We had 15 Members and 5 Guests (Jay, Marteen, Phillip, Cynthia and Maria) in attendance. We started one minute late and ended 3 minutes over.

Scott started the meeting by holding our New Member Ceremony where Geoffe, Yvette, and Zach were officially voted into the club. Congrats and welcome to the club! We still need to get Zach and Michael their name badges.

The group discussed some of the details for the holiday party on 12/16. It will be an all Table Topics night with no prepared speeches. Sunny will serve as Toastmaster and Table Topics Master. She will come prepared with lots of questions. We will still have a JokeMaster, Grammarian, Ah/Um Counter, WOD Master, Ballot Counter and Timer. We’ll try to end early to share food and good cheer. To create a variety of food and drink, please indicate what you will be bringing at the bottom of the 12/16 meeting in the meeting notes section. Make sure you hit “Save Meeting Notes” after you type.

We will be meeting on 12/23. We will NOT be meeting on 12/30.

Tom has informed the Executive Committee that he is stepping down as Sargent at Arms. He plans on maintaining his membership but will likely be in attendance less frequently. Thanks for your work Tom! If any of you would like to become our new Sargent at Arms, speak with Scott.

Praveen demonstrated how to use our club’s remote PowerPoint clicker. If you plan on using it, please familiarize yourself with it ahead of time. We will store it in our club container with the batteries removed. Praveen actually took it home, cleaned it, and tested it. Thanks Praveen!!

Our word of the day was “proverbial.” It is an adjective that means well known, especially so as to be stereotypical. The group used it 6 times.

Scott served as Toastmaster sharing strategies from “The Feeling Good Handbook” by Daniel D. Burns, MD.

The book mentions 5 specific strategies for overcoming your fear of Public Speaking:

  1. Daily Mood Log – Write down negative thought patterns and identify distorted thinking. Replace the thoughts with positive affirmations. Kind of like a personal cognitive behavioral therapy.
  2. Problem Solving – If you fear your mind going blank or forgetting your speech, keep an index card with talking points hidden to serve as your back up plan and fear-tamer.
  3. Script Writing – Don’t fear the heckler or challenger in the audience. Prepare difficult questions that you might hear and think of responses. Win over the audience by saying something like “That’s a good question” and find some truth in their concerns.
  4. Unconditional Self Esteem – Love yourself regardless of the “success” of your speech. Perfectionism breeds stress.
  5. Positive Re-framing – Anticipate nervous energy and use it to deliver your message with confidence. Re-associate nervousness with peak performance.

George was our Table Topic Master where he enthusiastically led a fun, energetic Table Topics. Ironically he used proverbial “southern sayings” as a theme. Participants were handed a slip of paper with a southern saying on it and had to use the saying and/or meaning of it as inspiration for their speech.

  • Nicole kicked it off with “I could eat the north end of a southbound goat” which means you’re very hungry. She talked about how much she loves food and how she got sick on a recent trip to Mexico.
  • Robert’s saying was “more nervous than a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.” He talked about why that saying has truth.
  • Tony’s was “off like a heard of turtles.” He talked about some of his favorite southern sayings. He included his boss’s favorite “tighter than two coats of paint”.
  • Marten’s was “faster than a knife fight in a phone booth.” He talked how being a non-primary English speaker has been interesting when learning sayings.
  • Maria’s was “madder than a wet hen” which means someone who is very angry about a situation.
  • Traci’s was “that dills my pickle” which means very happy and content. She talked about how she wasn’t super happy or content on a recent trip…in fact she was madder than a wet hen. Great callback, Traci!
  • Zach’s was “as useful as a trap door in a canoe.” Even as a southerner, it was a saying Zach never heard of.
  • Phillip’s was “tougher than a $2 steak.” He related it to his work as a police officer.
  • Sarah referenced an old boyfriend with the saying “he thinks the sun comes up just to hear him crow.”
  • Our guest, Jay, talked about “slower than molasses in January.” He suggested a good southern saying is all in the delivery. True!

Sarah and Traci tied for best speaker! Moving forward, the ballot counter should refrain from voting and only cast a ballot to break a tie.

Yvette made a brief announcement regarding a “Toys for Tots” program with which she is involved. She collects toys and distributes them to underprivileged children. She’ll bring a collection box to the 12/9 and 12/23 meeting if you would like to contribute a toy to the program. Sports related toys are appreciated.

The group had a bunch of ah’s and um’s with Scott being the biggest offender!

As Grammarian Tony highlighted how Nadine told Jay that with your icebreaker “you’re just trying to survive the night”. He also gave Marten kudos for his phrase to George, “your Google worked really well”.

Sunny encouraged the group to use the agenda to indicate your absence or to remove yourself from roles if you cannot attend. She suggested the Table Topics Master keep track of participants names to help voters recall when submitting their ballots. Lastly, she pointed out that general member announcements should be conducted at the end of the meeting.

Tony will serve as Toastmaster next week. Please sign up for a role if you plan on attending.