Insipid TV Shows, by Definition

Andrew called the meeting to order right on time with 19 members and 1 guest (Brent) in attendance. Brent found us through the web site. Andrew lead the invocation and pledge.

Today is Morry’s first time as Toastmaster and he is assisted by: Grammarian Bill S; Ah Counter Andrew; Time Keeper Marvin; and Vote Counter Joshua.

Our three speakers today are:

Rick talking about Road Rage and how to get passed it (no play on words there).

Pete talking about the highway in his story entitled: “I’m going to Jail.”

Chuck gave his tenth (and final) speech in the CC manual entitled, “The Seed.” Very Inspired.

Our first time Table Topics Master today is Joe and he called on Bill S, and Mary. We were running late and had to stop at two speakers.

Jerry was our General Evaluator today and evaluations were given by Carol, Stephen J, and Paul.

Awards were given to: Mary for Table Topics; Stephen J. for Evaluation and Pete for best speaker.

Andrew asked our Guest for comments and Brent said that he will be back. Next week’s Toastmaster and speakers were announced by Marvin.

The meeting ajourned on time.

Oh-Oh, No Secretary! No Minutes!

Meeting Miutes thanks to Marvin.

Andrew called the meeting to order right on time with 20 members in attendance. Stephen B. led the invocation and pledge.

Bill B. was Toastmaster and he was assisted by: Grammarian Stephen J; Ah Counter Sonya; Time Keeper Andrew; and Vote Counter Mike.

Our three speakers were:

Brian talked from the C&L manual about “Get to the Point” and how his job works.

Barbara presented a module from the Successful Club Series “Evaluate to Motivate”

Roger spoke from the Persuasive Speaking Manual, “New Habits for Conservatives”

Our Table Topics Master was Gene and he called on Ollie, Josh and Jerry

Paul was our General Evaluator today and evaluations were given by Sheryll, Joe, and Mary.

Pete told a great joke.

Awards were given to: Mary for Evaluation; Josh for Table Topics and Barbara for best speaker.

Next week’s Toastmaster and speakers were announced by Marvin.

The meeting adjourned on time.

November Officer’s Breakfast

Andrew called just as we were getting started and apologized for not being able to attend. So Marvin lead the meeting. Other attendees included Chuck, Gene, Paul, Roger, Stephen J, Mary, Barbara and Craig (in order of appearance).

Roger lead off with a discussion of repairs to our American Flag. He plans to obtain a pole to use to secure the Flag (similar to the way we secure the Club Banner) so that we don’t have to climb on chairs and use tape. Roger has placed an order for awards for Club Meetings.

Stephen J handed out a copy of the club funds status (we’re OK) and asked about a Christmas Gift for the restaurant manager. Last year we gave a $50.00 pre-paid gift card from American Express. Chuck made a motion that we do so this year, Seconded by Craig and passed by the Officers. We have 26 dues paying members at this time.

Chuck let everyone know that he has the Club’s projector and Craig mentioned that he has the Club projection screen. We seldom use it as the restaurant has that is more convenient. As there has been some inconsistancy in the meeting agenda format, Chuck will develop a document of steps to download the standard agenda from the web site.

Gene talked about the Detractor Program and the fact that the club has had one or none each week for the last month or two. As Gene will not be able to attend most meetings during the Spring Semester (he will teach a class each Tuesday morning) he asked that someone take over the duty. The consensus was that the Secretary should take this duty and Gene and Chuck will meet to transfer the database and instructions.

There followed a general discussion of General Evaluator comments, Meeting prepartion by the Toastmaster and others with assigned roles, and the use of Mentors. The consensus is that many newer members are unsure as to what the requirements of various roles are during the meetings. We need to place a renewed emphasis on the Mentor program for new members, assigning a Mentor as soon as someone joins the club.

Paul asked that anyone who has extra copies (or old copies) of the Toastmaster magazine bring them in so we can make up more kits for guests to take when they leave a meeting. Paul also wants to get more Toastmaster postcards to mail to guests.

Marvin announced that we have seven of the required ten points for President’s Distinguished Club as of today. When we attend Officer’s Training in Dec-Jan we will earn another point. The last two available points are for CC completions. We have one person poised to complete in December (Chuck) but may have to work some to find at least one more before the end of June. We have two or three people at the 4 speech mark and four more people at the 3 speech mark. So they are all candidates.

Marvin lead a discussion about the election of Officers for the next term. This will have to be held on December 2nd as the first training date is December 6th. Stephen J made a motion that the club pay the $5.00 each for the training for the officers. Chuck seconded the motion and the motion was passed.

Gene began a debate on adding some spice to the meetings by occassionaly doing something different. Everyone agreed that the “Reverse-Order Meeting” was not something we wanted to do. Other suggestions were: a debate meeting, and all-Table-Topics meeting or an all-Evaluation meeting (one target speaker followed by three evaluations followed by three evaluation of the evaluator evaluations (say that three times fast). This will be discussed again in December.

The meeting ajourned at 8:00 am, right on time.

Election Day at Plano Talkers

Andrew started the meeting right on time and there wasn’t even a line for the bagels, unlike some poling places. Joe lead the invocation and pledge.

