Aspirations Abound in our Peace Speakers Club

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.  

Sam, president of Peace Speakers, opens our meeting with a warm welcome.  She has aspirations for enjoying a dynamic meeting, and she's eager to forge ahead.  (Btw, aspirations is our Word of the Day, and members are encouraged to use it when they speak today.  Peace Speakers always have aspirations for achievement, and participating in our meetings makes that a reality.)

Sam notes how the aspirations of a fellow member led to his completion of Level 1 in the Innovative Planning path in Pathways, our Toastmasters educational program.  Perry is acknowledged for this achievement with a special certificate along with some of Kay's dark chocolate chip cookies. An outstanding member of Peace Speakers, Perry is devoted to service and our club's vitality.

On a business note for all of our members, be aware that Thursday, Feb. 20 is our next Officers' Training opportunity.  This is a great way to learn about any of the leadership roles, whether you are serving in one or not. Any member may join in this training to grow their confidence as well as their communication and leadership skills!

Perry serves as our Toastmaster today, and he's created an agenda with the theme of "Having a Dream" in reference to Martin Luther King, Jr.  He notes that MLK shared extemporaneously several profound and memorable thoughts in his most famous speech, which is something we practice during Table Topics at every Toastmasters meeting.

One of the persons essential to our meeting running on time is the Timer, and Adrianne is doing this role for the first time today. She shares that the Ice Breaker speech by Onyxe is 4-6 minutes, and at 4 minutes the green light is turned on, at 5 minutes the yellow light is switched on, and at 6 minutes the red light is turned on.  This gives the speaker time to adjust and wind things down.  Different intervals are used for other activities, such as Table Topics, 1-2 minutes long and the evaluations, which are 2-3 minutes long.  (Btw, Adrianne did an exceptional job keeping track of all of our speakers today!)

Our president, Sam, is also serving as our Ah Counter/Grammarian today.  She listens for space fillers like "uh, um, so, and you know" as well as sentence shifts.  She notes grammar errors and also counts the number of times the Word of the Day, aspirations, is used. She selected this word in concert with the theme of "Having a Dream" and hopes members will use it when they express themselves during our meeting.

Perry introduces our prepared speaker for the day, who is one of our newer members.  He shares that Onyxe has a whole range of skills in the field of complementary medicine.  She's also a traveler and has great affection for all kinds of animals, both large and small, including insects and arachnids.  I'm already intrigued knowing she's a fan of spiders!

Onyxe came prepared to deliver her Ice Breaker speech today, the first speech in the Toastmasters program.  You had to be there to experience the nuances, the depth of her content and the wide spectrum of her emotions throughout her talk.  As the blogger and photographer of Peace Speakers, it will be obvious that her speech was profoundly captivating and kept the audience engaged every step of the way.

 

Onyxe begins her speech by saying, “Which would you prefer? The sound of nails on a chalkboard or a melody so serene you could feel it at your very core?”  When it came to the name she was given at birth, it just never resonated…it didn’t fit.  She knew early on that she was not her name. 

At a time of transformation in her life, Onyxe’s passions and gifts and her heart’s calling weren’t in harmony with a corporate job she excelled at...therefore, changes awaited her!

Exploring different holistic wellness workshops, she enrolled in one about the healing vibration of sound.  When participants were asked to introduce themselves with “Hello, I am _________,” Onyxe was flustered.

Another activity involved standing in the center of a circle while others chanted her name seven times. Hearing her birth name in this way was like the sound of nails on a chalkboard. If this wasn’t her name, how would she find a name out there that was uniquely hers? 

After a 2-year quest incorporating sound vibration and deep listening, she discovered four harmonious and meaningful names that tuned into the essence of who she is: serene, melodious and more aligned.

When I first met Onyxe at one of our Peace Speakers meetings, I thought her name was beautiful yet never realized the journey she'd taken to acquire it.  Most of us don't give too much thought to our names, so this enlightening speech and Onyxe's delivery of it was captivating.

If there were absolutely no obstacles whatsoever, what lofty dream would you pursue?  Exaggeration is fine!

Eva shares that she's always thought it would be wonderful to write a novel.  She writes short pieces, but the thought of writing several hundred pages is a bit daunting.  She also has trouble with plot.  At a writer's workshop, she was told she had great character development but lacked the plot.  That's what she'd have to overcome.  Who knows?  Maybe someday there'll be a book with her name on it!

Have you ever had a dream dashed or one that tanked?  Did the outcome have a silver lining?

Sam admits that life has been an entire journey of trying things that didn't quite work - especially when it comes to her work life. She started out in food services; then was going to be a theater costume designer but she didn't like drawing or shopping. She realized that she's really more of a technician than a coordinator.  Many of the things she's tried have not succeeded like she planned. Up to now, that is the story of her life.

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream for people of color to fully enjoy freedom, equality, justice and respect hasn’t been realized.  At this point in time when racism seems to be rearing its ugly head, what can we do to “transform our country into an oasis of freedom and justice for all?”

Adrianne claims that in order to do this, we have to discover identity, and identity has nothing to do with color.  Discover who you are and the desire to achieve something greater.   Along with your aspirations of faith, when you're dealing with your identity, it excuses all racism and respects the actual core of the individual instead of what the person carries or what they have but who they are.

