We had 14 Members and 5 Guests in attendance.

Scott drew inspiration for his speaking tip of the week from Jordan Ring’s speech at Kenton Place Toastmasters. Jordan advocated we imagine what the perfect day would look like with balance between work and life. He then asked the audience to judge how often they accomplish that perfect day.

Scott suggested the group look across the next 6 months of Toastmasters meetings, approximately 24 meetings, and decide what their perfect execution would be. Maybe you would like to give 6 speeches, be an Evaluator 5 times and Toastmasters twice while attending 80% of the meetings. Basically it’s another way of setting a goal.

The WOD was Convolute: Complex, difficult to follow. The group managed to use it 6 times.

Angela served as Toastmasters to an All About Taxes theme.

Scott gave a speech entitled “How To Grow”. He spoke about how he went from knowing nothing about caring for a baby to feeling competent and confident in his ability. He suggested you can apply the following process to developing any new skill:

  1. Acknowledge your Ignorance / Seek Information
  2. Practice the knowledge you learn
  3. Reflect on your action / Refine and repeat

Bruce won Best Speaker with a speech entitled “Your Day” which followed with a brief Q & A portion. Some highlights:

  • Human beings are meaning making machines
  • Stories make you live in a made up world
  • Separate your internal story from what happened
  • Pay attention to the stories you create in your mind throughout the day

Jerome gave an inspiring speech entitled “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish”. That title was a memorable line his father instilled in him at an early age. Jerome detailed some of his first jobs and how he kept knowing inside that those jobs were not right for him. He inspired the audience by suggesting “it’s about finishing where you wanted”. Then he closed with a great line, “If you finish strong, you can’t go wrong!”

Our evaluators were all outstanding. John managed to work humor into Scott’s evaluation while highlighting what personally resonated with him. Nicole used a great 3 point organization to give feedback to Bruce and Traci praised Jerome’s impromptu speech. Nicole took home best evaluator, don’t forget to support her at the Area Contest!

Robert served as Table Topics Master. He brought slips of paper with statements designed to learn more about participants. He encouraged them to paint a picture for the audience in their responses:

Sunny: “First Historic Event You Remember” – She talked about her visit to the Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. She also joked how lately she seems to always be the first person called on in Table Topics!

George: “First Time You Thought Of Yourself As An Adult” – He used humor and local culture to describe the first time he crossed the street by himself in India. Traffic can be a bit hectic! He took home the best ribbon!

Danny: “First Grade” – He pulled inspiration from his twin brother and their experience in grade school. They kept getting the same grades. Teachers tried to split them in different classes but they kept getting identical grades!

Guest Meredith: “First Time You Went To A Different Country” – She joked how when she was 18 she went to the Bahamas with some college friends. When a local stranger offered to “get her anything she wanted” she knew she was no longer in the US.

During her general evaluation Sunny highlighted the importance of explaining your roles in the beginning of the meeting. This helps the guests understand what is going on.

Nadine gave individual specifics during her ah / um report. This can sometimes feel uncomfortable but the information is helpful so don’t be afraid to do the same if you fill the role.

Jerome said he ran into Bob, his wife and newborn twins. He said they are all looking good and seem healthy.

Tom is apparently traveling and doing well also.

Areas speech contest will be held on Friday, October 18th at 6 PM at Concord Fire Station #9. Address is 1020 Ivey Cline Rd, Concord, NC 28027.

Traci is Toastmaster next week, sign up for a role ASAP!