Sunday, October 10, 2010

Triskelion Toastmaster Meeting Notes - October 7, 2010

Today's meeting included speeches by Connie Pshigoda and Jon Clemence our area governor.  Jon went first with a humorous speech detailing the differences between Geeks and Nerds.  As a Nerd myself, I appreciated his humor.  Jon gave his speech to promote the area contest to be held later that night.  More on this below.

Connie then gave us an informational speech about how to execute an impromptu speech.  Her five simple steps can put you at ease if you are ever on the spot to give a speech off the cuff.  Paul, visiting from Jepp-N-Toast, then handled the table topics duties so we could practice what Connie was preaching.  Dan was our table topics master by explaining how he geeks out with his transporter.

Our own Gary Fuller rocked the house later that night and took first place in the Evaluator Contest!  Great job Gary.  We've all benefited from your insightful and compassionate evaluations, now all of the M2 area has seen your skills and soon the world :-)

Let's all plan to support Gary in the Division Contest on October 23, 1:00 PM at the South Metro Fire District Office.  I also look forward to seeing you all at our next meeting on Oct. 21.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Triskelion Meeting Notes - August 19, 2010

Connie Pshigoda served as Toastmaster for Thursday's meeting, greeting members and presenting the Word of the Day: winsome.

Don Lyman gave a Technical speech from the advanced manual, sharing some of the finer points of  jQuery and java script. Dan Pratt served as speech evaluator.

Newly elected club president, Don Lyman was formally inducted. 

Each member contributed to Table topics by providing a topic, then drew from the selection for their speech. Doris Andersen won Best Table Topic presenter.

September's meetings will be held on Thursday 9th and 23rd. We look forward to seeing you in September!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Triskelion Toastmaster Meeting Notes - August 5, 2010

Fellow Triskelion Toastmasters,

Thursday's meeting was a blast, with the largest attendance all year, thanks to numerous visitors.  Our new Area Governor, Jon Clemence brought three guests, and we had two other District officers that attended in coaching capacities.  In addition, we had a visitor that had been a Toastmaster in the past and was thinking about rejoining.

Don Lyman gave an original story from the advanced storytelling manual which had a moral for us to guess.  He related the story in first person, from the perspective of two elk (wapiti) calves that early became orphans.  Then they had to search for their purpose through experiences in the forest.

Connie Pshigoda evaluated Don's speech.

Several attendees participated in table topics, and the best speaker was awarded to one of our guests (Jennifer), who had two special charities she would contribute to if she had a million dollars.  She related personal experience in her family of “Prune Belly Syndrome” which many had never heard of, but which typically was associated with Cystic Fibrosis, which another member had experience with.  All in all, some compelling questions and answers.

Jon Clemence announced that Area Humorous and Table Topic Speech contests were coming up in October, so our club will have a speech contest on September 24th.

Thanks to all who attended.  We hope to see you on August 19th.

As a reminder, because of Labor Day, we will switch our regular meetings to the 2nd & 4th Thursdays during September.

Regards,

Dan Pratt

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Triskelion Meeting Notes - July 22, 2010

The Triskelion's opened their July 22 meeting with the them "Impromptu." Officers Doris Anderson and Dan Pratt and guest Betty Chavira each spoke on highlights of the District 26 Leadership Training held last Saturday.

All agreed that the lyrics to the song, "Toastmaster's Slays the Fear of Speaking," should be published for all chapters.

One of the most attended sessions taught on speaking for the job hunt–a timely topic.

Please join us for the August meetings: August 5th & 19th . . . we enjoy hearing from you!

Members in attendance agreed to modify the September schedule to allow for Labor Day weekend, by conducting that month's meetings on Thursdays the 9th and 23rd.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Triskelion Toastmaster Meeting Notes - May 6, 2010

Toastmaster, Connie Pshigoda opened today's meeting with an impromptu Speech-Athon. Each member was given a topic and three-minutes to speak on that topic. Members drew numbers for their speaking order.

Jeanne Rutgers provided the Word of the Day "meshugana" from her recent trip to NYC. Meshugana is a Yiddish word used as an exclamation to describe something as crazy, bizarre or useless. 

Don Lyman spoke about his old and new ATV toys and the reason chain saws are often taken on the trails. He shared his excitement for new programs in his work . .. java script and others that are beyond the average mind's grasp. 

