No Hornswoggling Taking Place at the January 15 or February 5, 2014 Meetings!

The mission of a Toastmasters club is to provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment in which every individual member has the opportunity to develop oral communication and leadership skills, which in turn foster self-confidence and personal growth.

Let's just get this straight: hornswoggling means cheating or trickery, and Ada chose it as our Word for the Day at this meeting.  Each meeting participants are encouraged to use the Word of the Day in hopes of broadening their vocabularies.

As president of Peace Speakers, Ada opens our meeting with the suggestion that one of our goals this year involves a commitment or relationship with God.  This can manifest in many ways, and hornswoggling of any nature isn't advised...especially in this instance!

Ada acknowledges 3 guests today:  Sherrell, Alonzo, and Ida.  We are an open club and warmly receive visitors at all of our meetings.  She adds that Becki, a previous member, has returned today.  All of this is exciting and welcome news!

Also announced:  Kay won a Public Relations Blog Contest late last year, and she just received her $75 winnings in bucks that she can use at the Toastmasters International store.  If we end up buying a stand for our new Peace Speakers banner, Kay will donate $50 of her winnings towards that purchase.

Robin, our VP of Education, notes that today is Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday (January 15).  The federal holiday on January 20 in King's honor is associated with helping others, so Robin challenges us to find a project in our community to support.  This will keep the teachings of Dr. King alive as it strengthens our communities, empowers individuals, and creates solutions to social problems. To learn how January 20 became a national day of service, go to www.mlkday.gov.

JOKE MASTER CHARMS US

 

You'll have to take my word for it, friends, because I lost Randy's jokes! I'm not hornswoggling you, either!  Therefore, I'll substitute a few jokes on Randy's behalf.  These two are about losing things:

A man loses his donkey and gets down on his knees to thank God. A passerby asks, "Why are you thanking God when you’ve lost your donkey?" 

The man replies, "Well, thank goodness I wasn’t on it at the time, or I’d be lost too!"

I sold an item through eBay, but it got lost in the mail. So I stopped by my local post office and asked them to track it down.
"It’s not that simple," the clerk scolded. "You have to fill out a mail-loss form before we can initiate a search."
"Okay," I said. "I’ll take one."
He rummaged under his counter; then went to some other clerks who did the same—only to return and confess, "You’ll have to come back later. We've lost the forms."

Now I feel better.  I'm not the only knucklehead who loses things!   : )
 

      OUR TOASTMASTER COMES ON BOARD

Catherine, our Toastmaster for the day, shares that she chose the photo of Martin Luther King, Jr., to go on top of our agenda in honor of Nelson Mandela's recent passing and the upcoming King holiday.  Then she immediately monitors herself and announces, "Space-filler self-recognition!"  She's caught herself uttering an "um" and owns up to it.  That's an easy mistake for the Ah Counter and Grammarian to record!

PREPARED SPEECH FOR THE DAY:

"We Are Down But We Can't Lose"

Eric crafted this speech using his imagination, creating what he imagined the Wildcat’s coach might have said to his team on the eve of this 1998 National Championship game.  He avoided sports jargon so that the average listener could relate.  I am sharing a shortened and sometimes paraphrased version of Eric’s speech.  I pray I do it justice!

                                         We Are Down But We Can’t Lose

At halftime, the coach quiets down his Wildcat’s team and acknowledges the wild ride that has led them to their final test, this national championship game with Utah, “But everything we have worked for will be for nothing in just 20 minutes unless we make a fundamental change to how we play.  We are 10 points down at the half.   Most would say it may as well be twenty or a hundred because no team has ever comeback from such a halftime deficit to win this game.  Utah has outplayed us in every facet of the game, especially rebounding: 24-6!  24-6…something is very wrong.  We are arrogant.  We are nervous.  We are unable to execute.  We are not playing our game.”

The coach has his Wildcats take stock of how the team arrived at this moment but uses a 40,000 foot perspective instead of the current game’s narrow viewpoint.  He reminds them of a win their 3 seniors executed while playing their first game as Wildcats where the opponents lost by 74 points!  These 3 players continued to win 28 games that season and 131 games in all as Wildcats.  And the juniors, as well, started their careers with a national championship.  Each year, the team roster changed, but the team dynamic remained the same.  The Wildcats played as one unit with the same purpose.  The coach implores, “We must honor this legacy of excellence by playing for twenty minutes like we have played for the past four years.” 

