December 1, 2011

Club meeting started at 6:45pm with SAA John Harman calling the meeting to order.

Members in Attendance: Rick Boyer, Magda Brugos, Frank Connelly, Allen Foretich, Christy Gardner, John Harman, Sabrina Joy-Hogg, Nita Langford, Curtis Lassiter, Victor Lopez, Wade Miner, Jean Smith, Tim Tonkovic, Phillip Sweat, Lester Yearwood

Guests: Jackie, Timothy, Kathryn, Joy

Toastmaster of the Evening, Curtis Lassiter, had the distinction of emceeing the meeting and introducing the two speakers for the night.  Victor Lopez and Allen Foretich.  Both speakers delivered speeches from the Competent Communicator maual as they work their way through the 10 required speeches. Victor's speech title "Negate the State" spoke about holiday shopping and taxes; while Allen spoke about learning by doing and avoiding political conversations in his speech titled "Get to the Point".


Distinquished Toastmaster Wade Miner held the role of Table Topics Master where he challenged unsuspecting people to "speak off the cuff" for 1 to 2 minutes about various topics.  The nine participants and their topics were:

Magda Brugos – Black Friday, Lester Yearwood – Thanksgiving, Phil Sweat – Christmas Gift, Sabrina Joy-Hogg – New Year’s Resolution, Frank Connelly – End of the World, John Harman – Joy of Raking Leaves, Tim Tonkovic – 2012 Accomplishments, Nita Langford – Best Gift You Have Given

General Evaluator Jean Smith lead the evaluation team in the second half of the meeting where growth and improvement are the focus.  Speech evaluators, Christy Gardner and Rick Boyer, shared the strengths of each speech as well as offered comments on how to enhance the deliver so that the audience is more engaged and the message clearly understood.

The meeting was wrapped up at 8:25 by President Christy Gardner.  She announced that at the next meeting we would have a White Elephant gift exchange and the last one of the calendar year.  Officer training is scheduled for Jan 14 or Feb 4.  After announcement awards were given:

Ribbon Winner

Best Table Topics--Tim Tonkovic

Best Evaluator--Rick Boyer

Best Speaker--Victor Lopez

Respectively submitted

Danita Fox, club secretary

November 17, 2011

Club Members in attendance:  Rick Boyer, Magda Brugos, Stan Dalziel, Allen Foretich, Danita Fox, Christy Gardner, John Harman, Nancy Hogg, Janet Krenn, Nita Langford, Victor Lopez, Wade Miner, Jean Smith, Lauren White, Phillip Sweat, Lester Yearwood, Zach Fauver.

Guests:  Seth Uteche, Darius Peterson, Sean Todd

Club meeting was called to order by SAA John Harman at 6:45pm and President Christy Gardner took control of the lectern to conduct a special segement of the meeting.  Three new members were inducted into the club; Zach Fauver, Phillip Sweat and Lester Yearwood.
After the induction ceremony, President Christy Gardner introduced the Toastmaster of the Evening, Magda Brugos.  As TMOD, Magda's role was to keep the flow of the meeting consistent and on task and she did it wonderfully.  She introduced the General Evaluator, Stan Dalziel, who inturn introduced the evaluation team.  Once description of the different roles was shared Magda then introduced the two speakers for the evening, Danita Fox and Victor Lopez.  Danita spoke about how a wish changes into a goal, and she used her recent accomplishment to motivate club members to focus on their goal of improved public speaking the same way.  Victor Lopez brought laughter to the group with his speech about "a day in the life of a cab driver". 

Once the speeches were complete, Magda introduced President Christy Gardner as the Table Topics Masters, where she challenged everyone to be able to "speak of the cuff".
After 8 participants spoke for 1-2 minutes on varies topics, Rick Boyer and Janet Krenn delivered their evaluations for speakers Danita and Victor.

President Christy Gardner concluded the meeting with announcements and awards.  She asked Rick Boyer to recap the District 66 Conference and she also invited all members and guest to mark calendars for December 15th meeting which will be our annual holiday "white elephant" party (bring a wrapped gift, $10 limit).
The meeting was adjourned at 8:23pm

Ribbon Winners

Best Table Topics  Jean Smith

Best Evaluator  Janet Krenn

Best Speaker   Danita Fox

Respectively submitted,
Club Secretary, Danita Fox

November 3, 2011

Club Members present:  Rick Boyer, Stan Dalziel, Danita Fox, Christy Gardner, John Harman, Janet Krenn, Nita Langford, Curtis Lassiter, Wade Miner, Tim Tonkovic, Lauren White, Linda Williams, Brett McGee, Jonthan Register, Phillip Sweat, Lester Yearwood

Guests:  Zach Fauver, Tim Herrity, Jackie Allen.

