Mutual Voices Toastmasters

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Location: St. Paul, Minnesota, United States

Mutual Voices Toastmasters Club meets weekly at Noon at Securian Center in downtown St. Paul. Securian Center is located at 400 Robert Street North. Please join us anytime as a guest!

Monday, July 31, 2006

Thursday, July 27 2006 Meeting
The theme of our meeting last week was friendship. Our Toastmaster, Kathy, asked duty-holders to tell the club about their longest-lasting friendship. Kathy said, “I don’t have any friends…I do have a sister, though!” Laura, the Timer, told everyone about a friend from high school; their sons are the same age, so everyone gets together a few times each year.

Speaker 1 was Betsy, who presented Vacation! Betsy’s speech focused on vocal variety and her topic lent itself well to that! She told us about her upcoming vacation to Pine Wood Lodge on Potato Lake where she plans to go on her three favorite options for boats: speedboats, sailboats, and canoes. Speedboats are full of energy as they zoom and roar. Betsy takes her nephews tubing before trying out some waterskiing herself. Sailboats are exciting, but not so loud as they zip across the lake, sails flapping and water lapping the hull of the boat. Usually, Betsy also hears hysterical laughter when she goes sailing because they don’t know what they’re doing and usually end up in the water! Canoes provide Betsy with calm serenity after dinner when the lake is quiet and still. She goes out to relax, hears the dip of her paddle, the loons, and the water trickling against the boat. She likes to paddle through the reeds, sit and watch the fish, and find the rocks that she hit with the propeller of the speed boat. It’s a great way to slow down, calm down, and relax from a day of boating fun. (Time: 5:37)

Speaker 2 was Bill (Bill recently ran into a friend from the 80s at the Farmer’s Market.), who presented Building Walls. Bill explained the purpose, materials, and techniques for building retaining walls. First, the purpose is to level off a hill, cut into a hill, control water and erosion, and for cosmetic reasons (e.g., create a planting area). Second, the materials that can be used are rock, blocks, or wood timbers. Bill prefers blocks, which range in dimension and weight. He doesn’t like wood timbers because they rot and don’t look as tidy and he doesn’t like the look of rocks. In addition to the materials to build the wall, for blocks you also need class five gravel for the base, ½ inch rock to put behind the blocks so the water can drain (otherwise water will get behind the blocks, freeze and thaw, and push the blocks out of place), drain pipe, and geo-grid for walls over four feet tall. Third, Bill suggests that you begin on a 95 degree day to really add to the enjoyment of building the wall. Then, you need to dig a hole deep enough for ¼ of the wall, add the class five gravel and bury two blocks. Once that’s level, you stack the blocks upward and add the rock and drain pipe behind the wall for water to escape. If you have any questions, you can call bill to ask questions, but don’t ask him to come over! (Time: 8:24)

The Table Topics Master was Mark (Mark has some old friends from high school and college, but they really only keep in touch via e-mail and Christmas cards.) who selected his victims carefully. Mark asked Lori G to convince him that man’s best friend is a dog. Lori calls her dog, “Royal Pain in the Neck”. He follows her around every morning. While she gets ready for work, she throws the ball and the dog fetches it. She use to have a cat that was stand-offish and only came around when it wanted to be petted. Since dogs are more friendly and outgoing, and still greet you at the door even when you yell at it, dogs are man’s best friend. (Time: 1:18)

Eddie K told us about his first childhood friend and why he was his best friend. Eddie’s best friend was Brian E, who went to kindergarten and played baseball with Eddie. Eddie remembers him playing with objects on a table, then throwing up all over the table—Eddie gave him his bucket. They had many adventures. Brian’s dad built a playhouse that smelled just like their house—stale dog. He also remembers going to the gas station with Brian for 25 cent pop. In high school, they went their separate ways when Eddie got in trouble for skipping baseball with Brian. They still played hockey together, but haven’t seen much of each other recently since no one likes Brian’s girlfriend. (Time: 2:15)

Evaluator 1 was Mary Ellen (Her best friend is a girl named Jari that Mary Ellen met in college). Mary Ellen commended Betsy on her voice volume and pitch. She also liked Betsy’s conversational manner and the fact that she came out in front of the lecturn. Mary Ellen suggested that Betsy slow down when talking about the sailboat and canoe and use more pauses, such as when talking about the loons, to convey relaxation to the listeners. Mary Ellen also liked Betsy’s vocal variety and body language.

