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!  

Congratulations on your new job, Justin! We know you'll be fabulous!

​The April 19th meeting of T-Toasters of Vinings began promptly at 6:00 with announcements that two members (Justin and Lori) found new jobs this week!  In attendance were 15 members and 6 guests.  Greg Palmer served as Toastmaster with a theme of Books I’ve Read.  Greg is an avid reader, racking up completed book totals of 75-100 annually.  Not a fan of Harry Potter, Greg prefers Milton Friedman’s work on the free market, and enjoyed “Good to Great”, which focuses on corporate culture.  Mary-Catherine served as the evening’s General Evaluator, presiding over an all-star team including Jim as Timer, Beverly as both Ah-Counter and Grammarian and Justin as Ballot Counter. 

Three members gave speeches. The first up was Tiffini, the evening’s Best Speaker, who gave her Icebreaker entitled “Pieces of Me”.  Tiffini was born and raised in Atlanta, and considers herself to be a true Georgia peach.  Family is at the center of her life, and she has been influenced by some truly amazing people. Her grandmother was born in 1919, and passed on to Tiffini her “quiet strength”.  Her mother was the first college graduate in the family, and Tiffini credits her father for her drive.  A graduate of UGA Law School, Tiffini was also cheered on throughout her life by her close-knit community.

Second at the lectern was Carin with her 6th CC speech entitled “How to Have Fun While Working From Home”.  As an introvert, Carin enjoys her current workspace, but says in addition to benefits like avoiding Atlanta’s Interstate disasters and office politics, there are also downsides like occasional loneliness and too much quiet.  Carin utilized a colorful PowerPoint presentation to walk us through some of the things she enjoys doing to battle boredom at home.  Laundry, chipmunk-tending and perusing NPR for entertaining tidbits all made her list, along with keeping an eye on her favorite meteorologist’s reports, popcorn breaks (with or without beer) and collecting Instagram quotes.  She recommends breaks from all of this entertainment because “Having fun is exhausting!” 

Andrea “got comfortable with being uncomfortable” and gave an unplanned speech on the topic of Leadership Framework.  Andrea recommends beginning with a vision and goals in mind, then developing a strategy, choosing processes and using metrics to measure progress toward goals.  As an employee in the finance department of a large company, Andrea saw how these steps can lead to fantastic outcomes for employees and customers.  She says we all have “limitless potential” as individuals and as organizations.  Andrea completed her 6th CC speech with this project.

Suzanne, our Book Fairy, was the Table Topics Master for the evening.  Equipped with a backpack full of titles, Suzanne encouraged participants to choose a book they’d like to read, or to explain why they would not choose said title and instead recommend an alternative.  Lori was up first with her pick “Lean In” by Sheryl Sandberg.  Second was Kristina with “It Ain’t Over” by Marlo Thomas, which she chose because she feels she needs to figure out what is going to make her happy in this stage of her life.  Hank decided to pass on Suzanne’s selections and instead told us he prefers Pat Conroy’s “Great Santini”.  Three guests stepped up to participate.  Keeley Evans, the evening’s winner, recommend “QBQ” (also a favorite of Suzanne’s), Suni chose “Playing Big” by Tara Mohr and Mark chose “Built for Growth”.

Lee, the evenings Best Evaluator winner, evaluated Tiffini’s speech.  She commended Tiffini on her open, honest and vulnerable approach.  Marcus evaluated Carin, complimenting her combination of humor and professionalism, as well as her triumph over technological difficulties.  Chad evaluated Andrea, noting her excellent use of hand gestures, pitch, rate, pace and use of pauses, as well as her speech’s organization.

Beverly’s Word of the Day was munificent which means very generous.  She noted uses of the word by Tiffini, Suzanne, Marcus and Mary-Catherine.  She also gave kudos to Tiffini for her use of the vivid phrases such as “quiet strength” and “tooth and nail”, Carin for her use of “office riffraff”, Lee for “slew of family members” and Marcus for “snarky”. 

Our guests provided us with some fantastic feedback about the meeting.  Rob said he found it “engaging” and noted that we laugh a lot, Dylan suggested an explanation of the ballot for newcomers, Suni commented on the group’s energy, Mark complimented our high attendance and pace, and Keeley announced that she’s ready to officially join us, to a chorus of applause.