Among other firsts today, the most important one for us is that today is Rick’s first time as Toastmaster. He will be assisted today by: Paul as Grammarian; Bill B as Ah Counter; Mike as Timer; and Barbara is the Vote Counter.

Our three speakers were:

Joshua with his Icebreaker: “My Life” and what a lucky one it is.

Ollie gave his Icebreaker: “God Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise; This is my Story and I’m Sticking to it!” This is actually Ollie’s second Icebreaker, but his first speech this time back at Toastmasters.

Carol was our third speaker and the title isn’t on the agenda (one detractor). If you read this and know her title you win a free breakfast. Just contact me.

Another first, Morry lead Table Topics for the first time. He called on: Tonye, Roger, Marvin and Mary.

The General Evaluation was lead by Craig who called on Sonya, Steve B. and Pete for Evaluations (Sonya’s first).

Awards today were given to: Table Topics: Roger; Evaluation: Sonya; and Speaker: Joshua.

Andrew announced the slate of Officers for next term as nominated by the Nomination Committee, chaired by Mike. The Election will be on December 2nd and nominations will also be taken from the floor.

We celebrated a string of firsts today and then went out into the world and found an Election of First’s. What a great day for America.

No Adversity in this October Surpirse

Paul called the meeting to order at 7:00. He recognized Steven J for winning the Plains Division Tall Tales Contest and we all wished him success in the upcoming District Contest on November 7th. I guess the weather was too adverse for guests and we had only 17 members present.

Barb led the Invocation and Pledge.

Marvin was our Toastmaster and introduced his assistants: Stephen B as Grammarian, Sonya as Ah Counter, Morry as Timer, and Brian as Vote Counter.

Our speakers were:

Joe describing John McCain’s “Character under Fire.”

Mary inspiring us with “The Chinese Bamboo Tree.”

Chuck persuading us to just “Light a Candle.”

Bill B led Table Topics with speakers: Bill S, Barb, and Rick.

Stephen J led the Evaluation Team consisting of: Gene, Mike, and Roger.

Awards were given to: Table Topics: Rick, Evaluator: Roger, and Speaker: Chuck.

Paul read the Joke of the Day and called for Marvin to tell us who will be Toastmaster and speaker for next week. Reminder that November 6th is the next Officer’s Breakfast Meeting.

The meeting ended on time and we all headed out into the cold.

Celebrating our Family Treasures

Andrew began our meeting right on time with 20 members present.

Mike lead the Invocation and Pledge.

Carol was our Toastmaster and introduced our theme (today’s title) and asked everyone to speak for about 30 seconds about a Family Treasure when they were introduced. Carol introduced her helpers: Chuck as Ah Counter, Marvin as Timer, Gene as Grammarian, and Sonya as Vote Counter.

Our speakers were:

Paul Entertained us with “Make them Laugh.”

Stephen J with his favorite: Storytelling: “It all Started with a Dream.”

Pete with an Ah-filled speech that I missed the topic of completely.

Stephen B lead our Table Topics with speakers: Mary, Roger and Ollie.

Rick led the Evaluation team consisting of: Barbara, Andrew, and Jerry

Awards were given to: Table Topics: Mary, Evaluator: Jerry, and Speaker: Paul.

Morry gave us the Joke of the Day and control was returned to Andrew.

This treasure ended right on time.

An Anomaly at Toastmasters

Marvin called the meeting to order with 21 members and 2 guests: Ollie and Teedo (transferring?).

Paul led the Invocation and Pledge.

Our Toastmaster Andrew introduced his assistants: Jerry as Grammarian, Sheryl as Ah Counter, Pete as Vote Counter, and Morry as Timer.

Prepared Speeches were given by:

Sonya: “The Point of Haloween” is the trick-or-treat candy says the witch.

Steve: “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”

Mike: “Recent Town Hall Debate of Obama & McCain; a Toastmasters Evaluation”

Joe led Table Topics for the first time and asked Roger to speak about the Beatles, Jerry to talk about Elvis and Brian to recount his Last Rock Concert.

Mary led the evaluation tem which consisted of: Stephen J, Chuck, and Barb.

Awards were presented to: Table Topics: Brian, Evaluator: Stephen J, Speaker: Sonya.

The meeting ended right on time. No anomaly there!

Pristine October Morning

Andrew opened our first October meeting right on time and welcomed our two guests: Joshua and Ollie.

Sonya lead the invocation and Pledge.

Pete took the role of Toastmaster for the first time and introduced his assistants: Carol as Grammarian, Morry as Ah Counter, Sheryl as Timer, and Gene as Vote Counter.

Our Speakers were:

Joe talking about Families in Crisis.

Marvin discussing his day as a Ride Along with the Plano Police.

Jerry warning us of safety issues concerning halloween.

Rick took the lead for Table Topics to talk about politics, sports and halloween. The TT speakers were: Chuck, Brian, Mike and Ollie.

Our General Evaluator was Steve B. and he led a team composed of Bill B, Andrew, and Mary.

Our Joke Master was Mike but I cannot remember the joke, although I enjoyed it that day.

Gene announced the awards: Table Topics: Mike; Evaluator: Andrew; and Speaker: Marvin.

Control of the meeting was returned to Andrew. Marvin announced next week’s Toastmaster and Speakers. Chuck reminded everyone about the upcoming Division Level Speech Contest.

Adjourned on time.