December 6th, 2011 found Plano Talkers in festive spirits with the theme: “The Spirit Of Giving”. Barbara Petsel, President opened with meeting by welcoming our guests followed by Patricia Brown leading our group with the invocation and pledge. Barb then introduced Rose Custodio as Toasmaster. Rose called on her helpers: Grammarian- Jeff Butcher (word of day- Nurture), Ah Counter- Chuck Ferguson, Timer – David Williams, and Vote Counter – John Wakeman to share with the audience their respective roles.
Prepared Speeches: Mike Amis was our first speaker and he was working from an advanced manual ‘Speaking To Inform’ with a speech entitled, “It Really Bugs Me.” Speaker #2 was Gene DeLuke with the speech “The Only Thing Necessary” project #9 from the Competent Communicator Manual, our third speech, “Mistakes That Sink Your Visuals” came from Marvin Petsel. Great insights and preparation from our speakers! A call for timers report and vote were called from the Toastmaster.
The Table Topics portion of our meeting was overseen by Carol Kepner this week’s Table Topics Master who gave our lucky participants an opportunity to answer impromptu questions- Stephen James, Margaret Johnson, and Steven Burgess were all more than happy to display their speaking prowess for Plano Talkers this morning. Great job by all for using the word of the day. The Table Topics Master called for timers report and Word of the Day usage, and called for vote. The meeting was returned to the Toastmaster.
Evaluations of the speakers began, first with the introduction of the General Evaluator, Chad Allison. Brian Steed was called up to evaluate Mike Amis, Charles Johnson was next introduced and evaluated Gene DeLuke, and Allen Krom concluded the evaluations with his insights on Marvin Petsel’s speech. A vote was called for best evaluator, and reports for ah counter and grammarians report were also requested. Chad Allison concluded with an overall evaluation of the meeting.
The meeting was turned over to the Toastmaster, who called on our Joke Master Rey Flores to share a bit of wisdom and humor.
A call for best speaker, best evaluator, and best table topics was requested: Gene DeLuke with “The Only Thing Necessary” (best speaker); Charles Johnson (best evaluator); and Margaret Johnson (best Table Topics). Toastmaster turned control of the meeting over to the President. Barb asked for final comments from our guests, and called for any announcements from V.P. of Education, and V.P. Membership. Next was the officer elections: 2012 officers are: David Williams (President), Allen Krom (Vice President of Education), Rose Custodio (Vice President of Membership), Margaret Johnson (Vice President of Publicity), Tina Drucker (Treasurer), Stephen James (Secretary), and Jerry Bessette (Sgt. At Arms). Reminder: Plano Talkers Table Topics Contest is February 7, 2012, and Plano Talkers Inspirational Speech contest is February 21, 2012. Area contest is February 24, 2012, and Division Contest is April 13, 2012. Conference Contests for Table Topics and Inspirational speech will be May 18th and 19th respectively. Meeting was adjourned and everyone was dismissed.
Charles Johnson, CC CL
Plano Talkers Secretary
