Thursday July 7, 2011

Greetings Toastmasters of the Oyster Point Speakers Club, and Guests

A new year has begun…July 1, 2011—June 30, 2012; and with it a different editor of this our club newsletter.  The format may change, but my goal is the same, to re-cap our club meetings by showcasing speakers as well as providing information about Toastmasters.

Toastmasters present (not all inclusive): Nancy Hogg (VPE elect), Victor Lopez (VPPR elect), Rick Boyer, Wade Miner, Linda Williams, Lauren White, Frank Connelly, Magda Brugos, Robyn Roberts, Curtis Lassiter, Allen Foretich, Danita Fox (Secretary elect).  Absent: Christy Gardner, Tim Tonkovic, Stacey Wallace, Stan Dalziel, John Harmon.

Speakers:  Lauren White gave her second of 10 speeches towards her Competent Communicator, and she captivated the audience with a speech topic that she may use at work to encourage employee involvement.  Next was veteran John Harmon, DTM, as he once again plots his course through another Competent Communicator manual.  Last was Danita Fox as she delivered her first speech of ten towards her Advance Communicator Silver.

Frank Connelly was the Table Topics Masters of the evening and he challenged all participants to think quick on the spot to share thoughts about summer’s heat.

We had two guests; Brett McGee and Mike Johnson….thank you for coming gentlemen.

Respectfully submitted,Danita Fox, Club Secretary

"The Best" RIBBON WINNERS

Best Table Topics: Rick Boyer

Best Evaluator: Frank Connelly

Best Speaker: Danita Fox

CONGRATULATIONS!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Stacey Wallace was voted The Best Speaker

Hello Oyster Point Speakers and Guests!

          The Toastmaster year 2010-2011 is slowly coming to an end. This last meeting of the year was hugely successful in many respects. New officer team has been nominated and selected. Club goals have been successfully met. Once again, our club has satisfied the requirements of President's Distinguished Club Program. A round of applause for that!

          Tim Tonkovic was Toastmaster of the Evening. Danita Fox was General Evaluator. Danita reminded us that evaluations are to be focused on the delivery, not the content of a speech. John Harman was Table Topics Master.

         We had 16 members in attendance and 2 guests, Soheila and Frank. The speakers of the evening were Magda Brugos, Stacey Wallace, and Christy Gardner. Both Magda Brugos and Stacey Wallace completed their Competent Communication manual and achieved the title of Competent Communicator. Congratulations! Work well done!

         Evaluators were Nancy Hogg (evaluating Magda's speech), Curtis Lassiter (Stacey's speech), and Victor Lopez ( Christy's speech). 

          We concluded the meeting with New Member Induction. Nita, Sabrina, Alan and Jermaine are now brand new members of Toastmasters International. Welcome! We hope you enjoy your journey and meet the goals you have set for yourself.

           New officer core to take over club duties on July is as follows:

President - Christy Gardner

VP Membership - Victor Lopez

VP Education - Nancy Hogg

Sargent at Arms - John Harman

Public Relations - Curtis Lassiter

Secretary - Danita Fox

Treasurer - Stan Dalziel

Good Luck to the New Officers!

"The Best" RIBBON WINNERS

Best Table Topics: Guest, Soheila

Best Evaluator: Victor Lopez

and

Best Speaker: Stacey Wallace

CONGRATULATIONS!

Thank you and see you "next year"!
Magda Brugos
Out-going Club Secretary, passing her baton to in-coming Club Secretary Danita Fox!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Hello Toastmaster Family!

          Another meeting is in the books and the Toastmaster year-end  is approaching soon...June 30.

We had 10 members in attendance and 10 guests, majority of them from the Thomas Nelson Community College. A few of them were familiar faces (Bo and Princess ...). Danita Fox was Toastmaster of the Evening. Victor Lopez was General Evaluator. Stacey Wallace was Table Topics Master. 

