“Ways to Relax”, was our theme that was created by Lidia, our Toastmaster of the day. The New Year brings a lot of work and minimal breaks or holidays after January 1st, so it is up to each of us to find our own ways to relax.

Schedule changes included having 2 speakers for the day and an extended opportunity for Table Topics, Jovica managed to include every member present to spin a tale of intrigue, colorful characters, alarming dimensions, and locations that were as far flung as any that our captive audience could imagine. His name is Jovica, and storytelling was his topic.

Has your interest been piqued? Come to the next meeting to practice your speaking ability. Everyone welcome!

Aleli contributed photos of meeting.

“Back to School”, was the theme chosen by our Toastmaster Isabella. She explained that this theme touches everyone who has children that went back to school these past few weeks, and college -aged people are also gearing up for school. She did an excellent job as the Toastmaster and kept the meeting moving as she introduced each member.

Our speeches were:

INTENSE with Pure Adrenaline -Steven told an emotionally gripping, true story of his car windows being smashed and his home break-in experience that kept us on the edge of our seats. His voice, gestures, and prop perfectly matched his narrative.  He completed his CC manual today.

REFLECTIVE describing the wrath of nature and lessons learned in a disaster – Justin’s hook was truly effective as he compared the massive disaster of Hurricane Katrina that was miles away, to being caught up in Hurricane Rita, that swept over Texas 3 weeks later. During this harrowing journey, he was connected with long lost family that welcomed him in a time of great need.  His voice and pitch changed as he described his co -workers with a twangy accent, and increased his vocal pitch as panic set in.

REPETITIVE and Rhythmic was the tone that Aleli portrayed as she described her” tale of two stories in one”, and repeated this theme throughout her account.  Vivid imagery and descriptive words were used effectively. Snow, frozen, fire, ash, Mr Clean/Mr. Dirty.

Brett was our Timer, Mike was the Grammarian and the word of the day was insouciant; showing a lack of concern.

Scott, one of our newest members, was out Table Topics master. Visit our newest page on Instagram.

Bill did double duty today by stepping in as President to call our meeting to order, and he was the Toastmaster of the day! Our theme was “Connecting with your audience”, and Bill gave many wonderful exemplars of  how to do this during the meeting. Dave chose convey for the word of the day and it was used frequently. Vansi did a great job keeping time.  Bill apologized for the meeting running late today, and conveyed chagrin at this rare event.  Our first speaker was Bethlehem, giving her Pathways Icebreaker speech #1, “How I got here”. Her composure and engagement with the audience was warm and friendly. Her speech told an interesting path of country, family, education, married with children, and goal for career improvement as the purpose for attending Toastmasters.  Kathy gave her Pathway #1 Icebreaker, “Food for thought”, and spoke about her passion for cooking, and the number one famous person she would have liked to invite for dinner was Julia Child.  Speaker #3 was Brett; he gave his Pathways L2 Project 3, Lessons of a mentee, and shared a good way to articulate ideas clearly when you are nervous is to rehearse by speaking to an object on your desk, such as a rubber ducky. But an even more beneficial way to practice speaking would be to have a mentor you can bounce ideas off of and get feedback. We had many opportunities for audience participation when Rachel, our Table Topics Master invited members to use a pre selected word and make up an impromptu speech, then ask the next member to Top That! it was a lot of fun and had whacky stories. Jovica raised his hand and offered to give an impromptu speech about his recent trip to Serbia with his girlfriend to visit family.  He spoke of delicious ways to prepare sausage and barbecue meat. Lonnie, stepped in as a guest to evaluate a speech, and he has been a member of Toastmasters at another club. Member dues will be collected during the month of September, $51 to any board member.