Public Relations Officer
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.