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.
Ada, President of Peace Speakers, greets everyone at the opening of our club meeting. She notes that we have two visiting speakers today, Chip Hardwick and Irene Sulyevich, who express gratitude for being with us. Chip adds that he likes being associated with an award-winning club. (More on that later!)
A third visitor, Tanja, says a friend told her about Toastmasters, and she joins us today because she likes the name of our club. Peace Speakers is a poignant title for us, and we warmly welcome all visitors!
INVOCATION FOCUSES ON GRATITUDE
Kerri, our Invocation Leader for the day, prefaces her invocation with reference to taking our personal journeys with gratitude. Here's the poem she shares:
"Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful."
Gratitude along life's highway, no matter what happens, is the reason why happier lives are lived.
UNVEILING OUR NEW TOASTMASTERS BANNER
Ada (our president) and Robin (our VP for Education) excitedly unveil our new Peace Speakers banner. Using the $100 winnings from the National Toastmasters Brand Video Contest we entered in November of 2013, our club acquired this elite banner. Kay, VP of Public Relations, gave $50 of her last year blog contest winnings towards the metal stand. We are proud of our club's members and all of its accomplishments.
2015 ELECTION OF OFFICERS
Time flies when you're having fun! New officers will be moving into place this summer, so we're thinking ahead to keep our club strong and vibrant. Our current officers will be giving a brief synopsis of their roles during our next meeting on May 21st. Members, listen intently! Taking on one of the officers' roles is an opportunity for you to grow and make a difference. There's nothing you cannot do, and current officers will train and support you throughout the change.
SPEAKING OF CHANGE...
When asked if there are any other announcements, Eric pipes up with the declaration that his wife is pregnant. Unlike Bethany and Robin, who are noticeably pregnant, Eric needed to announce this fact. This is exciting news, knowing that we'll have three fresh new Toastmasters in the coming years! (Okay, it's exciting because the love of family is immense. We celebrate your fabulous baby news!)
JOKE MASTER HAS SOME FUN
Megan, our Joke Master for the day, says a humor researcher sought to find the funniest joke in the world. He found it in Wales, and it's a joke about a snail and turtle, which goes like this:
A turtle was walking down an alley in New York when he was mugged by a gang
of snails. A police detective came to investigate and asked the turtle if he
could explain what happened. The turtle looked at the detective with a confused
look on his face and replied, "I don't know, it all happened so fast."
It took my snail-brain a minute to wrap around this one, Megan. I kept trying to figure out what the snails would mug a turtle for in an alley. I thought maybe they were looking to upgrade to a bigger home.
It took my snail-brain a minute to wrap around this one, Megan. I kept trying to figure out what the snails would mug a turtle for in an alley. I thought maybe they were looking to upgrade to a bigger home.
TOASTMASTER BEGINS THE EDUCATIONAL PART OF OUR MEETING
Robin, our Toastmaster for the day, notes that this is the first meeting since Derby. She shares some Derby Day information about an unusual, last minute, million dollar bet made on Candy Boy. This changed the race favorite's odds on California Chrome from 2-1 to 5-2. Candy Boy came in 13th place, much to the delight of California Chrome fans whose earnings increased in the last few seconds.
Robin introduces our first speaker of the day, Chip Hardwick. Chip is the director of Theology,
Worship, and Education at the Presbyterian Center. Before that he served as a pastor
in central Illinois. He has a PhD in Homiletics (how
to think about preaching) and is here to share how to speak without notes. His speech is titled, "No Manuscript? No Problem!"
Chip
shared that speaking without following a manuscript guarantees at least a
“single” hit (and maybe a home run).
Besides, it actually takes less preparation time and the delivery is more natural.
Here
are Chip’s tips for ditching the script when speaking:
- Write out the manuscript so you’ll know what you want to say and how long it is.
- Don’t try to memorize it word for word. Just try to capture the main points you want to impart.
- Divide it or chunk it into short blocks that are easier to memorize.
- Read each short block out loud a couple of times, and then try to speak it without looking at the manuscript. Review what you intended to say and what you did say and try it again. Nail the key parts.
- Once you have the 1st short block memorized, move onto the next section. After that is memorized, try doing the 1st two sections together.
- When you have the 3rd section memorized, practice doing the 2nd and 3rd sections together, etc., until you have worked your way through the whole speech. Then practice putting the entire thing together.
- Bring the manuscript up with you to the lectern in case you completely freeze.