“Life is a continued story of shattered dreams,” Martin Luther King, Jr. once remarked.  What then is one of the best ways to keep moving forward despite bewilderment or discouragement with any unrealized dream?

David references the previous question that suggests we're not where we're supposed to be, but he disagrees.  We're exactly where we need to be.  Just because the media says otherwise, it doesn't mean it's a shattered dream.  If we look at where we've come from and look how far we've come from the day, month or decade before, then we're looking at accomplishment. If we continue to look at where we are, where we've come from, and have a vision for where we're going, a shattered dream is at the end, and we're not at the end of anything.  We're just on our way, and we'll realize our dreams.

In your lifetime, who was one of your biggest cheerleaders behind a dream you’ve pursued?  Choose any time of life to share this cheerleader who gave you a special kind of encouragement.

Perry admits it's easy to choose his mother, even though neither of his parents were traditional cheerleaders.  He wasn't raised needing to be told he did a great job all of the time.  For better or worse, it's just what people expected.  His mother had a wide acceptance for things Perry might try that might turn out different ways.  She helped him realize he could try something that might not work out and that'd still be okay as something else would turn up.  It's been hard for him recently because he's used to talking to his mother daily on the phone, but now she can't use the phone or speak well.  He can't hear her cheerleading as explicitly as before, but he still gets a sense of that when he's able to visit her.

In case you're wondering, a vote taken after these Table Topics prompts were answered, and David walked out with the trophy, which will give him bragging rights until our next Toastmasters meeting.  His answer did seem to give us all aspirations for accepting WHAT IS with the realization that we still move forward with hopeful anticipation and action to make things better.

When time permits, we do an Education Check-in, so today Perry planned an activity to draw ideas from us for future speeches.  We are reminded that sources for speech ideas are abundant.  Toastmasters International's "Selecting a Topic" program suggested:

• Select any topic you're personally interested in, like something related to your job or career, your family; your education 
• Use reference materials, like magazine or books you're reading; surfing the web for ideas
• Think about the audience and what they might be interested in or what might be appropriate for that particular occasion

Perry had us write down 3 answers:  1) a favorite class, 2) a title of either a movie, book, music video, article, song or TV show seen last week, and 3) a recent activity we did. We circled one of those written answers that might be the most promising for a speech.  Next, we narrowed down that topic so that it was more specific. Finally, we paired up with someone to discuss possibilities.  Such great ways to spur ideas for future speeches!   

David, Onyxe's speech evaluator, begins stating he thought her speech was fantastic.  Right away she grabbed our attention and pulled us in with her question and comparison about the nails on the chalkboard and the sweet sound of song.  Her differentiation of her skills, talents, passions, gifts and heart's calling was unbelievable.  She kept our attention all the way throughout.  Gestures, voice and inflection were fantastic.  A deep breath she took drove home just how important and deep this conversation in her Ice Breaker was to her.  Onyxe may want to work on her inflection and voice, which occasionally went too low to be heard.  To challenge herself, the times she shared without looking at her notes seem to project directly from her heart.  A powerful speech, one where she was pulling us through a very personal experience.

Such a quick turn-around here!  Eva stands to give David her extemporaneous evaluation of his evaluation of Onyxe's speech.  This is one of David's projects in his Presentation Mastery path in Pathways, our Toastmasters educational program.

Eva shares that she felt David's evaluation was really good and helpful, starting with the positive and ending with constructive suggestions for improvement.  He was very specific about recalling content in the speech as he complimented it or made suggestions.  Her only recommendation for David was to vary language more, as the word fantastic was used 5 or more times.

Sam winds down our meeting with her Ah Counter/Grammarian report, admitting that she gets so wrapped up with the speakers that she sometimes forgets to count speaking errors. (Many of us do!!!!) The Word of the Day, aspirations, was used 3 times. Space fillers and fragments tallied at 34, and her favorite expression heard today was in Onyxe's speech:  "I felt like the Wicked Witch of the West, melting into a puddle of goo."

Sam, our president, ends with a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr., "I am convinced that love is the most durable power in the world.  It is not an expression of impractical idealism but of practical realism. Far from being the pious injunction of a Utopian dreamer, love is an absolute necessity for the survival of our civilization.  To return hate for hate does nothing but intensify the existence of evil in the universe. Someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and evil, and this can only be done through love." 

  With today's theme, "Having a Dream," we conclude our meeting with aspirations for going out into the world with the intent of actions based in love.  That is our aim as well in our Peace Speakers meetings.  On that note, any visitor to this blog is warmly invited to join us on an upcoming Wednesday.  You get to decide if we're a good fit for the aspirations that you hold!

UPCOMING 2020 MEETINGS:

Wed., Feb. 5 - Conference Room B
Wed., Feb. 19 - Conference Room B

Wed., Mar. 4 - Conference Room B
Wed., Mar. 18 - Conference Room B

Wed.,  Apr. 1 - Conference Room B

Wed., Apr. 15 - Conference Room 5000

Wed.,  May 6 - Conference Room B

Wed., May 20 - Conference Room B

Peace Speakers Toastmasters Club

1st and 3rd Wednesdays (typically)

1:00 - 2:00 p.m.

100 Witherspoon Street

Downtown Louisville, KY

Respectfully submitted,

Kay Chambers

Past President and Blogger for Peace Speakers