Our picturesque meeting on Monday 4th took us to a journey throughout Romance.
Infused by the theme of our meeting, Vaishali Sahay offered an inspirational message on the Invocation and Pledge. Vaishali urged us to be peaceful, quiet and receptive in the search of love. Being infinitely patient means having an absolute knowing that you are in vibrational harmony with the all-creating force that intended you here. “Everything will happen at just the right time, at just the right place, with just the right people”—Vaishali said.
Our President, Grace Weltman (DTM) –after welcoming our guests Mavera and Dawer—yielded the floor to the Vice President of Membership who announced that, being the club’s goal to increase the number of members, gift card prizes of $35, $25 and $15 will be delivered to members who bring new members.
After Emily, it was the turn to our Treasurer –James Noh— to give his report. He reminded us that dues are due: James will be happy to collect your $49 either by check or online via Paypal.
Our first congratulations message went to Larry Savell (DTM), who placed 1st at the Area D-3 Evaluation Contest, and 2nd at the International Speech Contest! Congratulations Larry! For the evaluations, Larry will be advancing to the Division D Contest, which will be held on Saturday, April 13, 2013. We will be there giving support to our contestant!
The President reminded us that the Toastmaster is responsible for contacting the participants and confirming their roles. Also, each participant to the meeting must bring both their Competent Communicator and Competent Leader manuals to the meetings to receive credit on the role fulfilled.
After thanking Gordon Kehmeier (ATMB) for inviting us to the service organized for Anita, Grace introduced the Toastmaster, Austin Burge (CC, ALB), who wonderfully conducted an entertaining gathering.
While introducing the program participants, the grammarian, Grace Weltman (DTM), presented the Word of the Day: enamor—a verb meaning to cause someone to be loved or admired. Enamor enamored the speakers, and many of them used it with ease during their speeches. We also heard a variety creative language, like:
- “Do something that is meaningful; do something with class” by Larry Savell (DTM).
- “Romance is different for everyone” by Betty Nebelsky (DTM).
- “My dream is someone else’s dream too” by Karina Gaete Llanos.
Congratulations to all the speakers! Your words are always a source of inspiration!
The Toastmaster yielded the floor to the Table Topics Master, Julia Burge (DTM), who presented a session of interesting questions about romance. Is February 14th the happiest day of the year? Or Would you choose something romantic or something adventurous for your significant other’s birthday? The variety and creativity of the questions made Table Topics an engaging session. As a result, Julia was voted Best Program Manager. The Best Table Topics Speaker ribbon went to Vaishali Sahay. Congratulations, Julia and Vaishali!
During Mentor’s Moment, Larry reminded us of the General Evaluator’s decisive role —who evaluates anything and everything taking place throughout the meeting, or doesn’t but should:
- Are the club’s trophies, banners and educational material properly displayed?
- Is the Invocation and Pledge appropriate? If so, is it inspirational or patriotic?
- Have the business meeting been conducted diligently?
- Has the Table Topic Master chosen a pertinent topic? Was the questions’ length appropriate?
- Did the Toastmaster give an introduction for all the speakers?
- Did the Evaluators give a positive feedback enhancing or at least preserving the self-esteem of the speaker?
- Did the other meeting roles—from the Grammarian to the Ballot Counter—execute their responsibility proficiently?
Thank you Larry, for your always-valuable considerations!
We had the pleasure to hear three striking speeches:
Karina Gaete Llanos presented her speech entitled “Just Share It”—an inspirational discourse on our dreams and the way to reach them. Using a personal experience, Karina related her planning on reaching a twenty-eight-year old dream. Karina won the Best Speaker ribbon. Congratulations Karina!
Vaishali Sahay shared “Interview Your Employer” to highlight the need to interview your employer with the same criteria used by employers to interview candidates: integrity, respect and reliability. Vaishali selected clear, accurate, descriptive and short words to communicate her ideas, adding the exact dose of humor to such a delicate topic.
Terry Chodosh (CTM) provided an informational and organized delivery entitled “Book Your Care”. Terry provided details on services to help people caught in an emotional spin cycle—drug addiction, eating disorder or drinking problem—find quality treatment that suits them best. Terry won the Most Improved Speaker ribbon.
Betty Nebelsky (DTM) was the General Evaluator of the meeting—and the least one could say is that, after listening to such a wonderful Mentors Moment by Larry on the role of the General Evaluator, Betty may have felt challenged! Betty introduced the evaluation part of the meeting by presenting Maryam Solhjou, Steve Weltman and Gordon Kehmeier (ATMB)—the evaluators. Betty delivered a precise recapitulation of the planning and development of the meeting—from the Invocation and Pledge to the Evaluators. Betty—who stepped in to the role of General Evaluator shortly before starting the meeting—did an excellent job and was recognized with the Enthusiasm Award ribbon. Thank you Betty, and congratulations!
Maryam emphasized the positive reaction of the audience when opening a speech with a question and referring to other members’ previous speeches, as Karina did. The evaluator noted the excellent pacing and eye contact that the speaker kept with the audience. Maryam stressed the importance of using both words and body language to communicate: avoiding hands clasped or using exaggerated gestures—particularly in an inspirational speech—conveys the message with power.
Steve highlighted the exceptional natural sense of humor that Vaishali transmits in her speeches—probably as a result of feeling much confortable facing the audience. The evaluator pointed out the importance of voice variation and pacing the voice to convey the message in an effective manner. Steve was voted Best Evaluator of the meeting.
Gordon also emphasized the importance of opening a speech with a question to the audience, as Terry did. A question catches the audience’s attention immediately, and Terry continued the oral interaction with the audience all along his speech. The evaluator highlighted the organized use of visual aids. He also remarked the importance of considering the dimensions of the meeting room and the number of attendees to make the visual aids visual to all of them, regardless the distance to the screen.
Next Monday, March 11th, we shall talk about Population. The meeting will be at the regular venue: at Coco’s Restaurant from 7:00 to 9:00pm. Come on in and join us! It’s always fun!