Is there a life after life? Animal totems—what are they? Humanoids, manimals, hellhounds, vampires and other creatures!—do they exist? We gave a thought on those mysteries and we talked about Paranormal Encounters on Monday 6th.
Meeting documents.
After Laura Wratschko (ACB) put the path to our meeting by leading the Invocation and Pledge with the poem “For A Time” from Richard Shuster, the board:
- Informed that the position of Vice President of Mentoring will be created, the mentor-mentee list will be updated, and mentoring training will take place on May 17th from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.
- Reminded us that the goal of the Open House taking place on June 3rd is to bring someone who could benefit from Toastmasters.
- Notified that, in order to know what guests think of our meetings, a Guest Survey is being prepared.
- Stated that the 30th Anniversary Celebration date will be moved to another venue or day—on the same weekend.
- Reported that officer elections will take place in June.
The Toastmaster, Ivone Duffin (DTM), started off her presentation by sharing with us two of her personal experiences about paranormal encounters. Ivone, using her characteristic spontaneity and sense of humor, outstandingly conducted the meeting: an excellent job that brought her the Best Program Manager ribbon. Congratulations Ivone!
The Toastmaster introduced the functionaries who presented their roles, respectively. Jamel Wong, the grammarian, introduced the Word of the Day: frantic—an adjective meaning:
- Feeling or showing a lot of fear and worry.
- Having a lot of wild and hurried activity.
Feeling frantic of reprimands for lack of use of the Word of the Day, several attendees did a great job by using it in their speeches. 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 had an out of the body experience? Do you think or feel there’s actual evidence of intelligent life outside our solar system? Have you or someone you know visited a psychic? With these questions, and many more, the Table Topics Master, Betty Nebelsky (DTM)—using a good dose of frank and intelligent sense of humor—put some light in our darkened paranormal incidents. Betty excelled on the preparation and control of this section of the meeting. The Best Table Topics Speaker ribbon went to Laura Wratschko (ACB). Congratulations, Laura!
During Mentor’s Moment, Shelly Lipanovich (CC/CL) reminded us the importance of knowing how to accept a compliment. By not accepting a compliment correctly we may sell ourselves short and we may disregard the opinion of the person giving the compliment. A compliment is a message picked out just for you and to make you happy. Therefore, accept it with praise.
A worthy message Shelly. Thank you!
We had the pleasure to hear three vibrant speeches—two Ice Breakers among them— followed by three helpful evaluations:
In the speech “My Love For Food”, Babette Davis told us how her passion for food grew in her by seeing her mom cooking. She enjoyed herself tasting numerous delicacies elaborated with the love that only a mom puts on a dish. Later, Babette’s health issues increased dramatically and this change in her quality life made her realize that she is here on a mission: sharing healthy food with other people with health problems.
Larry Savell (DTM) evaluated Babette’s speech. Larry admitted that the speaker didn’t come across as a new speaker. The evaluator highlighted the vitality, fluency, clarity, and humor of the speaker’s delivery accompanied by an excellent organization and eye contact. Larry suggested varying the pitch—playing with fast, slow, high and low tones—to add emotion and intensity to the discourse. The stunning quality of Larry’s evaluation made him win the Best Evaluator ribbon.
Mavera Mir shared “Life Is A Series Of Opening Doors”—a summary of her lifetime journey since the years she was raised in Pakistan to her landing in the United States. A trip along a sequence of high and lows. A voyage through a succession of understandings and misunderstanding. A pilgrimage across a chain of embraceable experiences and rejections.
Emily Wratschko evaluated Mavera’s speech. Emily emphasized the convenience of the theme to fulfill the project. The evaluator pointed out the clearness and the organization of the delivery within a perfectly organized frame. Emily suggested using bullet points instead of memorizing the notes, and stressed the importance of keeping good eye contact with the audience. The evaluator reminded us that speakers should bring both Competent Communicator and Competent Leadership manuals to the meetings to better follow the guidelines of the evaluation.
Vaishali Sahay presented “What you give importance to, affects you”—an amusing speech describing how we reach to the point of our present reality and the explanations we give to them, using astrology, psychic or faith. No matter what, we create our reality and solutions to the challenges we face are in our hands. Vaishali was voted Best Speaker.
Theresa Branconier, who evaluated Vaishali’s speech, highlighted the excellent organization of the speech—accompanied by an exceptional humor, vocal variety and pitch change. Theresa also praised the speaker for not using notes nor lectern during her delivery. The evaluator, who pointed out the convenience of the speech’s topic, suggested putting more emphasis on the use of body language to better convey the message.
Caragh O’Brien, who was first-time General Evaluator, highlighted the good development of the meeting thanks to the contribution of all the functionaries: from the grammarian for choosing a very appropriate Word of the Day, to the Toastmaster—who helped new timers in their responsibilities.
Next Monday, May 13th, we shall talk about Education. 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!