Toastmaster of the Evening, Tim Tonkovic, managed a wonderful meeting where three members delivered speeches, and nine people participated in Table Topics. 
Linda Williams and Lauren White both delivered speeches from the Compent Communicator manual as they are working to complete ten speeches.  The third speaker, Rick Boyer, spoke from an advanced manual delivering a technical speech where he unveiled the club's new website.
Table Topics Master, Curtis Lassiter, challenged nine others to "speak off the cuff" with some interesting topics such as; "red" and "tie".  There was some talk after the meeting as to how did he come up with those topics
General Evaluator Janet Krenn and her evaluation team offered feedback that would both enhance speeches and also improvements for the meeting itself.  One important comment is that we all need to commit to our club by signing up for roles and then being prepared to fulfill them appropriately.
President Christy Gardner wrap the meeting up with announcements and and invitation to guests and members alike to attend the next meeting.  Christy also awarded "best" ribbons to the following:

Best Table Topics: Zach Fauver, guest

Best Evaluator:  Wade Miner

Best Speaker:  Lauren White

Next meeting Thursday November 17, 2011.  Look forward to seeing you, respectively submitted club secretary Danita Fox

October 6, 2011

Attendance (members): President Christy Gardner, Rick Boyer, Stan Dalziel, Allen Foretich, Danita Fox, John Harman, Nancy Hogg, Sabrina Joy-Hogg, Lanette Kelly, Janet Krenn, Nita Langford, Naomi Lewis, Victor Lopez, Robyn Roberts, Jean Smith, Lauren White, June Montgomery, Brett McGee.

Guests: Lester Yearwood, Phillip Sweat

Meeting was called to order by SAA John Harman, after President Christy Gardner welcome members and guests, she introduced Toastmaster of the Evening, Rick Boyer.
As Emcee of the night, Rick's main role was to introduce speakers and keep the flow of the meeting constant and on target.
The meeting was lively with three speakers and six table topics participants.  Speaker one was Allen Foretich delivering his second speech of ten as he shared one of his passions, "law".  Following Allen was veteran member John Harman, who is working on another Competent Communicator level and he spoke about "transitions".  Completing the planned speeches for the night, Lauren White challenged us to enjoy the mundane as she delivered her third speech towards the required ten for Competent Communicator.
Once planned speeches were delivered then club Vice President of Education Nancy Hogg challenged six participants to "speak of the cuff" with Table Topics. Janet Krenn had to share about which habit she'd liked to break; Robyn Roberts-what her dream job would be; Naomi Lewis-what instrument she would like to learn; Jean Smith-where she would travel if she were a time traveler; Sabrina Joy-Hogg-what she would do if she didn't have to deal with fear; and last Brett McGee shared who his hero is and why.
All great topics to think about, but quite a challenge to speak about without prior planning.  All six participants did a fabulous job sharing their thoughts about their respective topics.
Club Treasurer Stan Dalziel was the General Evaluator for the meeting and he and his team (timer, speech evaluator, ah counter, grammarian) gave constructive feedback to help with improvement and growth.  Through constructive feedback and pointed evaluations, speakers, as well as all present, learn the value of "stately pauses", eye contact, body gestures, and appropriate use of grammar to communicate more effectively. 

President Christy Gardner closed the meeting by presenting ribbons to peer voted

Best Table Topics Speaker: Namoi Lewis

Best Evaluator:  Dr. June Montgomery

Best Speaker:  Allen Foretich

Next meeting Thursday Oct. 20, 2011.  Hope to see you all there, respectively submitted, club secretary,
Danita Fox

Special Meeting, 5th Thursday

Attendees: Christy Gardner, Nancy Hogg, Victor Lopez, Nita Langford, Diane Norbutus, Lauren White, June Montgomery, Curtis Lassiter, Magda Brugos, Wade Minor, Allen Foretich, Rick Boyer, Lois Boyle.  
Guest(s): Zach, guest of Lauren White.



