The June 21 meeting of T-Toasters of Vinings was run by first-time Toastmaste4r Marcus with a theme centering around African-American Music Appreciation Month.  Marcus pointed out the wide array of musical genres contributed to and created by African-American artists.  Among others, the following genres would not have been enjoyed by the world without the contributions of African-Americans: Blues, Funk, Soul, Zydago, Hip-Hop, and Reggae.  Marcus also made mention of his favorite group, The Roots.

Lori served as General Evaluator and led a team that included Josue as Grammarian, Beverly as Ah-Counter, Devin as Timer, and Lakeisha as Ballot Counter.  Josue’s Word of the Day was “Ineffable” meaning too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words.

First to speak was Theresa with her emotionally moving speech “A Seed Sprouts At Five Points”.  One day, young mother Theresa took her children on a field trip to Five Points, complete with a ride on the subway.  Momentarily distracted by a fellow passenger, Theresa and two of her children were separated from her daughter, much to her dismay.  Drawing upon her mother’s teaching and her positive attitude, the little girl “reaped what she sowed”.  Her mother did as well.  Greg evaluated Theresa’s speech.  He praised her strong opening, word choice, body language and ability to rouse the emotions of the crowd. 

The second speaker of the evening was Courtney with her third CC speech “Man In the Mirror”.  Drawing upon the lyrics of the late Michael Jackson, Courtney challenged the crowd with the questions “What do you see when you look in the mirror?”  and “How can we make a change if we see someone who is broken down?”  Courtney focused on encouraging the crowd to engage in positive self-talk reminding us that the relationship we have with ourselves is the most important one.  Matt served as Courtney’s Evaluator.  He said that there were three things he especially liked about the speech: the song, the mirror and the message.  Matt loved the vulnerability Courtney showed by opening with a song, and felt she did well at driving her message home.

Liana gave her second CC speech entitled “View From the Top”.  Continuing with a movie theme, Liana practiced a speech she intends to deliver to a group of women trying to break into broadcasting.  The speech was structured around three main ideas- Liana’s personal journey, encouraging words and practical advice.  Liana said that despite her plan for her life not working out as she’d envisioned, she learned that by changing her attitude and focusing on gratitude, she was able to excel.  Hank evaluated Liana and said, others “can’t sleep when you’re speaking!”  He enjoyed listening to her speak, her good energy and her use of a movie as a reference point.   

Carin, the final speaker for the evening, gave her 8th CC speech “Don’t Get Burned”.  Drawing upon personal experience with malignant melanoma, Carin warned the crowd of the dangers of unprotected sun worshipping and gave practical tips for staying safe.  George evaluated Carin and remarked on the relevancy of her topic, her voice and pacing, her deliberate choice of words, gestures and body language as well as her confidence.

Jim served as Table Topics Master and asked participants about how music, especially African-American music, has affected them personally.  Lee discussed a recent musical experience she had on a bus in Cuba,  Lakeisha shared her love for Gospel and Jasmine told us about an experience with Hip-Hop and her general love of music.
 
The 16 members and 3 guests very much enjoyed the evening.  We welcomed our newest member Lakeisha into the fold and enjoyed hearing from guests Phoebe, Nyria and Jasmine who felt that the evaluations and feedback provided were helpful and complimented the high-calibre performences. 

President Jim Cyganek gave his thoughts on the meeting, encouraging members to remember to stand when presenting information.  Jim also reminded us that both the Humorous Speech and Evaluation contests are right around the corner.  Please remember to sign up to bring potluck-style refreshments for both events by commenting on the blog. 

​In his signature style, Marcus closed out the meeting with flair with the words “Love, peace and soul!”
 

The June 14th meeting of T-Toasters of Vinings was expertly led by first-time Toastmaster Tiffini Bell.  Tiffini chose an interactive “Firsts” theme, and encouraged members to participate in discussing some famous firsts including: the first President to be impeached (Andrew Johnson), first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution (Delaware) and the first Toastmaster meeting (October 22, 1924).

The meeting started promptly at 6:00 and was brought to order by newly-minted Sergeant-at-Arms Josue Cruz.  In attendance were 15 members and 6 guests.  Matt served as General Evaluator and led a team including Ah-Counter Greg, Grammarian George, Timer Theresa, and Ballot Counter Suzanne.
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The first speaker of the evening was Josue with his 4th CC speech entitled “Become a Better Driver”.  Josue gave concrete tips about how to control their vehicles including learning about weight distribution and  how to polish up your knowledge of your vehicle’s length.  Jim served as Josue’s Evaluator.  He enjoyed Josue’s topic choice and commented on his knowledge and passion for the subject of cars, as well as the fact that he did not need notes.

The evening’s second speaker and Best Speaker winner was Liana with her Icebreaker speech entitled “Risky Business”.  Liana didn’t leave her home state of California until she left for college in Arizona, the first of many risks she would take in her life.  She left Arizona State to study Atmospheric Science at U.C. Davis.  As 1 of only 6 students in her program, she overcame academic challenges and eventually went on to work for the National Weather Service and then a local TV station before landing her current position at The Weather Channel.  Liana’s Evaluator was Scott, who won Best Evaluator.  He complimented her confidence and poise as well as her transparency and storytelling ability.

