16 December 2008

This is the last meeting of the year. What a year it has been! Thanks to all who participated and contributed to this fine club. 

Congratulations, Neil, on doing your Ice Breaker speech so soon after joining last week!

This meeting being our last had a touch of the sentimental and the celebratory. We had tea and coffee and SWEETS! Chocolates, muffins, and candy helped us celebrate the end of another year of Toastmasters. The sentiment and warm feelings came from Ann mostly, who will be leaving her post as President of EarlyRisers. We will miss her. Ann used her speech time to give thanks to all the members and to recognize each member with a crisp certificate of accomplishment and a binder to hold all those manuals. Thank you for all your great service, friendship and support, Ann.

This meeting was brought to order at 6:30 AM by Bud. At 6:35 AM, we all partook of the goodies before launching into the meeting in earnest.

Attending: Neil, Bud, Connie, Ann, Kelly, Stephanie, Mark, Daohua, Laura, Tony, Theo, and Josie.

Toastmaster of the Day: Connie

Theme for the day: How time flies!

The Prepared Speeches at this meeting:
1) Neil, "Ice Breaker", Competent Communicator, project #1, time 5-7 minutes. Actual delivery time: 00:09:56. Evaluated by Kelly. Evaluation time: 00:03:09. 

2) Ann, "Swan Song: And the Winner is...," Ann gives special recognition to each club member. 00:16:16. No evaluation for this speech.

3) Laura, "Cold Calling", The Persuasive Speaker, project #2, time 10-14 minutes. Actual delivery time: 00:14:16. Evaluated by Josie. Evaluation time: 00:02:59.


Other Roles at this meeting:

Inspiration: Stephanie , 
WordMaster: Stephanie (the word was bustle)

Timer: Mark
Ah Counter and Grammarian: Daohua
Table Topics Master: Tony ("What is your sense of time?" Note: All impromptu speeches on time for this segment.)

General Evaluator: Theo
Joke of the Day: Bud

Awards at this meeting:
Best Table Topics: Stephanie and Mark
Best Evaluation: Kelly
Best Speech: Laura

"And the Winner is..." - President Ann's Recognitions Awards:

Best Early Risers Attitude: Daohua

Outstanding New Member: Mark

Best Sense of Humor: Tryphine

Outstanding Heads Up Award: Connie

Club Historian: Bud

Most Accomplished Toastmaster: Jane

Most Cooperative Toastmaster: Theo

Most Outstanding Leadership: Stephanie (VPE)

Outstanding Member/"Martha Stewart" Style Award: Laura

All Around Nice Guy and Mr. Amiable Award: Tony

Outstanding Good Sport Award: Neil

Outstanding Speaker: Kelly

Outstanding Team Leader Award: Josie

Club Business: EarlyRisers will not meet for the next two Tuesdays. We resume January 6, 2009. Enjoy your holidays. Happy New Year!

Meeting adjourned at: 8:00 AM

9 December 2008

Wow. This was one of those meetings that flowed beautifully! I can think of a few minor glitches, but this is how a Toastmasters meeting is to be run and experienced. The Toastmaster, the General Evaluator, Table Topics Master, speakers, functionaries and evaluators were organized and effective. We even had a new person join EarlyRisers today! Welcome, Neil! What a great meeting. 

The theme was: Caring for Ourselves.

Stephanie was the Toastmaster.

Attending: Stephanie, Bud, Jane, Tony, Connie, Laura, Kelly, Ann, Theo, Tryphine, Neil, and Josie.

Bud brought the meeting to order at 6:30 AM.

The prepared speeches at this meeting:

1) Josie, "Tending the Fire," Competent Communication manual, speech #6 (Vocal Variety), 5-7 minutes. Actual delivery time: 00:05:51. Evaluated by Laura. Evaluation time: 00:01:59.

2) Connie, "A Thank You to... Ann, our Club President!", Special Occasions manual, speech #4 (Presenting an Award), 3-4 minutes. Actual delivery time: 00:03:50. Evaluated by Kelly. Evaluation time: 00:03:23.

3) Tony, "Bicycle Riding," a non-manual speech (however, I believe it was a nice example of good/basic speech skills, so I'd call it, Competent Communication manual, speech #2 [Organize Your Speech], 5-7 minutes. Actual delivery time: 00:04:50. Evaluated by Theo. Evaluation time: 00:03:16.

Other Roles at this meeting:

Table Topics Master: Jane (how to balance your life?); All impromptu speeches were within time.

Inspiration: Bud

Grammarian/Ah Counter: Ann

Timer: Kelly

Word Master: Josie. The word of the day was cognizance.

General Evaluator: Bud

Joke of the Day: Tryphine

Neil was sworn in during this meeting.

Awards at this meeting:

Best Table Topics, Tryphine

Best Evaluation, Laura

Best Speech, Tony

Officers Ann and Stephanie presented club business: roles for next week and announcement of the upcoming Officer's meeting on Friday, December 12. Check email for time and location.

Meeting adjourned: 8:00 AM

2 December 2008

December already! The end of the year approaches. There are five Tuesdays in this December. We will not be meeting as a club the last two Tuesdays of the year.

