Simply Speaking Minutes

Colorado Community Church

April 4, 2013

Our meeting at Colorado Community Church began with Margaret Seyer  leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance before introducing our Toastmaster for the evening Will Osagiede.

Our theme was “Finish the Race”.  The word of the day was the very fitting “perseverance” (n) steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.

Inspirator  Sherry Thomas gave us some inspiration by reading from a poem about a boy who had fallen for the third time in a race.  He was about to give up, but he thought of his dad.  The boy finished the race and even though he came in last he received the biggest cheer for his perseverance and finishing the race.

Due to time constraints we had two speakers for the evening.

First speaker Alan Swartz presented a speech concerning sexual assault in the military.  Titled “The Invisible War”, told in the format of a press conference, he told of a film that documented the sexual assaults and what was needed to be done to deal with the aftermath of the assaults.  He then had a question and answer period with some very poignant questions from the audience.

Second speaker, Darryle Brown presented “Rock the Interview Win the Job/Promotion Part 8”.  With a recap of the first seven speeches, Darryle brought us up to date and reminded us of what we need to do to win the job or promotion.  He also told us that several people have been successful with the techniques he has outlined so far.

Table Topics Master Maura Thompson called for volunteers.  If we didn’t, she was going to volunteerr us.  Participants included Lee Johnson, Alan Swartz, Elinora Reynolds, Joy Davidson, and Kathy Fortune.

Margaret Seyer was our General Evaluator.  She reported that our meeting started on time.  The meeting and agenda were great, as well as the speeches.  She thanked Maura for some great table topics and welcomed Alan back.  It was also great to see Elinora, Lee, and Tom again.

In her evaluation of Alan, first evaluator Joy Davidson congratulated Alan on a very professional speech.  He was on point and offered a strong presentation of actions being taken.   He also interacted well with questions concerning the problems of sexual assault in the military.

Second evaluator Tom Marrs told Darryle he did an overall great job in bringing us up to date.  He was professional, glib, and very smooth in his presentation.

Time Keeper Deborah Frauenfelder reported that all speakers, evaluators, and Table Topics participants were in time.

Ah Counter Diane Nuss caught a few double clutches.  She also noted that there was some restarting of sentences and some fillers words.

Grammarian Cybele Antonow reported on how many times the word of the day was used.  She also noted some great lines used by people.

Our Quizmaster Kelli Malcom tested our listening skills.

Awards went to:

Best Evaluator: Joy Davidson

Best Table Topics: Kathy Fortune

Best Speaker: Alan Swartz

Present at the meeting: Cybele Antonow, Monica Alvidrez, Darryle Brown, David Bounds, Joy Davidson, Margaret Seyer, Pete Hazlet, Will Osagiede, Deborah Frauenfelder, Diane Nuss, Maura Thompson, Xiao Leong, Alan Swartz , Lee Johnson Kelli Malcolm, Tom Marrs, Kathy Fortune, and Sherry Thomas.

Guests:  Elinora Reynolds and Margaret Seyer Sr.