Settling for Good Enough?

Tuesday, February 27, 2007
8 attendees

Club President Falan Guan completed her tenth project in the Communications and Leadership program (CONGRATULATIONS, FALAN!) entitled “Inspire Your Audience”. The topic of her ensuing speech was incredibly eloquent and thought-provoking.

She discussed how society pressures us to achieve high goals but what if we don’t? Can we find contentment in just being ordinary? Falan peppered her presentation with engaging stories of her son’s elementary school janitor who turned her son into an excellent chess player and an anonymous donor at USC who asked that the school’s new arena bear not his name but a friend’s. This friend who didn’t achieve what many deem as success still made a terrific impression on his wealthy friend, just by his daily actions. She finished the speech with a wave anecdote (knowing when to ride it; when to avoid it and staying balanced on it) that tied the entire speech together.

Speech Evaluator Sergeant at Arms Kathy Hendry gave the presentation a glowing review. She mentioned how Falan’s gestures and tone made her delivery more powerful and commanded her audience’s attention. A great climax indeed to an interesting journey through the Toastmaster’s manual.

The core presentation followed a ‘Visit to the Art Gallery’ with Vice President of Public Relations, Joe Simpson. This ‘visit’ disguised as Table Topics revolved around certain notable works of art and each member’s reaction to them. As an art history minor in college, he spent many a winter’s day in dark auditoriums discussing the merits of various artists' work and this exercise was a throw-back to this earlier time in his life.

Vice President of Education Bertha Bruner started the discussion with the debate over whether the National Endowment for the Arts (The Fountain by Marcel Duchamp) or the Artist should have ultimate say as to what is deemed acceptable to be shown in galleries; Kathy Hendry told us whether DiVinci’s Mona Lisa was smiling or not; Member Richard Perez talked about what his lasting legacy would be (Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh); Club Secretary Gayle Anderson described the beauty of her desert experience (Red Canna by Georgia O’Keefe); Member Paul Burke discussed whether art should be purchased in your local Wal-Mart or viewed in a gallery setting (Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe) and winner Cynthia Jimerson talked about whether she preferred to view an unsettling work of art or a pretty one (The Cry, Edvard Munch).

Remember that tonight Toastmasters, Int’l is hosting the last officer training session for the current officer term. If you are interested in learning more about a new or future position, contact Falan for more information.

Dealing with the Unexpected

Tuesday, February 13, 2007
7 attendees

Imagine this scenario – you’ve been asked by your boss to give a presentation at 3pm today. Or you’re asked to speak at a wedding or other special occasion. Your co-worker who was scheduled to make the presentation was out handling an emergency and since you’ve worked together closely, you’re it.

As described so effectively by Club Secretary Gene Hargreaves during the meeting, having the ability to improvise in a pinch or as I say “make lemonade when the world hands you a lemon” is a key element to the Toastmaster’s experience.

Tuesday was one such occasion. The President, Toastmaster and Table Topics Master were unable to make the meeting and on short notice other members bravely stepped in and filled the unexpected void.

On Monday, Vice President of Education, Bertha Bruner called upon other members to fill these roles and functions. This in addition to a little bit of shuffling the day of the meeting completed the task. For first timers, what does the Club President do during the meeting? What about the Toastmaster and Table Topics Master?

If you haven’t done so in a while, take a look in the back of your Communications and Leadership Program Manual. It contains descriptions of all of the roles and functions involved in a Toastmasters meeting. These descriptions in addition to just doing it give everyone great experience in all the aspects of our club and its function.

In addition, if your interest in the club is in terms of becoming a better leader, there is a Leadership Track as well. Briefly, after completing the Communication Track and receiving your Competent Toastmaster designation, you must:

• Serve as an officer in a club and participate in the preparation of a Club Success Plan;
• Participate in officer training as a club officer (fill certain functions during meetings tracking them on a matrix to be submitted on program completion); and
• Conducted any two programs from The Successful Club Series and/or The Leadership Excellence Series.

Thanks again to Bertha and member Richard Perez for dealing with the unexpected and handling new roles today.

