February 1, 2007 Meeting Summary
Much fun, frivolity and serendipity abounded at our Mutual VoicesToastmasters meeting today. Our Toastmaster Laura G selected 'Gifts& Talents' as the theme of the day. She recounted a recent experiencewhere she was asked to deliver a speech on gifts and talents and that she was grateful that she had the gift of Toastmasters to fall back on in thatsituation.
Laura introduced out Wordmaster / Grammarian Mary W and asked Mary toshare her talent or gift. Mary stated that she has a gift for motivating people (particularly women) to be the best they can be. The Word of theDay that Mary chose was 'serendipity'. Serendipity is an aptitude formaking desirable discoveries by accident, good fortune; luck. Mary challenged all of us in attendance to try to use this word.
Lori G was our Timer and Laura G shared that her gift is that she isvery organized.
Our first speaker was Mary Ellen G. Her speech was titled 'LaFocaccia'. In her speech Mary Ellen shared experiences from their 5thanniversary trip to Italy which her husband Tim surprised her with. She set the stage by informing that she is very organized and detail oriented and Tim is a bit more laid-back fly by the seat of your pants kind of guy.
For this trip they essentially swapped roles with Tim doing all of the planning and detail work and Mary Ellen trying to be more laid-back. All was going well until they arrived at their first stop in Tuscany when they discovered that Tim had forgotten the 'Detail File' with all of the details regarding the remainder of their tour. Tim called back to the states in the middle of the night and a friend had to break into their house (they had just moved to a new home and no one had keys) to retrieve the Detail File.
On to Venice where they went in search of their hotel without the Detail File which had the name of the hotel. They had joked that it was difficult to pronounce so they just referred to it as 'La Focaccia'. They wandered the streets asking vendors and people they came upon if they knew where 'LaFocaccia Hotel'. They got some confused and some irritated looks, but finally an elderly woman understood them enough to help them find their hotel. They discovered that they also had gotten a room upgrade as an additional surprise.
Next it was on to Florence by train (they had to repurchase their train tickets as the Detail File had still not arrived) where they picked uptheir rental car. Their rental car had an in-car navigation system called Street Pilot. They were easily able to navigate Florence and the surrounding area with little or no difficulty by using the Street Pilot. All was fine until they went to Rome. Mary Ellen described the traffic inRome like "Manhattan on steroids!" and they were having quite a time finding their hotel (since the Street Pilot had stopped working) until Tim finally pulled over and just sat there staring out the window.
Mary Ellen approached a group of cab drivers and was relieved when one of them in perfect English provided directions to their hotel. Mary Ellen and Tim completed their trip with their marriage still in tact. Afterward they complimented each other on the success of their role reversal. As for lessons learned, next time Mary Ellen will be in chargeof the Detail File and Tim will never again make fun of her organizational efforts.
And finally, when traveling to Italy, don't name your hotel afterItalian bread.
Our second speaker was Laura B whose speech was titled 'The Right Place & Time'. Laura began her speech by stating that she had seen theface of God and asked if we had done likewise. She went on to say that shewas going to share with us several of her experiences with experiencing God's beauty and wonder and provide us with some tips on how we to can experience this.
Her first tip was to rise early. She showed us a photograph she had takenof a sunrise on Pelican Lake and how she would never have experienced this serendipitous experience of such incredible beauty if she had not gotten upearly. Her next tip was to stop and linger. By stopping and lingering you allow yourself the time to truly enjoy what you are experiencing. For this example, Laura shared a photo of a spring fern that was just ready tounfurl.
Her final tip was to get close and touch those things around you. She shared photos of two insects that she photographed and handled. She shared her 'religious experience' when she was able to touch a baby whale in the wild. Laura reminded us that beauty is all around us if we only putourselves in the right place and time. Her reminder was to make sure to grab your camera so you can share your experiences and don't forget the batteries!
Our Table Topics Master was Jeff Streeper who is blessed with the gift of having a good sense of direction. His first question went to Betsy S and he asked her to share a hidden talent that she possessed. Betsy shared that she is similar to Laura B in that she likes to photograph animals and nature. She spoke specifically of getting up at 6 a.m. in the Boundary Waters canoe area to photograph a sunrise. She has many pictures of nature and animals and rather prefers them as subject matter rather than people.
Our guest Rob W bravely agreed to field a Table Topics question. Jeff asked him what talent he doesn't currently possess that he has always wanted. Ironically, Rob expressed that the talent he had always wanted topossess was public speaking ability. His only experience was a speech class in college where he did just what he needed to get by. Through experiences like visiting and becoming involved in Toastmasters he hopes toimprove his public speaking skills.
