August 23, 2017 minutes

The August 23 meeting of T-Toasters of Vinings centered around the theme “Hump Day”.  George served as Toastmaster to the 19 members and 1 guest in attendance.  Jim, our General Evaluator, led a team compromised of Greg as Grammarian, Beverly as Ah Counter, Josue as Timer and Liana as Ballot Counter.  Greg’s word of the day was “oblivious”, meaning “clueless, not aware of”. 

Three prepared speeches were given.  First to the lectern was Tracee with her Icebreaker speech “Why Did I Join Toastmasters?”  “Life is about change,” said Tracee.  A good athlete, star student and mom to two teens, Tracee has decided to take a few risks in her life in order to grow.  She hopes that her Toastmasters journey will help to that end.  Andrea was Tracee’s Evaluator, and the evening’s winner.  Andrea shared that this didn’t seem like a first speech for Tracee and complimentered her determination to grow.  She noted the speech was well organized, and that Tracee possessed both a calm and poised presence and vulnerability.

Jasmine gave her second CC speech entitled “Defining Culture in the Workplace”.  Jasmine used big companies and their policies as some positive examples of good workplace culture. Netflix, for example, provides employees with a full year of paid parental leave when they add a new family member.  “When you provide a great workplace, employees work harder and smarter,” said Jasmine.  “Culture is the social glue that helps everyone stick together,” she continued.  Christian served as Jasmine’s Evaluator.  He noted her calm, organized approach.  Christian also thought that Jasmine chose an interesting topic and appreciated her strong opening which got the entire audience participating.

The evening’s Best Speaker, Chad, gave a speech from an advanced manual entitled “One Size Does Not Fit All”.  As a recruiter, Chad has learned a lot about what it takes to produce a stellar resume, and he was kind enough to share some insider tips with the audience.  He gave several concrete examples of things to do as well as things to avoid, and accompanied his speech with handouts which illustrated great and not so great resumes.  First time Evaluator Devin shared his thoughts on Chad’s talk.  He noted Chad’s expertise on the subject, the structure and organization of his speech, and his confidence.

​Marcus served as the evening’s Table Topics Master and invited 6 participants to the lectern.  The evening’s winner, Mark, told the crowd about the most difficult part of the weeks, Lee told us her thoughts on 4 day weekends, guest Aaron told us what he dreads about his job, Tiffini shared that she’s lucky to be working at her dream job, Lori shared that her favorite day of the workweek is Wednesday, and Justin artfully dodged a question with a response about an upcoming fight.
Grammarian Greg noted that Tracee, Chad, Andrea, Devin and Jim all used the Word of the Day.  Timer Josue noted the following times: Tracee 4:21, Jasmine 5:28, Chad 7:28, Mark 1:08, Lee 1:05, Aaron :53, Tiffini :57, Lori :32, Justin 1:25, Andrea 2:49, Christian 2:26, and Devin 2:14.  General Evaluator Jim reminded us of the importance of working the Toastmaster Program. 

Reminders and Announcements: Dues are due!  Please pay our Treasurer Greg your $60 for the next six months no later than September 15. Greg can accept Paypal, cash or check. 
Congratulations to Suzanne and Marcus for their participation in our area contest!  Suzanne will be advancing to the Division D Evaluation Contest.
We held an officer/Post-Toasties meeting at Padriac’s after the meeting.  Thank you to all who attended.  Your officer team is always looking for your input and feedback to help keep T-Toasters of Vinings at its best.  Please share any thoughts you have with any member of the officer team.