Friday, November 8, 2013

September 30, 2013 Club Meeting

The following is a summary of the minutes from our September 30th  meeting.
 Meeting Location:   The Hillsdale Mall, San Mateo, CA     6:00 p.m. – 7:27 p.m.

Attendees:

Present at the meeting were: Samya Boxberger-Oberoi, Eric Yan, Lara Miller, David Nazzaro, Sharon Pappos and Ruth Wadsworth.  There were three guests;  Katherine Pratt, Maia and Deryk.

Eric was the Toastmaster; David was the General Evaluator; Lara was the Grammarian; Ruth and Katherine were Ah Counters; Ruth was the Table Topics Master; David was the Vote Counter; and Emily was the Timer.

Sharon gave an energetic introduction to the meeting,  Samya updated the club on how well the booth did at the Bacon and Brew festival over the weekend.

The theme of the meeting was: “Job Interview”; The word of the day was: “Success”.  Eric spoke about the theme, how he originally joined Toastmasters to brush up on his interviewing skills because he used to be terrified of interviews and now, after practicing with Table Topics, Eric wants to interview for fun!

Sharon, the Evaluator, gave an introduction outlining the speech criteria, including that the speech should incorporate techniques to arouse emotion.  Eric, the Toastmaster, gave an introduction to Samya’s speech, indicating that Samya would be completing the Advanced Communications Series:  “Storytelling” and that all the characters in her story were real.

Speaker #1:  Samya:  “In That Heart Felt Moment”
 Advanced Communications Series:  “Storytelling”

Speaker #1:  Samya’s story took place in the Himalayas.  She began the story telling of how she had been sick for a week and how her friend was looking after her.  While watching her friend knead dough, he had a seizure. Samya’s story transported the listeners with the urgency of the situation: not sure what to do. She called out for assistance.  Samya’s story ended with description of how her friend touched her heart.

Evaluation:    Sharon evaluated Samya’s speech.  She said that Samya conveyed the emotion effectively with her audience.  Sharon encouraged Samya to include more details, if time wasn’t an issue.  Sharon also indicated Samya’s enunciation and voice projection were very good. Samya’s story was very touching.

Speaker #2:  Special Guest Katherine Pratt:  “Radio 99.1 KTMI”

Public Relations Manual: Project #2 (3-5 minute speech with a 2 minute Q & A session)

Katherine was speaking as if on a radio show.  David played the host “Dazzling D”.  Katherine gave an interview-style speech talking about the upcoming District 4 conference scheduled to take place on November 9thand 10th at the Embassy Suites in South San Francisco.  The theme is “Passport to Possibilities: Your journey begins”.  Lance Miller, a toastmasters champion, will be speaking at the conference about ideas for promoting and marketing clubs.

Dazzling D continued his role as host for a brief two-minute Q & A session (part of the speech outline), asking unscripted questions of the audience.  Samya, Ruth and Emily participated.

Group Evaluation:   
Lara and Deryk indicated that the interview format was with the dual role-playing was a terrific way to inform the audience about the upcoming conference.  Samya liked the format as well. Sharon said Katherine projected confidence and made good eye contact.  Maia suggested next time Katherine decide in advance if she would hold the script.  Emily said the speech was an example of where our skills can lead us.  Ruth said the speech was well-spoken but that Katherine should slow down with the information.  Eric agreed that Katherine should slow down and also said Katherine has a great radio voice.

Katherine also shared with the group how to become a DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster): 
·         Practice, practice, practice!
·         Finish several levels of manuals (including Competent Communication and Leadership)
·         Being an officer, in order to complete more projects

Table Topics:  Ruth spoke about how Table Topics was the best practice for job interviewing.  Ruth asked questions related to jobs interviews. 

General Evaluation:  David applauded the members for taking advantage of the unique meeting format and commented how the group is continuing to evolve and improve.

Samya reminded the club that no meetings would be held on 10/14 and 10/21. She asked for the guest to share comments and closed the meeting.

Meeting was adjourned at 7:27


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