may 24, 2017 minutes

Mitzi, first time Toastmaster, led the May 24th meeting of T-Toasters of Vinings with a very interactive theme of The Mandela Effect- the theory that there may be alternate universes because so many people have alternate memories of events and would swear their versions were correct.  Examples Mitzi gave included Fruit/Froot Loops, Oscar Mayer/Meyer, Darth Vader saying, “Luke, I am your father/No, I am your father” and the Monopoly man having/not having a monocle.  In attendance were 23 members and 2 guests, including our 4 newest T-Toasters David and Liana Brackett, Devin Antoson and George Terciev.  Welcome to the family everyone!  We are so happy to have you!

Andrea served as General Evaluator, and expertly led an all-star team including Ray as Grammarian, Beverly as Ah-Counter, Suzanne as Timer and Lee as Ballot Counter.
 
First to speak was Marcus with his 5th CC project entitled “Kill the Roach”.  Marcus used the squashing of a roach as a powerful metaphor about overcoming fear.  Mary Catherine served as Marcus’s Evaluator and complimented his body language and gestures.  She particularly liked his use of the phrases “kill shot” and “force of a thousand suns”. 

Tiffini gave her second CC speech “It’s Not a Girls’ School” about her time at Agnes Scott.  Josue served as Tiffini’s Evaluator and said, “You had a great adventure.  Your passion really showed.”  He appreciated her sequential organizational approach, and said, he “definitely won’t make the mistake of calling it a girls’ school!”

Jim was the evening’s third speaker.  He gave his third speech from the advanced manual Speaking To Perform, and entitled his work “Better Evaluations”.  Chad evaluated Jim and commended his introduction wherein he raised his hand to get the audience’s attention.  Chad also noted Jim’s good use of gestures, relevant and succinct pace, vocal quality and his ability to create positive feelings in the audience through his use of humor.

Carin, the evening’s winner, was the fourth speaker.  Her project, “Kick the Can”, was her 7th from the CC manual.  Carin spoke about kicking her diet soda habit, citing the numerous negative health effects consumption has on the body.  Greg, her Evaluator, commented on Carin’s “cool, calm and collected” approach and her natural sense of humor while discussing a serious topic.

Courtney served as Table Topics Master for the first time and did a fantastic job of posing questions to the crowd.  Liana, first time Table Topics Speaker, and the evening’s winner, spoke about what she would tell her twenty-year-old self.  She would slow down, not plan, and just breathe.  George spoke second and said that if he could fill a 12x12 box for a child with anything in the world he would choose a puppy, citing their compassion and ability to create trust.  First timer Devin said the best meal he ever had in his life was during an epic canoe trip and he sang the praises of reconstituted food when one has gone without much else over the previous days.

Grammarian Ray, the evening’s Best Evaluator, chose “malleable” as his Word of the Day and commended Suzanne, Jim, Mary-Catherine and Greg for using it once each, as well as congratulating Courtney for her triple usage.  He enjoyed Marcus’s usage of “plain as day”, “It’s an alien thing,” his mention of Thor raising Mjölnir and “triple tapped”.  He liked Tiffini’s use of “special place,” “not a gir’s school, it’s a women’s college” and triple usage of “vast”.  Also mentioned were Jim’s “I’m not worthy!”, Carin’s “dark ages of the 90’s,” and “they are a poison,” Liana’s “not too far from twenty,” and “it’s how I’m wired,” Chad’s “sink our teeth into”.  Ray also recommended dropping the usage of “actually” in our speech, saying it makes us less trustworthy.

Andrea complimented the group on filling all of the roles in advance, and asked that we keep up the good work.  She also reminded us that “Instruction does much, but encouragement does more.” 
Our guests, Tonya and Lakesha commented that they had a great time and found the meeting informative.

President Jim Cyganek reminded us that Toastmasters is similar to a business setting, and we should all be mindful of both our language and decorum. 

​Remember to sign up for both roles and food contributions for our upcoming contests.  More information on roles can be found by contacting Mary-Catherine or Andrea.  The food sign-up list is on the t-toasters.com blog. While you’re there, be sure to congratulate our new members by commenting on the welcome post.