On Sunday, August 29
• Sunday – El Tianguis Latino Market at Burien Town Square
• Sunday – Free Music at Marvista Park Featuring Blue Ringer

Know about an event we missed? Feel free to share the details in a comment!

Jazz Night and Wine Tasting returns to the E.B. Foote Winery on Sunday, August 29.

Tickets are $10 each ($9 for Wine Club Members) in advance or $12 day of the event and include two hours of smooth jazz, a sample of four wines, and snacks. The doors to the winery will open at 5:30 pm and music will go from 6-8 pm.

Wayne Miller and Friends will relax you with smooth jazz music while you enjoy a sample of four wines. Wine will also be available by the glass for $5 cash, and you can purchase bottles to take home with you. This event is for adults only. Tickets are available by visiting or calling the winery, or on the website at www.ebfootewinery.com.

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NPB Real Estate Sponsor Prudential Northwest’s featured Open House for this week is a totally-remodeled 4-bedroom, 2-bath home in McMicken Heights with views of Mt. Rainier and the Cascade Mountains.

This home features hardwood floors, six-panel doors, tile bathrooms, rounded corners, new furnace, windows and much more.

There’s a large family room off the living room that leads to huge covered deck overlooking a fenced back yard, along with raised gardens and breathtaking views!

Here are the details:

WHEN: Open House will be this Sunday, Aug. 22nd, from Noon – 3pm.

WHERE: 4846 S 170th Street, SeaTac, WA 98188

INFO:

• List Price: $274,950
• Listing #: 107062
• Beds: 4
• Baths: 1.75
• Year Built: 1948
• 2-car Garage
• Approximate House SqFt: 1,840
• Lot Square Footage: 11,325

Interior Features:

• Ceiling Fan(s)
• Dble Pane/Strm Windw
• French Doors

Site Features:

• Cable TV
• Deck
• Fenced-Partially
• High Speed Internet
• Outbuildings

Marketing Remarks:

Total remodel 3 years ago, 4 bedroom, 2 bath home with Mt Rainier, Valley and Cascade Mt views!

Home features hardwood floors, 6 panel doors, tile bathrooms, rounded corners, new furnace, windows, electric & plumbing.

Large family room off the living room leads to huge covered deck overlooking fenced back yard, raised gardens and breath taking views!

Deep 2 car garage with opener and shelves.

Lot of extra storage, private setting in back yard.

Click here to see the full, detailed listing.

Click here to view all of Prudential Northwest’s Open Houses.

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On Wednesday night (Aug. 18th), Burien’s Tin Room hosted the opening party for sponsors of the 2010 “Brat Trot” 5K race, which will be on Sunday, Sept. 19th.

This year’s all-day event will benefit WestSide Baby and Safe Kids of South King County, as well as Multicare at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital and Health Center.

Last year’s race brought in nearly $25,000 for local charities, and this year’s will include even more activities, including a German Oompah Band, a “Seize the Sausage” race, beer garden, and a block party emceed by none other than Burien’s own inimitable “Yodeling Dominatrix” Manuela Horn.

The brainchild of Tin Room owner Danny House (aka “Dan the Sausageman“), the original race drew more than 700 people together for a day of fun and festivities, and most important, fundraising. Of course this year, Danny wants to do more.

Here’s how YOU can help:

• If you’re a local businessperson and you’d like to chip in to sponsor (we’re already one!), click here to download a PDF Sponsorship Packet.
• If you’re a Runner who’d like to register for the race, click here.
• If you’d like to serve as a Volunteer, click here to email Deb Will.
  

Here’s info on this year’s race from the website:

This year’s 5K race begins in Olde Burien on SW 152nd, widely circling Lake Burien before finishing to cheering crowds around the corner of 10th SW and back onto SW 152nd.

2010 brings the addition of a 1 mile+ “Seize the Sausage” race, perfect for kids and adults alike looking for a shorter venue. Runners can dash out, grab their Bratton and race back to the same finish line as those in the 5K.

5K Individual Race
This 5K course is generally flat with few even slight grades. Runners will be primarily on blacktop with a bit of gravel and grass. Race is clearly marked with live hand wavers to keep you on the course and trained flaggers and police officers at busy intersections. Runners can expect a nice run through neighborhoods with glimpses of beautiful Lake Burien and other parts of our charming city. Timing is chip-driven and provided by BuDu Racing.

The Burien Brat Trot starts and finishes nestled into one of greatest festivals of the fall — Octoberfest. Beginning at 10:30 am on September 19th the band strikes up and begins to play in Old Burien. All day event goers can enjoy brats, the beer garden, a german oompah band,water weenie races, booths and of course the Chicken Dance. Local restaurants and shops will be open for business with drink and event specials. Entertaining again this year is the Austrian Yodeler Manuela Horn.

