Public Speaking Northwest #9406

 

Meeting Minutes

April 5, 2022

Public Speaking Northwest Toastmasters

What a glorious meeting! It was so wonderful to see and hug each other, old friends, and past members.  There was so much energy and laughter throughout the meeting.  The room was a perfect size and nicely arranged.

Announcements 

1.    Kudos to Lynne D and Mara for all the work that they did making this happen!

2.    Next in-person meeting is May 3, 2022.

Members in Attendance: Barb, Jean, Jim, Jutta, Kate, Kelly, Lynn C, Lynne D, Mara, Maria, Warren

Guests in Attendance: Dianna (friend of Lynn C.), Giri, Julie Hutton, Randy Barber, and Tobias.

Our Sergeant at Arms, Lynne D, opened the meeting at 12:00 p.m.

Opening Comments by our President, Lynn C

The meeting theme was:  “Welcome Back”

The word of the day was “Live,” rhyming with strive. The other pronunciation of the word, rhyming with give, was not allowed.

Our Toastmaster was Mara, who explained the conventions of an in-person meeting that differ from an online meeting.

Our Gate Team was:

Grammarian –Jean            

Ah Counter – Lynn C.

Timer – Jutta

General Evaluator – Warren

Speaker #1 was Kelly, with her speech, “BreakTHROUGH the Bondage,” 5-7 minutes.  Kelly had a very well-organized, well-delivered, and dynamic speech about body language. She described some of the standard poses, gave hilarious examples, and told us about her breakthrough: using the gestures that come naturally to us; gestures don’t have to be “orchestrated.”

Speaker #2 was Maria, with her speech, “My Pet Poops Breakfast.”  Maria explained how her husband wanted to have a homestead – while they were living in Anaheim, ½ mile from Disneyland.  In Washington, they now have chickens and she is known as the “crazy chicken lady.” Very humorously and vividly, Maria described the first steps in becoming a chicken owner, some of the ordinances, tips on coops, chicken predators, and the different types of chickens. She ended by telling us the advantages of being a chicken owner.

Evaluator #1 was Barb, who complimented Kelly on the organization of her speech, the energy she put into it, and her wonderful use of body language. Barb suggested that Kelly talk more slowly and ask the Toastmaster for 6-8 minutes so that she didn’t have to rush when delivering all her content.

Evaluator #2 was Jim, who complimented Maria on her well-organized and funny speech. He mentioned the many puns that Maria had in her speech and said it was very humorous.

Table Topics

Kate led Table Topics, and said that her questions were simple, like min-icebreakers. 

Julie Hutton volunteered, answering the question why she came to Toastmasters and why she came back.  Julie said that she came for big smiles and explained how much she is enjoying (addicted to) South Korean Ramkan, which I think is a TV series.

Tobias was unanimously “voluntold.” He talked about car commercials that he enjoyed and driving a ladder truck for the fire department.  He explained how he enjoys skirting around conventions, for example, wearing his hair in a mullet and a rat-tail, and wearing a half-mesh t-shirt instead of his uniform.

General Evaluator was Warren, who said that it had been an unbelievably good meeting to kick off in-person meetings. He praised the organization, the emails, how well the Toastmaster explained the in-person rituals, the Table Topics master for picking good people to respond, how both evaluators offered specific, concrete ways to improve, how Jim used the sandwich method and summary.  Warren concluded with calling this a very positive meeting.

Our guest Dianna said said that she had fun, liked the various roles which to her meant accountability, and asked a few questions.

Guest Randy said it had been fun and lively, with laughter and familiar faces. We ran out of time for feedback from the other guests, but stayed afterwards to chat.

The meeting adjourned at 1:04 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Barbara Katz, Secretary