August 25, 2008 Minutes

From Austin Toastmasters (Balcones, Club #3407)

There will be no Balcones Toastmasters meeting on Monday September 1st. This is Labor Day. Enjoy your day!

• President Mary Buker presided over the August 25th meeting of Balcones Toastmasters.
• Dugg Tankersley artfully served as Toastmaster of the day. His chosen theme was “what I didn’t do this summer.”
• Jon Beall opened with a universal Prayer & Pledge.
• Antoinette Griffin served as timer with great flexibility.
• Stephen Finos was grammarian. The word of the day, “irascible” (marked by hot temper), was used by a few folks.
• One Minute Toastmaster Scott Perry reminded us that learning about the various roles from our mentors, other members and the Competent Communicator manual will make our club more efficient.

Gordon Baker posed questions about summer activities, or lack there of, to his Table Topic victims.

• Charlie Cole – winner - 2:09 - spoke about the process of deciding and deciding again how to paint their dining room.
• Pace Smith – 1:59 - told of plans to follow “The Four Hour Work Week” to create an efficient company but then a friend suggested they earn their money doing what they love, communications.
• Fred Maynard - 1:27 - related how life has changed since his daughter left the nest, leaving his wife to put items on his “honey do” list.
• Anne Child – 1:25 - reported that being retired did not make their home search efficient so she’ll be staying in Austin.
• Kyeli Smith – 1:31 - spoke of the excitement of sharing 36 nuggets of communications.

Cathy Lovelady - tied winner – tied Most Improved – 5:37 – “Oliver Poppidit wanted the opposite” – Cathy’s tall tale was about a fellow who wanted the opposite of what he had. They made him happy by throwing a party serving opposite type foods and inviting opposite type people. But he really wanted to be sad.

Mary Buker - tied winner – tied Most Improved – 6:09 – ‘Life lessons learned from painting my kitchen cabinets” – Mary referenced www.diynetwork.com to plan the refinishing of her kitchen cabinets in one weekend. Stripping, sanding, priming and painting, she discovered would take much longer. She also learned not to plan activities in her garage during the hottest July on record, not to trust the directions on chemical products, not to trust friends who encourage her without warnings, nothing is perfect, and she’s happy to hire a professional.

Jonathan Huizingh – tied Most Improved - 10:39 – “Getting things done” – Jonathan educated us about this book about organizing your life. Close those open loops (actions that occur to us over and over when we are unable to act upon them). Organize your task into specific actions and group the actions into context of when/how you can accomplish them. If there are items that take 2 minutes or less, do them immediately.

Our General Evaluator was Mike Prentice. I’m sure he reported useful feedback but I was busy tallying votes so I didn’t hear. My apologies, Mike.

• Peter Ryon – 3:42 – Peter evaluated table topic speeches. Peter got confused on what Charlie was trying to accomplish but he spoke well. Pace developed her story well but she paced the floor. Fred could use more examples in his honey do list. Anne spoke too softly. Kyeli did a great job.
• Jerry Barrett – 3:14 – Jerry evaluated Cathy using the Tall Tale Contest evaluation form. Cathy was folksy and used humor well. She could have given more examples and built up the story faster. She stayed to one side of the room.
• Glenn Nielsen – winner – 3:32 – Glenn evaluated Mary. Mary hooked us with her great humor and relating her story to reality TV. She could have explained DIY better. But she did great with having fun during her speech and giving titles to her lessons learned. Don’t let brain farts be obvious, just pause and look at the audience as you think.
• Steve Gonzales – 2:40 – Steve evaluated Jonathan. Jonathan did an excellent job of speaking with notes from the podium, still using his gestures well. Steve would have like an example of how Jonathan put these organizing skills to use. Jonathan calmly dealt this needing more time when the stoplight was lit.

As I was tallying votes, others shared, including Sonny Sonntag, Harry Savio, Dan Naden and visitors Verra Nallam, Joan Boudreaux, Richie and Glenn Sanford. Verra Nallam was voted into Balcones Toastmasters. Welcome!