The final question went to Lori G. She was asked what her favorite Valentine's Day gift was and what she could recommend to Jeff to give to his wife. Lori said that her favorite gifts were Valentine hearts andnotes that her kids created that had personal messages for Mom. Her first suggestion to Jeff was that he could write his wife a love letter. Another suggestion was to take her out for a nice dinner. Chocolate is always agood option. As for flowers, she said they are fine, but that they shouldbe given on a day other than Valentine's Day to make it more of a special surprise.
Roxie N evaluated Mary Ellen's speech. Roxie's gift is crafting. She began by saying that Mary Ellen was lucky to have a husband so willing todo such a wonderful thing for her. This was Mary Ellen's vocal variety speech and overall Roxie felt that she did very well. At one point in the speech (when Tim was asking about the Detail File) she felt that Mary Ellen might have used her voice even more to emphasize the importance of that point. She loved the analogy of Rome being "Manhattan on steroids!" and thought it was poignant that Mary Ellen softened her voice at the end as she shared the lessons learned.
Dave Baston evaluated Laura B's speech. Dave's gift is the ability to find humor in almost any situation. Dave informed that this was Laura's Organize Your Speech speech and said that overall she had accomplished her task well. He felt that she set the tone well with a powerful yet subtle open. He was very impressed with the photographic images that she shared in her speech. For the most part he felt that she used pauses very effectively, however more ahs and ums began to creep into her speech as the speech went along. The other main developmental point he shared was that Laura may have provided just a bit more clarity in her introduction to make it easier for the listener to follow along. All in all a great speech with beautiful visual images.
Lori shared the Timer's report:
Mary Ellen (6:23)Laura B (7:18)Betsy (1:24)Rob (1:01)Lori (1:13)Roxie (1:35)Dave (2:57)
Mary shared in the Wordmaster / Grammarian report that Lori, Laura B (2)and Roxie had used the Word of the Day. For interesting uses of thelanguage she sited "paper clips in a row" and "Manhattan on steroids!".
Kathy Johnson was our General Evaluator and her gift is the ability to multitask. Kathy felt that Laura G did well as the Toastmaster. She likedthe theme and felt that the transitions and meeting logistics were handled well. She liked Jeff's theme related Table Topic questions and sited the different ways that Betsy (storytelling) and Lori (list format) answered their respective questions. She also praised our guest Rob for being willing to take on a question and for handling it so well.
As for theevaluators, she congratulated Roxie on good suggestions in her first evaluation and held up Dave's evaluation as a great example to learn from. The Spirit Award went to Laura B for her inspiring and visually stunning speech.
Don't miss our meeting next week where the incomparable Jeff S willbe our Toastmaster and our speakers will be Mary Wand Dave B. And while you're at it, bring a guest! Surely you know someone who can use thebenefits Toastmasters has to offer.
Laura introduced out Wordmaster / Grammarian Mary W and asked Mary toshare her talent or gift. Mary stated that she has a gift for motivating people (particularly women) to be the best they can be. The Word of theDay that Mary chose was 'serendipity'. Serendipity is an aptitude formaking desirable discoveries by accident, good fortune; luck. Mary challenged all of us in attendance to try to use this word.
Lori G was our Timer and Laura G shared that her gift is that she isvery organized.
Our first speaker was Mary Ellen G. Her speech was titled 'LaFocaccia'. In her speech Mary Ellen shared experiences from their 5thanniversary trip to Italy which her husband Tim surprised her with. She set the stage by informing that she is very organized and detail oriented and Tim is a bit more laid-back fly by the seat of your pants kind of guy.
For this trip they essentially swapped roles with Tim doing all of the planning and detail work and Mary Ellen trying to be more laid-back. All was going well until they arrived at their first stop in Tuscany when they discovered that Tim had forgotten the 'Detail File' with all of the details regarding the remainder of their tour. Tim called back to the states in the middle of the night and a friend had to break into their house (they had just moved to a new home and no one had keys) to retrieve the Detail File.
On to Venice where they went in search of their hotel without the Detail File which had the name of the hotel. They had joked that it was difficult to pronounce so they just referred to it as 'La Focaccia'. They wandered the streets asking vendors and people they came upon if they knew where 'LaFocaccia Hotel'. They got some confused and some irritated looks, but finally an elderly woman understood them enough to help them find their hotel. They discovered that they also had gotten a room upgrade as an additional surprise.
Next it was on to Florence by train (they had to repurchase their train tickets as the Detail File had still not arrived) where they picked uptheir rental car. Their rental car had an in-car navigation system called Street Pilot. They were easily able to navigate Florence and the surrounding area with little or no difficulty by using the Street Pilot. All was fine until they went to Rome. Mary Ellen described the traffic inRome like "Manhattan on steroids!" and they were having quite a time finding their hotel (since the Street Pilot had stopped working) until Tim finally pulled over and just sat there staring out the window.
Mary Ellen approached a group of cab drivers and was relieved when one of them in perfect English provided directions to their hotel. Mary Ellen and Tim completed their trip with their marriage still in tact. Afterward they complimented each other on the success of their role reversal. As for lessons learned, next time Mary Ellen will be in chargeof the Detail File and Tim will never again make fun of her organizational efforts.
