Meeting Notes - January 17

Nick Samoylov commanded today's meeting as Toastmaster. January 17th is the birth date of Benjamin Franklin, and he served as the theme for today's meeting. Nick filled the dead air with interesting facts about Ben, and even brought in an omnibus containing all of Mr. Franklin's Almanac's for members and guests to peruse.

A little known event, that was omitted, is that Ben liked to wear a towel on his head, as seen in the picture to the left. No one knows why. It is suspected that Ben, a constant experimenter, had an accident with a new hair dye he had been developing utilizing some left over ink from the presses. Always ready to announce his successes, but contumacious about his failures, Ben chose to wear a towel without explanation. When asked about it, he'd respond contemptuously, "Well, what are you hiding under that wig buster?"

Mike Angel did the heavy lifting today providing our one prepared speech. With this speech Mike completed his first Advanced Manual, the Interpretive Reading Manual. The assignment was to present a famous speech. Mike presented Patrick Henry's, "Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death, a speech that Patrick Henry delivered to Virginia's House of Burgesses. It was a pleasure hearing the speech in it's entirety. The catchphrase is no shibboleth, but the culmination of a well reasoned and well argued position. Mike did a very good job presenting the speech stepping outside of his soft spoken style to project the force and passion of the words.

Eric Peterson was our Table Topics master, and in the spirit of Ben's birthday provided us with questions based on facts about Ben Franklin.

As General Evaluator I, Deron White, did my summing up. Nick did an excellent job running the meeting. My main critique is that we have fallen into the habit of running past 12:45. As a lunch club of professionals this is critical: starting on time is human; finishing on time is divine.

Next week:

We will be treated to a speech by Dave Trzupek with Janet Reese evaluating. Mike Angel has stepped forward to ply us with Table Topics. Deron White will be Toastmaster. That leave the following roles to be filled:

• General Evaluator
• Speaker #2
  
• Word of the Day - or even Joke of the Day
• Ah-Dinger (counter)
  
• Grammarian
• Timer

Please e-mail me as Toastmaster if you wish to fulfill a role.

First Impressions

Last weeks theme was on impressions, the kind you do, not the kind that you give. I miss understood this and instead focused the table topics on impressions, the ones you give.

Here's a video about First Impressions that Triskelion's might enjoy.

January 10, 2008 Impressions/Caricatures

Elvis left the building before he arrived and actor-turned California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (aka Dan Pratt) filled in as today's Toastmaster. Hilarious! best describes today's caricature theme antics pulled off skillfully by "Arnold." Our two guests, Seth and his coworker friend, might have been surprised by our laughter-exploding meeting. We hope they return.

Mike Angel, our first and only speaker, voice-acted a play in his well-executed interpretive reading. Karen Lang evaluated Mike's performance, taking into account Mike's unique objectives.

In table topics, each of us answered Deron White's "personal impression" related questions with special in-character voice inflections and accents. Eric took TT prize with his Andy Rooney and weather guy--yes, 2 turns--caricatures. The other's were well-done, too. There was Napoleon (Nick), Aunt Bee from Mayberry (Karen), and some good southern accents mixed in between. Some folks acted like themselves. Imagine that! We applaud our guest Seth for stepping up to give us his wonderful impressions.

General Evaluator Oprah--do you believe it??? Yes, Oprah--aka Janet Reese provided useful tips like not interrupting during a meeting and setting up beforehand.

Everyone roared with laughter, a sign that the meeting was one of our best. Thanks to Arnold (Dan) for setting the stage for a creative and funny meeting. Just goes to show you, there's a comedian in all of us.

Thanks to John for providing a bell to "ding" the ahs right out of our speech.

Now we're looking for a toastmaster for next week's meeting. If you haven't been to a meeting lately or served as TM, here's your opportunity. As a reminder, the TM ensures that all the roles are filled for his or her meeting. Volunteer for a role -- complete the program and practice your speaking skills!

See you next week, Jan. 17!

Highlights From Our Phenomenal Thursday January 3rd 2008 Meeting

By Eric Peterson, President, Triskelion Toastmasters Club # 4853, Centennial Colorado

 

Toastmaster Mike Angell rang in our first meeting of 2008 by wishing one an all best wishes for the new year and looked forward to another year of fun, energetic and enthusiastic meetings.

 

Word of the Day was by Cary Bradley – “Arcanum” which is a secret or mysterious knowledge not normally available to the average person.

 

Members used the word of the day in their table topics which were conducted by Nick Samoylov.

 

First speaker of the day was Dave Trzupek who used a flip chart to discuss various methods a company can use to generate business. Dave was evaluated by Janet Reese.

 

Second speaker of the day was Deron White who told of his teenage misadventures on a family car trip to a restaurant along the Hudson River in upstate New York. Deron was evaluated by Dan Pratt.

 

Nick Samoylov led us in table topics and back in time to Leonardo DaVinci’s lifetime and then forward to speculate about the future.

