Thursday, April 7, 2011

          Hello Toastmasters Family and Guests,

          We had a record number of first-time visitors at this meeting! We had about a dozen guests, majority of whom were Public Speaking class students from Thomas Nelson Community College. They attended our meeting on the recommendation of prof. Jacqueline Slaughter. Thank you for visiting our club and we do hope you had a positive experience.

We had 13 members in attendance. Stacey Wallace was Toastmaster of the Evening. John Harman was General Evaluator. Victor Lopez was Table Topics Master. We heard 3 prepared speeches.

          Curtis Lassiter presented project # 3 from Competent Communicator manual. Curtis's speech was evaluated by Christy Gardner. In his speech, "To Roll or Not to Roll Your 401k", Curtis, a financial advisor, convinced us that we should always transfer our retirement accounts if we no longer work for the company where they are held.

           Lauren White presented project # 2 from CC manual. Her speech, "Travel Tips for Toastmasters" was evaluated by Bonnie Parker. Lauren, a seasoned traveller,  gave us some invaluable advice on travel. Here are some tips:

• always be aware of vaccine requirements when travelling out of country; some of the vaccination processes need to be started several months prior to travelling
• check your passport's expiration date and whether it has enough pages  for visa stamps
• there are no hard rules to booking flights; however, do not book them more than 3 months in advance
• start packing a couple of weeks ahead
• check the weather of your destination
• always carry some necessities in your carry-on luggage in case your main luggage is delayed (or lost!)

These were great tips, Lauren!

          Frank Connelly's speech was evaluated by Wade Miner. Frank educated the audience about the benefits of attending a Toastmasters International 2011 District Conference.

          Victor Lopez, Table Topic Master, used very fun and creative ideas for his table topics. The topics varied from promoting a new line of shower curtain apparel to inventing new recipies to improv group story-telling. The participants included several first-time visitors, who did exceedingly well. Everybody was quick to think on their feet and very witty. Wonderful job, all!

Word of the Day: "ubiquitous" (adj.); existing, being everywhere at the same time; widespread; e.g. "ubiquitous fashion", "ubiquitous billboards"

Ribbon Awards went to:

Lauren White for BEST SPEAKER

Bonnie Parker for BEST EVALUATOR

and

 Melynda Roberts, First-time visitor,  for BEST TABLE TOPICS

Congratulations, winners!

See you on Thursday, April 21!

Magda Brugos

OPS Club Secretary

Thursday , March 31, 2011

Hello Toastmasters and Visitors,

Club President gives out "First-Timer" Ribbons to our Guests

         Thank you all for coming to this out of ordinary meeting! It was devoted entirely to Icebreaker speeches. We heard speeches from "veteran" Toastmasters to the newest members of our Club. 

We had 13 members present and 2 first-time visitors. Cheryl came by invitation of Janet Krenn's. Mark was invited by Danita Fox. All in all, we heard 11 Icebreakers. Speakers were: Rick Boyer, Tim Tonkovic, Danita Fox, Magda Brugos, Juan Martinez, Wade Miner, Christy Gardner, Stan Dalziel, Stacey Wallace, Curtis Lassiter, and Janet Krenn. Toastmaster of the Evening was Nancy Hogg.

It was a great opportunity to learn a little more about fellow Toastmasters, their past and their visions for the future. Some things to remember from the speakers are: 

• Discover and develop your strengths; do not focus on growing in your weak areas.
• Do what you're supposed to do; find your calling.
• Face adversity even when you feel afraid.
• If you believe you can do something, great things will happen!
• Face fears of public speaking! You can only get better.

The audience cast ballots on Best Speaker of the evening.

Christy Gardner's Icebreaker was voted BEST!

Congratulations, Christy!

See you next time!


Magda Brugos
OPS Club Secretary