Donna was the Toastmaster for this meeting and she drew the theme from the end of summer as school begins for many next week.  She suggested that as we get back to routines and structures that we  also do the same in scheduling speeches and work to complete our communication projects. 

We welcomed Melba as a returning visitor and she even brought Helen, another visitor.  To round out "homecoming," Mariam returned to our club after a brief hiatus....AND she jumped right back in by serving as the speech evaluator.

Janet gave her 5th speech, titled "Inspiring People."  The content of her speech gave us much to think about as she hit the half-way mark on her path to achieving her Compentent Communicator. 

Will led us in a fanciful round of Table Topics.  He used reality TV shows as the basis for his questions.  

As usual, our meeting was lively and fun and afforded us the opportunity to learn in a highly supportive environment.

Congratulations

to Yolanda for winning the Table Topics trophy and also to Will who won the Big 3 for his role as Table Topics Master!

--> Coming Attractions <--

August 26:  Donna will present Project #4  from the Entertaining Speech Advanced Manual:  The Dramatic Speech.  The title is:  The Turning Point.

     

Reminder:  upcoming meeting room changes due to the need to use all Administaff conference rooms for trainings. 

Sept. 9:  alternate room location will be announced when confirmed. 

 SEPT. 23 MEETING WILL BE CANCELLED DUE TO ADMINISTAFF ALL STAFF SPECIAL EVENT MEETING.

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At Toastmasters, we gain confidence in public speaking; in addition, we learn fun facts in general due to meeting themes and the content of the speeches that our members give.  We also have the opportunity to acquire skills that will help us in our work and personal lives:  the Grammarian listens for good and “needs improvement” usage of language and also is alert for use of the Word of the Day; the Ah-Counter listens (and clicks) when speakers use crutch and filler words (such as: ah....er....um, etc.) that detract from their speaking; the Timer keeps those speaking under timing requirements alerted as they approach their time limit (more is NOT always better!). 

These seemingly “small” things are actually skills that can be the difference between:

•  giving a so-so presentation at work or a highly polished one!

•  stammering and stumbling when called on to answer a question or knocking it out of the park with ease and confidence!

• being caught unaware because you were daydreaming when someone else was speaking or attentive listening and then adding a perceptive remark!  

Which skill set would you rather have? 

Toastmasters:  the link between language and leadership

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Our club was chartered September, 2006 with a handful of members.  Since then we have grown to more than 20 members strong and we have lively, fun, and educational meetings.  We are proud that we achieved Select Distinguished in 2007-2008 and Presidents Distinguished for the year 2008-2009 and 2009-2010. 

Our meetings begin at 12:05 PM & end at 12:55 PM.