November 11, 2013 Club Meeting

The following is a summary of the minutes from our November 11^th meeting.

 Meeting Location:   The Hillsdale Mall, San Mateo, CA     6:15 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

Attendees:

Present at the meeting were: Samya Boxberger-Oberoi, Lara Miller, Suzanne Mulcahy, David Nazzaro , Emily Panos, Sharon Pappas, Ruth Wadsworth and Venkat Senapati, Eric Yan.  There were no guests.

Lara was the Toastmaster; Emily was the General Evaluator; Ruth was the Grammarian and the Ah Counter; Suzanne was the Table Topics Master; and Randy was the Timer.

The theme of the meeting was: “Anxiety”; the word of the day was: “Creeps”.  

Speaker #1:  Venkat - “Why This Zompiephilia” 

 Manuel Series – Project #5 

Venkat began his speech asking the question, “Why do we love Zombie movies?”.  He stated that there was a rise in the popularity of Zombie movies when times were hard.  It has been suggested this is because these movies provide an escape, and a “mindless” way to have fun.

Venkat further stated that “everyone wants to be a hero.  We are told from the movies we see that we will all become movie stars, which is a form of consumerism.  We are, in fact as common people, all special.

Zombie movies serve to release anxiety for the sake of entertainment.  “In the face of adversity, we can stand up and find the good”. 

  

Evaluator:  Sharon   

Sharon told Venkat that this was his best speech yet.  He used good body language and gestures as well as voice animation.  Venkat conveyed total confidence.  He had good use of the stage and was able to move around appropriately.  Venkat also had good eye contact with the audience. 

Sharon gave the suggestion that he could have slowed down on the topic contents and give the audience a chance to catch up.  She further stated that Venkat used great humor, was well organized, and gave an excellent speech.

 

Speaker #2:  David - “Napollo and His Pogo Stick” 

 The Entertainment Speaker Series – Project #1 

David gave a very entertaining speech, which ended up as a “Tall Tale”.  He started by describing a member of his Toastmaster Club that was “going to go over the Toastmaster meeting members” at the next meeting.  David kept us on the edge of our seats as he described in detail this man’s process of using a pogo stick to going home to another planet.  He gave a vivid and startling ending to his story which was well received by the audience.

  

Evaluator:  Samya   

Samya stated that David gave an excellent “Tall Tales” story based on his own personal experiences and conversation with Napollo.  He gave a vivid and very descriptive rendering of Napollo’s trip home.  David built his story to a climax very well.  His speech was great and the construction was really fabulous.

Table Topics:  Suzanne hosted the Table Topics.  

  

Samya asked the members to share any ideas about an end of the year holiday get together.  Everyone generously gave their input and appeared eager to have a dinner together.   Samya then closed the meeting.