Evaluator 2 was Keri (Keri met her friend Jen in 6th grade and they still bake cookies together every Christmas; last year they baked 20 dozen!). Keri liked Bill’s word selection and arrangement. She applauded his organization, which was clear and structured, and humor. Even though it was a dry topic, Bill’s sense of humor made his speech entertaining. She encouraged Bill to bring in some props, such as cardboard blocks or a sample, to help the audience understand exactly what he was talking about.

Mark was our General Evaluator. He commended Lori on her kickoff, intros, clapping, and explanation of duties, but reminded her to introduce guests. Mark liked Kathy’s word and explanation and Laura’s explanation of timing, but reminded Laura to explain why we time speeches. Mark suggested that Lori structure her stream of consciousness up-front to turn her good answer into a great one, and noted that he will miss Eddie’s “Eddie-isms”. For the evaluators, he liked Mary Ellen’s balanced evaluation and objectives, but suggested more specific examples. He liked Keri’s introduction, humor, structure, and specific suggestions. The Spirit Award was given to Betsy.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Summary MutualVoices Meeting 7/14
Toastmaster for the 7/14 meeting was Mary Ellen. The Theme of the Day was "Twin Cities Vacation" and the Word of the Day was "Leisure." Other duty holders were Mike , as General Evaluator, and Mark as Timer and Marian as Sumamrizer.

Mary Ellen did an excellent job of planning the meeting, including checking to ensure that all duties would be covered on a day when attendance was lighter than usual. She started the meeting on time, led the clapping and provided interesting segues between sections of the program. Overall, the meeting was entertaining and another well-spent lunch hour.

Speech # 1 was presented by Jeff, the second speech from the CTM Manual -- "Organize Your Speech." In his speech, Jeff captured the pleasures offered by the resort where his extended family vacations each summer, Bent's Camp Resort,
www.bents-camp.com. Along with a description of the physical details of the resort, including the resort’s location on Mamie Lake (part of the Cisco chain), its 270 feet of shoreline and sandy beach, Jeff told us about the experiences that his family shares during their time together. Whether it’s fishing in the early hours of the morning or making smore’s on a camp fire in the twilight, Jeff did an excellent job of convincing us that Bent’s Lake offers the perfect environment to build family traditions.

Table Topics Master was Laura G, who asked four challenging questions. Marian demonstrated her lack of Table Topics experience (her assessment) in answering Laura’s first question "How would you promote the Twin Cities theater to people from outside the region?" Marian’s answer was convoluted (her description) and wasn’t organized as a mini speech -- one of the cardinal rules to follow in answering Table Topics questions.

Laura’s second question, "What activity would you do with visiting family members that is typically Minnesotan?" Laura B. did an excellent job of buying time by telling us that all her family is very familiar with the Twin Cities but demonstrated her skills by pulling together a well-organized mini speech.

Table Topics Question # 3, "What do you especially like to do more in the Twin Cities?" was answered by Eddie. Eddie told us that he would like to visit more historical sites and enjoy more music experiences, with the goal of becoming a more well-rounded person. (I’m going to miss hearing Eddie’ s stories about his life and times.)

Mark answered Laura’s fourth question, "Why should we or shouldn’t we attend a wine tasting dinner?" Mark talked about an annual wine-tasting event that he goes to regularly, a fundraiser for the Humane Society.

Bill evaluated Jeff’s speech. Bill said that he thought that Jeff’s had created a structure that was easy to follow, with an opening that captured our imagination and a strong conclusion. Bill said that by providing first-hand experience, Jeff had made the speech more credible and vivid to the audience. He also described Jeff’s style as relaxed and easy to listen to.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Welcome to Mutual Voices Toastmasters!

