August 24, 2006 Meeting Summary

Mark H presided as Toastmaster. Since there were no guests and few members he decided the meeting would be somewhat informal – no explanations of duties were necessary. He also introduced the theme of the day – Challenges – as he is preparing for the Twin Cities Marathon. Duty holders will discuss challenges they have encountered.

Dan B served as both Wordmaster Gramarian and Timer. He discussed the challenges of having a son be the smallest kid in the heavyweight football group. He needs to keep quiet and calm. The word of the day was "risk". Dan shared four of the many definitions and a sample sentence based on his own experience "Getting on a ladder, you run the risk of breaking your ankle."

Marian J was speaker #1. She gave a speech entitled "What will be, will be" for speech #2 from the Story Telling Manual (Let’s Get Personal). She spoke about growing up in England and later adapting to life in the United States. The principles she learned as a child helped he to adapt – smile a lot, be honest with yourself and others, and work as smart as you work hard.

Mary W shared a challenge and an inspiration. Her challenge was a recent family challenge. For inspiration, she shared the definition of challenge, gave several examples of types of challenges, gave ideas for handling challenges in a positive manner.

Laura B was evaluator #1. She explained how the organization for storytelling speeches is different from other speeches and that Marian did it well. She had a beautiful opening that gave a great visual. Her gestures were natural and her conclusion brought you back to her opening. Laura suggested she could have provide more of a description of her father and used a sideways motion to show the passing of time.

Kathy J was the Topicsmaster. She told us about the challenge of passing her LOMA exams. She recently completed them. Dan spoke on the first topic – words of wisdom. His advice for his kids is that it’s ok to admit you made a mistake. Laura B. spoke of the challenges along the skyway including Macy’s and good food. Mary was asked to speak of a fear or phobia. She discussed the fear of her house burning down, so she makes sure to turn off appliances when not in use and not run the dryer when she’s out of the house. She also discussed a fear of being raped and has taken self defense courses to prepare herself if she’s ever in such a situation.

Dan gave both of his reports. He noticed ums and ahs so we still need to work on that. The also pointed out some interesting phrases, such as Laura’s "throw out the crap". Marian’s speech was 7:10. Mary’s inspiration was 4:07. Laura’ s evaluation was 3:18. Table topics were as follows: Dan – 1:16, Laura 1:30, and Mary 2:20.

Betsy S gave a general evaluation. She complimented Mark for establishing an informal meeting for the small group and on his transitions. Dan and Laura gave good mini-speeches for their table topics and Mary made good uses of pauses to collect her thoughts. Laura ’s evaluation was a good mini-speech and she gave good examples. Mary recovered well when she left her definition at the table and gave great ideas that connected her well with her audience. The Spirit Award was given to Marian. Overall, it was a good meeting.