The theme for this meeting was EXERCISE. With so many holiday activities and such, you are commendable for staying physically active. During this meeting we discussed strategies for being active, which included combining holiday shopping with getting out and about and burning some calories. This was a timely and useful topic.

Of note at this meeting: New Officers stepping up for the next six-month term! 

For the next term (January 2009 to June 2009), the EarlyRisers Toastmasters Officers are:

President, Stephanie

Vice President of Membership, Bud

Vice President of Public Relations, Jane

Vice President of Education, Josie

Mentoring Coordinator, Daohua

Treasurer, Tryphine

Secretary, Connie

Sergeant at Arms, Mark

Attending: Bud, Kelly, Tryphine, Stephanie, Lee W., Daohua, Theo, Ann, Kelly, Tony, Mark, and Josie. Two guests today: Kevin and Akram.

Bud opened the meeting at 6:30 AM. Bud was also the Toastmaster for the day.

Stephanie provided the inspiration of the day, which unfortunately I didn't write down. So much happens at these meetings! It can go by fast. This meeting was not without inspiration, though. I do remember being especially inspired by Tony's description of Toastmasters being the practice of "trying to get comfortable in an uncomfortable situation." Tony is back from several weeks (or was it months?) of travel. Welcome back, Tony!

The speeches at this meeting:

1) Mark, "The Fungus Among Us," Competent Communication manual, speech #2 (Organize Your Speech), 5-7 minutes. Actual delivery time: 00:07:13. Evaluated by Josie. Evaluation time: 00:03:00

2)Theo, "I am Theo," Competent Communication manual, speech #1 (the Ice Breaker), 4-7 minutes. Actual delivery time: 00:06:13. Evaluated by Connie. Evaluation time: 00:02:49.

3)Kelly, "Ni Hau," Competent Communcation manual speech, #1 (the Ice Breaker in Mandarin Chinese!), 4-7 minutes. Actual delivery time: 00:04:30. Evaluated by Daohua (in English). Evaluation time: 00:02:50.

Other roles at this meeting:

Word Master: Kelly. The word of the day was conducive.

Ah Counter/Grammarian: Tryphine

Timer: Stephanie

General Evaluator: Tony

Joke Master: Kelly

Table Topics Master: Lee W.

At the conclusion of the General Evaluation of the meeting, Tony returned control of the meeting to Toastmaster, Bud. Reports from the grammarian and word master followed.

Awards at this meeting:

Best Table Topics, Tony

Best Evaluation, Josie

Best Speech, Mark

Officers Ann (president) and Stephanie (VP of Education) announced the roles for next week, and the new officers stepped forward to assume their new roles. There is an officer's meeting this coming Friday, December 12. Old and new officers will attend. 

The meeting ended with the joke from Kelly. Something about meeting an old girlfriend at a high school reunion.... It was funny! You had to be there. :-)

Meeting adjourned at 8:00 AM.

25 November 2008

Holiday season 2008 is upon us! I have been visiting with family. These meeting minutes are brought to you by Ann. Thank you, Ann, for covering for me while I was gone for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, that was the theme for this meeting. Theo was the Toast Master.

Here are the minutes:

Attending: Bud, Kelly, Jane, Tony, Lee, Mark, Daohua, Stephanie, Tryphine, Ann, and special guest, Neil Gavande.

Bud opened the meeting promptly at 6:30 AM.

The Toast Master for the day was running late that day, so Ann took over as Toast Master and introduced the first speaker. Still running late, Theo was covered for by another attendee, Tony, who introduced the second speaker.

Speeches at this meeting:

1) Kelly Brant, "Who am I?" A very interesting and entertaining speech.

2) Jane, " A radio talk show presentation on the Second Harvest Food Bank"; Daohua assisted Jane in presenting this speech as a real live radio broadcast in progress.

Other roles at this meeting:

Table Topics: Bud

General Evaluator: Lee W.

Ah counter/Grammarian: Stephanie 

Inspiration: Tryphine

Word of the Day: Ann

Timer: Daohua

Evaluators: Ann and Tony

Joke Master: Mark

Awards at this meeting:

Best Table Topics: Jane

Best Evaluator: Tony

Best Speech: Kelly

Announcements: Consider being a board member! Sign up next week.

18 November 2008

The theme was "The Simple Life." In these trying and complex times, simplicity is the breath of fresh air that has the potential to replenish that which has been depleted in us.

And I shall have some peace there,

For peace comes dropping slow,

Dropping from the veils of the morning

To where the cricket sings.

--William Butler Yeats

As Toast master for the day, Kelly featured this quote on his agenda this day.

This meeting reminded me that we are volunteers at Toastmasters. It is time to elect club officers again, so the officers that were present made sure to say a few words to describe the roles of each position and to tell a little a bit about how things get done around the club and invite anyone who may want to step up to fill a role this time around.

