Short and Sweet

One club speaker and one guest speaker made for a short and sweet meeting. Eric Dunham inspired us with his Specialty Speech #2. He implored us to strengthen our country. See his speech here.

Our Guest Speaker, Alan Swartz, had won the Area contest for Humor and showed us his stuff! Rather literally…a nice brassiere makes every man look his best! Let’s just say he embraced his feminine side. Much to our dismay, although we intended to record him, we didn’t get his speech on video. Hopefully we’ll have the chance to see it again if not in person then on the internet.

Since two our our speakers were not able to deliver their speeches, our very “adroit” Toastmaster for the evening, Nina Minary, kept the hour filled by adding Table Topics to the agenda. She recalled a recipe that meant a lot to her and three other Toastmasters reminisced as well, including Alan’s wife Connie.

As there was only one club speech delivered there was no tabulation for Best Speaker, Evaluator, or even Table Topics. But Audrey Bolema gave a thorough and poised evaluation for Eric Dunham’s speech. See her Evaluation here.

I gave the General Evaluation for the evening. One suggestion I made was that the Toastmaster or President give a reminder at the very beginning to have those giving speeches to pass their paperwork to their evaluator at that time so that the evaluator has a moment to assess what they need to do when introducing the speaker. See that General Evaluation here.

Orders for Plastic Magnetic Name Badges can still be made–please let Joanna Knott know if you plan to mail money to her; she plans to submit the order for the name badges early in the week next week. You can email her at candjknott@msn.com.

A terrific meeting all told…

…but it certainly presented some challenges! Everyone had done their work in advance with preparing their speeches and roles, and everyone (including yours truly!) was on time. However when the room that the club usually uses is locked one must exercise rapid resourcefulness. 

Bill Bevard, our Sergeant-at-Arms, was in the lobby of the building directing traffic to a room upstairs. A large room…with a stage! This created an unexpected ambience that many of those present seemed to think would be beneficial to utilize more often. The vastness of the stage and high ceiling could have seemed a bit daunting. Admittedly, many of us would have to speak louder and more clearly to be heard if we continued using that venue. It is the opinion of this writer that that type area would be ideal for Toastmasters to learn to speak while stepping up to some higher standards for presenting than they otherwise might be required. On the other hand it is possible that the stage and almost cavernous room could be intimidating for new members. The jury is still out as to whether we will procure that particular facility in the future. 

Our three speakers all gave interesting and well-prepared speeches. Troy Bishop gave his Ice-breaker. He had stage presence and content that kept us all engaged. Alissa Tenorio spoke about healthy eating and her personal experience with learning how to approach it. And Michelle DeVore gave a well-prepared delivery on Coaching in the workplace.  Although she had planned on a projected Power Point visual aid, she did a suburb job in presenting with the computer just as her own prompter. It was her final speech in an Advanced series and she thereby completed her 10th speech toward achieving her Advanced Communicator Bronze Award. Congratulations Michelle!

Extra thanks goes to newcomer Ashley Jones for stepping in as the Grammarian/Ah Counter. Ashley came into the club already a fairly mature speaker so I rather put her on the spot while opening with roles during the meeting: “Ashley will you be our Grammarian?” She deftly responded, “I will if you tell me what it is!” Touché!

It must also be noted that our regular attendee Philipp Kazakov steped into the role as Videographer and did an excelled job! Thank you so much, Philipp. (Is it just me or are we seeing a pattern here with the caliber of friends our club Secretary Nikita brings in?)

Elaine McElwain provided thoughtful questions for us to respond to at the Table Topics for the evening. It’s always enjoyable to watch everyone work with new material each time they work on their impromptu skills (as opposed to having everyone answer the same question which doesn’t truly challenge the brain in the same way.)

Bill Bevard was our General Evaluator for the evening and gave a great overview of our night. 