The coach continues knowingly, “Let’s talk a minute about what it means to wear that uniform.  For a freshman, putting on those blue jerseys and shorts means you are among the best young talents in the country.  Wearing the uniform makes you a walking bull’s-eye for each and every team you will play as Wildcats.  Every team we play marks its calendar for Kentucky.  For us, winning is expected.  For our opponents, beating us may be the marquee event for their seasons, if not their careers.  But time and time again, you have proven you know how to win.  This game is no different than any of the others.  Our goal: 20 minutes of focused intensity, playing our game.”

Then the coach spends a few moments talking about the opposition, “Utah lives to slay giants.  It preys on the unsuspecting - teams that expect to rest on their laurels and coast to victory - bull’s eye teams like number one seeds Arizona and North Carolina. Utah dominated those games from start to finish.  They are ready for the second half in this game, too.  They smell blood, but we know exactly what to do in this situation.  We need to give them a taste of their own medicine and let them see what determination and grit look like.  Just last week we were down 18 to Duke in the first half.  Then, we started playing defense, we started rebounding, we started scoring, we stopped worrying about individual stats, and started playing like a team. Only two days ago we were down ten points in the second half to Stanford.  We regained our composure and rallied for that win as well.” 

The coach beseeches his team, “We all know how to win this game.  We need to play our game.  This year, 34 teams learned what our game is, but today we have forgotten it or don’t care to play it.  Our game is not merely about basketball fundamentals: dribbling, passing, shooting, guarding or individual talent.  There are dozens of NCAA players every bit as good as our best.  Our game is showing the special chemistry that this team, and only this team, has had for the past four years.  It is about knowing each others' strengths and weaknesses and playing as one unit, humbly, for the same goal. Nothing that happened during the first half matters.  Shake it off.  Forget about it.  Twenty minutes of basketball is a long time to cut a ten-point deficit.  Be patient and do not panic.  Play with poise.  Play with humble confidence.  Play intelligently.  Trust in each other and play as one.  Play our game, and we can’t lose.”

This was such a thoughtfully crafted speech, and it seems that Eric must have closely followed the Wildcats throughout the years to create such an account.

          TABLE TOPICS MASTER GETS US SHARING


Becki, our Table Topics Master, created prompts that relate to resolutions or goals we often set for a new year.  Her questions are given verbatim in a different font.  Participants' responses follow those prompts.

Blogger's disclaimer:  Some of the Table Topics responses are sparse.  I wasn't able to take good notes or get a written response from a few participants.

Get a better job — Imagine you are hiring your replacement. Sell us on your current job by pointing out the benefits and what you like best about it.

Betsy admits that before she retired last year, she trained a new person for her job.  She only has very positive things about her previous employer and the PC(USA). It's a good place to work because of the good people there.  She liked the support staff and appreciated their hard work.  Besides the spiritual benefits to working at the Presbyterian Center, employees also receive great health benefits.

Lose weight — Tell us about a habit or difficult situation that is “weighing you down” and how you could lose that weight.

Alonzo admits that it's challenging to get to the gym, especially after enjoying a favorite meal at a fast food restaurant.  It's easy to fail to keep our commitments for losing weight when we're indulging in the foods we enjoy so much.

Exercise more — Tell us about your favorite sport or fitness activity and why we should try it.

Rhonda's favorite sport is football, and she would love to coach football if she could.  But since she can't, the elliptical machine is the next best activity she turns to when she wants to exercise.  It really gives her a good workout.  However, she feels she could tumble off, so she prefers to be downstairs. 

Learn something new — Tell us about a difficult lesson you learned, either through experience or a class.

One of Robin's professional goals last year was to take a course in Adobe Photoshop because she uses it daily in her work and wanted to brush up on her skills. Completing the course benefited her and her colleagues, as she shared the information she learned. She challenged everyone in the room to learn something new this year.


Stop procrastinating — Tell us about something you put off doing.

Kay admits that she's not very "techy" and put off trying to create our Peace Speakers website after failed attempts to get logged in right off the bat.  The website is started but is incomplete.  Every time she attempted to work on it and was faced with hurdles, she'd back off in frustration.  She even signed up for a year's online course on computers, and when she failed the test for the easiest part of the course, she decided to wimp out. 