          Huge announcement and joy - Oyster Point Speakers is now in possession of a brand new projector system! Thank you, Janet Krenn for researching the product. Janet also presented a speech about how to use this projector system to our advantage and avoid using it as a crutch in public speaking. As always, her speech was witty and informative. Janet was evaluated by Wade Miner. 

        Second and last speaker of the evening was Magda Brugos. Magda presented a speech titled "The Sounds of Summer" in which she talked about the various critters who can be heard in the spring and summer time. Magda was evaluated by John Harman.

         Stacey Wallace as Table Topics Master used a well-known "Dear Abby..." column and transformed it into a "Dear Toastmaster..."  advice session. The participants were asked to answer a series of "Dear Toastmaster.." questions. Participants included both members and visitors. Job well done!

RIBBON AWARDS

Wade Miner - BEST EVALUATOR

Tim Tonkovic - BEST TABLE TOPICS

Janet Krenn - BEST SPEAKER

CONGRATULATIONS!

See you next time!

Magda Brugos

OPS Club Secretary

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Hello Toastmaster Family!

Stacey Wallace was voted Best Speaker.Here with Club President Stan Dalziel.

          At this meeting we had 11 members in attendance and 3 visitors. Curtis Lassiter was Toastmaster of the Evening. Christy Gardner was Table Topics Master. Robyn Roberts was General Evaluator. We heard four prepared speeches. 

          Speaker # 1 was Stacey Wallace, evaluated by Victor Lopez. Her speech described the abuse that takes place in puppy mills. Stacey convinced her audience not to participate in this atrocious business of pet breeding and sales and to be diligent in the process of  acquiring a new dog. Stacey's advice was to never buy pets online or through those pet stores which don't disclose the origins of their animal inventory.

          Speaker # 2 was Sierra Hargraves, evaluated  by Stan Dalziel. Sierra is Toastmaster Naomi Lewis' daughter and a high school senior. She took advantage of an opportunity to practice her senior year speech in our club. Sierra spoke about "the freshman 15" and how to avoid it. " The Freshman 15" is used to describe the fifteen pounds freshmen college students are said to pick up in the first few months of college due to unhealthy and unrestricted cafeteria diet.

          Speaker # 3 was Nancy Hogg, evaluated by John Harman. Nancy presented helpful guidelines for the roles of Toastmaster, General Evaluator, and Table Topics Master.

          Speaker # 4 was Magda Brugos, evaluated by Danita Fox. Magda's speech was titled "Paper or Plastic". She spoke about the dangers of using credit cards and benefits of paying with cash.

          Christy Gardner as Table Topics Master chose two groups of volunteers to participate in a debate titled "Are you in favor of offshore drilling?" The debate indeed was heated; the particpants included Victor Lopez, John Harman, Danita Fox, Naomi Lewis, Sierra Hargraves, and Curtis Lassiter.

Votes were cast and the RIBBON WINNERS were:

Stacey Wallace -  BEST SPEAKER

Victor Lopez  - BEST EVALUATOR  

Victor Lopez - BEST TABLE TOPICS 

( yes, Victor did take both Ribbons home once again)

Congratulations! 

We had an extremely successful meeting!

Thanks and see you next time!

Magda Brugos

OPS Club Secretary 

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Club President (C) and Guests

Hello Toastmasters and Guests, 

          Happy Cinco de Mayo! As always, it was great to see everyone! Stanley Dalziel was Toastmaster of the Evening. Nancy Hogg was General Evaluator. Wade Miner was Table Topics Master. We were pleased to host 3 first-time visitors: Al, Jermaine and John. Al and Jermaine serve in the Air Force. John is a William and Mary student and Tribe football player. We had 16 members in attendance and 4 speakers.

