FS Toastmasters

It was a great meeting that can only be described as agog. Everyone was agog to be there and agog to participate in their respective roles.   Margaret really hit it out of the park today with her Word of the Day: Agog, meaning excited. Just about every single person used it at least once during the meeting.  Don One did an excellent job leading our meeting. The theme he chose was Transitions which was echoed later by our Table Topics Master, Betty.   Before our two speeches, Nathan shared with us a humorous tale about a tourist, the Empire State Building, and an alcoholic version of Superman.  Stanley is on double duty expertly counting Ah's and timing speeches Our first speech was given by Hoyt who spoke about the company Great Courses which allows you to take college courses in a convenient and inexpensive way. He specifically highlighted a course on public speaking which he thought would be of interest to us Toastmasters, and he highligh...

Brad led an excellent meeting this morning and chose the theme of Memorializing: Remembering Those Who've Touched Our Lives. Nathan tied into that theme by choosing the word "Quintessential" as the Word of the Day, describing his grandfather as the perfect or typical, quintessential grandfather. Margaret brought a dose of humor to the group with a joke about maple syrup, putting authentic Maple that she sells in samples instead of "putting awful on your waffle."  Karen gave her Ice Breaker speech, although this wasn't exactly her first speech. She has been a part of Toastmasters for 25 years, serving as a District Governor and earning the top designation as Distinguished Toastmaster. Her speech focused on the pursuit of happiness and sharing the best of yourself. Nathan gave our second speech titled "Show Me the Money" and used that opportunity to practice a speech about his long-term care insurance business that he will be givin...

Hoyt served as Toastmaster on the theme of "State Fairs."  He fared well in recruiting two members to very capably fill in at the last minute: Don Emon with a speech on squatter rights and Don Groff with being joke master.  "Concessions" was John Glover's word of the day. Don E. conceded that you need to keep watch of any property that you have.  A squatter may encroach within a 10-year period and take hold if not discovered.  Jeanne Resen planted herself firmly with a mostly glowing evaluation. Ron Climer gave his storytelling with a moral project.  He said from age 13-15 as a Floridian he helped load up watermelons in the field at the end of each row.  His task was to heave up the watermelon about seven feet for the foreman to catch and stack.  Unfortunately, his summer's work was made more difficult as the double axle tractor became in vogue.  It could pull a flatbed with a heavier load, which meant his seven foot heave became only fi...

Today, we were privileged to see two of our newest members give their first speeches. Amy and Michael both gave their Ice Breaker speeches which is a way to formally introduce yourself to the group, and both did excellent jobs. Amy's speech was a moving one titled "Performing for a Different Audience," and she talked about her life of performing: Piano, Dance, Magician's Assistant, Her Children, Her Customers, and Her Fellow Toastmasters. Amy was later evaluated by Brad who described her speech as picturesque and gave her glows such as word choice and evoking emotion as well as grows such as trying to get more comfortable speaking away from the lectern. Michael's speech was biographical in nature as he discussed being a fifth generation Henderson County resident, his family's business Piggy's where everyone in the family is involved, his work as an attorney at Van Winkle Law Firm, and his newest venture being the Chairman for the Hendersonvi...

John Glover breathed a deep sigh of relief after NAILING his Ice Breaker speech.   "Always Prepared" was the theme of today's meeting. Amy Sahf had her debut as Co-Toastmaster and led our meeting alongside Karen Alexander.  Brad gave our meeting a humorous start with a joke about a frog, a fortune teller, and a most unfortunate realization for the frog that his future would involve a biology class, a student princess, and a scalpel.  We had two Ice Breaker speeches. The first was from John who spoke on his work life as a financial advisor, his home life as a dog lover and easy commuter, his athletic life as a  triathlete , and what he hopes to gain in his new Toastmaster life. Stan was our second speaker and gave his Ice Breaker speech as part of the Pathways program - 4 and a half years after his first Ice Breaker speech. He spoke on his love of art, drawing, and public speaking and about his upcoming project which will be teaching a public spea...

Co-Toastmasters Karla Reese and John Glover provided the theme of vacations which was reinforced by Table Topics Master Judy Groff.  She had us imagine the benefits of travel as well as the negative points.  This led to a debate between Hoyt Griffith and Melinda Lowrance.  In his table topic, Hoyt picked benefits and spoke to seeing always new places rather than returning to old haunts.  Melinda grabbed ahold of the negative side in her fear of flying, avoidance of older drivers, run-ins with discourteous hotel staffers, and especially, having to fumigate against dust mites and bed bugs.   Stanley Yurth gave his ice breaker to say how in Toastmasters and in his career he was becoming a better version of himself.  He said his mother had migrated from Hondurous and met his dad in 1998.  He described how he'd become an entrepreneur with electronics.  Jeanne Resen gave a Powerpoint on Team Building.  She gave us lots of take aways t...

Nathan led our meeting as Toastmaster of the Day. He chose the theme "Sleep: The Lost Third of your Life" and sprinkled in some interesting facts, weird phenomena, and helpful advice throughout the meeting to encourage us to appreciate and respect our nightly slumber. The theme of sleep was also incorporated by our Word Master, Stanley, who chose the word "siesta." This was also reinforced by our Table Topics Master, Don Glovan, who had all the table topic participants speak "progressively," coming to the front simultaneously and talking about a continuous dream, picking up from where the last person left off.   We had two speakers. Speaker 1 was Hoyt Griffith who's project was called Speaking to Inform. He tackled a very difficult subject: Universal Basic Income. He focused on both the economic and emotional benefits of having a UBI and helped us visualize a near future where a UBI could redefine work, leisure time, and humanitarian p...