6:30 AM welcome by Bud Rubin

Attending this meeting on this day: Ann, Connie, Tryphine, Bud, Theo, Tony, Lee W., Mark, Kelly, Stephanie, Josie, and two visitors: Kathy (from Toastmasters in Pacifica, CA) and Barbara (from Toastmasters in Prague, Czech Republic).

As Toast Master, Kelly takes control of the meeting and introduces the theme and inspiration (provided by Josie, a Buddhist story of what heaven is).

Guests introduce themselves and say a few things about their experience with Toastmasters.

Officers describe their roles in light of the coming election.

Speeches at this meeting:

1) Lee W., "There is Light at the End of the Tunnel," 6-8 minutes, The Persuasive Leader manual, speech #5. Actual delivery time: 00:08:19. Evaluated by: Tryphine (actual evaluation delivery time: 00:03:43, 13 seconds overtime).

2) Stephanie, "CHAR lee keh BECK," 6-8 minutes, Competent Communicator manual, speech #3. Actual speech delivery time: 00:07:33. Evaluated by Theo (actual evaluation delivery time: 00:03:20)

Other roles at this meeting:

Word of the day: Josie (word is integral); word was used 12 times throughout the meeting time

Ah-count: Mark

Grammarian: Tony

Timer: Bud

General Evaluator: Connie

Table Topics: Ann. This was a good one! Each member got a chance to make a brief introduction of a randomly selected member that day. Ann passed out quarter sheets of paper at the beginning of the meeting. On these little pieces of paper, club attendees wrote their names, career titles, interests and hobbies. The person doing the introduction used this information to put their little speech/introduction together. A great idea! We all have to make introductions at some point. It is a great skill to develop and hone. All Table Topics introductory speeches were delivered within the specified time limits.

Awards at this meeting:

Best Table Topics: Tryphine (who did a great introduction of Kelly)

Best Evaluator: Theo

Best Speech: Stephanie

 

Announcements:

Elections! The sign-up sheet was passed around. Stephanie pointed out schedule details.

Meeting adjourned at 8:00 AM

11 November 2008

Another lively meeting. This entry is for the meeting that happened this week. There is also an officer's meeting on Friday. It's a great week to be a Toastmaster.

This meeting was lead by Ann, our president. She was Toast Master that day.

The theme: thriftiness

Word of the day: frugal

The inspiration: "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." -New England maxim

Attendees offered some great ideas on how to spend less money on things like clothes and entertainment.

Attendees at this meeting: Claire, Tryphine, Stephanie, Jane, Connie, Bud, Lee W., Kelly, Mark, Josie, Donna (our guest evaluator from SAP Toastmasters!). 

Awards at this meeting:

Best evaluation: Kelly

Best Table Topics: Mark

Best speech: Bud

Speakers and speeches at this meeting:

1) Bud, "I too had a dream," 5-7 minutes, Competent Communicator manual, speech #5. Actual delivery time: 00:05:16. Evaluated by Kelly (evaluation time: 00:02:35).

2) Claire, "Being Proactive," 5-7 minutes, Competent Communicator manual, speech #7. Actual delivery time: 00:06:45. Evaluated by Guest Evaluator, Donna (evaluation time: 00:03:40--unfortunately 10 seconds over the limit :(...)

Other roles at this meeting:

Inspiration and Word Master: Stephanie

Timer: Jane

Grammarian and Ah-counter: Mark

Table Topics Master: Connie

General Evaluator: Josie

Joke: Kelly

Announcements: It's election time for club officers! It's a great time to step up and do service for the club. No experience is necessary. Officers will be meeting this week at Hobee's on El Camino and Charleston for their monthly meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 7:50 AM.

4 November 2008

Well, this was an interesting meeting! Lee W. was the Toast Master in charge or running the show. He had been out of town when Stephanie had sent out the new schedule that announces who the next Toast Master is. Ah! True to style, the club made this work beautifully. Lee W. did a lightning fast agenda the night before and got the speeches confirmed minutes before the meeting started. Everyone played their role and made it work. Now, that's a club!

The theme was: "One Nation: Indivisible." 

Inspiration: "A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart." (a quote/paraphrase of Goethe)

Word of the day: tout

It was the election day after all. The polls hadn't opened when we started this meeting. Our meeting place at Unity Community Church in Palo Alto, CA, was a polling place, as it has been for many years.

Attending this meeting: Stephanie, Theo, Lee W., Mark, Ann, Kelly, Connie, Tryphine, Sam (visiting from Foster City Toastmasters club), Claire, and Josie.

Awards at this meeting:

Best speech: Mark (his ice breaker!)

Best evaluation: Stephanie

Best Table Topics: Stephanie

Speakers and speeches at this meeting:

1) Mark, "Introducing Mark," 4-6 minutes, Competent Communicator manual, speech #1. Actual delivery time: 00:03:40. Evaluated by Stephanie (evaluation time: 00:03:05).

2) Ann, "Ten Reasons Toastmasters can enhance your life," 5-7 minutes, Public Relations manual, speech #1. Actual delivery time: 00:07:20. Evaluated by Connie (evaluation time: 00:02:48).

