On March 4th, 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.