Our president, Jim, closed out the meeting by letting us know that he heartily approves of the speakers’ use of personal stories, commenting on how effective that technique is at reaching audiences.
In addition to his new job, Justin also plans on seeking district office, and is beginning the search for a new Sergeant at Arms for T-Toasters.  Interested parties should get in touch for more information.

​Keep in mind that the District’s Spring Conference will be held May 12-13, and there will be a Storytelling Workshop April 29th.  Be sure to visit t-toasters.com for more information and for pictures of the meeting.  Also, please remember to send information and a picture for your member profile to Lori at lori@lorilphillips.com.  The website has new information every week, regular blog updates, and you can now find downloadable documents under the Members’ section.   
 

Jim served as Toastmaster for this special Open House meeting of T-Toasters of Vinings.  In attendance were 19 members and 7 guests including Jordan, Keeley, Rob, Tangi, Tonia and Michael.  Jim did a great job of telling our guests about some of the awesome benefits of membership in Toastmasters, and explained how things work and what makes our club unique.

General Evaluator Andrea kept us on schedule through this all Table Topics meeting and introduced her evaluation team which included Josue as Timer, Mitzi as Ah-Counter and Mary-Catherine as Grammarian.  Mary-Catherine chose the word “proclivity” as her Word of the Day.  It means a tendency to chose or do something regularly.

Marcus was the first of four Table Topics Masters.  Under Marcus’s prompts, Gregg Hinthorn told us about his superhero alter-ego, Mr. Unright Man, Greg Palmer serenaded us with a Celine Dione hit from his favorite B-rated movie Titanic, Keeley explained why men leaving the toilet seat up needs to end, and Mitzi told us why she loved 70’s music, especially Joan Baez and Bob Dylan.

Lori was the second Table Topics Master and started the group off with a story prompt entitled The Time Traveller, then challenged participants to continue authoring the tale while working in bonus elements she surprised each with.  Suzanne, Scott, Ken, Justin and Keeley were all up to the task.

Kristina was our third Table Topics Master.  She called on Marcus to use one word to describe his childhood, which he called “dysfunctional”.  Next, Hank told us that life confuses him, and that retirement is tougher than you might imagine.  Lee talked about quick decisions and how they might change your life.  Tiffini told us that family and helping people make her happy.

Table Topics Master number four was Beverly.  She kept the crowd laughing with her request that participants tell us about the outfit and mode of transportation that they chose for an interview with Bill Gates.    As if showing up in a Batman costume and traveling via canoe weren’t stressful enough, prospective employees also needed to dodge the vicious dancing dog, dance the hula and play air guitar to be selected for this six-figure paying gig!  Mitzi rode (and fell off of) a cross-eyed horse, but wowed Bill with her red high heels, Cynthia (or possibly Mary-Catherine) broke I-85 while riding a three-legged dog and sporting a cow costume, the real Mary-Catherine wore a tutu and threw a tricycle at the scary dog, and Marcus took on various Batman identities while wearing a shrunken plaid cape.  He even managed to dodge the dog on his pogo stick, and worked in a hula, which this Secretary suspects lead to his victory.

In addition to Marcus's win, Ken also won as a top Table Topics Speaker, while Andrea took the award for Best Evaluator.
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Cynthia finished off the official portion of our meeting with her farewell address and left to a standing ovation.  She will be dearly missed by all of us, and we all wish her the best in Orlando.
After the meeting ended, everyone enjoyed the amazing food brought by our members.  Andrea did a fantastic job creating a festive atmosphere for the event, and everyone mingled, snacked and laughed a lot.  Thank you to everyone who helped to created this fun-filled evening.

Please remember that the District 44 Spring Conference is May 12 and 13.  You can check here for more details: http://d44conference.org/

​If you’re attending be sure to watch for workshops by two of members. Suzanne Sheeley-Walker’s presentation is on Friday at 3:00 and is entitled “Your Network=Your Net Worth”.  Scott Lehmann will be presenting his Triple P Formula for Member Retention on Saturday at 8:00 am.   Also be sure to cheer on Anne Taylor as she competes in the International Speech Contest.  

Drinks- Ken and Jim
Cups, plates, napkins, forks and cake- Lori
Decor and chips-Andrea
Some type of snack and wine -MCG
Veggie tray-Kristina
Turkey meatballs and rolls-Cynthia
Key lime cake- Tiffini
Fruit-Beverly
​Appetizer/Dessert-Carin