Thursday, June 3, 2010

Hello Toastmasters Family,

Twenty in attendance at this meeting. Christine Stoia and June Montgomery are now new members.  Three guests:  Michelle Righenzi, Naomi Lewis and returning guest Edward Florey.  Toastmaster of the Evening was Tim Tonkovic.  Table Topics Master was Stacey Wallace.  General Evaluator was Christy Gardner.

Three speakers on the program.  Speaker #1, Nancy Hogg, talked about reasons to keep a food diary.  Track food and calories in weight loss efforts, track dietary requirements for performance training and track food consumed to correlate for health related problems/issues are three good reasons to keep a food diary.  Magda Brugos, Speaker #2, discussed the role of phytonutrients of fruits and vegetables in the diet.  Speaker #3, Jessica Ledbetter, gave a module on meeting roles and responsibilities of a Toastmasters Club.  Learn by doing.  Magda Brugos won the Best Speaker ribbon.

Table Topics speakers were Rick Boyer, Grayson Williams, John Harman and Matt Phillips.  Matt Phillips won the Best Table Topics ribbon.

Evaluators were Linda Williams for Speaker #1, Lois Boyle for Speaker #2, and Lavorise Love for Speaker #3.  Lois Boyle won the Best Evaluator ribbon.

June 17  Officer Election & Induction
June 26  Summer Leadership Institute  in Glen Allen, VA.
July 1     New Toastmaster year begins

Nancy Hogg
Club Secretary
Oyster Point Speakers

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Hello Toastmasters Family,

Jessica Ledbetter, VP Education, provided the following notes in my absence.  Thanks, Jessica.

Stan filled in as Sergeant at Arms and opened the meeting. Danita then began with new member inductions. We were able to induct one, Janet Krenn, of four new members. We had four guests: Dr. June Montgomery, Jean Smith returned for a second time, Edward Florey returned for a second time, and Christina Stoia.

Toastmaster of the Evening, Tim Tonkovic, introduced the people filling the various roles for the evening. Philip Pedersen started us off with a funny anecdote about his mother-in-law. Stacey Wallace gave us the word of the day: "Plucky" which means having courage or bravery. James Tatum filled in for Listen Up! Master.  Rick Boyer was our timer and photographer. Lois Boyle kept track of the votes. 

There were two speakers for the evening. Lamar Thomas gave his second speech an absorbing subject: Lady Anion panty liners which are for a multitude of uses. He described the product well and kept his composure. The next speaker filled in since we had some cancellations. Wade Miner presented the Service and Leadership module which is part of the Leadership Excellence Series. We were reminded that none of us is as strong as all of us, many hands make light work, and sticks in a bundle cannot be broken.

Table Topics Master Sandy Peterson presented various questions of our guest June, Stan, guest Jean, and Jessica. 

General Evaluator Philip Pedersen lead the evaluation team. Janet Krenn evaluated Lamar's speech and Magda Brugos evaluated Wade's speech.

Best Table Topics speaker was June. Best evaluator was Janet. Best speaker was Lamar.

We adjourned at 8:14 p.m.

Reminder:

June 17 is the officer election/induction.

------

Nancy Hogg

Club Secretary

Oyster Point Speakers

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Hello Toastmasters Family.

This meeting, there were 20 in attendance.  That count included 5 guests:  Michael Colson, Jean and Jazmin Smith, Justin Hitt and Ed Florey.  Toastmaster of the Evening was John Harman.  Table Topics master was Danita Fox.  General Evaluator was Nancy Hogg.

Four speakers rounded out the program.  Speaker #1, Christy Gardner, talked about "water, water everywhere"  and only 1% is available as drinking water.  Water treatment plants and nature's water cycle are how used/waste water gets back into the 'available as drinking' water status.  Christy also discussed contaminants in drinking water and the role of the EPA in this subject.  Speaker #2, Sandy Peterson, presented as her third manual speech the topic what happened to the dogs at the center of the Michael Vick dog fighting scandal.  Janet Krenn, Speaker #3, talked about talking.  Specifically, she said to prepare for a talk/speech you must organize, lead with (an) important detail and have an actionable opening to generate interest in/from your audience.  Finally, Speaker #4, Wade Miner, discussed how to get past the "security guard" to make big changes.  Make small changes over time to tackle the big effort/habit/problem, like a bricklayer lays single bricks to make a large brick wall.  Janet Krenn got the Best Speaker ribbon.

