Hello Fellow Toastmasters,
Last night we tackled the topic of conflict resolution during our first half of the meeting, and had a full schedule during the second half of the meeting as well. Thank you to all the members who filled in roles last night. It is wonderful to see that our fellow members will step in to help to fulfill all the roles, plus it is a great opportunity to continue practicing and learning.
Daniela started the meeting off with Invocation by sharing a story about how she introduced someone to Toastmasters. The lesson: we never know when we will be a ‘tool’ for Toastmasters and share our experiences with others. Alex was our Joke Master for the night and shared with us a quick joke with quite a funny punch. Great start. Our Toastmaster Michael led the way of the meeting, keeping us on time and on track.
The first half of the meeting got underway with Daniela filling in as Table Topic Master. Each speaker was read a conflict-related scenario and asked to speak about how they would approach that situation. Some were a bit more thought-provoking than others but all speakers seemed very comfortable on stage tackling their questions. In the end, we heard a number of great solutions to resolving conflict. This was a great Table Topic session that is very relatable to many of us.
Joan stepped in as our Table Topic Evaluator and really took the time to commend speakers on their good points, and give pointers where it was needed. It’s great to have you back Joan! We also tried a new tool from our Toastmasters application, which was suggested by George, our grammarian. When a filler word was used, a ‘ding’ would sound, making the speakers more conscious about them. When asked what we thought about this new tool, the consensus was that we should use it during our Table Topics session from time to time to help speakers.
Refreshments were provided by Daniela, and it looked like it was a hit! Great snacks to get us back into the meeting.
The second half of the meeting hosted three speakers. Garvin volunteered to give an impromptu speech about living a meaningful life, and based his speech on the ideas presented in the book titled “Blue Zones.” He summarized that in order to increase our chances of living longer, we should focus on 4 areas: diet, exercise, human relationships and purpose. Our second speaker Martin gave us his 3rd manual speech, which detailed a simple way to break a bad habit that really comes down to paying attention. He informed us that over time, we become mindful of our habits when we use positive/negative reinforcements to try and change them. Our third speaker Juju also gave us an impromptu speech about her trip to Sedona, Arizona. She shared with us the wonderful sights and experiences of her trip using descriptive words and imagery, we felt like we were really there!
Following the speeches, the evaluators took the stage to provide feedback to our speakers. Margaret evaluated Garvin and acknowledged his passion for the topic, which she feels strongly about as well. She advised Garvin that she would have liked a deeper explanation of how we can fulfill the four areas that would enable us to potentially live longer. Charles evaluated Martin and commended him for his meaningful topic and great use of pauses, and also encouraged him to be mindful of his movement on stage. Michelle evaluated Juju and praised her for her great use of descriptive words and grand arm gestures that made her story come to life. She also advised Juju to give us a bit more background information, since some members of the audience may have not known where Sedona is located (in Arizona).
Angelica was our General Evaluator last night and did a great job giving us a review and report of the entire meeting. We finished the meeting on time with a lot of energy. Looking forward to next week, I hope to see many of you there!
Reminder: There is an officer’s meeting this upcoming meeting 05/02/16 @ 6pm. Thank you.
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