Other roles at this meeting:

Inspiration: Theo

Ah-Counter and Grammarian: Ann

Timer: Theo

Joke Master and Word Master: Tryphine

Table Topics Master: Josie

General Evaluator: Kelly

Announcements: Roles for next week announced. There was some changing of roles and adjustments that the next Toast Master, Ann, needed to attend to.

Meeting adjourned at 7:55 AM.

28 October 2008 Meeting

Hello, hello, hello! I got behind on the entries here. And the meetings still went on without fail. I happened to be there for all the meetings since the last entry. But I was also moving across town to a new house for the first time in ten years. I got a bit distracted. 

The EarlyRisers, however, pressed on. The winter meetings happen in the dark, and they are lightly attended. Still, the atmosphere is lively and supportive. A great way to start the day.

This day's meeting was called to order by Bud, who was also the Toast Master that day.

The theme for the day: Autumn

The word of the day: harvest

Attending this meeting: Bud, Ann, Daohua, Lee D., Kelly, Theo, Mark, and Josie.

Bud offered the inspiration, paraphrasing a recent quote from England's Prime Minister, Tony Blair: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing." 

These were the awards at this meeting:

Best speaker: Connie

Best evaluation: Josie

Best Table Topics: Daohua and Josie

(what a day!)

Speeches and speakers at this meeting:

1) Lee D., "Solar Technology," 5-7 minutes, Competent Communicator manual, speech #3. Actual delivery time: 00:06:40; Evaluated by Josie

2) Theo, "Mental Flexibility," 10-12 minutes, Mental Flexibility manual, part 4 of speech #8. Actual delivery time: 00:12:10. Evaluated by the group.

3) Connie, "A toast to my husband," 3-5 minutes, Special Occasion Speech manual, speech #3. Actual delivery time: 00:04:14. Evaluated by Lee D.

Note: All evaluations were within the time limit.

Other roles at this meeting:

Ah-Counter and Word Master: Daohua

Timer: Mark

Grammarian: Kelly

Table Topics Master: Ann

General Evaluator: Kelly

Announcements: Stephanie, the VP of Education was out sick, so we didn't go over the next schedule. Lee D. had the announcement that he would be out for the next two months. The club will be without a Sargeant at Arms during this time.

Meeting adjourned at 7:45 AM.

21 October 2008 Meeting

Greetings. The quality of daylight has now changed to reflect the autumnal days. It is now feeling that we meet at night when we arrive. Dawn is happening as we are getting through the middle of the meeting. It is lovely. At this meeting, this is what happened.

6:30 AM - Bud opened the meeting.

The theme for this meeting: "What makes you laugh and why?"

With the uncertainty and negative expectations that surround you, do you still have  a sense of humor?

Attending: Lee W., Theo, Arash, Connie, Mark, Stephanie, Bud, Tryphine, Laura, Daohua, Kelly, and Josie.

Awards at this meeting: 

Best Speaker: Daohua

Best Table Topics: Stephanie

Best Evaluator: Laura

Speakers and Evaluators for this meeting:

1. Daohua, "Artificial Lenses"; Competent Communication manual; speech #7; 5-7 minutes (actual time: 00:07:07). Evaluated by Stephanie.

2. Kelly, "An answer to a CEO's Question"; Speaking to Inform manual; speech project #1; 5-7 minutes (actual time: 00:05:19). Evaluated by Connie.

3. Lee W., "Should Palo Alto Have a Business License Tax?"; Persuasive Speaking manual; speech project #4; 7-9 minutes and 2-3 minutes for Q&A (actual time: 00:09:44 and 00:03:50).

Evaluated by Laura.

Timer's Report: Lee W. went over time; all evaluators delivery times were in time.

Roles for this meeting:

Toastmaster of the day: Josie

Inspiration: Lee W. (for Lee D.)

Ah Counter & Grammarian: Tryphine

TableTopics Master: Theo

General Evaluator: Arash

Word Master: Mark (word choice was: comic and was very well used)

Timer: Bud

Joke: Mark and Lee W.

Functionary Reports showed it was a day for Ah's and so's. Repeated words and false starts also happened. Some days just go like that. There is no replacement for paying attention.

Announcements: Stephanie announced the October 24th Area contest at Synopsys; a new schedule will be going up soon (give Stephanie your changes and adjustments); new ballots for the meetings need to be printed (Bud volunteered to make these); Josie volunteered to evaluate Stephanie as Event Chair for the 50th Anniversary celebration of a few weeks ago.

7 October 2008 Meeting

Back to ordinary existence after contests and anniversary celebrations. Well, not really! Today we were videotaped for the District 4 television program that promotes Toastmasters on cable television. Wow. Stan the Cameraman filmed almost the whole meeting, but told us he would be editing the footage down to three minutes, including interviews at the end. We, thus, ended the meeting slightly early today to accommodate the time. 

Bud opened our meeting at 6:30 AM.

Attending: Connie (Toastmaster for the day), Daohua, Kelly, Lee W., Donna, Arash, Bud, Lee D., Jane, Stephanie, Theo, and Josie. Returning member: Tryphine (who'd been at our pancake breakfast last week); and return guest: Mark (who decided to join today. Welcome, Mark!).