Awards for the Evening:
Best Speech: Michelle DeVore
Best Evaluator: Joanna Knott
Best Table Topics: Ashley Jones 

REMINDERS
Badge Orders Due at our Next Meeting
August 23rd — $8.00 check to Parker Toastmasters, submit to Joanna Knott

Contestants Still Needed for the Fall Contest
September 13th — Humorous and Evaluation Categories
Please talk to Jodi Michael Horner or sign up at our Sign Up Sheet on the Home Page

Nina Minary, VP of Education, has requested that everyone please submit their dates of speech delivery and speech/project number at their earliest convenience for club records. Please email her at nina_minary@hotmail.com.

by Jodi Michael Horner
Public Relations Officer

*for videos of each speech please click on the links embedded in the speakers’ paragraph.

Our weekly meetings have yielded abundant results in numbers. First, our attendance has increased. Last Thursday’s meeting sported 16 in attendance, including one new guest (and now member) Shari Beaudette. Secondly–speaking of new members–the additional meetings seem to be harkening to Parker area residents to join our Parker Toastmasters community. There certainly seems to be some appeal to the shorter time frame that weekly meetings provide as well as the mere fact that more meetings assumes more opportunity to attend and for speakers to deliver their speeches.

Toastmaster of the evening, Bruce Ekins, worked hard in advance to ensure the maximum number of three speakers were on deck. He also did some last minute agenda adjusting as in: “oops I can’t get the regular agenda document to work!” For future reference: it is perfectly alright to use the online sign-up sheet if nothing else is available for the agenda, which is what Bruce did. The motto of the Toastmaster for an evening is: “Whatever it takes!”

Martin Cobb did some pinch-hitting to ensure there were three speakers. His speech bordered on patriotic (in my view!) by calling out the need for our deserving veterans to be employed as they are relieved of active duty. Statistically it seems things are not in their favor. Martin directed us to two important web sites for further information and assistance: h2h.jobs and

Eric Dunham got dirty as he delivered an “impromptu” speech on Project Management. He had his evaluator for the evening, Nikita Kazakov, select a card from several pre-printed topics cards. Eric drew “Project Management” and ran with it. We heard a horror story of a backed-sewage line due to a failure in project management at the time of hook-up for that particular home during its construction.

Newcomer Ashley Jones showed off her strong speaking chops right out of the gate. Her Icebreaker utilized her experience in performing dance, competing in debate, writing poetry, and inspiring people. She not only stood tall in her delivery but she used these experiences to illustrate her passion for inspiring others here in the land of her sojourn.

Table Topics were led by Marcy Brack,  who–naturally–did a stunning job. We had the pleasure of listening to many memorable vacation stories. And Marcy was not above putting some of us on the spot this time to ensure participation and growth for all members. (Kudos on you there girl!)

The other key cogs to our machinery for the evening were:

Nina Minary: General Evaluator
Matt Martinez: Vote Counter
Raani Varma: Grammarian
Martin Cobb: Timer
Jodi Michael Horner: Videographer

The first meeting of the new club year was a huge success and highlighted by our guest speaker. There were 19 members and guests in attendance. What a show of Parker Power.  Our President, Eric Dunham called the meeting order and acted as the Toastmaster for the evening.  The agenda was packed which is becoming the norm for Parker Toastmasters.

The speakers for the evenings:

Nikita Kazakov – Competent Communicator Speech 8

Nikita provide those of who suffer from Myopia or nearsightedness. the cause, prevention and home treatment options. Would you ever think it was as simple as a muscle that refuses to relax on its own?

Martin Cobb – Advance Communicator (Speaking to Inform) Project 2

Martin brought us back to the Waldo Canyon wildfire which burned in Colorado Springs recently. “Are you ready?” Do you have to grab and go kit; the necessities for when you have to leave your home suddenly and with very little notice. Wildfires, blizzards and other natural disasters can force us from our homes anytime. Be prepared!

Marcy Brack brought Table Topics alive with her side-kick David. Participants placed a cut out face of famous actors and people and were asked to play out a scene with a partner. Characters included; Charlie Brown and Lucy; Captain Kirk and Dr. Spock. It was fun and a unique experience. We had visitors and new members participate.

The evenings highlight was our guest speaker, Ian Humphrey. Ian is headed to Orlando Florida to compete in the International Speech competition. Parker Toastmasters was honored to have Ian join us and practice for the competition. A truley inspirational speaker. Good luck Ian!