Tony Pollock spoke about the "May-Mayhem" in his family with numerous birthdays, anniversaries and other celebrations. He helped the audience better understand the nature of his work of locating and installing transmission lines.

Dan Pratt shared his weekend experience at a youth church retreat where games and activities took the format of Silent Library and the Amazing Race.

Jeanne Rutgers clarified the urban legend of dyslexia. We now know that it is an auditory processing problem. Her passion for her work was evident in her presentation.

Connie Pshigoda spoke on the exciting break-throughs in technology and the plant world as they relate to cutting-edge nutrition. Plant DNA and genomic research is taking wellness to a whole new level!

Jeanne also reported on her recent participation in the Table Topic Speech Contest on April 5. She said it made her more aware of what Toastmasters is about.

We look forward to seeing our absentee members at the next meeting on May 20. We are nearing the end of the Toastmaster fiscal year, so those trying to complete manuals should sign up for speeches in the next couple of weeks.
Have a great May!

Triskelion Toastmaster Meeting Notes - March 18, 2010

Dan Pratt emceed the meeting.  Chief Judge was our own VP of Education, Ed Johnson.  Our other judges were Gary Fuller and Krystyna Noworyttaour VP of Membership.

Ahs Counter - Tony Pollack
Timer - Doris Anderson
Question “In what aspect of your
life have you been most
successful?”
First Speaker - Jeanne Rutgers
Second Speaker - Connie
Pshigoda
Third Speaker - Don Lyman
Fourth Speaker – Joe Abey

The contest winner was Connie, our club president. However, since she will not be able to participate in the Area M-3 contest on April 5, Don will represent us in the International Speech contest and Jeanne will be competing in the TT contest. Congratulations to our newest member Joe, who braved the crowd and showed that he indeed can also warm up a room with an impromptu speech. Joe Abey thought that he has been most successful in becoming at ease in both social and business gatherings. Although he’s mostly comfortable in small groups, he indicated that Toastmasters would help expand his comfort level in larger groups.

Following the four speeches, I had one other question for Ed Johnson and Gary Fuller to practice their extemporaneous styles during the regular Table Topic Speeches. Ed claimed that he could not live without fast Fourier transforms. Without them, we would not have the wave at Coors Field.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Triskelion Meeting Notes - April 1, 2010

     Toastmaster Krystyna Noworytta opened the Thursday’s meeting. She greeted members with “Spring Renewal”, and Dan Pratt presented the Word of the Day: “Portentous”.

    Tony Pollack took us to wine country - in our backyards. He schooled us on the basics of wine tasting - best shared with friends and a good way to learn and socialize without being portentous (pompous, in this context).

    Jeanne Rutgers offered some practical advice on how we could avoid conversation during flight. One of the tips involved was making sure the people around us think we're crazy. It was very entertaining.

    Don Lyman had us visualize sitting around a campfire while he related a tale of a prospector's encounter with supernatural creatures, or were they just his imagination? We might never know for sure.

    Tony Pollack and Jeanne Rutgers won awards as Best Speakers, and Gary Fuller as Best Evaluator.

    Please join as on April 15, 2010. Roles may be filled on the Website.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Triskelion Toastmaster Meeting Notes - March 4, 2010

Thursday's meeting opened with Toastmaster Connie Pshigoda greeting members and welcoming guest, Area Governor, Emmy Poncetti. Joe Abey was welcomed as a new member. The Word of the Day was contest  with two pronunciations to get us in the mindset for upcoming speech contests.

Speaker, Don Lyman gave an inspirational speech and challenged the audience with the question "Is the future worth the present moments we are giving up now?"  Emmy evaluated Don's speech with gusto in acknowledging his confidence and skill in delivering a top notch presentation.

Dan Pratt led the Table Topics with Jeanne Rutgers and Gary Fuller tying for Best Table Topic Speaker.

Our club has recently revised its meeting schedule to the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month. Our next meeting will be March 18. We will be conducting  the Table Topics speech contest, so please attend and participate. We need judges, timers and contestants!

We welcome visitors and look forward to a great Spring! Don't forget to spring forward on the 14th! See you on the 18th.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Triskelion Toastmaster Meeting Notes - February 25, 2010

Krystyna Noworytta served as Toastmaster on February 25, 2010.
She opened the meeting with a formal announcement in an absence of Connie Pshigoda. She began the meeting announcing a schedule change. We will meet on March 4, and Emmy will be visiting us. She will be reviewing our Club’s goals from last June. Our next meeting will be March 18, and we will be doing a Club Speech contest for our Table Topics.

