October 27, 2008 Minutes
From Austin Toastmasters (Balcones, Club #3407)
Fred Maynard served as our grand Toastmaster and chose “adventures” as the theme.
- Mike Prentice led us in Prayer & Pledge asking for guidance in these uncertain times.
- Tanya Martin-McClellan kept time, everyone was within time and we were out on time.
- Pace Smith watched our grammar. The word of the day “Ubiquitous” (found everywhere) was used by Gordon, Jerry and Sonny. “Ums” were used by Tanya, Anne, Karen, Jerry, Fred, Charlie, Guoen and Harry.
- Kyeli Smith’s One Minute Toastmaster speech suggested that we talk about what you love.
Dugg Tankersley asked adventurous questions of his Table Topic participants.
- Anne Child’s past adventure was being chased by bison in Yellowstone.
- Charlie Cole would like to go to the Grand Canyon and ride a mule with his family.
- Gordon Baker – Best Table Topic – Gordon painted a picture of his adventure of getting to a remote cabin get-away in Arkansas.
- Dan Naden’s favorite adventure hero is Scooby Doo. He filled Dan’s Saturday mornings with adventures that could have been solved in a matter of minutes.
Jane Sanford – Survival of the most flexible – ice breaker – Jane’s father taught his 6 daughters flexibility as he patiently went with the flow of Sunday morning chaos. She went to New York to become a model and actress where she practiced that flexibility in dealing with multiple agents and directors with various egos. As a teacher she was flexible as she deviated from her carefully planned lessons as crises erupted in the classroom.
Guoen Wang – Who is Guoen – Most improved – ice breaker - Guoen was the third child, first son born in rural China on New Years. His father worked in the “hot as Texas” rice fields and offered to Guoen to work in the fields or study. Guoen was a good student so was rewarded with traditional Chinese medical schooling at the age of 14. He was invited to the US in 1995 to teach a class and moved here in 2001. He is married with a son, 14, who plays soccer and a daughter, 9, who enjoys ice skating.
Karen Bondy – Best Speaker – Summer of ’81 – final Competent Communicator speech – Karen relived one of her college summers hanging out with her brother, boyfriend and engineering friends. Her brother is one year younger. He was about to return to school when he phoned Karen saying he was desperate as he was having problems at school. They confided in their mother and shared love and support. Karen returned to her brother's school with him and they both returned to go to UT together.
Glenn Nielsen as General Evaluator introduced the other evaluators and had a few comments: Jerry did a good job with the difficult task of table topic evaluations; Gordon slaps is thighs; Steve acknowledged the obvious of Guoen’s accent; Karen could have been more powerful with stronger eye contact.
- Jerry Barrett evaluated Table Topics. Everyone started quickly and spoke on topic with great gestures. Anne stayed in place and said “thank you” at the end (no need). Charlie used the space well by rushing to the edge of the canyon, could use more eye contact. Gordon had great eye contact and a wonderful voice but he did take a step every once in a while that was distracting. Dan has energy and confidence but did some pacing.
- Harry Savio evaluated Jane. Jane commanded the room. Her speech was well formed, he loved her gestures and she had good movement. Jane could engage more with her eye contact rather than just looking around the room.
- Steve Gonzales – Best Evaluator - evaluated Guoen. Guoen gave a fine ice breaker. His command of the English language is very good for someone arriving only in 2001. He had creative use of English. Steve enjoyed “sun as hot as Texas. Guoen’s gestures were natural. He suggested that when making a point to finish it with a strong voice to make sure it is understood and to fill in with stories elaborating on his points.
- Sonny Sonntag evaluated Karen. Karen’s gestures were appropriate and she moved to include all of us. She had good eye contact but paid too much attention to the Toastmaster sitting on the sidelines. Her subject was relevant with a good finish. The stories reached out to the audience and did a good job of connecting with us.
Jerry awarded Karen her hard earned, well deserved Competent Communicator pin.
Mary reminded us of the division contest on Wednesday and district conference/contest 11/15.
Members shared that they thought the individual meal payments went well. Mary requested ideas for ensuring Brenda gets at least $20 in tips.
Mary Buker also commented that her dream adventure is to rent a place in Spain and really embrace the culture.
