Sergeant-at-Arms
Each Thursday that our club meets we enter with the expectation to learn, support, and stretch ourselves. The meeting last Thursday was no exception as I believe our group experienced all these things.
In the role of the evening’s Toastmaster was Caroline Nguyen. This was her second outing as Toastmaster and she showed us her increasing acumen in the job. There were several curve balls thrown her way at the get-go with speakers unable to attend or having to arrive a bit late. She handled things with aplomb by reassigning roles and maneuvering the schedule to work.
Irini Dobeck gave the first speech of the evening. She shared the remarkable story of Juji the snake and its quest for change through a hunger strike; Irini solved the situation with the help of a pet psychic! I never thought I would be moved to tears by a story of a snake, but I was.
New member Alissa Tenorio grabbed the ice pick and broke through her first speech with the theme of “blooming.” She impressed us all with her vivid stories and great “stage” presence. I am looking forward to her future speeches as I am sure others are too.
Bill Morgan delved into history by sharing his interpretive reading of a speech called “Every Man A King.” by Huey Long. It was an interesting peek into the past and intriguing as how fitting it was for much of what our country is experiencing still today.
Joanna Knott rounded things off with a visual presentation diabetes. She opened with the intriguing question, “how many of you have had a dream that has actually come true?” She shared her personal story of her father-in-law’s new plight with his health and gave us all great notes for keeping our health in check.
Sandy Marthaler stepped into the Table Topics Master role at the last minute and came up with a challenge befitting the first week of spring: Tell About Your Top Three Favorite Things of Spring. It got our minds rolling down green meadows, hiking up tall mountains, camping…golfing…
Our club had the wonderful pleasure of hosting some first time visitors! Delroy Edwards II and Will O’Brien said they were actively seeking to improve their public speaking and Marcy Brack is keeping her eyes peeled for a possible new Toastmasters “home” closer to her real home. We hope to see all of them again soon! Delroy, Will, and Marcy all participated in the Table Topics for the evening and Marcy, a veteran of the process with her three years membership already in the Toastmasters International organization, even gave a speech evaluation for Alissa.
Honors for the evening went to:
Irini Dobeck for best speech
Eric Dunham for best evaluator
Marcy Brack for best Table Topic
Please remember to utilize your role toward your Competent Leadership Award!
Toastmaster: Caroline Nguyen
General Evaluator: Bill Morgan
Timer: Joanna Knott
Grammarian: Eric Dunham
Table Topic Master: Sandy Marthaler
Speech Evaluators: Marcy Brack, Jodi Horner, Eric Dunham, Bill Bervard