February 26, 2007 Minutes

From Austin Toastmasters (Balcones, Club #3407)

Balcones Toastmasters February 26, 2007 Chapter 3407 District 55 Minutes of Meeting

The meeting was opened by President Jake North. We had one visitor, Steve Gonzalez.

Prayer and Pledge was led by Mary Buker who also served as Sergeant at Arms.

John Beall served as Toastmaster. The theme of the day was "what are you doing about global warming?" We learned many useful tips from each other.

Timer was Sonny Sonntag who missed last week because he had been in an accident that totalled the vehicle. Thank goodness he was OK.

Jonathan Huizingh was Grammarian and picked "tocsin" - an alarm bell or warning signal. It was used 4 times and he kept track of um's wonderfully.

One Minute Toastmaster was Diane Graden. (1:12) She urged us to let our personalities shine through when we speak.

Table Topics Master was Dan Naden. He brought us the "Letter of the Day" from Sesame Street. Table Topic participants were:

• Jennifer Wagner - 1:48 - "A" is for the sailing utopia of Annapolis.
• Jack Frick - winner - 1:16 - "M" is for fun getting to/from work in a Miata.
• Jim Comer - 2:09 - "W"ordsworth and poetry remembrances from school
• Harry Savio – 0:31- "S" - is "back seat Savio" during grade school

Speaker #1 Karen Bondy- 5:31 - "A Glass Half Full" - no doubt we're in a drought... and other perspectives of the LCRA's plan for water management.

Speaker #2 Steve Helmke- winner - 7:15 - "The Versatile Salesperson" - taught us abour Analytical, Amiable, Driver and Expressive personalities and adjusting your approach to match the personality of the person you're dealing with.

Speaker #3 Antoinette Griffin- 8:48 - "Services for Senior and their Caregivers" who informed us on in-home care, personal assistance services, emergency response systems and doctors who do make house calls - all wonderful services allowing people to live happily at home.

General Evaluator was Gorgon Baker.

• Table Topics evaluator was John Allert - 4:11 - Jennifer painted a picture with words, but wrung her hands. Jack was so enthusiastic about the letter M. You never know what your going to get with Jim. Harry could have told a story to lengthen his talk.

• Evaluator #1 for Karen was JD Stewart -winner - 3:05 - Karen did not appear to be nervous, effectively use the lectern. She had a calm voice but could have used bigger gestures.

• Evaluator #2 for Steve was Jake North- 3:20 - Steve was the perfect example of using a visual aide.

• Evaluator #3 for Antoinette was John McMillen- 4:07 - Most Improved - Antoinette used stylish dress and language and it was obvious she is an expert. Some statistic on how home assistance helps people would have been effective.

Jake brought up 2 orders of business: 1) March 19th is our Club Contest: Jack, Jim & Antoinette want to compete for speaker. 3 slots still open for evaluators. 2) Jim, Jonathan & Dan will converse on video taping our main speakers.

Jake read the schedule for our next meeting on March 5th. Check out the details at http://www.balconestoastmasters.org/schedule/ .

Due to good attendance and the extra business, we ended after 8:00.