April 26, 2017 minutes

The April 26th meeting of T-Toasters of Vinings was attended by 3 guests and 17 members, including our newest T-Toaster, Rob Knudsen.  The meeting was led by first-time Toastmaster Andrea Lewis who chose “The Power of Attitude” as the evening’s theme.  Andrea kept the meeting running at a smooth pace, and peppered it with inspirational quotes and gave the attendees much to think about, for example, Winston Churchill’s words, “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”
Carin served as the General Evaluator.  Her team included Hank as Timer, Mary-Catherine as Ah-Counter, Ray as Ballot Counter and Josue as Grammarian.   

Beverly was the first of four speakers with her Advanced Manual Project #5 entitled “Freedom by Any Means Necessary”.  She told three moving tales of innovate and courageous people who escaped slavery.  Harriet Jacobs hid in a slanted crevice of her grandmother’s shack for seven long years, before escaping to freedom in Philadelphia.  Henry “Box” Brown lived in Virginia until an Abolitionist shopkeeper decided to build him a custom crate so that he could ship himself to freedom.  William and Ellen Craft were a couple from Macon who were owned by two different masters.  Fearing separation, they dared to disguise themselves as a white man (Ellen) and his servant (William) only to find themselves on the same train as Ellen’s owner’s attorney!  Even more surprising, the attorney ended up signing Ellen’s ticket, and unknowingly aided the duo on their journey to Boston. 

The evening’s second speaker was Alyssa with her second speech entitled “Active”.  As one of the product’s designers, Alyssa will be giving training presentations at work, and used this opportunity to further enhance her delivery.  She described the design team’s goals of “getting people moving”, the reasons behind their color choices and told us they hoped to create a feeling of movement and playfulness. 

Jim kept us laughing with Project #3 from the Advanced Communication manual which he named “College Life”.  After the shock of learning what adulthood really entails, a stint in the Navy, and an attempt at a self-study physics course at Georgia Tech (aka self-shaft), Jim gained a lot of appreciation for the things that had previously been provided for him.  He joked about learning things like food and working lights didn’t just appear, and perhaps his Dad was someone who might actually have some valuable advice.  Despite the challenges involved, Jim says that the 9 years it took him to earn his B.A. in Engineering were a fantastic experience, and that both of his sophomore years were the best years of his life!

The last speaker, and the evening’s winner, was Courtney with “Peanut Butter and Jelly”.  This speech was only Courtney’s second, making her win quite the accomplishment!  Courtney and her family have turned the crafting of PB&J into an art form.  They credit their success, in part, to Captain John Derst’s Yellow bread, creamy Skippy peanut butter and Smucker’s preserves.  The Quatermans feel that the PB&J can be enjoyed as a meal, a snack, or even a dessert, and clearly T-Toasters appreciated Courtney’s ode to this tasty treat.

Lori served as the evening’s Table Topics Master.  The first volunteer was Jim who spoke about a time when his attitude led him to success.  Justin, the evening’s winner, spoke about the powerful effect his pastor’s attitude had on his approach to following his dreams.  Keeley told us about her spunky attitude that she feels has been hers since birth. 

Greg evaluated Beverly’s performance and complimented her on her passionate, vivid descriptions, excellent use of body language and her ability to keep her audience on the edges of their seats.  Chad noted Alyssa’s excellent set up, use of props and opening story, as well her transitions and product knowledge.  He felt Alyssa spoke with “wit and warmth”, and will go on to conduct her training session with great success.  Mitzi spoke highly of Jim’s great opening joke.  She praised his powerful vocal projection, and discussed how his warm, human touch adds greatly to the energy of his speaking.  Mark, who took the prize for Best Evaluator, praised Courtney’s confidence and poise as a speaker.  He noted that her relatable topic struck a chord with the audience, and kept them thinking and involved.

In his role of Grammarian, Josue made great use of humor and gentle encouragement.  He pointed out the use of “money honey” by Hank, “ramshackle shack” by Beverly, “Sitting is the the smoking” by Alyssa, “overgrown puppy” and “recovering teenager” by Jim and “holy hell” by Keeley.  He pronounced Courtney as the Word of the Day Winner with three uses of “degust” (to taste something carefully, to appreciate it fully). 

Carin, in her General Evaluator’s report, recognized Andrea’s spectacular performance as Toastmaster, noting her great commentary.  Ms. Bowman also gave us some very valuable constructive criticism, reminding us that we need to remember to give our full attention to our speakers, and that prompt responses to emails are vital to our success as a club.  The feedback provided by all of our evaluators is essential to our growth, and seeing real, practical suggestions given is very much appreciated.

​Our guests, Keeley, Devin and Suni, were enthusiastic in their comments about the meeting.  We appreciate their attendance and participation, and hope to see them back next week.  In closing, Andrea inspired us by saying that 50% of our happiness in life is based on our genetics, 40% is in how we react to situations, and only 10% about the circumstances we face in life.  No matter what challenges you’re facing this week, remember that your attitude is key!