It is clear based on our first meeting of the new club year; Parker Toastmasters is off to a solid start support by great members. We are truly, “The Talk of the Town.”

by Jodi Michael Horner

I don’t know about the rest of y’all but I’m still getting used to our new one-hour weekly format! That isn’t to say I don’t love it–I absolutely do. I guess it sort of feels like a TIVO version of our previous bi-weekly meetings that were an hour-and-a-half in length. With such an important meeting as the Final Meeting of the Year it seemed a bit strange to have it condensed to one hour.

Be that as it may the meeting was none-the-less stellar. Can I just once again state how admirably professional the Parker Toastmasters remains while at the same time granting the lucky 20+ members a community feel respite with genuine friendships?

Last night was nearly a packed house with 17 in attendance including one new guest. Joanna Knott acted as Toastmaster with her familiar suave. If one word could be used to describe her style I believe it would “diplomatic.” She handles the curve balls without nodding to any awkwardness. As a Toastmaster she puts us all at ease knowing she’s got it covered–and as club president she operated with the same aplomb.

Speakers Matt Martinez and Eric Dunham provided us with an excellent scope of topics and style. Matt gave his Icebreaker and did so with wonderful first-time moxie. He spoke of his travels and diverse places of residence, including military life.

Eric delivered a speech driven by family values, “focus on the family” he implored. He laid out specific elements to guide our thinking including the two-hour rule: make sure to spend two hours of absolute focused time with our children per week.

Audrey Bolema served her first time as Table Topics Master. It was clear she’d prepared for this role and it was a delight to participate in “what’s going on here?” She had printed photos or graphics that depicted some intriguing situations. We had the chance to create our own story for the scenes. David Bounds won the Table Topics–at his wife’s expense! Just beware of the fires in Aurora, he warned us, as she may have started one in their kitchen.

Marcy Brack gave a refreshingly thorough assessment of the meeting as General Evaluator. Going over and above the classic summary of the night she worked to provide feedback to us all.

Nina Minary evaluated Eric Dunham and Nikita Kazakov evaluated Matt Martinez. Both gave great evaluations as they were rife with encouragement and a couple of points to work on.

Best Speaker: Eric Dunham
Best Evaluator: Nikita Kazakov
Best Table Topics: David Bounds

Joanna wrapped up her year as club president by handing out lovely framed certificates for the officers and award winners from the past year. Sandy Marthaler leapt forth to congratulate Joanna on her job very well done this year. I think I speak on behalf of my fellow officers in stating that our opportunity to celebrate Joanna can’t come soon enough.

We closed our evening out with Officer Nominations and Elections. Eric Dunham took over for Joanna and his first act as president was to lay forth the nominations. All were passed unanimously. The officers for the Parker Toastmasters 2012-13 Year are:

Newly Elected Officers for 2012-13 Year, L-R Top Row: Bill Bevard, Bruce Ekins, Eric Dunham, Nikita Kazakov
Bottom Row: Joanna Knott, Nina Minary, Jodi Horner

President: Eric Dunham, CC
VP Membership: Nina Minary, CC
VP Education: Bruce Ekins
VP Public Relations: Jodi Michael Horner, CC
Secretary: Nikita Kazakov
Treasurer: Joanna Knott, ACB, CL
Sergeant-at-Arms: Bill Bevard

President Joanna Knott handed the gavel over to President-Elect Eric Dunham at 2011-12’s last meeting on June 28, 2012.

As usual, it was a meeting with lots of participation, enthusiasm and fun.

Congratulations to Eric’s new officers Nina Minary, Bruce Ekins, Jodi Michael Horner, Joanna Knott, Bill Bevard and Nikita Kazakov.

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In May Club President Joanna Knott had the privilege to attend the Spring Conference. Here is a brief glimpse into the happenings at the biannual District 26 conference.

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Traci Brown’s inspirational speech was well-received. Kudos also to speakers Elaine Love, Pat Broadbent and Sharon Hoery for giving their best to a receptive audience.

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