Tony served as Toastmaster for the club’s second virtual meeting with an appropriate theme of tips for social distancing. There were 10 Members in attendance. The meeting started on time and ended 10 minutes early.

There were several roles available on the agenda so Scott had Tony fill them at the beginning of the meeting. Please sign up for a role for next week so we can save time in the beginning of the meeting.

Dues payment deadline is extended to 4/30.

The Officer team is working on putting together a virtual open house.

Guests are now welcome at the virtual meetings. Have them email vppr@lakenormantoastmasters.com for the Zoom meeting link.

Scott offered a stat from a Zoom tutorial as his speaking tip – 70% of communication is body language. Regarding Zoom, participants are encouraged to share video as opposed to using audio only. Regarding Toastmasters, developing public speaking skills makes you more comfortable speaking to an audience. If you feel comfortable then your body language is more natural and relaxed. This allows your audience to focus more on your words and less on your nervous movement.

The WOD was “Resonate” which means to evoke or suggest images, memories and emotions. 5 Members managed to use it in their speaking opportunity.

Tony weaved in these ideas around social distancing into the meeting:

  • Think of it as physically distancing, not social distancing.
  • “Your greatest power is your perspective. It can victimize you or empower you.” -Forbes article
  • Take a moment to be thankful for your health.
  • Take advantage of this restrictive time to clear clutter out of your house and do some spring cleaning. Tony’s wife and he painted some doors while Sarah pulled weeds in her Victory garden.
  • Use technology like Zoom and stay connected. Try having video calls with family, playing trivia and holding virtual happy hours. And of course, keep attending Toastmasters!
  • But also, get away from technology. Go outside as much as possible. Tony started a routine where he goes for a short walk at lunch time and immediately after work. Research shows that spending time in nature lowers stress, helps you relax and clears your mind.
  • Other great ways to get away from technology include reading a book or cooking a fun meal. Tony has challenged himself in the kitchen and successfully made gnocchi’s from scratch.

If you are suddenly working from home, try these two tips:

  1. Designate a work place. Go there each day and create boundaries when you are in this place. Those boundaries work both ways. When you are physically in that space, you are working, not focused on Netflix. When you are outside of that space, you are not working.
  2. Create a routine and stick to it. Consider scheduling walking times like Tony to get some exercise.

George gave the club’s first virtual speech titled “Communication Transformation”. He detailed his analytical mind as an engineer and offered the generally accepted notion that engineers look down on quick decisions. He went on to talk about the Toyota House of Quality model and closed with how he his learning to change his decision making tendancies.

Traci highlighted George’s use of a humorous story in the introduction of his speech as a great way to start. She suggested that more clarity on the ending takeaway in the beginning of the speech would then better prepare the audience for the transformation conclusion. In other words, tell your audience where you are going at the start, prove it with storied content and remind them in your conclusion.

Scott was our Table Topics Master with these deep questions he borrowed from another Toastmasters internet post:

  • What have you done lately that is worth remembering? – Geoffrey was helping people at work
  • What do you wish you spent more time doing 5 years ago? – Steve would have liked to be healthy.
  • What are you able to do today that you were not able to do five years ago? – Sarah is able to talk about mental health comfortably.
  • What is the most sensible thing you’ve ever heard someone say? – Praveen talked about the advice he provided to a friend to help them through a relationship.
  • When was the last time you tried something new? – Sunny talked about having a baby and becoming a mother.
  • “Who do you love and what are you doing to share it.” – Robert talked about his wife (Every day is a good day to bring her flowers)
  • “What gets you excited about life?” – Traci talked about her 4 children keeping her busy during these times.
  • “How will society change after COVID – 19?” – Tony wasn’t sure the changes we see will stay permanent and offered the quote “This too shall pass.”

Sarah will be Toastmaster next week and Sunny will fill the role on April 13th. Sign up for a role!

Stay well.