Table Topics participants were:  Magda Brugos, Stan Dalziel, Justin Hitt, and Linda Williams.  Linda Williams won the Best Table Topics ribbon.

Evaluators:  Tim Tonkovic for Speaker #1, Lavorise Love for Speaker #2, Lamar Thomas for Speaker #3, and Victor Lopez for Speaker #4.  Tim Tonkovic won the Best Evaluator ribbon.

Nancy Hogg
Club Secretary
Oyster Point Speakers

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Hello Fellow Toastmasters,

Fifth Thursdays give us, as a club, an opportunity to veer from the usual club meeting format.  This fifth Thursday provided the opportunity to hold a 'Speech-a-thon'.  Lois Boyle was Chair and Wade Miner was Co-Chair.  We had eight speakers and three evaluation teams.  Each speaker had five to seven minutes for their speech.  Evaluation teams were assigned separate duties.  Team #1 evaluated the speech introduction, Team #2 the body and Team #3 evaluated the speech conclusion.  The evaluation teams evaluated each speech.  Additionally, evaluations were given after sets of three - first three speeches, break, evaluations, second three speeches, break, evaluations, final two speeches, break, and final set of evaluations.  This proved to be a good flow.

Speaker #1, Christy Gardner talked about the just passed US Health Care Bill working its way into society.  Rick Boyer (#2) gave his speech on making change easier.  Rick provided a hand-out for "Kotter's 8-Step Process of Successful Change".  Zach Miller told us desire and action are the two things you need to get yourself out of a J-O-B (just over broke) and into your dream business.  Magda Brugos says no special thing is needed to give yourself a positive edge.  All you have to do is be consistent on a daily basis via the power of compounding.  A little action each day works for you just like compounding.  Adam Gold says eating like a caveman will get you feeling like a sabre tooth tiger.  Thinking about the modern diet should have you asking yourself "are you poisoning yourself and your family?"  30 to 60 minutes after you eat, "how do you feel?".  Adam says to pay attention to your feedback system.  Michael Brugos gave us an in-depth primer on the mood altering Bi-Polar Disorder.  Matthew Phillips presented the history of safety regulation in America.  The safety regulations typically were instituted after spectacular industrial accidents.  Finally, James Bryant, speaker #8 and a visiting Toastmaster, captured the audience with his performed Swahili folk tale, "The Wise Baboo".  The wise Baboo (grandfather) urges you to embrace the pride of lions within, your dream that lives within, and you can make it live.

There were 23 in attendance including four guests: Suda Natarajan, Justin Hill, James Bryant, and Adam Gold (second visit).

Members, sign up for future meeting roles:

 http://ops.freetoasthost.info/members/roster.cgi

Nancy Hogg
Club Secretary
Oyster Point Speakers

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Hello Fellow Toastmasters,

Career Night was the theme of the evening.  Jobs - finding, keeping and upgrading skills - tips that kept everyone interested through-out the evening.

Toastmaster of the Evening:  Rick Boyer.  General Evaluator:  Frank Connelly.  Table Topics Master:  Grayson Williams.

Twenty three in attendance, includes three guests: Tom Day, David Richey and Adam Gold.

Speaker #1, Jessica Ledbetter, talked about "hohum to happy at your job".  She gave tips on what to do to make the job better starting with 'how do you feel on Monday morning?'.  Self evaluation, the value you give to and get from the job and the voice you have play a large part in analyzing how to get the most satisfaction from your job.  Tom Delbridge, speaker #2, told us submitting a resume for that job we want, we have 8 to 10 seconds to make an impression on the resume reader.  Read "The Elements of Resume Style" for the perfect resume resource, Tom urged.  You need to get it all on ONE page.  No bullets.  Use action words. Only use words that add value.  Janet Krenn described how networking can develop into leads for jobs and business.  One needs to consider what your unique skills and differences are and the value they bring.  Your 'elevator speech' must be short, descriptive (no jargon) and practiced to engage others.  Jessica Ledbetter received the Best Speech ribbon.

We had six Table Topics speeches from Michael Brugos, Stan Dalziel, Tom Day, Adam Gold, Linda Williams and Magda Brugos.  Linda Williams received the Best Table Topics ribbon.

