July 2, 2025

Today’s “Voices of Freedom” meeting, led by Toastmaster Dawn, explored themes of identity and authenticity. Joscel presented this week’s Leader Profile, featuring Disney heroine, Mulan. We reflected on questions like, “Is the person we see in the mirror our authentic self, or who society expects us to be?” Joscel’s discussions touched upon how speaking authentically can sometimes be viewed as rebellion, prompting us to consider, “What is your real voice?” and “Who can you help when using your authentic voice?”

We warmly welcomed Sana as a new member, embodying the L.E.A.D. values of Leadership, Empowerment, Advancement, and Diversity.

Audrey delivered an inspiring speech, titled “My Mentor Made Me Do It.” Audrey shared a personal journey of growth sparked by her mentor, Sarah. Initially hesitant, Audrey humorously recounted Sarah’s insistence that she participate in a speech contest last October. Audrey navigated challenging feedback sessions, comparing them to the toughest level of Dance Dance Revolution. With Sarah’s unwavering support, Audrey exceeded her expectations, reaching the division-level contest, winning 2nd place, and gaining valuable confidence and trust in her instincts. Thanks to all our wonderful mentors for your support!

Nitin energized our Table Topics session by introducing Table Topics techniques, with humorous examples such as, “Should cockroaches have voting rights? What if cockroaches were trending on the stock market?” He introduced creative prompts such as sharing our favorite July 4th memory, and can freedom be a bad thing?

Jagan served effectively as our General Evaluator, with Sana providing insightful speech evaluation focusing on eye contact, humor, tone shifts, pacing, and storytelling structure. Special kudos to Dawn, Sana, Shweta, and Nitin for stepping up in their first-time meeting roles.

See you at our next meeting!