The theme was "new environments" and how to adjust to them.

Word of the day: paradigm

Awards at this Meeting:

Best Speaker: Jane

Best Table Topics: Tryphine

Best Evaluation: Lee W.

Speeches at this Meeting:

1. Josie. "On Rising Early"; speech #5 in the Competent Communication manual; 5-7 minutes. Evaluated by Donna (evaluation time: 0:02:42). Actual time of speech: 0:07:00

2. Jane. "Public Speaking 101"; speech #1 in the Public Relations manual; 5-7 minutes. Evaluated by Lee W. (evaluation time: 0:03:21) Actual time of speech: 0:06:57

Other roles at this meeting:

Table Topics Master: Lee D.

General Evaluator: Theo

Joke and inspiration: Daohua

Grammarian: Stephanie

Ah-counter: Kelly

Meeting announcements: Stephanie went over next week's schedule. Arash will be taking notes for Josie who will be out of town. Jane will be Toastmaster.

Meeting adjourned: 7:45 AM

50th Anniversary Celebration! (30 September 2008)

Yes, it's true. Early Risers has been around for 50 years. The club started October 1, 1958. We celebrated in high style with fresh flowers, balloons, and PANCAKES. Early Risers of previous years were invited. Many came to enjoy pancakes and share their thoughts about Toastmasters and rising early to make the meetings in previous years.

This was an "open house" meeting. Guests from the community were invited. 

Guests arrived by 6:30 AM. Among our guests were Area Governors for Toastmasters and the LGET (lieutenant governor of education and training) also attended and shared their thoughts on creating community and ensuring the longevity of the club.

Stephanie was our Toastmaster extraordinaire.

Speeches at this Meeting:

We featured one speech "for credit" at this meeting, "Persuasive Speaking Project"; 5-7 minutes; from the Specialty Speeches manual delivered by Connie and evaluated by Kelly. Both speakers did a great job of representing the club. 

Other Roles at this Meeting:

The Kitchen Angels: Jane, Donna, and Ken (Ann's husband) who made sure everyone had their pancakes. Thanks so much!

General Evaluator: Theo

Table Topics Masters: Claire and Josie (it was a long round!)

Best Table Topics Award: John Kerrigan (previous member) who talked about the main benefit of Toastmasters being a "Toastmaster sandwich," which consists of constructive criticism sandwiched between encouragement and experience giving speeches. He told the story of having "healthy anxiety" in preparing his speeches and making it to meetings. We were honored to have returning members like John at our meeting. 

The ceremony of the meeting was the "retiring" of our Early Risers banner. The banner is now old and patched up, but it proudly displays many ribbons and awards. Early Risers is a Distinguished Club for many years now. Part of the ceremony was folding the banner up like a flag as the attendees looked on. Then, Stephanie unveiled a crisp new banner amidst supportive cheers and good will. The community was awake and having a nice time.

Meeting adjourned promptly at 8:00 AM.

23 September 2008 Meeting

Greetings! It has been  a little while. I fell behind on bringing the up-to-the-minute posts here. I have been traveling in September (for work!) and will be traveling again in October. Here are the meeting minutes for this meeting.

Bud Opened the meeting at 6:30 AM

Attending: Theo (Toastmaster for the day), Bud, Donna, Jane, Daohua, Lee D., Ann, Laura, Kelly, Stephanie, and Josie. We had two guests: experienced Toastmaster, Emmanual, and Mark.

The theme today: Lucky Tokens

The word for the day: Superstition

Awards at this Meeting:

Best Evaluation: Kelly

Best Table Topics: Stephanie

Best Speaker: Daohua

Speeches at this Meeting:

1. Lee D. -- "Elitist Allegiance"; speech #2 of the Competent Communicator manual; 5-7 minutes. Evaluated by Josie (for Arash). Actual speech time: 0:07:25

2.Daohua -- "Behind the Wheel"; rehearsing her competition speech for Friday; time 5-7 minutes. Evaluated by Jane with comments from the whole group. Actual speech time: 0:06:44

3. Laura -- "The Effective Sales Person"; speech#2 from the Persuasive Speaking manual; 10-12 minutes. Evaluated by Kelly. Actual speech time: 0:10:15

Other Roles at this Meeting:

Table Topics Master: Donna who asked questions around the themes of astrology, lucky numbers, superstitions in other countries

General Evaluator: Bud

Grammarian-Ah Counter: Ann

Meeting Adjourned: 8:00 AM

16 September 2008 Meeting

Our club president Ann did the meeting minutes this day. Posting will be updated soon....

September 9, 2008 - The Club Contest!

This meeting was dedicated to the Evaluation and Humorous Speech Contests. What an exciting meeting! The competitions were close--at testament to the talent and preparation of the competing members. Kudos to the participants and the organizers for a smooth and lively contest and meeting.

Bud opened the meeting at 6:30 AM sharp. He shared some of the historical trivia associated with this day, including the start of the Ed Sullivan Show and the invention and use of the "laugh track" in television shows. We are living in interesting times.