Third up at the lectern was Chad with “Candidate Experience”, a speech about how those who hire can improve the often stressful ordeal of interviewing.  Chad gave several concrete suggestions and discussing some of the selling points of his current employer.  Lori evaluated Chad and enjoyed his organized approach, confidence and passion for hiring as well as his inclusion of further resources that interested audience members could tap into.

The Table Topics Master of the evening was Kristina.  Kristina asked participants about some of their firsts.  First up was Keeley who spoke about her first date.  Hank talked about his first trip out of the country.  Guest Jasmine discussed her first major purchase, and Ms. Bell, Tiffini’s mother and the evening’s winner, discussed her first week of college.

Guests Jasmine, Christian, Theresa, Lakeisha, Keely, and Tiffani shared their impressions of the meeting.  They enjoyed the specific, positive feedback speakers received to further improve their performances, discussed how T-Toasters has already ameliorated their vocabulary and speech in regular life and their general enjoyment of the club experience.  

​The June 7th meeting of T-Toasters of Vinings was led by Toastmaster Andrea Lewis with an interactive “Would You Rather….?” theme which allowed us all to have fun with our fears surrounding public speaking- something feared more than death by many.  In attendance were 19 members and 3 guests.  

General Evaluator Suzanne led a team including Rob as Timer, Jim as Grammarian, Courtney as Ah-Counter and Matt as Ballot Counter.  

As the first of four speakers for the evening, Theresa led us off with a story with a twist.  Her speech detailed the adventures of Patricia the Peregrine Falcon who wins all of her races and her battle against Sabrina the Sloth, who had a few tricks of her own up her sleeve.  First time Evaluator George complimented Theresa’s simple, clear ideas.  Of Theresa, George said, “You pranced, you sang, you used onomatopoeia!”  He particularly enjoyed her use of alliteration with “slayed the silly sloth”.

Greg Palmer was up next with his talk about Game Theory, "the study of mathematical models of conflict and cooperation between intelligent rational decision-makers.”  Greg touched on John Nash, founder of the theory, as well as the Prisoner’s Dilemma.  Tiffini evaluated Greg’s speech.  She loved that despite her math phobia, she was able to understand Greg’s speech because he broke a complex theory down to manageable chunks.  She also complimented his ever-present sense of humor as well as his gestures.

Lori, the evening’s winner, was up next with her speech about the Myers Briggs Type Indicator.  Using a handout, the audience was able to jot down which side of each of the 4 dichotomies they most related to.  Introversion vs. Extroversion, Sensing vs. Intuition, Thinking vs Feeling, and Perceiving vs.Judging were discussed.  
Best Evaluator Gregg Hinthorn commented on Lori’s organization, audience engagement and poise.

Chad was the fourth speaker.  He gave an inspired toast for his friends’ upcoming wedding.  The crowd got to have a glimpse into the adventures he has shared with Stephanie and Lindsey over the years, including carefully planned events and Yappy Hours. Alyssa, Chad’s Evaluator, commented on Chad’s warm and genuine stories and was sure the wedding guests will enjoy Chad’s toast as much as T-Toasters did.  

First time Table Topics Master Josue built off of Andrea’s Would You Rather theme.  Best Table Topics Speaker Matt was asked if he could clone himself or make a pet talk.  He started off with “No one would want to clone me!” and talked about a Spanish speaking parrot, and the nature of dogs vs. cats.  Marcus was asked if he’d rather find himself in Jurassic Park of the Hunger Games.  “Everyone else is going down! declared Hunger Games contender Marcus, before he exited with Katniss’s signature hand signal.  Justin was if he would rather see into the future or read others minds.  Justin, would choose the latter, and he referenced one of his role models Charles Xavier in his response.   Kristina would prefer to control water vs fire, being the beach lover that she is.  She’d regulate the temperature so she was always comfy.
Grammarian Jim noted 7 uses of his word of the day, gratitude.  He also enjoyed Theresa’s “See my 3 claws?”, Greg’s “My mom is crazy by the way!”, Lori’s “geeking out”, Matt’s Spanish speaking parrot, Marcus’s “I just win” and George’s “Yeah” as a conclusion.  

General Evaluator Suzanne suggested filling the front seats first so that late-comers can easily enter and reminded us of the importance of clapping until a speaker returns to his/her seat.

Our guests, Lakeisha, Melba and Janet shared their thoughts about the meeting commenting on their personal improvement regarding the use of filler words as well as using Toastmasters as a way of stepping out of their comfort zones.

Remember: Lori is looking for contributors to the website’s blog.  If you’d like to write a post regarding anything current and/or future members might enjoy, please get in touch with her and remember to check off one of your CL tasks with your efforts!  Jim reminded us that our upcoming contests are rapidly approaching.  See Mary-Catherine, Andrea or Jim for more information on participating.  

Also, please join us in welcoming Josue as our new Sargent-at-Arms and Greg Palmer as our new Treasurer!