In addition to marking your calendars for the race day, you might also want to pencil in Friday, Sept. 17th as well – that’s the night of the Brat Trot Pub Crawl, which, if it’s anything like last year’s, will be amazingly fun.

This week, our decision to “take the pledge” to the TAO of Journalism came to fruition, and we’d like our Readers to know about it.

The “TAO of Journalism” is, quite simply, a “promise to your audience that you will be Transparent about who you are, Accountable for your mistakes, and Open to other points of view.”

Here’s how this concept originated:

At a Journalism That Matters conference in Washington, D.C., in 2008, John Hamer of the Washington News Council was thinking about how journalists demand that everyone they cover be transparent, accountable and open — but what about journalists themselves? Isn’t it a two-way street? He realized those three words spelled “TAO” and proposed a breakout session on the “TAO of Journalism.” About two dozen conference attendees showed up to discuss the idea and help refine it.

In 2009, at another Journalism That Matters gathering at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, Hamer floated the idea again and convened another breakout session. Several attendees came and talked it over — including Tom Stites of The Banyan Project, who encouraged Hamer to pursue it.

At a third Journalism That Matters event at the University of Washington in Seattle in January 2010 (Editor’s Note: this is where we first met John and learned of this concept), the “TAO of Journalism” was informally launched. Several attendees took the “TAO pledge” and/or bought T-shirts displaying a TAO logo. Others signed up at a Society of Professional Journalists convention in Seattle in April 2010.

We now proudly publish the pledge we took for not only The Normandy Park Blog, but for our five sister sites as well:

Transparent
We will fully disclose who we are, our journalistic mission and our guiding principles. We will post information on our background and expertise, including education and experience. We will list advertisers, donors, grants, and any other payments that support our work. If affiliated with a political party or special-interest group, we will disclose that. If lobbying for any particular legislation or regulation, we will disclose that. If we are being paid to promote a product or cause, we will disclose that. If other factors could be seen as potential conflicts of interest, we will disclose them. (NOTE: The principle of transparency does not apply to confidential sources, who may still be protected.)

Accountable
If we get any facts wrong, we will admit that promptly and publicly. We will post/publish/print/podcast/broadcast a correction or at least a clarification. We will fully explain what happened to cause the error or mistake. We will do a follow-up story if that is appropriate, putting the original material in better context. We will apologize and promise to be more careful next time. We will show a little humility.

Open
If there are credible challenges to our point of view or simply differences of opinion, we will be open to contrary positions. We will give the other side(s) opportunity and space to express their views and engage in open public dialogue through comments or other means. If we are primarily engaged in opinion and commentary, rather than news reporting, we will make that clear – while inviting others to express their opinions through comment and feedback means.

We do not necessarily agree to abide by any particular code of journalism ethics or professional standards, although we may choose to do so. If we do, we will declare that publicly. If we don’t, we will declare that as well. We understand that this will not be enforced by any outside organized group. It will be overseen by everyone on the Internet who wants to see high standards of transparency, accountability and openness in journalism – through whatever media platform.

We understand that if someone using the “TAO Seal” starts violating its basic principles, they will be admonished, criticized, reprimanded and embarrassed in public through the awesome power of the Internet. Call it “crowdsourcing” ethics and accuracy. In summary, we believe that Transparency, Accountability and Openness are keys to our personal credibility and public trust.

So…what the heck does this mean to our Readers?

• It means that you can rest assured that if we have a bias or agenda, we’ll do our best to openly disclose it.
• If we make a mistake, we’ll do our best to correct it.
• And, as we’ve showed in the past by allowing anonymous Comments and Forum Postings, we’ll continue to allow contrary points of view, as long as they’re not libelous, or contain naughty words.

NPB Advertiser Archery Bistro (located at the Normandy Park Towne Center), would like our Readers to know about their latest food specials and events.

Here’s a letter from Chef Brandon about this week’s offering:

What’s up B-Town Followers?! Chef Brandon here to remind you about your Hot Summer Nights promotion every Thursday night in August in our Archery Bistro parking lot! Swing by with your classic car or bike and receive food and drink specials ALL NIGHT long! Thursdays are also our All You Can Eat Fish and Chips night! Plan on coming down after work for a fun and entertaining evening!

Although it may seem far out, people are starting to book their holiday work or family parties now! Archery Bistro is a great place for you and yours to relax and enjoy some fantastic food, drinks, and service! Call now and reserve your party to make sure you get a prime date. If you have an extra large party Archery Bistro is available for a total buy out. I am also happy to custom design your party menu and can work with different size budgets. I promise all of us at Archery Bistro will do all we can so your guests have a lasting and memorable event!
On a final note, have you seen our fire pit? It’s one of a kind! It’s a great place for a late evening glass of wine or summer cocktail! That’s where I would be, if I wasn’t working!

Make it a great day!!
– Chef Brandon

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