Attending: Stephanie (the Toastmaster for the day), Pieter (guest speaker from Toasters R Us Toastmaster group of Synopsys for the evaluation contest; click here to visit their site), Ann, Daohua, Connie, Josie, Claire, Lee. W., Lee D., Donna, Arash, Kelly, Theo.

Inspiration (offered by Ann): "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead

Since this was a contest, the meeting followed a different format. Stephanie explained the order of events, special timing requirements and rules. Then the contest began in earnest with the Evaluation Contest happening first.

Speeches at this meeting:

1. Guest Speaker Pieter Kark gave a riveting speech entitled, "World War II 1943"; it was 5-7 minutes long. Truly magical and masterful. The Evaluator contestants had their work cut out for them.

2. Short evaluations followed. Pieter's speech was evaluated by two Evaluation Contestants: Lee D., and Claire. Lee D. went first when he guessed the right number from 1 to 100. Claire left the room while Lee D. gave his evaluation, and then returned to deliver hers.

3. The Humorous Speech Contest speeches followed. 

Daohua went first when she guessed the right number form 1 to 100. Her speech was entitled, "Behind the Wheel," her story of preparing and failing her driving test and the adventure of driving itself;  5-7 minutes. She made us laugh out loud!

Kelly followed with a speech entitled, "Genius Card" which was a make-believe orientation given to new employees of a seed company.  A hoot! 

The Evaluator Contestants left the room escorted by acting Sargent at Arms, Donna. Club members were the effective judges and this was the time to vote. 

Stephanie took the opportunity to interview special guest, Pieter, who has been a Toastmaster since 2005 and worked at the Red Cross along with Stephanie. Pieter is an ex-doctor and published author besides being a gifted speaker who can mesmerize an audience!

While ballots were counted by Josie and Connie, the rest of the attendants did the Table Topic portion of the meeting. This part had an interesting format, where members were not asked questions directly but were asked to give their thoughts and reactions to certain statements the Table Topics master (Lee W.) made. This was interesting. Topics varied and members got creative in their responses.

Winners were announced (see above).

Other roles at this meeting:

Grammarian/Ah Counter - Arash

Word master - Ann (the word was "mesmerize")

Chief Judge - Connie

Ballot Counter - Josie

General Evaluator - Bud

Timer - Theo

Joke - Ann

Announcements and closing remarks:

Ann mentioned the Toastmasters Area Contest happening on September 26 in Palo Alto. Registration is 6:15 PM; contest is 7:00 PM at ERPI (address is 3412 Hillview Ave Palo Alto 94304) See the District 4 website to register to attend the Area C3/C4 contest. Please come!

Bud reminded people that semi-annual club dues are due on September 26.

Stephanie reviewed the schedule and roles for next week's meeting.

Hard copy color flyers for the 50th Anniversary were distributed.

Meeting adjourned at 8:05 AM

August 26, 2008 Meeting

Bud opened the meeting promptly at 6:30 AM sharp.

What an amazing meeting. We had a full house with 17 attendees. Two of the attendees were guests: Pam (returning after about a year! Nice to have you back.) and Tsilla, who was checking out the club and thinking of joining.

Attending: Stephanie (our Toastmaster for the day), Ann, Donna, Laura, Arash, Lee W., Connie, Daohua, Theo, Lee D., Tony, Kelly, Bud.

Donna gave us the Inspiration for the day: When you do anything, be sure to do it with body and soul. (This is my paraphrase.)

The theme of the meeting was Pranks and Jokes. As Toastmaster, Stephanie treated us to many stories about pranks and jokes that happened while she attended Caltech. Many of the pranks were elaborate. The one I remember in particular was the one where two students altered the scoreboard "Caltech"  at a football stadium featuring lower case letters. When the manufacturer of the scoreboard heard about this, they were more impressed than annoyed, because they hadn't designed the board to feature lower case letters.  They ended up offering the two students jobs (after the students dealt with their legal issues)!

Awards at this meeting:

Best Speaker - Daohua

Best Table Topics - Tony

Best Evaluation - Laura

Connie received her Advanced Communicator Bronze award, having completed all ten speeches in the Competent Leadership manual. Connie received two lovely champagne flutes from the club in a gesture of congratulation. Great going, Connnie!

Speeches at this meeting:

1. Daohua, "Vocal Variety"; Competent Communication manual speech #6 (vocal variety), 5-7 minutes. Actual time: 06:52.  Evaluated by Claire.

2. Theo, "Mental Flexibility: Increasing Your Conceptual Fluency"; the conclusion of Theo's Advanced Communicator Gold. 20 minutes. Actual time: 17:52. Evaluated by Laura Caplan.

Note: All evaluations were within the time limit.

Other roles at this meeting:

Grammarian: Ann

Ah-Counter: Kelly (who counted instances of the members using the word "so" as well. This was an eye-opener)

Timer: Arash

Word Master: Lee D.

Table Topics Master: Connie

General Evaluator: Josie

Joke Master: Jane (click here for the visual jokes Jane shared with us: humor for lexophiles!)