 

General Evaluator was Eric Peterson.

 

Timer was Cindy Castilow.

 

Grammarian and Ah Counter was Cary Bradley.

 

03 Jan 2008/ep

Last meeting of 2007 -- Dec. 20, 2007

Remember, no meeting on Dec. 27.

Talented Toastmaster Cary Bradley set the stage for a dynamic meeting with a 2007 retrospect theme that she so skillfully carried out from start to finish. She also introduced all speakers like a pro at a public presentation.

Engaging speaker Mike Angel entertained us with his interpretive reading of a classic holiday tale about Ebineezer Scrooge, while "space ship captain" Mike Stablien took us on a narrative journey to other planets with his visual show.

Mike S. won best speaker, but it was a close vote with Mike A. scoring high, as well. Dave T. won best evaluator for his review of Mike's speech. Eric's review of Mike Angel's speech came in at a close second.

Janet Reese led Table Topics with questions that challenged everyone to reflect on and share their annual highlights. Cary Bradley won for her Eat, Pray, Love book description and recommendation for all to read.

Which speaking opportunity would you like to fill for our next meeting, Jan. 3, 2008? E-mail me with what you elect. As you can see, we need to line up our cast long before the curtain rises. Let's make our first 2008 meeting as great as the last one of 2007!

TM - open
Speakers: Dave T. & Deron W.
Evaluator 1: Janet for Dave
Evaluator 1: open (for Deron)
GE-open
WOD-open
Timer- open
Ah counter-open
Grammarian-open

Happy 2008!
See you Next Year, Jan. 3, 2008!

Dec. 6, 2007 Meeting Summary

Congratulations. You did it!
Today we recognized and celebrated our accomplishments in TM during the past year. Whether you just joined, you finished your Ice Breaker, one manual, or you earned a designation, congratulations! All your efforts pay off in better speaking skills that you apply daily. At the same time, you help our club earn a Distinguished Program award. What are your TM goals for 2008?

Deron White, VP of Education presented the awards:
Competent Communicator
Mike Angel
Gary Fuller
Eric Peterson
Advanced Communicator-Bronze
John Wierzba
Deron White
Nick Samoylov
Advanced Communicator-Silver
Janet Reese
Nick Samoylov
Competent Leader
Deron White
John Wierzba

There's more...
Our program also included a speech by Deron White who recounted a heartfelt story with a character named Bubba. Gary Fuller evaluated his speech, noting how Deron met the speech objectives and tips for next time.

Cary Bradly provided “dreamy” table topics and challenged us with creative questions about our dreams—when we’re snoozing. We incorporated Aaron Sapp’s word-of-the-day, crackerjack - A person or thing that shows marked ability or excellence. Connie’s reply won her Best Table Topics award.

Roles for next week Dec. 13:
Toastmaster-Eric Peterson
Speaker No. 1 - Dave Truzpek
Speaker No. 2 - Cary Bradley
Evaluator for Dave - John Wierzba
Evaluator for Cary- Open (You?--Let Eric and Cary know)
Table Topics- Connie Pshigoda
General Evaluator- Dan Pratt
Word of the Day- Gary Fuller

No meeting on Dec. 27 due to the holiday week.
See you next week!

Dec. 6, 2007 Meeting

Congratulations. You did it!

Today we recognized and celebrated our accomplishments in TM during the past year. Whether you just joined, you finished your Ice Breaker, one manual, or you earned a designation, congratulations! All your efforts pay off in better speaking skills that you apply daily. At the same time, you help our club earn a Distinguished Program award. What are your TM goals for 2008?

Deron White, VP of Education presented the awards:
Competent Communicator
Mike Angel
Gary Fuller
Eric Peterson

Advanced Communicator-Bronze
John Wierzba
Deron White
Nick Samoylov

Advanced Communicator-Silver
Janet Reese
Nick Samoylov

Competent Leader
Deron White
John Wierzba

Our program also included a speech by Deron White who recounted a heartfelt story with the lead character named Bubba. Garry Fuller evaluated his speech, noting how Deron met the speech objectives and tips for next time.

Cary Bradly provided “dreamy” table topics and challenged us with creative questions about our dreams—when we’re sleeping. In our answers, we used Aaron Sapp’s word-of-the-day, crackerjack - A person or thing that shows marked ability or excellence. Connie’s reply won her Best Table Topics award.

Roles for next week Dec. 13:
Toastmaster-Eric Peterson
Speaker No. 1 - Dave Truzpek
Speaker No. 2 - Cary Bradley
Evaluator for Dave - John Wierzba
Evaluator for Cary- Open (Tell Eric & Cary if you want to fill this role)
Table Topics- Connie Pshigoda
General Evaluator- Dan Pratt
Word of the Day- Gary Fuller

No meeting on Dec. 27 due to the holiday week.
See you next week!