Did you know that there are four types of competitive swim strokes? Traci served as Toastmaster sharing facts and benefits of her most beloved exercise, swimming. There were 11 Members and 2 Guests in attendance. We started and ended on time with a full agenda of 3 prepared speeches.

Scott referenced Sarah’s brainstorm question from last week as his speaking tip. She asked the group for ways to use Zoom for family gatherings. Scott pointed out that after a few ideas were mentioned, someone became critical of why a particular suggestion wouldn’t work. Scott said editing / negativity is a CREATIVITY KILLER! While it is a valuable component to the creative process, it has to wait its turn.

Therefore when brainstorming for speech ideas, solutions to problems or deciding what to eat for dinner, enter CREATIVE MODE. That means write down any possibility that comes to mind without being critical. After you have exhausted all ideas, switch to EDITING MODE to decide what works and what doesn’t. To put it simply, THOUGH SHALL NOT CREATE AND EDIT AT THE SAME TIME.

The word of the day was “Serendipity”. It means occurring or discovering by chance in a happy or beneficial way. The group struggled with pronunciation and an official usage count. However it was serendipitous that Rupali, our most recent Mother, gave a speech the day after Mother’s Day. Happy belated Mother’s Day to all of you Mothers!

Rich had some technical issues and couldn’t make it last minute so George stepped in with a humorous swimming story as Jokemaster. Bravo George. Practicing telling funny stories on the fly is a powerful public speaking exercise.

The four competitive strokes in swimming are freestroke (front crawl), backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly (the hardest). Traci suggested swimming is a great exercise because it’s low impact, relaxing, de-stressing, can be done at all ages and water is peaceful. She showed some of the gear swimmers will often use and pointed out that her favorite are the fins. She also noted that swimmers will use a snorkel to help train head position as opposed to using it for a breathing aid.

“My will to live completely overcame my desire to win.”

Alfred Hajos

Rupali’s speech served as a pitch on the benefits of a Toastmasters Membership. She detailed some history and components of Toastmasters International. She went on to discuss her personal journey and advocated that LKN Toastmasters is a wonderful, supportive place to grow public speaking and leadership skills.

Ed gave the third speech of his Bitcoin Trilogy. This was Ed’s first speech on the Zoom platform and managed to swiftly do a screen share to show Coinbase, his favorite Bitcoin site. He recapped Bitcoin’s history and price action as well as the day’s coincidental “halving”. He warned that no one knows the future price direction, but he believes everyone should own a small amount of Bitcoin as part of their investment portfolio.

Our newest Member, Steve, gave his second speech. He spoke to his journey with various health related issues since 2011, including Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOC). He summarized that it’s important to pay attention to small changes in health, especially above the waste, and to listen to your doctor because looks can be deceiving. At the end of the meeting, Steve shared that his ex-wife had recently passed away from the coronavirus. Our deepest condolences Steve.

Geoff ran his first Table Topics like a seasoned veteran. He pulled inspiration from John Maxwell’s book “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership“. Even with a full agenda, Geoff managed to call on five people and finish on time. As a general rule, virtual meetings are moving slightly faster than in-person. Therefore, if we have three evaluators, try to finish Table Topics between 7:30-7:35 for the meeting to finish at 8:00.

George said he attended the District 37 wide meeting where the impact of cornonavirus on club participation was discussed. Many clubs are struggling to maintain membership and switch to an online environment. He praised our success in comparison which was an echo to our Division Director, Djuna’s, comments last week. Way to go Us!!!

Rupali and Ed tied for Best Speaker while our Guest, Kris, took home Best Table Topics for the second week in a row. Nicole used her mastery of the three-point style in her evaluation to take home the evaluator top prize.

Nicole will serve as Toastmaster next week and promised to share a theme by Wednesday. Help her out by signing up for a role if you will be in attendance.