March 15, 2012 Meeting Minutes

Theme:
“The Day Fear Was Lost and Courage Was Found…Is This YOUR Day?”

Word of the Day:
Nemesis


Dale Jenkel, Sergeant-at-Arms called the meeting to order and led the Toastmasters and guests in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Darryle Brown, our Toastmaster for the evening, greeted everyone with a warm “Hello Simply Speaking.” Darryle opened the meeting in a celebratory manner as he stated, “This is your day. We are going to celebrate you losing your fear.” With the usual Darryle energy, he exclaimed, “This is one of my favorite roles and it is a pleasure to serve you today.”

With a “let’s get ready to rumble” feel, Darryle introduced Inspirator, Deborah Frauenfelder. Deborah told everyone to close their eyes and forget all of the people in the room. Deborah stated, “Hopefully, tonight we will forget the fears.”

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Darryle introduced the first speaker of the evening, the magnificent, Maura Thompson. Maura presented her speech “Curveball”, from the Competent Communication Manual – Getting Comfortable with Visual Aids – Speech #8. Maura presented a question to the audience, “Have you ever had something catch you off guard, totally by surprise that you would never forget it?” As everyone began thinking of that one thing we would never forget Maura shared a story that included her nemesis, Orlando. One sunny afternoon, while distracted by music, Orlando hit Maura with a softball. Maura pulled us into her story using visual aids to help us follow the chase that I am sure started immediately after she was hit with the softball. Maura noted that she was not paying attention and provided 3 ways to not get hit. First, pay attention! Second, be prepared and third; always keep your eye on the ball.

The second speaker of the evening was introduced as the fabulous and courageous, Connie Akins. Connie’s speech “The Red Dress Syndrome” is from the Advanced Communication Manual – Speaking to Inform – Fact Finding Report – Speech #4. Connie stepped out as the lady in red. She shared a story with us of a lady named Sally that was trapped in the red dress syndrome. Connie passionately stated, “The red dress syndrome starts in our childhood.” Connie was the littlest girl in her home and felt less important and less valuable. She felt stuck and felt that she let her dream slip away. “Maybe you have been trapped in your nemesis role. Are you sick and tired of being someone else?” stated Connie as she looked directly into the crowd. Well we learned that Connie was sick and tired of being someone else and sick of wearing the red dress! Connie decided to let her true light shine and with a quick jerk, off came the red top she was wearing. Before you get the wrong picture in your mind, she had on a black blouse under the red blouse. We learned that we have a choice and that every day we can get up and disown dysfunctional family roles.

We put our hands together for the sensational Cybele Antonow, our third speaker of the evening. Cybele presented “Motivating People” from the Leadership Excellence Series, Speech #1. Cybele helped us to discover the secrets of motivation. She stated, “A motivated team is committed and successful.” She explained that good leadership motivates others. Cybele stated, “Don’t think anyone here would complain about some praise.” Cybele motivates herself by taking the initiative of taking on multiple roles. She discussed several motivators such as money, praise, and public recognition. More responsibility was also mentioned as a motivator. Cybele noted that some may feel more motivated by more responsibility while others may view it as a nemesis. Cybele left us with these encouraging words, “I hope when you come to a Simply Speaking meeting you leave more motivated than when you came in.”

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Darryle provided us with an illustration before our ears were pleasantly served by outstanding Table Topic speeches. Darryle balled up a piece of paper and told us to think of it as fear. He then tossed the paper across the room and introduced the absolutely terrific Table Topic leader, Tien Pham. Tien opened the floor to volunteers that spoke about courage and fear. They shared fears of sneaky bees, speeding tickets, speaking in front of an audience and the misbehavior of Curious George. We also learned that we should never trust an animal that cannot “potentially” wear shoes.

Table Topic participants: Maura, Kumu, Kathy, Lori, Deneen

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Evaluator #1: David Bounds evaluated Maura’s speech. David stated that it was a wonderful speech. He was not surprised that Maura was a tom boy. In David’s words, “You being a tom boy was certainly no stretch.” He remarked on the great use of printouts during the speech. “Overall, the fact that you told it (the story) perfectly well and so prepared made it a wonderful speech,” stated David.

Evaluator #2: Gigi de Gala evaluated Connie’s speech. Gigi compared Connie’s speech to a bowl of Asian fried rice; you just can’t get enough of it. She expressed how Connie creates depth and goes to the next level. Gigi stated, “You are the most credible speaker to deliver that message.” She explained how Connie took us on a journey.

General Evaluator: Dale Jenkel provided an overview and re-cap of the meeting. Dale stated, “My personal nemesis is my voice was not as loud as Darryle’s.” He noted that the two evaluators were exceptional. He acknowledged the great job that Tien did in the Table Topics role.

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Ah Counter: Kathy Fortune

Quizmaster: George Maestas

Grammarian: Craig Lyle

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Applause is in order for the following winners:

Best Speaker: Connie Akins

Best Evaluator: Gigi de Gala

Best Table Topics: Kathy Fortune