Speech Evaluators were John Harman, Stan Dalziel and Stacey Wallace.  Stan Dalziel received the Best Evaluator ribbon.

Nancy Hogg
Club Secretary
Oyster Point Speakers

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Greetings Fellow Toastmasters,

Oyster Point Speakers Toastmasters Club reached President's Distinguished Club status with Tim Tonkovic's speech tonight.  This is an achievement not reached by many clubs.  Oyster Point Speakers Club has reached it in an amazingly short amount of time!  Congratulations Tim and fellow club members!!!

This meeting had an unconventional structure called "Grab Bag".  All the roles were up for grabs.  Literally, as the agenda noted.  All meeting roles were drawn from a bag filled with slips of paper with a particular role assigned to that person who pulled it.  Adventurous guests were included.  Lots of fun ensued.

Jessica Ledbetter was Toastmaster of the Evening.  John Harman was General Evaluator with Rick Boyer as Table Topics Master.

We had two speakers, Janet Krenn and Tim Tonkovic.  Janet Krenn talked about the Cow Nose Ray.  This creature lives in the Chesapeake Bay.  Tim Tonkovic talked about flying.  The airline way.  Used to be fun; but, take a train if you're travelling now.  Janet took the Best Speech honors (ribbon).

Table Topics had six speakers that included two of our guests.  Good sports.  Danita Fox described 'her life as a mirror.'  Stan Dalziel described 'why we should go out and buy his new book on "My Life As A Mountaineer".'  Christy Gardner talked about 'if she could be any age for one week, what would it be.'  Victor Lopez (guest) discussed 'some people say a little white lie is sometimes OK, what do you think.'  Linda Williams (guest) talked about 'day-glo-orange and why she plans to paint herself that color.'  Finally, Nancy Pracker (guest) defended 'you (I) live in a swamp and it is a good place to live.'  All off the wall subjects and all artfully explored.  Thanks Rick.  Linda Williams received the Best Table Topics speech ribbon.

Word of the Day, hugger-mugger, might have described the evening.  However, it was an orderly jumble.  And fun!

Sixteen in total attendance, included six guests: Linda Williams, Nancy and Jerry Pracker and son Stephen (visiting in town from Ohio), Victor Lopez and Ernest Jones.

Nancy Hogg
Club Secretary
Oyster Point Speakers

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Hello Toastmasters Family,

Happy St. Patrick's Day theme (one day late).  Eighteen in attendance with three guests: Victor Lopez, Tom Day and Jacqueline (add last name).

Nancy Hogg was Toastmaster of the Evening.  There were four speakers.  Lamar Thomas gave his Icebreaker speech.  Lamar focused on his relationship with his job as a member of the US Air Force.  Great job, Lamar!  Janet Krenn, a new member, is off to a fast start, already giving her speech #3.  She talked about her speaking experiences.  Wade Miner gave his speech #2 in a series of speeches he is working on.  Wade's series theme is 'Change your Programming'.  Rick Boyer, Speaker #4, gave his speech, a fact finding report, from the advanced manual 'speaking to inform'.  Rick's topic was about bottled water.  VERY informative.  For example, 45% of bottled water comes from ordinary tap water.  Rick and Janet shared a tie for Best Speaker.

Table Topics Master was Zach Miller.  Table Topics speakers were Tom Delbridge, Matt Phillips, Stan Dalziel and Lamar Thomas.  Another tie!  The tie was between Matt and Stan.  Competition is tight.

The General Evaluator was Tom Delbridge.  Stacey Wallace evaluated speaker #1, John Harman evaluated speaker #2, Maritsa Alger evaluated speaker #3, and Lois Boyle evaluated speaker #4.  Maritsa received the Best Evaluator ribbon.

Danita Fox, Club President, gave the closing remarks.

Upcoming:


April 1 meeting -   Grab Bag Night!  All roles are drawn.
April 15 meeting - Career Night!  Speakers are presenting on career related topics.
April 29 meeting (fifth Thursday) - Speech A Thon
May 15 & 16 - District 66 Conference at Founders Inn in Virginia Beach.
                         get info:  http://district66.org

Nancy Hogg
Club Secretary
Oyster Point Speakers