Capital City Toastmasters Meeting Recap - February 25, 2010

Submitted by Wade H. and edited by Brian S.

Twenty-five folks braved the snowfall to participate in today's meeting, where Chris R. led us as our Toastmaster and gave us the theme:

“Advice: What is the best advice your parents gave you?”

Marian H., our Involcator, shared some thought on the power of unconscious thinking from a book called 'Blink' by Malcom Gladwell.

Our JokeMaster, Mike E., shared David Letterman’s Top 10 Signs You're Not Going to Win an Olympic Gold Medal.

Today's WordMaster -- Brian S. -- gave us our Word of the Day, flexuous.

Kevin C., the TimeKeeper, let our participants know the time restrictions.

In the 'prepared speech' section of the meeting, Trey B. spoke first as a representative of his company presenting to us (as if we were C-Level executives) and improvising with his own whiteboard. Kerry L. followed with a talk called “Learning to KYSS.” K.Y.S.S. was his  acronym for Keep Your Speech Simple. Kerry encouraged us to speak to the heart instead of the head and included several tips. Martin R. then delivered his speech “The Art of Effective Evaluation,” in which he cleverly compared evaluating a speaker to the work of a great painter or sculptor and suggested that the evaluations at our Toastmasters meetings are the lifeblood for a successful club.

Table Topics Master Richard K. led a very creative Table Topics session by showing us a picture of an angry looking old man who was coming to paint your house and asking what you would tell him about how you wanted the job done. Peter, Sonja and Simon participated.

Evaluators Dean D., Tom B. and Tracey G. reviewed our speakers' presentations and provided valuable feedback for all of us.

Chuck R. was our Grammarian today and gave an overview of the good and bad use of grammar by our members during the meeting. One good tip he mentioned was how Trey does a good job of keeping quiet while gathering his thoughts instead of using filler words.

General Evaluator Tom P. gave us his overall evaluation, which was full of specific tips directed to individuals. Well done.

AWARD WINNERS:
Best Table Topics:      Simon
Best Evaluator:            Dean
Best Speaker:              Kerry

We had two guests at today's meeting: Jillian (2nd visit to our club) and John (a first-time visitor to Capital City Toastmasters).

The most memorable parental advice I heard today was to always tie your shoes BEFORE entering a public restroom.