Capital City Toastmasters Meeting Recap - July 29, 2010

Submitted by Jillian Bowlin

Today's Theme: Gaining Strength Through Suffering

Kevin Coppage led the meeting as Toastmaster. Each participant shared suffering he/she has endured and the strength gained from the situation. Kevin was introduced by Andrew Soloninka and followed by an inspiring invocation given by Kelly Lingerfelt. “Don’t let your circumstances guide your attitude” were words Kelly encouraged everyone to remember, and she read from 2 Timothy 4:7.

Uzoma Nwosu had the room laughing when he gave the punch line to his joke about a man with a van full of penguins. Alyssa Mozingo was Word Master and she provided the definition for abstruse: difficult to comprehend. Mike Eaves was not abstruse in his role as time keeper.

Veteran speaker April Young entertained the audience with her speech, “Heartbreak Survival Boot Camp.” It was a humor-filled speech with tips for those who find themselves checking into the heartbreak hotel. Jillian Bowlin followed with her speech about the mistakes you want to avoid when looking for a job. Lesley Cates completed the prepared speeches portion of the meeting with “when preparation meets opportunity.” She described a recent experience where she was in the right place at the right time to use her training as a volunteer firefighter to respond to a fire call.

Lorenzo King called upon Chris Colburn and Dean DiLillo in table topics. Ersell Liles gave the grammarians report and commented on the great use of vocabulary in the meeting and stated that there were only 10 ums and ahs in the entire meeting!

Johnny Carr, Stephan Beausang and Sara Salek evaluated the prepared speeches. Some feedback to point out for all speakers:

  • Keep hands at your side so gestures bear more weight and emphasis
  • Avoid bouncing around the room; use the space but stand still at times
  • Keep up the level of enthusiasm, as it draws in the audience

Brian Simpson gave the general evaluation. While the overall meeting went well, a few areas of improvement to keep in mind:

  • The Word Master should type the word of the day in 200 point font and leave off extra sentences. The word and brief definition should be sufficient and the larger font makes it easier for everyone to see.
  • Know how to pronounce each persons name accurately before introducing them. Try to get with the person ahead of time or at the very least ask around until a general consensus is reached on to say the name correctly.
  • Remember that when you fill the role of evaluator, you are giving a speech. You want to present your evaluation in the same organized manner you would a prepared speech.

Kevin presented the following three winners with ribbons:

  • Best table topics: Chris Colburn
  • Best Evaluator: Stephan Beausang
  • Best Speaker: Jillian Bowlin

Club Business: Bring both the CC and CL manual to meetings. Many of the roles filled in the meeting go toward the CL award and this will help Capital City Toastmasters to receive recognition as a president’s distinguished club for another year in a row.