The meeting and small group exercise went very well. Area Governor Diane Norbutus who was with us also participated in the small group exercises.
Dr. June Montgomery presented a speech that offered 10 tips for giving Fair and Effective Evaluations. She gave a mini grammar lesson about some common mistakes people make (using prepositions at the end of sentences and using verb tenses incorrectly).
After June's speech, participants divided into groups to practice what they learned through use of Table Topics and Evaluations. Below are the ribbon winners from each group.

Winners:
Best Table Topics Speakers:
Team 1: Lois Boyle;
Team 2: guest, Zach
Team 3: Nancy Hogg

Best Evaluators:
Team 1: Rick Boyer
Team 2: Diane Norbutus
Team 3: Christy Gardner

Submitted by,
Danita Fox, club secretary

September 15, 2011

Members Present: Christy Gardner, Rick Boyer, Magda Brugos, Stan Dalziel, Danita Fox, John Harman, Sabrina Joy-Hogg, Lanette Kelly, Nita Langford, Victor Lopez, Wade Miner, Lauren White, June Montgomery, John Foden

Guests: Lester Yearbook

Meeting was called to order by SAA John Harman, and President Christy Gardner welcomed guest Lester Yearbook to the club.  Magda Brugos took control of the lectern as Toastmaster of the Evening.  She kept the flow of the meeting going through two speeches and six table topics speakers.
President Christy Gardner delivered an informative speech about club meeting involvement, personal goals, club goals and how those three points are interdependant. Lanette Kelly delivered her ice breaker speech where she introduced herself to the club.
After the speeches we were challenged by Table Topics Master June Montgomery to speak 1-2 minutes. Table topics participants: Sabrina Joy-Hogg, Lauren White, Wade Miner, John Foden, Christy Gardner, Nita Langford and guest Lester Yearbook.
General Evaulator Wade Miner introduced his "evaluation team" to complete the meeting by offering feedback for the speakers, timer's report, grammarian and listen-up master.  General evaulation for the meeting was "good, but we can do better". 
President Christy Gardner wrapped the meeting up with tips for improvement both for individuals and the group as we continue our growth as public speakers and communicators.

Ribbon winners:

Table Topics-Wade Miner

Evaluator-Rick Boyer

Speaker- Lanette Kelly

Graciously submitted,
Danita Fox, club secretary

Thursday Sept 1, 2011

Evaluation and Humorous Speech Contest Night!

Present: Rick Boyer, Magda Burgos, Frank Connelly, Stan Dalziel, Allen Foretich, Danita Fox, Christy Gardner, John Harmon, Nancy Hogg, Sabrina Joy-Hogg, Janet Krenn, Nita Langford, Curtis Lassister, Jean Smith, Lauren White, June Montgomery, Lois Boyle, Brett McGee, Jonthan Register

Guests: Jasmine Cooper

Contest Chair Frank Connelly was the emcee for the contest, Rick Boyer was Chief Judge. Once contest rules were noted and explained, Rick Boyer called for the “contest to begin!”

Competitors for Evaluation Contest: Curtis Lassiter, Janet Krenn, Lauren White and Allen Foretich.  John Harmon was the target speaker for the competitors and he spoke about "transitions of life".  All evaluators did a wonderful job giving positive feedback and offering suggestions that will enhance John's speech. 

Competitors for Humorous Speech Contest: Jean Smith, Dr. June Montgomery, Stan Dalziel and Christy Gardner.
After the Evaluation Contest we were entertained by the four contestants delivering Humorous Speeches.  Christy made us laugh about hurricane Irene, and Stan delivered a double wammy of both laughter and reflection with his speech about bucket lists.  Jean took us down memory lane with her as she shared some funny family stories and Dr. June's speech made us laugh about the power of mind. 

Congratulations to all club members who competed in contests, and a hearty "thank you" to the other club members who worked behind the scenes before the meeting as well as those at the meeting fulfilling valuable roles as timers, ballot counters, and judging.

Winners for each will move on to Area Contest on Saturday September 10th, 1-3p at ODU Workforce Development Center.

Winners, advancing to Area Contest Sept 10th:

Evaluator: Janet Krenn

Humorous Speech: Dr. June Montgomery

Area Contest Sat Sept. 10th, ODU Workforce Development Ctr

Lets all be there to cheer on our winners, Janet and June!

Submitted by Danita Fox, Club Secretary