Krystyna welcomed Joe Abey, from Country Financial, who was our guest and became an instant member.

The theme of the meeting was “Omnivore VS, Omnivore”. Krystyna compared 2 omnivores and their habits, the Alaskan Brown Bear and a today’s Mr. Anthony Smith.
 
The word of the day was Omnivore; one that is omnivorous (adj.).
Avidly taking in everything as if devouring or consuming, or feeding on both animal and vegetable substance.

We continued listening to a presentation, by Rory Vaden, in a series of six CDs focusing on how to develop humor for your presentations. The series is named “The Audience is NOT in Their Underwear.” Rory told us that we are all capable of being funny and he disclosed some of principles. His speech was about 20 minutes, and it was very instructive. We will try to continue this series each week (even in “off” weeks), unless we have two live speakers. Dan Pratt will have handouts available whenever he plays the CDs.

Don Lyman challenged us with Table Topics on outdoor activities. He himself is an advanced hiker. For example, as a Mayor of a city, how would you allocate funds if you had a choice of either a park, a trail, or public library. How would you distract a bear to protect yourself? My solution: throw the open jar of honey at him, and then, slowly walk away.  

Dan Pratt and Gary Fuller won an award as “Best Speakers”.

In conclusion, Connie Pshigoda made the decision to change
our club’s scheduled meetings. We will meet every other Thursday, the 1st and 3rd week of the month. Our next meeting will take place on March 4 and 18. Emmy will be visiting on the 4th, and we will hold a Club Speech contest the 18th.

Please join the Triskelion Toasmasters Club next week to celebrate our new schedule meetings. 
Do not forget to commit your roster duty for our next meeting.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Triskelion Toastmasters Meeting Notes - February 18, 2010

Fellow Toastmasters,

We were pleased to have two speakers at our last meeting. Tony Pollack gave his icebreaker speech and we got to know him better. He has a wonderful family and career, but with advanced responsibilities in his job, he’s looking to advance his presentation skills. He knows pressure, though, as he told of his courtship of his wife, whose father is a prominent Colorado politician. Welcome, Tony!

Don Lyman was our second speaker, and inspired us with a hero’s story. Although the story was about a mythical character, the principles taught can have relevance in our lives. He challenged us to develop qualities that would allow us to meet the call to adventure, to seek a mentor, take action and not deviate from the ultimate goal. This was Don’s 10th speech, so he will be moving on to the advanced manuals. Congratulations!

Our evaluators were Krystyna Noworytta and Gary Fuller.

Krystyna presented table topics, which were based on the Olympics. What kind of flying vegetable would you like to be?

Tony won best speaker and Gary won both best evaluator and table topic speaker.

Although we didn’t have a formal vote, it seems that everyone agrees that we should have meetings every other week – probably on the first and third Thursdays. Anyone who strongly objects should contact Connie. I plan on occupying our normal room at least for the next few months during the normally scheduled time, but won’t set up all the props. I would be glad to sponsor mentoring or practice sessions for anyone wanting to use the room for that.

I announced that we would have a table topic speech contest, probably on March 18. The Area contest (which will include both International and table topics) is on Monday, April 5, so we are planning to send at least one table topic speaker. We could also select a member to participate in the International contest, provided they have completed six speeches by that time.

Krystyna will be the next toastmaster on February 25, with Don presenting table topics. We have openings for most roles, so sign up on www.3skelion.info if you would. If you can’t edit the Duty Roster, please e-mail me or Don Lyman. I understand that the option to edit may not show up on everyone’s page. The password is “letmein” which is kind of like Chinese LoMein, but tastier.

Best Regards,

Dan Pratt

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Triskelion Meeting Notes - February 11, 2010

It's Fabulous February and the Triskelion Toastmaster Club celebrated appropriately with chocolates and sparkling cider. Toastmaster Connie Pshigoda opened the meeting with light-hearted comments on the numerous events celebrated this month. Some noteworthy dates include: Groundhog Day, Valentine's Day, Mardi Gras, Winter Olympics, Chinese New Year, President's Day, American Heart Month and Leap Year.

The Word of the Day was: effulgence (ih-FULL-junss) a noun meaning radiant splendor; brilliance.

Krystyna gave her 6th speech from the Competent Toastmaster Manual, titled: Education of Roman Boys During the Roman Empire. Part of their education included Orator School. The art of public speaking was a highly valued skill then as it is today.  Dan Pratt evaluated this speech.