And finally, when traveling to Italy, don't name your hotel afterItalian bread.
Our second speaker was Laura B whose speech was titled 'The Right Place & Time'. Laura began her speech by stating that she had seen theface of God and asked if we had done likewise. She went on to say that shewas going to share with us several of her experiences with experiencing God's beauty and wonder and provide us with some tips on how we to can experience this.
Her first tip was to rise early. She showed us a photograph she had takenof a sunrise on Pelican Lake and how she would never have experienced this serendipitous experience of such incredible beauty if she had not gotten upearly. Her next tip was to stop and linger. By stopping and lingering you allow yourself the time to truly enjoy what you are experiencing. For this example, Laura shared a photo of a spring fern that was just ready tounfurl.
Her final tip was to get close and touch those things around you. She shared photos of two insects that she photographed and handled. She shared her 'religious experience' when she was able to touch a baby whale in the wild. Laura reminded us that beauty is all around us if we only putourselves in the right place and time. Her reminder was to make sure to grab your camera so you can share your experiences and don't forget the batteries!
Our Table Topics Master was Jeff Streeper who is blessed with the gift of having a good sense of direction. His first question went to Betsy S and he asked her to share a hidden talent that she possessed. Betsy shared that she is similar to Laura B in that she likes to photograph animals and nature. She spoke specifically of getting up at 6 a.m. in the Boundary Waters canoe area to photograph a sunrise. She has many pictures of nature and animals and rather prefers them as subject matter rather than people.
Our guest Rob W bravely agreed to field a Table Topics question. Jeff asked him what talent he doesn't currently possess that he has always wanted. Ironically, Rob expressed that the talent he had always wanted topossess was public speaking ability. His only experience was a speech class in college where he did just what he needed to get by. Through experiences like visiting and becoming involved in Toastmasters he hopes toimprove his public speaking skills.
The final question went to Lori G. She was asked what her favorite Valentine's Day gift was and what she could recommend to Jeff to give to his wife. Lori said that her favorite gifts were Valentine hearts andnotes that her kids created that had personal messages for Mom. Her first suggestion to Jeff was that he could write his wife a love letter. Another suggestion was to take her out for a nice dinner. Chocolate is always agood option. As for flowers, she said they are fine, but that they shouldbe given on a day other than Valentine's Day to make it more of a special surprise.
Roxie N evaluated Mary Ellen's speech. Roxie's gift is crafting. She began by saying that Mary Ellen was lucky to have a husband so willing todo such a wonderful thing for her. This was Mary Ellen's vocal variety speech and overall Roxie felt that she did very well. At one point in the speech (when Tim was asking about the Detail File) she felt that Mary Ellen might have used her voice even more to emphasize the importance of that point. She loved the analogy of Rome being "Manhattan on steroids!" and thought it was poignant that Mary Ellen softened her voice at the end as she shared the lessons learned.
Dave Baston evaluated Laura B's speech. Dave's gift is the ability to find humor in almost any situation. Dave informed that this was Laura's Organize Your Speech speech and said that overall she had accomplished her task well. He felt that she set the tone well with a powerful yet subtle open. He was very impressed with the photographic images that she shared in her speech. For the most part he felt that she used pauses very effectively, however more ahs and ums began to creep into her speech as the speech went along. The other main developmental point he shared was that Laura may have provided just a bit more clarity in her introduction to make it easier for the listener to follow along. All in all a great speech with beautiful visual images.
Lori shared the Timer's report:
Mary Ellen (6:23)Laura B (7:18)Betsy (1:24)Rob (1:01)Lori (1:13)Roxie (1:35)Dave (2:57)
Mary shared in the Wordmaster / Grammarian report that Lori, Laura B (2)and Roxie had used the Word of the Day. For interesting uses of thelanguage she sited "paper clips in a row" and "Manhattan on steroids!".
Kathy Johnson was our General Evaluator and her gift is the ability to multitask. Kathy felt that Laura G did well as the Toastmaster. She likedthe theme and felt that the transitions and meeting logistics were handled well. She liked Jeff's theme related Table Topic questions and sited the different ways that Betsy (storytelling) and Lori (list format) answered their respective questions. She also praised our guest Rob for being willing to take on a question and for handling it so well.
As for theevaluators, she congratulated Roxie on good suggestions in her first evaluation and held up Dave's evaluation as a great example to learn from. The Spirit Award went to Laura B for her inspiring and visually stunning speech.
Don't miss our meeting next week where the incomparable Jeff S willbe our Toastmaster and our speakers will be Mary Wand Dave B. And while you're at it, bring a guest! Surely you know someone who can use thebenefits Toastmasters has to offer.
posted by Mutual Voices Toastmasters | 2:31 PM
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