          Speaker # 1 was Janet Krenn, evaluated by Rick Boyer. Janet presented a "Persuade with Power" project from Competent Communicator manual. Janet is our Club Treasurer and in her speech she proposed to purchase a much-needed screen projector. As of today, the club does not own any AV equipment. Such a purchase would help members address their need for using powerpoint in their presentations. At the end of her speech, Janet asked club members to vote on this matter. The majority of the club was in favor of the new purchase.
          Speaker # 2 was Christy Gardner, evaluated by Magda Brugos. With new officer elections on the horizon, Christy used this opportunity to speak about responsibilities of each Toastmaster officer role. She also talked about the benefits of being a club officer. She wrapped up her presentation with a question and answer session.
          Speaker # 3 was John Harman, evaluated by Juan Martinez. John presented project # 7 from CC manual. He spoke about the Lewis and Clark expedition. He used visual aids and had done a great deal of research while preparing for his speech.

          Speaker # 4 was Magda Brugos, evaluated by Curtis Lassiter. She presented project # 9 from CC manual. Magda's objective was to "persuade with power". She spoke about protecting and investing in our most precious asset - our own body. She spoke about the importance of drinking plenty of water, proper nutrition and supplementation, diet and exercise.
          Wade Miner as Table Topics Master picked "volunteers" to participate in this extemporaneous speech exercise. The participants were Stan Dalziel, Victor Lopez, Lanette  Kelly, guest Al, and Danita Fox.Victor answered a topic "What is Cinco de Mayo all about?". Lanette spoke about her dream beach vacation on the coast of Jamaica. Al, a "first-timer",  talked about the vision for his life 5 years from now. Danita recalled highlights of the Toastmasters International district conference that had taken place just the previous weekend.
          The meeting was wrapped up with  Lanette Kelly being inducted as a new member of the Oyster Point Speakers club. Welcome, Lanette!

 

Ribbons Award Winners:

Curtis Lassiter  - Best Evaluator

Stan Dalziel - Best Table Topics

Janet Krenn -  Best Speaker

Congratulations!

View photos from this meeting here:  May 5, 2011 Photos


Magda Brugos
OPS Club Secretary

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Hello Toastmasters Family, 

          Another great evening in the books. With 13 members present, we had a quiet but productive meeting. 

Juan Martinez was a first-timer in his role as Toastmaster of the Evening. Curtis Lassiter was General Evaluator. Danita Fox was Table Topics Master. 

          Speaker # 1 was Robyn Roberts. Her speech was evaluated by Victor Lopez. Robyn is a Master Gardener and she gave a wonderful speech in which she shared  tips on successful gardening and setting up an herb garden. According to Robyn, there are 4 main ingredients to a happy herb garden: sun, soil, mulch, and water. Here are some tidbits from her speech: always pick a sunny location as herbs need lots of sun; use good, organic soil to help plants grow themselves; buy good quality herbs; use mulch to prohibit weeds and to encourage earthworms; water the soil, not the plants. Plenty of great advice for those who want to grow an herb garden.
         Speaker # 2 was Stan Dalziel, evaluated by Magda Brugos. Stan's speech was titled "Interview for my Dream Job". Stan delivered a presentation in front of a mock job interview panel and convinced all of us why he is the best applicant for the job. His speech was followed by a "question and answer" session. The project came from Competent Leadership manual. Good luck on your real job interview, Stan. You did very well!

          Speaker # 3 was Tim Tonkovic, evaluated by Bonnie Parker. Tim's speech was titled "These boots are made for walking." Using a pair of  baby leather boots which he had found in a New York antique store, Tim spun captivating tales of who the little boots might have belonged in the past. He talked about the lives of Jacob Cohen aka Rodney Dangerfield, a great American comedian, and Anna Mae Bullock, who became world-famous under the stage name of Tina Turner. Tim's gift for telling stories and using humor was evident in his speech.

          Danita Fox as Table Topics master presented us with one topic: "What's bothering you?". It was a rare opportunity for everyone to vent and to gripe! It was certainly fun!

RIBBON WINNERS:

Best Speaker: TIM aka TOM TONKOVIC

Best in Table Topics: VICTOR LOPEZ

Best Evaluator: VICTOR LOPEZ ( yes, Victor did swoop both awards tonight!)

See you next time,
Magda Brugos
OPS Club Secretary

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