Announcements:

Remember that there is no meeting next week. This is a first for the club.

Get your club dues in as soon as you can. Remember the contest is coming up: Evaluation contest and Humorous Stories contest. Stay tuned.

Meeting adjourn: 8:05 AM

August 19, 2008 Meeting

Greetings. 

Our meeting promptly began at 6:30 AM

The Toastmaster for this meeting was Lee W. The theme was "Our U.S. Currency." Lee W. offered some thoughts about money and shared observations about the symbols that appear on actual legal tender, notably the one and five dollar bills. The meeting was complete when Lee performed a magic trick on a real five dollar bill: apparently, there is a hard-to-find hole right above President Lincoln's head that's big enough for a ball point pen to slide easily through without tearing it. I'm still looking for it.

Attending: Lee W., Stephanie, Kelly, Daohua, Connie, Lee D., Theo, Claire, Jane, Laura, Bud, and Josie.

Daohua offered the day's inspiration: "True wisdom is not in never falling, but in getting up again after you fall." --Confucius (Excuse my paraphrase.)

Awards at this meeting:

Best Speech - Laura

Best Evaluation - Kelly

Best Table Topics - Kelly

The speeches at this meeting:

1. Claire, "Reward Comes with a Price"; Competent Communication manual speech #6 (vocal variety), 5-7 minutes. Evaluated by Kelly. Actual time: 08:05 :( A great speech that unfortunately went overtime.

2. Laura , "The Dark Side of the Bright Lights"; Entertaining Speaker manual speech #2, 5-7 minutes. Evaluated by Stephanie. Actual time: 08:10. Note: Laura endured TWO interruptions during this speech from passersby intent on getting directions for locating the AA meeting a few doors down. We basically just had to halt the meeting and Laura's speech right there. Speech time was "recalculated" to be under 7 minutes.

3. Connie, "Toast to Title IX"; Special Occasion Speech manual, speech #1 (making a toast), 2-3 minutes. Evaluated by Theo. Actual speech time: 02:40. Nice going, Connie.

Note: All evaluations were within the time limit.

Other roles at this meeting:

Grammarian/ah-counter - Bud

Timer - Daohua

WordMaster - Josie; the word was lucrative

TableTopics Master - Jane (Jane had engaging questions about designing the look of money and inventing ways of taking and processing money at vending machines.)

General Evaluator - Lee D.

Announcements and closing remarks by Stephanie:

Stephanie reviewed the schedule for next week. There are still many openings for joining the upcoming Humorous Speech and Evaluators contests. Lastly, remember to fill out the back of your manuals with information about the speeches you have done. Stephanie also brought a large tracking chart to help you as well. Remember your club dues for next month before September 26. See the emails for more information.

The meeting closed at 8:00 AM.

August 12, 2008 Meeting

Hello again. Meeting minutes follow.

The meeting began at 6:33 AM. Claire was the Toast Master. Our president, Ann, opened the meeting with the recognition of Stephanie as a Distinguished Toastmaster. Congratulations, Stephanie! Stephanie officially completed the requirements for DTM last week with the panel discussion about the High Performance Leadership Mentoring Project she did along with Kelly and Jane. At this meeting, Ann presented Stephanie with two lovely Toastmasters wine glasses to honor Stephanie's achievement.

The Theme for this meeting: The Olympics Games

Reminder: The date to turn in club dues is September 26, 2008. Please see the email that Ann sent, or speak with Bud, our Treasurer, if you have questions. 

Attending: Claire, Ann, Bud, Stephanie, Donna, Theo, Daohua, Kelly. We had two guests today: Sumita and Mike. Thank you for coming! When asked, each of our guests said they need public speaking for the jobs. We were happy that they took home applications for membership to our group.

Awards at this meeting: 

Best Evaluator - Kelly

Best Table Topics - Donna (three in a row!)

Best Speech - Ann

Kelly offered the inspiration in the form of the story of Lin Hao, the second-grader who survived the May 12 China Earthquake that killed over 69, 000 people. Credited with keeping the spirits of his trapped classmates up by singing songs and then going back into the rubble to rescue two of his fellow students after getting freed himself, Lin was recognized at the Olympics Opening Ceremony among the many people who worked tirelessly to save lives. The story, Kelly said, illustrates the value of "looking at what needs to be done instead of looking for fame and glory." See more about Lin's story at this site.

Speeches:

1. Ann, "My Road to the Olympics," speech #1 in Competent Communication manual, 5-7 minutes. Evaluated by Kelly.

2. Bud, "Some Things about the Bahai Faith," speech #3, Competent Communication manual, 5-7 minutes. Evaluated by Josie.

Note: All speeches were in time limit. Three speeches had been scheduled, but one speaker could not make it today.

Roles at this meeting:

Timer - Donna

General Evaluator - Stephanie

WordMaster - Donna, word: vigorous

Grammarian and Ah-Counter- Theo

Table Topics Master - Daohua (the theme was movement, activity, and the Olympic Games)

Announcements: Stephanie announced the Humorous Speech contest and the Evaluation contest that is coming up. Kelly signed up for the Humorous Speech contest. See Stephanie for more information or if you are ready to sign up.