WINNER OF TABLE TOPICS:  It's interesting to note that we didn't have one winner for the Table Topics session. We had 3 winners...making the vote a 3-way tie!  Betsy, Rhonda, and Kay earned this honor, and there was absolutely no hornswoggling to pull off this feat!




SPEECH EVALUATOR SHARES HER PERSPECTIVE

Eva, who is Eric's speech evaluator, notes that the coach's locker room speech to motivate his players was very clever.  The use of colorful language spanned throughout it.  She liked how the coach connected with his players and built up their morale by using personal stories of interest.  Eric's calm delivery broke the stereotype of berating, loud coaches, which is all too common.  However, Eva wondered if his speech would have benefited from a more forceful delivery at times and by using more gestures and energy to portray its well thought-out message.

Kerri took on the role of the Timer for the first time today.    Using the stopwatch and matching times with the green, yellow and red lighting system can be confusing occasionally if you get distracted or caught up in what others are sharing. However, Kerri was quite adept and handled the job like a pro.

Ada leaves us with the thought that to truly help the planet, we must develop a disposition that is loving, compassionate and empathetic.  Find peace in yourselves and live with an abundance of enthusiasm that overflows to others.


LOOK BELOW: During our January 15 meeting, a quick photograph of participants is taken.  Thank you, Alonzo, for taking this shot.  Some of our members couldn't attend today, and they were sorely missed!

Back row:  Randy, Rhonda, Betsy, and Eric
2nd row:  Catherine, Ada, and Becki
1st row:  Robin, Kay and Kerri

NOW I BEGIN MY BLOG ON OUR FEBRUARY 5, 2014 MEETING.

(Funny how vacations, incomplete notes, and life can get in the way of one's good intentions!)

Ada, president of Peace Speakers, opens our meeting in her usual euphoric manner.  I say this knowing the Word of the Day for this meeting is euphoric or euphoria, meaning a feeling of great happiness, excitement, or well-being.  On this snowy day, only 5 members could get to our meeting, but we made sure we had fun and made our time together productive.

Robin, our VP of Education, beams with euphoria while showing us evidence that our Toastmasters club will be showcased in the International Toastmasters Magazine in April of 2014.  We drew their attention when we entered and won a Toastmasters Brand Contest requiring we create a short video.  That video can be viewed on our Facebook page if you scroll down on the right-hand side.  Oh, and please "LIKE" our Facebook page before you leave it https://www.facebook.com/peacespeakers

JOKE MASTER RELAYS VALENTINE THEMED JOKES

Robin shares jokes that Kerri planned to deliver personally but couldn't due to illness.  She admits they're cheesy, but that's part of the appeal.  She suggests we use them to charm either a crush we have on someone or to woo a partner if we're in a relationship.  See what YOU think:

What did the painter say to her boyfriend?

I love you with all my art! 


Why did the banana go out with the prune?

Because it couldn't get a date.


What did the stamp say to the envelope on Valentine's Day?

I'm stuck on you! 


What did the French chef give his wife for Valentines' Day? 

A hug and a quiche! 
  

Due to illnesses and snowy weather, some roles had to be filled on-the-spot at our meeting today, and Fred stepped up to the plate and took on a role he'd never tried:  the Timer.  Concentrating on the lighting system, Fred explained how the green light indicated time was waning, the yellow light means start bringing your talk to a close, and the red light indicates that your time's up. Keeping our talks within the designated time-frames is a discipline and allows us to keep our meetings to the scheduled one-hour length.

TABLE TOPICS MASTER 
FOCUSES ON WEATHER AND THE OLYMPICS

Eric, our Table Topics master, entices us to pull from his cache of questions.  With so few members able to attend our meeting today, we each take a turn.   No one's excused from participating, and it's just what each of us needed today!

What is your favorite memory of the Winter Olympic Games?

Robin's favorite memory is of the games that took place 4 years ago.  She was competing with others in a Wii game and tried curling, skiing, and other Olympic sports.  She discovered that she was bad at squats but good at lifting up.  Her husband was really good at the Wii sports.  She learned after watching the curling competition that she could do well on that, too.

One of the biggest "news" stories of the winter has been Justin Bieber's legal issues.  Recently, over 100,000 people signed a petition to have him deported.  Pretend you are the White House staffer who has to address the petition and deliver your response.

