Capital City Toastmasters Meeting Recap - January 26, 2012

Submitted by Jonni Goodine

Today's Theme: What Do You Like Best About Winter?

Sergeant At Arms Lee Parker called the meeting to order and announced Bob Crump as the day’s Toastmaster. Bob introduced Invocator Freddy Bullock, who suggested we share with each other in life. Mike Eaves told a joke about the enormous amount of email we receive, and Jonathan Wright chose bamboozled as the word of the day. Bamboozled means perplexed. Stephen Beausang served as timekeeper.

Garrett Anderson took us on a tour of Raleigh by telling us about places we might enjoy visiting, like the State Farmers Market. Alyssa Mozingo gave us three things to consider when considering buying product warranties. Jillian Bowlin wowed us with her speech “I Can Remember Anything.” She demonstrated how to use the Memory Palace technique to recall things you want to remember.

Table Topics Master Tom Presley explained the purpose of table topics and reminded respondents to use the word of the day. He selected Lee Parker, Joe Bennett and Brian Simpson to participate. Each used the word of the day.

Peter Tepfer evaluated Garrett and provided specific comments on his strengths and on areas of improvement. Martin Rock evaluated Alyssaʼs presentation and noted that she started out by engaging and interacting with the audience in a conversational style. Suggestions for improvement included projecting her voice more. Gwen Vass commented that Jillian started with a story and involved a member of the audience to assist in her demonstration. She recommended getting more of the audience involved.

Johnny Carr gave the grammarian’s report and pointed out the ums and ahs and noted good word choices, including meandering, conducive and extemporaneous. General Evaluator Dean Di Lillo mentioned that the speeches were well done and that the evaluators used the sandwich method.

Five visitors attended the meeting.

Awards:
Best Table Topics: Joe Bennett
Best Evaluator: Martin Rock
Best Speaker: Jillian Bowlin