Meeting adjourned by Ann at 7:55 AM.

August 5, 2008 Meeting Minutes

Greetings. Nice of you to drop by. Meeting minutes follow. 

Ann was our Toastmaster and started the meeting promptly at 6:30 AM, but there was a slight delay and rearrangement to the expected agenda. So, things really didn't start rolling until 6:45 AM. Technically, the late start was due to me (Josie) not setting up all the wires (projector, computer, screen and Internet connection) in time for the meeting start. There was a PowerPoint presentation on the agenda! No wonder we don't do this often! There are many details to love, especially that all-important detail of allowing enough time for computers to do what they do best... ;-). Still, in spite of the setback and late start, the presentation happened with just a few glitches involving power cords and sound.  The Early Risers made it happen in a supportive and fun way. Thanks for your patience, everyone. 

Attending: Kelly, Ann, Stephanie, Jane, Claire, Laura, Tony, Theo, Donna, Lee D., Daohua, and Josie

The Theme: Staying Positive. Attendees shared some great ideas for how they stay positive--everything from embracing adversity and deep feeling to taking walks, eating nice meals, and doing "extreme" ironing.

Announcements: Upcoming Competitions in September, and the 50th Anniversary of the Early Risers Toastmasters. Stay tuned for more details.

Awards for this meeting: 

Best Table Topics: Donna

Best Evaluation: Claire

Best Speech: The HPL Panel: Stephanie, Jane, and Kelly

Speeches:

1. Josie, "Dwell in Possibility: Yes, we're blogging meetings," speech #4 in Competent Communication manual, 8 to 10 minutes; evaluated by Claire

2. HPL Panel members Kelly, Stephanie and Jane, moderated by Claire, "Mentoring Resources for Early Risers Toastmasters"; High Performance Leadership project completion, 20 minutes. This panel went over the goals and accomplishments of the project as well as notes on the process, which seemed to be satisfying and positive for all. Of note, some very positive things came out of this project: mentoring resources and guidelines which will be available to members soon; the Mentoring Coordinator role, whose main task is to assist the VP of Education with all things related to mentoring. Mentoring doesn't just happen at Toastmasters. It is truly out in the world, and so it is a great skill to build. The panel presentation was evaluated by Lee D.

Note: All speeches were completed in the alloted time.

Table Topics Master was Laura. The theme was, "Is Happiness Overrated?" This spirited discussion included tips for being happy: embrace what you really feel! don't listen to news radio! eat your greens! when faced with adversity, find a quiet space and do what you love and repeat to yourself, "This too shall pass."

WordMaster was Ann, and Stephanie counted the uses of the word, sanguine.

General Evaluator: Daohua

Ah-Counter and Grammarian: Tony

Meeting adjourned by Ann at 8:05 AM once the awards were made. See you next week.

Oh! The Possibilities!

Greetings! A lot of great stuff happens at meetings, and this blog can be a special way to experience the meetings. Below is a simple embedded video that references the popular YouTube website for playing video. Check out Arnie Buss in this video clip of an NPS Toastmaster meeting of a couple of months ago. Arnie's speech entitled, "Listen," featured in this video here, won 2nd place at the District Competition this year. Congratulations, Arnie.

July 29, 2008

This is the first Early Risers blog of Meeting Minutes! Welcome, Toastmasters and guests. 

This is a record of the weekly meetings for Toastmaster Club #2117. Visit this space for information (meeting minutes) on current weekly meetings of the Early Risers Toastmasters. Coming soon: pictures of coming meetings and video of real speeches.

Our Toastmaster, Bud, opended this spirited meeting at 6:33 AM. To those who could not join us: we missed you. Thanks to all who stepped up to do double roles for this meeting. 

Attending this meeting: Tony, Kelly, Daohua, Theo, Donna, Connie, Ann, Bud, Lee D., and Josie.

Inspiration Offered by Bud: "Today will be a good day. Make it so!" 

Awards for this meeting: 

Best Speaker - Ann 

Best Evaluator - Kelly 

Best Table Topics -  Donna

Speeches:

1. Daohua - "Healthy Fourth of July," speech #5 in Competent Communication manual, 5-7 minutes; Evaluated by Josie

2. Ann - "Give Your Cold Calling Skills a Workout and Become Fiscally Fit," speech #2 in Advanced Communication Skills manual, 5-7 minutes; Evaluated by Theo

3.Tony - "Effective Evaluation," speech #1 in Success Communication Series: The Art of Effective Evaluation manual, 8-10 minutes; Evaluated by Kelly

Note: All speeches within time limit, except speech 1, which went over by 19 seconds.

Roles:

Toastmaster: Bud

Wordmaster: Bud, word: flippant

Ah-counter: Connie

Grammarian: Josie

TableTopics Master: Lee D.

General Evaluator: Kelly

Next week: The Toastmaster will be pulling the meeting together. Look for email about roles. See you then!

Meeting closed at 8:01 AM by Ann, who also distributed awards and made announcements.