05-18-06 Meeting Summary

May 18, 2006
Theme: Pets

Word of the day: Tractable

Schedule changes: Marian J. as Speaker 1, Mary
Ellen G. as Evaluator 1, No Inspiration/Humor
today

Mark H. was Toastmaster today. He started our
meeting describing his three cats, Coke, Cosmo, and
Zinfandel.

Lori G. was our Wordmaster today. Lori is a pet
lover. She has a schnoodle.

Eddie K. was our Timer today. He also is a dog
lover, especially hunting dogs.

Marian J. stepped in as our first speaker today.
Her speech, entitled “Demystifying Competition”
informed us of all the Toastmaster competitions and
how to enter them. She gave us some background on her
recent speech entry and concluded with a challenge to
all of us to enter one of the competitions.

Betsy S. was our second speaker. Her speech,
“Short Experiences” outlined the challenges and
benefits of being 4 feet 11 inches (and seven-eighths)
tall. Betsy uses only the first shelf of her kitchen
cupboards- as she can’t reach the taller shelves, and
on the occasion that she needs something from a higher
shelf—she simply walks on the countertops. Betsy says
stadium seating movie theaters are the only way to go,
and if you are short to stay away from warehouse
grocery shopping—or you’ll be climbing the shelves!

Dan B. was our TopicsMaster today.

His question to Jeff:
“Give us an example of one of your pet peeves.”

Jeff’s response:
1. I work with advisors and, hence have to deal with
their assistants who continually make up excuses as to
why their bosses just can’t talk with me at that
particular moment.

Second question to Jen O’Connor:
“Explain a time you were so petrified, you could
barely move.”

Jen’s response:
1. My roommate and I decided to try sky diving my
sophomore year in college. Once we got on the plane, I
was in the back- the last one to jump. After hearing
all the other screams.... I was petrified for my jump.
As I stepped out the plane door- the wind caught me
and pulled me out—otherwise I may not have jumped.

Evaluation #1: Mary Ellen G.
She liked Marian’s speech and thought the short
questions as visual aids were very effective. She
wondered if Marian was supposed to have a
question/answer period at the end of her speech.

Evaluation #2: Laura C.
Laura feels guilty being tall. She thought Betsy had a
great opening and a perfect subject for “Your Body
Speaks.” She complimented Betsy on her use of gestures
and appropriate humor. She though Betsy could work on
more purposeful eye contact.

Grammarian Report (Lori):
Tractable used three times. Good phrases: “Walking on
countertops.”
Limited ahs and ums.

Timer Report (Eddie)
Marian: 9.17
Betsy: 7.03
Mary Ellen: 1.12
Laura: 2.45
Jeff: 1.25
Jen: 1.47

General Evaluation (Kathy J.):
Overall good meeting with humor added. Thought Mark
used good transitions throughout the meeting, good
word choice. Kudos to Marian for stepping in as
speaker and to Jeff and Jen for their fabulous
TableTopic responses.


The Spirit Award went to Betsy (Jen was a close
second)

-Mary Ellen