Simply Speaking Minutes

08/02/2012

Our Word of the Day was “Fellowship” – sharing of experiences; a sharing of common interests, goals, or views.  The theme was “Be an Olympian”.

What a fantastic meeting we had this night.  The meeting started on time with Lori Bibeau filling in as sergeant-at-arms leading us in the pledge of allegiance after the call to order and the reminder to turn off cell phones.  She then turned it over to herself, as she was the Toastmaster.

Our Inspirator for the evening was Kathy Fortune.  Kathy used bugs and critters as metaphors that get in our way of working on our speeches, or whatever else we need to do.  She then offered up a humorous prayer that we may be free of bugs and critters as we write our speeches.

Our first speaker, Leo Chen, gave us his icebreaker and told us about his formative years as he moved to other countries.   His dad was a doctor for The World Health Organization and he and his sister were eventually sent to Michigan to live with a friend of his dad’s.  He’s got a great background to draw on for speeches.  Great job, Leo!

Second speaker, Darryle Brown, gave us little history on poetry before reading his poem The First Time.  Did you know that poetry was one of the earliest forms of communication?  Darryle kept us on the edge of our seats as he described, with much innuendo, his first time….. milking a cow.

Third and final speaker Anne Tacznosky did a little “Trash Talk” showing us how plastic, Styrofoam and other single use items take up space in landfills and take forever to break down – if they do at all.  By tossing items on the floor as she spoke about them Anne provided some great visuals.  She offered up a great argument for recycling, or just not using plastic and Styrofoam whenever possible.

On to Table Topics, presented by Maura Thompson, the participants were presented with some challenging questions.  With the audience saying “Today is August 12, on this day in…” with Maura presenting participants their challenges.  Participants included Kreg Lyles, Davorka Lipovscak, Deborah Frauenfelder, and Joe Long.

Lee Johnson evaluated Leo Chen’s speech and said Leo seemed to speak from the heart.  He also gave some good ideas for Leo’s next speech.

Alan Swartz evaluating Darryle Brown’s speech commented on Darryle’s great energy and movement, not to mention using a great innuendo that picked up on Darryle’s poem!  Alan also offered up some great suggestions for Darryle’s next speech.

Our third evaluator, Connie Akins, complemented Anne Tacznosky for her great opening, striking visuals, and great use of the note cards.  Connie also offered some suggestions for Anne’s next speech.

Our General Evaluator, Margaret Seyer, thanked the people who filled roles.  The meeting started on time and Marcy Brack, our Timekeeper reported all speakers and table topics participants were in time. 

Deborah Frauenfelder kept track of the “Ah’s” and Grammarian Felicia Arambula kept track of great uses of grammar.  Quizmaster Gigi De Gala tested our listening skills before Lori handed out awards.

The Gold Medal Winners:

Table Topics: Joe Long

Best Evaluator: Lee Johnson

Best Speaker: Laing (Leo) Chen

Members present: Dale Jenkel, Maura Thompson, Marcy Brack, David Bounds, Margaret Seyer, Kreg Lyons, Darryle Brown, Lori Bibeau, Lee Johnson, Leo Chen, Pete Hazlet, Sherry Londo-Thomas, Zelimir Adamic, Davorka Lipovscak, Anne Tacznosky, Deborah Frauenfelder, Joe Long, Gigi De Gala, Felicia Arambula, Kathy Fortune, Connie Akins, & Alan Swartz.
Guests:   Cliff Long and Ben Rushing.

Next meeting is August 9th Darryle Brown will be our Toastmaster.   Be sure to sign up for a role!

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