Finally, a big congrats to member Jiceri White, who, though by his own admission, is no “American Idol Singer”, completed his inaugural speech (Project 1 – The Icebreaker). Very informative and entertaining; I look forward to hearing (though not in song) from you in the coming weeks.

Finding what suits you

Tuesday, February 06, 2007
12 attendees (1 Guest)

Our meeting started with a great invocation by Club Treasurer, Gene Hargreaves. He told a story of how we all have an eagle and a wolf inside us (good vs. evil) and the choices we make in life are influenced by their desires. The one that becomes dominant through feeding wins out so make certain to nurture the right one.

Table topics were served up by Bertha Bruner (Vice President of Education) and consisted of each member complete a sentence in the form of an open-ended question. For example, Frank Clarke, CTM, finished the sentence, “Online Learning in this country has increased in large part because…” Member Cynthia Jimmerson (today’s winner) and Guest Will Navarro finished sentence about teenage suicide and climate change.

Two presentations followed. Sergeant at Arms Kathy Hendry performed her second Interpretive Reading project from the advanced manual building on the rhythmic style displayed by member Paul Burke two weeks back. Speaking of Paul, he displayed another comedic masterpiece speaking with his body.

Paul's presentation involved an interview with a prospective employer and the give and take during this imaginary session. Paul’s speeches are always full of energy and humor and this project (Project 5 – Your Body Speaks) was tailor-made for him.

The great thing about the Communications and Leadership program is that during your journey, you’ll find something that fits your professional or personal interests perfectly. For example, as a web/graphic designer, I really enjoyed doing projects that required utilizing visuals. In addition, the projects will help create a well rounded, sound communicator.

A special welcome to Will Navarro, our guest at today’s meeting. He found out about the club events by visiting our website (see the links on the right). He stated during his introduction that he looked around at a few clubs but our site’s presentation was what won him over. His main reason for joining is to get better at communicating and to lose the nervousness felt when speaking to others in group settings. As stated by, Bertha Bruner and others during the meeting, our group provides the friendly setting and the knowledge that we’ve all been there to work through those times.

We look forward to more visits, Will.

Nuts!!!!

Tuesday, January 31, 2007
11 attendees (2 Guests)

Our group had the great privilege of hosting area Ted Crisell, Area District Governor at this past week. After a hearty welcome from our Club President Falan Guan, Ted shared news of interest regarding District events with members and introduced himself. Ted is a member of the Mercury Toastmasters club in downtown; his parents were involved in clubs – his mother was a founding member of a club in the 1940’s and has carried on their love of Toastmasters forward. Through his love of speaking, he’s met a number of dignitaries from both political parties and has even run for mayor in his travels.

Part of his reason for visiting was to invite members to participate in upcoming Area contests. He stressed that recent winners have had long-term associations with club as well as brief experience but the key element they both had in common was that they got involved.

Members Paul Burke served as Table Topics master and Jiceri White led the club’s invocation and pledge. Table topics paired up members to speak jointly on various topics. For example, Cynthia Jimmerson and Richard Perez talked about Las Vegas’ good or bad qualities; Jiceri and Guest Paul Cyrano spoke about whether technology makes things easier or cheesier; and winners Gayle Anderson (Club Secretary) and Bertha Bruner (Vice President of Education) humorously debated if our Metro Cafeteria is yum-yum or yuk-yuk. This exercise was a good chance to see member interaction based on what the pair said at each particular moment.

We closed out the program with a presentation from Ted entitled “Nuts”. The speech opened with a bang as he took off his coat slamming it to the ground exclaiming the title of his speech over and over. He masterfully set the backdrop for the speech in wartime Belgium and a brigade of officers trapped by the enemy and their response to a call for surrender (“nuts”). He engaged the audience further by sharing a close call with death during a vacation in the tropics and his guardian angel. His wove in a poem tying it all together nicely. His voice conveyed moments of excitement, suspense and held the audience captive as the story concluded.

Very well done, Ted.

If we haven't seen you in a while, stop by next week and say hello.