june 7, 2017 minutes

​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!