The last meeting of July 2011 provided opportunity to meet several new people–we welcomed Debbie Hall’s nephew Tyler, Darin (who spent 10 years in Minnesota, so Jodi had instant respect for him since she is a MN native!), Joanna’s friend Steve, and Krupa (who goes by John.) We also got to hear some very engaging speeches. The Parker “Talk of the Town” Toastmasters really are the “talk of the town” in that the topics outclass “everyday” conversation; the club’s members are rich in personality and thought, it seems, and our speeches certainly reflect that.
Joanna Knott worked as our Toastmaster of the evening. She makes it look effortless and as our club president she has no trouble stepping into any of the necessary roles–but it’s clear her passion is for all the members to grow. Any member is encouraged to embrace one of the many roles needed to help the evening along: Toastmaster, General Evaluator, Speech Evaluator, Timer, and Grammarian. All of these contribute on many levels to personal growth–not to mention attaining the Competent Leadership Award!
One of our newest members, Ryan Zoeller, broke his way into the fold with his engaging Ice Breaker speech about his ambitions as a 14-year-old self-employed lawn-mower who was tapped by a local employer into “bigger times” with his lawn-mowing service. He attributes his early maturity, self-discipline, and success to his parents’ examples as well as life as a student of the Catholic school system.
Eric Dunham delivered a moving speech about the American Constitution, the pinnacle of which he read Preamble at the podium, “we the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union…”. Whether we considered ourselves patriots or not there was no denying the passion and substance to his speech.
Jodi Michael Horner plunged into her third speech from the Competent Communicator’s manual with the topic of temperament, specifically the Keirsey Temperament Sorter in which she is certified. She has plans to expound upon the presentation by providing more detail on the four main types so that we might better understand ourselves and others.
Voting for the night proffered the Best Speech for Eric Dunham’s passionate work, Best Table Topic went to Joanna Knott for her recount of times as a young woman with friends during rock concerts–with wild long hair flailing! And Best Evaluator went to Martin Cobb for his eloquent appraisal of Eric’s speech, and in so doing provided valuable insight for all of our members to use in future speeches.
After the speeches and evaluations, Joanna gave a 20 minute presentation on the Club’s progress and future goals. It’s evident that she’s excited and this is encouraging to us all! One of the bottom lines: let’s get the President’s Distinguished Status for our club again this year!
Thanks to Ryan for stepping up into the role of Timer, which he handled meticulously. By volunteering for that role he also made his first step into his Competent Leadership work–a great habit with which to start his membership.
Sandra Marthaler was our General Evaluator and provided an upbeat and thorough summary of our evening, which included 10 members in attendance and 4 guests. Although success in the Toastmasters organization ultimately is not about numbers it is encouraging and helpful hear the applause afforded by the growing membership of our club.