Kay admits that Justin has allegedly been up to no good:  throwing eggs at this neighbor's home, drag racing with a DUI charge, and today he's in the news because pilots complained about the smell of pot coming from the cabin where Justin and his father were, so they felt compelled to don air masks.  All of this behavior has some thinking he should be deported, but these offenses haven't been proven.  You, the public, can let us know what you think, but remember, he's only 19 years old, and his brain isn't fully developed yet.

How were you affected by the 2009 ice storm?

Fred says his neighborhood has forests in back of their homes.  The ice storm made him worry about trees falling on their homes.  He also had cabin fever for several days being stuck inside.  However, at the end of the storm, fallen trees were chopped up, making for piles of wood ready for next winter.  He admitted that he did forget to make a fire in the fireplace and wasn't prepared for the utilities going up that much.  The latest ice storm had them concerned all over again how they'd endure.

Time and time again, the Olympics have amounted to a net loss for tax payers but a boon for development interests.  Do you have any ideas on how to improve the economic inequities of the Games?

The Olympics are very popular and need to be continued.  Ada enjoys watching them with her husband each year.  Hackers, though, have caused a difficult problem for many.  It's been sad for those going to the Olympics.  Whereas the Olympics are good for participants, it's discouraging that some want to cause problems by hacking into people's personal accounts and computers.  The economic inequities are a black hole, and Ada admits she can't comment.  If they started well in advance, they could put plans in place to try different avenues to decrease the inequities that arise.

Do you watch the Super Bowl for the game, the halftime show, or the commercials?

Eric admits that he doesn't usually watch the Super Bowl but this year was different.  He looked forward to it but lost interest when the Seahawks scored repeatedly.  However, it was good to be with friends and take in the lively conversations.  None-the-less, he felt sorry for the Denver fans for this embarrassing lop-sided loss.

 
Because there was no prepared speech this meeting, we do another round of Table Topics questions.  Some of these questions are as follows (and a few were contributed by Robin):  

• What's the worst weather event you've ever encountered?
• You're a snowman and the weather has turned warm and sunny.  Describe what it feels like to melt away, little by little.
• Tonya Harding or Nancy Carrigan?  

As photographer and blogger, I just enjoyed listening to people's answers and didn't try to record anything.  When it all came to a close and the vote was taken, Ada won the Table Topics session.  I think it was her second extemporaneous speech on what it felt like to melt away as a snow-woman that earned her the highest accolades.   She was a natural at personifying!

Ada draws our meeting to a close thanking each one of us for taking the extra effort to be here on a snowy day.  There were actually more members in attendance who drove in solely for our meeting today! 

Ada concludes our time together, inspiring us to keep an open mind in our daily lives and to take one storm at a time.  "It's all good," she assures us. She sneaks in some winter jokes before leaving the podium:

Why did Frosty the snowman want a divorce? 

Because he thought his wife was a flake. 


Why didn't the tourist in the Arctic get any sleep? 

He plugged the electric blanket into the toaster by mistake and kept popping out of bed all night.

Our Peace Speakers meeting ends on its usual high note.  We're smiling and all have had several opportunities to utilize our thinking, speaking, and leadership skills.  Furthermore, we've had a chance to learn something about our comrades, which is always interesting and entertaining.

If you're a visitor to this blog, don't be a stranger.  Drop in for some of our meetings and see what they're like.  Who knows, maybe you'll realize there are many opportunities for you to grow your communication skills, enhancing your professional prospects and personal relationships. 

We are an open Toastmasters club, 

so please pay us a visit!

OUR NEXT FEW 2014 MEETINGS:

 FEBRUARY 19 - Conference Room B

MARCH 5 - Conference Room B

Peace Speakers Toastmasters Club

Presbyterian Center

1st and 3rd Wednesdays (usually)

1:00 - 2:00 p.m.

100 Witherspoon Street

Downtown Louisville, KY

Respectfully submitted,

Kay Chambers

VP of Public Relations for Peace Speakers

To access our previous blogs, here are the links: 

http://peacespeakerslouisvilletoastmasters.blogspot.com/  

 http://peacespeakerstoastmasters.blogspot.com/ 

(We kept running out of space and needed to start a new one!)