- If you can’t remember the order the sections go in, it’s probably the logical order and not your memory. (So structure your ideas logically, write out the topic sentence of each of the sections, and use conjunctions between them to help the flow make sense.)
- Don’t worry about memorizing quotes. Have them in at least 16-point font and read them verbatim.
- Do at least part of the speech away from the podium. You’ll find that people will like or remember that part of the speech the best.
Thank you, Chip, for this timely message. Chip admitted he went this route after noticing another pastor moving around and away from the pulpit. He liked this more natural style of delivery. It was enjoyable watching Chip give his speech without the use of notes. This is something we Toastmasters aspire to do, and Chip's tips give us a viable framework from which to accomplish this.
TABLE TOPICS TAKE US DOWN MEMORY LANE
Eric, our Table Topics Master for the day, focused on memories from our past school days and graduations. (For some of us retirees, Eric, that's quite a stretch!!!!!) This is going to be another fun Table Topics session. This is a chance to learn more about others and practice our speaking skills at the same time.
Describe a favorite teacher and why you liked him/her so much.
Betsy doesn't hesitate. She says, "Mr. Noon! He was very handsome." She adds that he was part of the athletic department and a good business teacher. In fact, she was the teacher's pet, which meant she got to carry notes out of the classroom for him. Mr. Noon made a good impression on both the kids and adults.
Megan says that she didn't participate in these pranks and that they were all male-driven. The guys cut the brake lines on the school buses, which was not so funny. They endangered lives and were expelled for it. She admits being from a really small town in Kentucky, and another prank that took place was the guys bringing chickens into the high school. Madness ensued, which is just what they hoped would happen.
Did you participate in any bad school fashions?
Becki admits that she lived through the 70's and witnessed some pretty horrible styles like day-glow colors and large bell bottoms. Her mom made a lot of her clothes, and one outfit had purple and white vertically striped bell bottoms. Mom also made her a pink polka-dot dress. Other bad fashion memories were blocked from her mind as soon as possible!
What was your favorite graduation celebration?
Kerri shares that in 2009 she graduated from Bellarmine. She was done with college and her internship was turning into a full-time job. The possibilities were unlimited and there were lots of fun things to be celebrated. This was her last summer before true adulthood. So off to Hilton Head she went with a bunch of her college buddies!
And the winner of the Table Topics trophy this time around is Megan, one of our newest members. She's holding the clear-faced trophy beside our new Peace Speakers banner. She'll get to enjoy it until our next meeting on May 21st.
OUR AREA 66 GOVERNOR SHARES SOME NEWS
Irene Sulyevich, our Area 66 Governor for District 11, shares timely reminders for our Peace Speakers club today.
A Toastmaster for 8 years now, our Area 66 Governor begins by asking if
anyone has visited the District 11 website. She stresses the
importance of that because this is our number one source for all
information about the activities taking place in our district. It's
also a great source for templates, forms, and more in the "Download"
section of the site. Here's the link to the District 11 website: District 11 Website
Irene encouraged our Peace Speakers club to push towards getting one more person to finish their Competent Communicator Manual this year and 2 more new members to join. Ada, our president, indicated we would continue to work toward those goals. We thank Irene for working with us this year and sharing this information with us today.
As our meeting draws to an end, Ada thanks our two speakers for visiting us today. Having worked with Chip at the Presbyterian Center, she notes that he is a man of great strength. She has high respect for how he leads and inspires them. She adds that she appreciates working with Irene this year, a helpful resource to our Toastmasters club.
Ada concludes with a reference to the Kentucky Derby, an event that people look forward to each year. The trainers and jockeys run the horses and practice for this annual race. We Toastmasters, as well, are engaged in a race to become better leaders and speakers. However, we don't pit ourselves against each other...we support each other in our efforts!
AND WHERE ARE YOU RACING OFF TO TODAY?
In this busy world of work, appointments, family, and community life, being able to successfully juggle these priorities is important. To enhance your communication skills in all of these arenas and open new doors for opportunities, consider visiting our club and seeing if we're a good fit for you. We are gentle people who strive for growth, and one way to expand our skills is to practice expressing ourselves and take on occasional leadership roles. We can help you learn those skills...so join us and have some fun while expanding yourself!
We are an open Toastmasters club,
so please pay us a visit!
OUR NEXT FEW 2014 MEETINGS:
May 21 - Conference Room 5000
June 4 - 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:
(We kept running out of space and needed to start new ones!)
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