We listened to part 3 of an audio speech by Rory Vaden . . . completing his Take the Stairs campaign promoting success in speaking, careers, health, finances and life.

Table Topics were presented by Doris Andersen. Participants were asked to select a budget and mode of transportation to create their ideal Valentine Get-a-way.  There was a 3-way tie for the winning speech.

New member, Tony Pollack was initiated into the Triskelion Club and received his official TM pin.

Please join us next week for more exciting speeches, Table Topics and inspiring conversation!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Triskelion Toastmasters - Meeting Notes February 4, 2010

Fellow toastmasters,

Thursdays meeting was a very engaging affair.  Toastmaster Don shared with us some moving locker room speeches by Knute Rockne and Bear Bryant; and one not so moving speech by Gary Barnett.  Humorist Doris amused us with the football watching habits of her husband (I can relate).  The word of the day was "austere".

Connie came out of the gates with her first speech from the "Humorously Speaking" manual.  She warmed up the audience with tales of stupid criminals.  She then showed how some very smart thieves discovered ways to fight the bubonic plague as they robbed graves.  She left us with a very useful remedy for fighting illness adapted from the thieves' formulas.

We then listened to part 2 of 3 of Rory Vaden's speech "Take the Stairs".  Rory helped us see how sacrifice and persistence are keys to success.

Dan won the table topics contest by drawing wisdom from both the Rolling Stones and The Who.

We have a new member!  Please welcome Tony to the club.  We have an old member!  Nathan joined us this week and it was great to see him too.

We need all roles filled for next week.  I'll make you a deal: if you fill a role, so will I.

Thanks,
Don

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Triskelion Toastmaster Meeting Notes - January 28, 2010

Connie Pshigoda, served today's meeting as Toastmaster and welcomed members and two visitors. Terry Martin and Mike Gutzmer from Mutual of Omaha were today's guests.

Member Dan Pratt provided a recorded version of Rory Vaden's winning speech on steps to success. As a club exercise in strengthening our evaluating skills, each member gave a 60-second evaluation on the speech. TM  Connie Pshigoda cited from a Toastmaster magazine "The 3-R's of Evaluating: Review, Reward and Respond.

Member Gary Fuller provided Table Topics with the theme "Qualities of Leadership"  asking speakers to define dynamic determination and intellectual flexibility. Guest Terry Martin won the award for Best Table  Topic presenter.

The Word of the Day: abscond---to depart secretly; to steal away and hide oneself.  "All members and guests wholeheartedly participated in the Toastmaster activities. . . none absconded to avoid taking the lectern."

As always, we miss those who were absent and look forward to seeing you next week when Don Lyman will lead the meeting as Toastmaster.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Triskelion Meeting Notes - January 14, 2010

The Triskelion Toastmaster Club met on Thursday, January 14 with Connie Pshigoda serving as the Toastmaster. The theme and Word of the Day was "resolute" . . . fixed and firm in purpose. The members and guests in attendance agreed to be resolute in their efforts to advance in their speaking abilities in this new year.

We welcomed guests Tony Pollack and Jason Musgrave who are interested in the Toastmaster program. They courageously participated in Table Topics (presented by Dan Pratt).  Don Lyman won the Best Table Topic Speaker.

Business discussed: the upcoming speech contest and Area Governor visit.

Please log on to our website and fill a role for next week . . . Be resolute!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Triskelion Meeting Notes - January 7, 2010

Welcome to Triskelion ToastMasters, our first meeting in 2010.

Krystyna Noworytta welcomed Triskelion TS on January 7, 2010. She wished all members a successful year in public speaking.
“Do, as the Romans Do” was the theme for Thursday’s meeting, and a bulla or amulet was our Word of the Day.

In an ancient Rome the ability to speak in public was highly valued. We should take the Roman’s example and implement them into our club activities.

Dan Pratt prepared the Table Topics for our theme “Do as the Romans Do” and has worn an onyx amulet to demonstrate his support for the Word of the Day.

Since we had no speaker on Thursday’s meeting, we watched an analyzed Rory Vaden, the World Champion of Public Speaking Finalist. He shared with us his “Secret of Speaking with Charisma, Humor and Storytelling”.

Five members participated in the meeting, and one new guest, Amel Sardak.

Please sign in for the rolls next week on our website: www.3skelion.info