Innovators push boundaries and they try new things to explore uncharted worlds. That’s right, and we know it—but we wanted to know more. That’s why on Monday 29nd, we talked about Technology Icons.
Our meeting started off with a pearl of wisdom, Vaishali Sahay led the Invocation and Pledge telling us that in looking after ourselves we also look after others, and vice versa. She stressed the importance of staying positive, cultivating virtue, morality and wisdom. “If we help others—for example by exercising forbearance, not harming others through anger, but exercising goodwill, and compassion—we give positive energy out to others, the fruit of which also arises within ourselves”, Vaishali affirmed.
The board:
- Reported that during the District ONE Conference, DTM Ivone Duffin received the Distinguished Toastmaster distinction.
- Informed us of the newly elected 2013-2014 District leaders.
- Notified that the new Toastmasters Mission Statement is: “We provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self confidence and personal growth.”
- Indicated that the Open House event will be postponed to June 3rd.
- Stated that the 30th Anniversary Celebration will be held either at Raffaello’s ($32-$35) or the Double Tree Hotel ($50), either on June 29th for dinner or June 30th for lunch—this date was later changed to June 28th.
- Welcomed Jack, Ron and Thomy as guests.
Bill Bau (ACB, CL), as Toastmaster, conducted the group with outstanding professionalism. He let us perceive his excellent command of all the hats wore by a Toastmaster. Bill introduced the functionaries who presented their roles, respectively. Emily Wratschko, the grammarian, introduced the Word of the Day: advancement—a noun meaning:
- The act of moving forward.
- The act or result of making something better, more successful, etc.
- The act of being raised to a higher rank or position.
Our slow advancement in extensively using the Word of the Day is evident, as only three members made use of it during their speeches. Let’s do it better next time! Well done to those who use it! And well done to the grammarian for choosing such an appropriate Word of the Day very much related to the topic of our meeting!
Have you ever thought when is it too soon for children to use cellphones? Or what technology advancement that you think you couldn’t give up? With these questions, and many more, the Table Topics Master, Shelly Lipanovic (CC, CL), excelled on the preparation and control of this section of the meeting. Shelly also made us give our thought about technology based on pictures she brought to the meeting.
Some sparkling phrases shared during Table Topics section were:
- (Talking about technology) “It’s Christmas for him (her husband) every day”, by Grace Weltman (DTM).
- “Vacuuming is my favorite sport”, by Betty Nebelsky (DTM).
- “Advancement: I needed to throw out that word”, by Latrece Hawkins.
The stunning job done by out Table Topics Master made her win the Best Program Manager ribbon and the Enthusiasm Award! The Best Table Topics Speaker ribbon went to Emily Wratschko. Congratulations, Shelly and Emily!
During Mentor’s Moment, Gordon Kehmeier (ATMB) stressed the importance of using bullet points as guideline when delivering a speech, instead of using notes. “Three bullet points should summarize what you are going to tell, your message, and what you just shared with the audience”—Gordon concluded.
Thank you, Gordon for your always-valuable advice.
We had the pleasure to hear three animated speeches followed by three constructive evaluations:
Julia Burge (DTM) shared the speech entitled “Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office”, based on the book of the same name. The speaker hilariously spotted a summary of behaviors that women learn in girlhood that sabotage them as adults in their careers.
Steve Weltman evaluated Julia’s speech. Steve emphasized the convenience of showing to the audience the book that inspired the discourse. He also highlighted the dynamism, fluency, clearness, and humor of Julia’s delivery accompanied by an excellent eye contact. The evaluator underlined that the audience knew what the speech was about from the beginning. However, an opening assertion would have taken the audience straight in to the story.
Caragh O’Brien spoke about “Emergency Preparedness”—how visionary Caragh was: only a few days later we experienced a 4.0 earthquake! The speaker told us how she awoke to the emergency preparedness for a disaster. She analyzed the importance of having from water and food, to medicines and small cash. “First, you take care of yourself, then your household and after that your neighborhood”—Caragh concluded.
James Noh evaluated Caragh’s speech. James identified the comprehensibility of the speech, which was presented from the beginning as a practical evacuation layout of required objects in case of emergency. The evaluator pointed out that the presentation was an all-embracing guideline. He suggested lessening the number of objects, and stick to the most relevant ones, to let the speech flow with ease.
Anne Marie Knudsen (CT/ATMG) presented “Looking back”—a speech describing her two major losses experienced in her lifetime: the loss of her hair, and the loss of her twin sister. The speaker shared with us the long-time-felt devastating feelings of shock, anger, guilt and despair. Anne Marie was voted Best Speaker.
Austin Burge (CC, ALB) evaluated Anne Marie’s speech. Austin started by acknowledging the speaker’s strong personality for keeping poise and composure when sharing such an emotional topic. The evaluator underlined Anne Marie’s speech excellent organization, the use of vocal variety and the solid conclusion. Austin recommended accentuating the pauses to make a stronger impact in the audience. Austin’s superb evaluation made him win the Best Evaluator ribbon.
Good job, Anne-Marie and Austin!
The General Evaluator, Laura Wratschko (CTM):
- Suggested passing the Mission Statement over.
- Highlighted the remarkable job preparing, presenting and delivering Table Topics, speeches and evaluations.
- Stressed the convenience of asking introductions ahead on time.
- Underlined the need for new members to be mentored on functional meeting assignments.
Next Monday, May 6th, we shall talk about Paranormal Encounters. 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!