We started just a few minutes late and ended on time.

We had 9 attendees. No guests this week.

Scott drew from his experience of competing in humorous speech contests for his speaking tip of the week. His tip was to keep in mind that the contest is subjective. In a sporting event, the winner is indisputable. In judging competitions, not everyone may agree on who did the best.

Tony stole the word of the day right out of the title of Mitra’s speech.
The word of the day was illustrious – notably or brilliantly outstanding because of dignity or achievements or actions 

Sarah was the grammarian and gave out kudos for great analogies:
-Bruce’s: my body was like a house, but with bad plumbing and bones.
-John’s: match.com is like fantasy football for dating.

George (as our ballet counter) reminded the group to vote after each portion. Great tip. This helps the meeting move more smoothly at the end when it’s time for awards.

To make the speakers comfortable with the format they will experience at the next level, Scott introduced the speakers by simply saying their name and the title of the speech.

Bruce kicked off the contest with his speech titled, “Just Jump.” He used an analogy of the time he jumped off a cliff to compare to his experience with speaking to groups.

  • Nicole commended Bruce for his use of vivid language and asked him to work on slowing down and tightening up the conclusion.

Mitra’s, speech was titled “My Illustrious Driving Record.”  Great comedic speech about his adventures to earn his drivers license in Iowa.

  • Sarah loved Mitra’s addition of a brand into the speech (Enterprise Rental Car). Adding the brand helps to bring additional memories from the listener. She also appreciated his big gesture of opening his driving record from India. Sarah asked Mitra to work on the pace of his speaking.

John finished up the competition with his speech called “Internet Love.” All about stepping out of your comfort zone and finding love on the internet! On one point John said, “my inbox grew faster than my ego.” Great line!

  • Sunny evaluated John and especially liked his punchlines. It created a bit of a melody to the speech. She reminded him to watch out for filler words “you know” and “but.”

Since we didn’t have a Table Topic Master, Scott pulled out the game of balderdash. Participants were asked to read the unusual acronym and make up a story or sales pitch about the organization’s name.

Sunny’s presented about SKAT – Sex Knowledge Aptitude Test – she recommended that folks go down to the office to take the test.

George’s was about postage stamps. Post Mark Collectors Club.

Sarah welcomed everyone to join her “Star Track Welcommittee!” She also taught a lot of us a new word: portmanteau.  A portmanteau is a linguistic blend that occurs when the sounds, spellings and meanings of two words are combined to make a new one.

Nicole presented about MRA, the Majority Rule Association

Tony presented about the International Brick Collectors Association

Scott worked on his interviewing skills by bringing the speakers up at the end to answer questions. The contestants will also be interviewed in a similar format at the next levels of competition.

Tony won Table Topics.

Nicole won best evaluator and will be representing the club in the Area Evaluation Contest.

John won best speaker and will be representing the club at the Area Humorous Speech Contest.

Areas 14 & 16 will combine for the next level of competition. It will be held on Friday, October 18th at 6 PM at Concord Fire Station #9. Address is 1020 Ivey Cline Rd, Concord, NC 28027.

Nadine will be Toastmaster next week. Sign up for roles!