Public Speaking Northwest #9406

 

Meeting Minutes

March 29, 2022

Public Speaking Northwest Toastmasters 

Announcements  

1.    In Person meeting next week.

2.    Meera is our newest member.

3.    Dues are due by March 31. See emails from Jinxin and Nancy.

Members in Attendance: Amy, Barb, Jim, Jutta, Kate, Kelly, Kristin, Lynn C, Lynne D, Mara, Maria, Meera, Nancy, Nguyet, Warren

Guests in Attendance: Guy K (fiancé of Amy) and Joshua Reeves, colleague of Lynn C.

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

Opening Comments by our President, Lynn C

The meeting theme was: “Step Out of Your Comfort Zone”

The word of the day was “Ameliorate,” meaning to make something better

Our Toastmaster was Kate, who kept us on time and shared some thoughts about expanding our horizons by being willing to take small risks.

Our Gate Team was:

Grammarian –Nguyet        

Ah Counter – Nguyet

Timer – Maria

General Evaluator – Kristin

Speaker #1 was Amy, with her speech, “Like a Deer in the Headlights,” 4-6 minutes.  Amy told us symptoms of her stage fright and how she has learned to reduce it. One symptom of her stage fright she was “incomprehensible word vomit,” in other words, babbling.  She said that singing karaoke had helped her a lot with stage fright.

Speaker #2 was Mara, with her speech, “Learn Big with Little Books.”  April is financial literacy month. She described the basic communication styles that she had incorporated into her big books: 1) Direct (short and sweet); 2) Supportive (calm and steady); 3) Initiating; and 4) Analytical (lots of data)

Evaluator #1 was Warren, who complimented Amy on the research she had done, her narrative style and use of dialogue. He suggested more direct eye contact with the camera. He concluded with praise for her clarity, vocal variety, organization, and delivery.  Warren called it a very good “kick-off” speech.

Evaluator #2 was Nancy, who complimented Mara for weaving the four communication styles into her books as well as using her books as samples of the styles. Nancy noted the natural (not virtual) background, allowing Mara to keep her face and the books in the frame.  She suggested watching out for the glare on her glasses and the book covers.  Finally, Nancy reminded us not to say “thank you” at the end of the speech, because the audience should thank the speaker.

Table Topics

Lynn C lead another session of fun and lively Table Topics.  She proposed that we be game show contestants and asked us to speak in various styles.

Jim took on a gangsta role, to describe his first or best concert. Since rock concerts weren’t invented when he was a child, he described watching the presidential debates on the television, jumping up and down and doing other “motion stuff.” Jim concluded by fading away as he moved his chair further and further from the camera.

Guy followed directions to act like a statue as he described his first concert, “Boys Like Girls.” He held perfectly still and with no facial expressions.  Excellent job.

Lynne D was asked to act like a 5-year old girl at her first concert.  She talked about watching the Beatles on TV.  From the young girl’s perspective, their hair styles were weird, and the girls in the show were screaming so much that Lynne couldn’t hear the music.  In her little girl persona, Lynne ended her speech perfectly by saying, “How stupid is that!”

General Evaluator was Kristin, who mentioned that table topics was full of energy, Warren’s evaluation was positive, Nancy’s evaluation was constructive and specific, and praised Kate for managing the schedule so that we ended on time.

Guest Comments: Our guest Josh commented at the end of the meeting that he was impressed with how comfortable we were with each other and how much fun the meeting was. Guest Guy was impressed with how candid and personal the members were.

The meeting adjourned at 1:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Barbara Katz, Secretary