Mutual Voices Toastmasters #3852
meets every Thursday at Noon at
The Securian Building
400 Robert Street North
St. Paul, MN 55101

For more information contact Laura, VP of Membership at 651-665-3231 or you can email us at mutualvoices@yahoo.com

07-06-06 Meeting Summary

Jerry Vang was our Toastmaster at todays meeting. The theme he picked was
"Cleaning your car". Jerry explained that he chose this theme because he
was recently cleaning out his own car and found a can of pop under the seat
that had exploded. It took him some time in cleaning that mess up.
Our Wordmaster Grammarian today was Dave Baston. His word "luster" means:
Soft reflected light, sheen, glory, radiance, distinction, splendor, as of
achievement, reputation, beauty, any of various substances such as wax or
glaze used to give an object a gloss or polish. Dave also told us of some
pictures he found while cleaning out his wife's car to sell shortly after
they returned from their honeymoon of his wife and her ex-husband in
intimate positions.
Our first speaker was Keri O'Brien. (10:16) Her speech "Keeping the
Commitment" was about staying committed to our Toastmasters club. She
handed out cards to all of us that has the Toastmasters promise on it.
Here are the promises we need to make and keep:
a)To attend club meetings regularly
b)To prepare all of my speeches to the best of my ability, basing them on
projects in the Communication and Leadership Program manual or the Advanced
Communication and Leadership Program manuals
c)To prepare for and fulfill meeting assignments
d)To help the club maintain the positive, friendly environment necessary
for all members to learn and grow
e)To serve my club as an officer when called upon to do so
f)To treat my fellow club members and our guests with respect and courtesy
g)To bring guests to club meetings so they can see the benefits
Toastmasters membership offers
h)To adhere to the guidelines and rules for all Toastmasters educational
and recognition programs
i)To maintain honest and highly ethical standards during the conduct of all
Toastmasters activities
Our second speaker today was Marian Johnson. (10:20) Her speech "Separated
by Different Educational Systems" was about the difference in the
educational systems between the U.K. and the U.S. In the U.K. they have a
very rigid and strict educational system the requires you to pass several
exams to be able to continue higher education and you are not able to
transfer studies once you are on a set path. The U.S. model of education
was patterned after the German system and is much more open and not nearly
as rigid as our english speaking friends from England. Marian also noted
some of the terms that both our educational systems use that are very
different from each other.
Dave Baston was our Table Topics master today (doing double duty!). Dave
asked Laura Carmody (1:28) "What's the best thing you have ever found when
cleaning your car?" Laura told us of a pair of shoes that she had been
missing for about a year that she found while cleaning out her trunk and
she found a lint brush under a seat that she uses to pick up the dog hair
from her car so her car pooler won't get so full of dog hair when riding in
Laura's car.
Dave asked Mary Wood (1:07) "Are you a clean car or a dirty car person and
why?" Mary says that actually she is both a clean car and dirty car
person. She is a dirty car person because she has children in her life and
even though she asks them to pick up their garbage it still seems to get
left behind at times. She is a clean car person because she grew up with
parents that took pride in their car and washed it regularly and besides
who does not want to be a clean car person because if you have guests
riding in your car you want to impress them.
Mike Cahn was the evaluator for Keri's speech. He felt she did a good job
of tailoring the C.L. speech to our club. Mike appreciated the humor Keri
added to the speech. For improvement he noted that the light from the
screen was on Keri's forehead and she should try to slow down her speech
when reading from the speeches preprinted text.
Jeff Streeper (doing double duty also!) was the evaluator for Marian's
speech. He felt the topic was very interesting and he especially liked
Marian's introduction. Jeff liked the fact that Marian was an expert on
this subject by growing up in England and going through their educational
system. For improvement Jeff noted that some information was not shared
with us because the time had run out.
Dave Baston noted our meeting had more then normal ahs and ums. Two people
used the word of the day - Jerry and Mike.
Dan Bennek was the general evaluator for the meeting today. Dan felt that
Jerry did a good job as Toastmaster. He had good segways between the
speeches. For improvement Dan noted that Jerry left the front of the room
open when Dave was coming up to do Table Topics and he could lead the
clapping more. Over all the meeting went well today. The Spirit Award
went to Marian J!
Hope to see you all next week...