More About Toastmasters

The last time I looked, more of my posts bore the keyword "Toastmasters" than any other word. Perhaps that's the narrower focus I've sought for this blog from the beginning (It's been my observation that the leading blogs are devoted to a single subject, eschewing my scatter-shot approach). At any rate, today I felt compelled to go back to the Toastmasters well again.

As secretary, my primary duty is to write a report about each meeting and submit it to the group email list for the purpose of encouraging attendance at future meetings. Without patting myself on the back, I think I can say that I have to date expended much energy toward that end, and in so doing have made the weekly recap bigger than past secretaries have. As I said, I don't mean to belittle their efforts or to praise myself. My approach to the task is simply different. I probably wouldn't say anything of the kind if it hadn't already been said to me by others.

Here is the recap of last week's meeting:

From the perspective of this writer, last week's meeting was especially enjoyable. To wit:

In opening the meeting, President Pallavi Jadhav-Ridout passed on an illuminating anecdote from a class. She then turned over the meeting to our Toastmaster Victoria Clavijo-Bryant, who went about her duties with great vigor and enthusiasm. First she introduced Ann Griffith. Ann's speech concerned the finer points of beer brewing and consumption, and she pleased her audience to no end by giving away a number of her visual aids upon the meeting's conclusion. Speaking second was Lisa Najarian, who was giving her third address to this club. Her speech had to do with her five favorite cities (San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas, New York and Washington DC). Have you hit them all yet? It was Ann who came out on top in the race for Best Speaker.

The featured speakers having concluded their portion of the meeting, Victoria handed the reins over to Table Topics Master Calder Holbrook. The speakers and the nature of their impromptu speeches appear below:

• Jackie Sanders, noted LA Sparks fan, announced her plans for a less-than-gracious party to celebrate a potential Phoenix Mercury WNBA Championship (the TT Master, a Mercury fan, was good-natured about the ribbing).
• Pallavi Jadhav-Ridout ruminated on a desired change in her wardrobe as a consequence of the change in weather from Summer to Autumn.
• Keith Tyler held forth on the benefits of using public transportation, remembering with fondness London's Tube.
• Grace Gravestock championed a local Burbank chocolate store in the midst of a challenging commercial real estate market.
• Collin Olympius attempted to sell his Pontiac Firebird to the club.
• Victoria Genisce decided that of all fast foods, she most identified with flan.
• Faced with the prospect of a rampaging King Kong in Los Angeles, Will Katz predicted that the misunderstood creature would be headed for Hollywood's Capitol Records building.
  

Jackie Sanders would win out over a very strong field of contenders for Best Table Topics. From there, control of the meeting was cast into the hands of Vernita Perkins. Vernita announced evaluators Ginny Tolkin (for Ann Griffith) and Grace Gravestock (for Lisa Najarian), who each lived up to their reputation for evenhanded, insightful evaluations. Ginny triumphed as Best Evaluator.

And so it was last week in the most eloquent room in Burbank. This afternoon, we can look forward to doing it again with Toastmaster Gena Davis and featured speakers Calder Holbrook, Christa Sierra and Pallavi Jadhav-Ridout.

Calder Holbrook- Secretary

I've made a few adjustments since taking the post a few months ago. Firstly, I started taking as thorough of notes as I can during the meeting, which depends on the nature of whatever speaking or non-speaking role I have for that meeting. I always take one or the other every week. Secondly, I simply seem to write longer reports. This is not necessarily a good thing, but people who voice an opinion one way or the other mainly seem to enjoy reading it. Third, I have begun to scan all documents distributed to the attendees of meetings (chiefly the agenda, but now also including handouts from speakers), attaching digital versions to the recap. I think it's good for records as well as for sentimental members who discard or lose those documents. Lastly, I have begun to mark all names in bold, as newspaper gossip columns do. I think that provides a small additional measure of recognition to active participants, and it's also a nice little bit of style.

That's enough about the recap. I also did three other things of note related to today's meeting. Beforehand, I met with a couple other members to aid in a tuneup session for a fellow member who is about to participate in the next level of an impromptu speaking contest put on by the Toastmasters organization. That's fun, and I'm always glad to assistant in the development of another Toastmaster (as they so often do the same for me).

Secondly, I gave my latest speech- #8 in the Competent Communicator manual. This speech concerns the proper use of visual aids. I gave a speech about my love of reading and the means by which I obtain the books I read. As visual aids, I employed a pile of books which I had brought from home in a military surplus rucksack. Although I did not win Best Speaker (bringing my losing streak to three contests: the area tall tales contest, the club Best Speaker race three weeks ago and the same today), It was exceptionally well received. Its humor was recognized and appreciated by all who spoke to me, and some even expressed new determination to make a habit of reading more.

It seems that while my humor and use of visual aids are in at a very good stage of development, my delivery can use a considerable amount of additional polish. I look forward to achieving that in future speeches.

Lastly, I won a DVD of the movie Love In The Time Of Cholera in a raffle for members who paid their dues on time. Fun.

For a short while I can rest from my exertions, but soon I will need to write the next recap, take a role in next week's meeting and prepare my next speech. It never ends, thank God.