02/08/2016 meeting "This Day in History"

Hello Fellow Toastmasters,

Our meeting last night was highly productive as we remembered instances of ‘This Day in History.’ Lucille, always thoughtful with her Invocation, started our meeting off on the right foot, and Alonzo as a first time Joke Master, shared a short but funny joke about reali-tea.

I, Daniela, as your Toastmaster, made sure the meeting kept running smoothly and that we stayed on track with time. Michael, our Table Topic Master for the night, did an excellent job providing us with examples of events/individuals from the past, then asking questions related to those topics. The questions varied in topics from sports, to cars, to capital punishment. All speakers are commended for thinking quickly on their feet  as these were quite thought-provoking questions. Ernestina as the Topic Evaluator, provided speakers with tips and suggestions to improve their presence on stage.

Refreshments were provided by Daniela, and Florence who brought juicy Oranges in celebration of Chinese New Year. Thank You!

The second half of our meeting started off with an impromptu speech by Fabian explaining that in order to help others, we must first help ourselves. Our second speaker Sergio, gave us his second project and shared the particulars of his work with office equipment and how he assists his clients in his profession. Aaron, our third speaker, gave us his icebreaker speech and shared about his life growing up and how a life-changing moment prompted him to make a decision that has shaped him into the person he is today. The speeches tonight were full of passion and conviction, thank you to all the speakers!

To evaluate the speakers we first had Daniel point out the great areas of our seasoned Fabian’s presentation, but also suggested more a bit more movement . Florence evaluated Sergio’s speech and commended him for his knowledgeable presentation but also provided suggestions to improve his speaking, including using more direct eye contact. Last but not least, Garvin evaluated Aaron’s icebreaker and pointed out that his speech flowed well, like a movie and recommended him to continue sharing personal stories as they always make great speeches.

It was a great turnout last night and a very productive meeting. We will not be meeting next week, 02/15. A reminder will be sent out. I hope to see many more of you in two weeks!