Variety is the Spice of Life

Attendance - 11 (2 Guests, 1 Distinguished and 8 Regulars)
Meeting Duration – 12pm-12:55pm
Tuesday, October 24, 2006

What do children's tales, tattoos, Groucho Marx and facing fears have in common? For those in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting, you were in for a treat. Our meeting was a veritable (our Word of the Day provided by Cynthia Jimerson) cornucopia of themes and topics.

Our Table Topics Master, Kathy Hendry (Sergeant at Arms) began her portion of the program with a very animated rendition of a song from a similar story that I recently read (and got the audio book) to my daughter, “The Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow.” If you’ve got speakers, take a listen by clicking here.

Kathy had the group speak on centered around a number of topics. Paul Burke’s table topic, delivered as Groucho Marx was the big winner. Nervously moving side to side with an imaginary cigar, Paul screamed and pranced around the room in classic Groucho style. All he needed was the moustache and tails. Great job Paul!

Tony Li talked about Subway Syndrome (a study about the way folks behave in public places), Falan Guan (Club President) talked about looking at differences (impressions on tattoos), Cynthia talked about a moral/religious discussion over the removal of a tattoo and Garth Garth expertly painted a picture of his “I Ain’t Got A Slogan” company.

Bertha Bruner (Vice President of Education) presented the sixth speech (Vocal Variety) on overcoming fears. Bertha’s signature delivery is very calm, composed and organized. Her pleasant speaking voice highlighted her story about coming to grips with the need to communicate in front of peers in the office. How many of you have struggled to clearly and effectively get ideas across in a group setting? It was very revealing and well done.

Finally, a special thanks again to our guests, Ed Pendleton and Jiceri White. They were at USG taking management training and stopped in. Hope you enjoyed the program and will join us again in the future.

Mixin’ Things Up

Attendance 9 (1 Guest, 1 Distinguished and 7 Regulars)
Meeting Duration – 12pm-12:55pm
Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Although we are creatures of habit and our days often consist of routine and order, it is exhilarating to add the spice of spontaneity into life’s smorgasbord. During officer training this past summer, Toastmaster’s officials offered ideas on how to keep clubs fresh and growing. Having a themed, humorous or a backwards meeting was suggested as ways to add variety and interest.

Being a valued long-time member and our most recent past-president, Gene Hargreaves (Vice President of Membership, Treasurer) spiced up Tuesday’s meeting with another twist. Instead of following the typical meeting format, Gene asked that each attendee be ready to talk for three to four minutes about something we were very familiar with. We are all professionals/experts at what we do or have a hobby or interest that we could ramble on and on about.

The key to this exercise, as is the case with meeting roles and functions, is to put members in situations similar to those you may come across in your daily responsibilities. As Gene mentioned in prefacing this exercise, just imagine your supervisor randomly asking you during a meeting to give an update – you’d either sink or swim in front of your colleagues!

Being able to quickly formulate an organized response, complete with the basics of any speech – an introduction, discussion of a few ideas and a tidy conclusion - are the keys to good communication.

Our impromptu speeches were as follows:

Kathy Hendry (Sergeant at Arms) spoke about her love of fabric; Tony Li discuss the virtues of good communication skills; Joe Simpson (Vice President of Public Relations) talked about the “Magic Button” or the key to being able to communicate technical ideas to non-techies; Our winner, Cynthia Jimerson, spoke about her love of teaching young children as part of her Sunday school duties at church. Very heartfelt and delivered with Cynthia’s usual soft spoken and warm style, her compassion came across to the audience loud and clear. Great job! Bertha Bruner (Vice President of Education) spoke about Divine Intervention. Random events in a certain order can ruin your day or affect your life. Her near miss at an intersection analogy really brought her point home.

Frank H. Clarke, III ATMB, held class for new members of how to effectively use gestures and body language when delivering a speech. A former Toastmaster of the Year award winner, Frank's skills were definitely on display. His speeches always have a sense of humor intertwined and his pleasant demeanor is always a plus. He used the floor, working both from the podium and moving near to the audience during the course of his presentation. He also interacted with the crowd asking members to guess what activity his gestures portrayed. A very unique and interesting presentation indeed...

So keep your thinking caps on and offer suggestions on how we can continue improving our club. A special thanks again to our guest from the LAUSD, Craig Sorbom. Hope to see you again next week!

Feel free to provide comments regarding the meeting or this Blog entry by clicking the COMMENTS link below.

Learning to Live with the Enemy

Tuesday, October 4, 2006
Attendance (9)
Time 12- 1pm

Bertha Bruner (Vice President of Education) pinch hit for Co-President Falan for today’s meeting and provided our invocation as well, "Safety and innocence are discovered when they are lost."

Tony Li provided our Word of the Day, “impromptu” and Jay Fisgus used it in his speech evaluation…

Drena Graham provided another top-notch set of thought-provoking table topics. With the Jewish Holy Holidays being observed, questions of spirituality challenged members to respond to questions about the meanings of life. Bertha was the winner with an interesting look at Violence in Society.

Our prepared presentation segment was very revealing and informational. I, (Joe Simpson, Vice President of Press Relations) shared something extremely personal with the group during my speech, Am I Cursed? Learning to live with the Enemy (#7 – Research Your Topic). Sharing the intimate details of my battle with disease (hypertension or high blood pressure) and a test procedure (MRA - an MRI using a dye to view internal organs) taken last week that brought home the seriousness of my battle to control it and live.

The speech was tied together with details using large numbers or graphics that were displayed as I moved through his presentation. A heart-felt thank you goes out to the group for allowing me to share my experience for the very first time with someone other than my family and very close friends. Although I felt very relaxed about what I was presenting, I was very apprehensive about how vulnerable doing presenting this topic made me feel.

Gene Hargreaves (Vice President of Membership) did his usual bang up job during his speech on How To Do an Evaluation. A great tool for new members, Gene outlined the keys to providing an effective review of a prepared speech. As with functionary duty performed during our meetings, evaluators should look at this task as a mini-speech.

Other key points were:

• Use the manual – each project has a series of questions you’ll need to complete, but speak about the key or most important points
• Provide positive encouragement with some constructive criticism – for beginners, give three good points for each item the speaker needs to work on
• Remember that each speaker is at a different level in their development
• Work with your evaluator or veteran members ahead of time to discuss points that you’d like to work and be evaluated on

As always, Gene presented the topic with a solid structure, animation and was very entertaining. For me personally, watching Gene is a learning experience in addition visually as well. Body gestures, posturing, using the floor and vocal variety are all things I note for incorporation into my future work.

Reminder: If you haven’t submitted your membership dues, contact Gene so we can submit them.

See you next week.