If you haven’t already noticed, our very own Kelly Vandever is center-stage on page 4 of the September 2009 Issue of Toastmaster Magazine. We enjoyed her wonderful pedaling, panting and heart pounding speech on BRAG and now we have photo evidence!  Kelly, you’re an inspiration!

Sergeant of Arms, Keith Schroeder brought an overflow crowd of Toast Masters to order and lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.   President Bill Kovach welcomed nine guests and twelve members to a wonderful evening of I can and I will!   Our Toastmaster for the evening, Vicki Willard, in her Florida tan and a beachy attitude, read a brief and funny quote to begin the evening.

For our first speaker we welcomed a guest and past member of SRT, John Matthews.   John practiced his Humorous Contest speech, “A Hair Raising Experience.”   Bridegroom John and his bride compromised over mashing wedding cake in a unique and funny way!   John was wonderfully funny, received lots of straight feedback and will do his club proud in the contest.   Two more guests arrived prior to John speaking bringing our guest total to eleven!

Rui Li was next up with “What Can You Learn from Mean People.”   She led us in and out of difficult situations with her mentoring professors.   She then took us down the bridal path to a mature understanding of what she had learned and how she had grown from these experiences.   This is a speech Rui is working on for the International Speech Contest.   By the way, Rui Li won our Area I-85 Evaluation Speech Contest!

Another brief Vicki quote and it was time to visit the refreshment table. It was a matter of gentile crowd control (Claudia Brogan’s words) getting everyone reseated for the third speech of the evening.  That speaker was none other than Steve Cohn. He whizzed right into his speech with a story and some audience involvement concluding that we were all experienced customers.   “It’s Not Rocket Service” sends the message that because we are customers, we already know the components of excellent service.    Steve effectively used an inflatable hammer and Vicki’s head, to pound some points home.   As always, Steve teaches, entertains and enriches.

Running slightly behind schedule, Vicki brought up her General Evaluator, Claudia Brogan.  Claudia shared the role of Grammarian with Keith and both found a few words and phrases that needed fixing as well as those they thoroughly enjoyed!  John Cargile did a super job timing the speeches, evaluations and the break.   Iris Grimm worked flawlessly recording and formatting all three speeches on DVD.   The meeting ended a bit late.   Claudia suggested that President Bill Kovach introduce the Toastmaster on a more timely basis. She complimented Vicki on the flow and rhythm of the meeting. Her one sentence quotations were just right!

We will be meeting the 2nd and 4th Mondays in September due to the Labor Day Holiday.   Please call Vicki or Claudia and volunteer to speaker on Sept 14th or 28th.

Yikes, Iris Grimm needs $45 in club membership dues ASAP. See you September 14th.

Steve Cohn, CSP, ATM-B helps companies and people Make Business Personal Again to create better and more successful relationships with customers, prospects, employees and each other.

Steve lives and breathes customer relationships.  He has spent much of his more than 25-year professional career studying the way people communicate with each other and how their actions affect their businesses, their relationships, and their environments. From this, he has found that true, loyal customer relationships can only happen when we truly focus on and communicate with the customer.

Steve has extensive experience as a seminar leader and consultant in call center, corporate, and retail customer relations as well as interpersonal and written communication. He has worked with such diverse organizations as Delta Air Lines, IBM, E.ON Energy (UK), Federal Express Worldwide, Atmos Energy, Mazda, KeyCorp, Nestle, Raymond Weil, the City of Los Angeles, University of Louisville Health System and many others in more than 35 states and six countries.

His incredible speaking ability and rapport with audiences and clients helped him earn the designation Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) from the National Speakers Association in 2002. The CSP  designation is the highest earned designation in the speaking and training business.

Steve is a past-president of NSA-Georgia, a state chapter of the National Speakers Association. He is the author/co-author of three books.  You can learn more about Steve at www.peopletopeoplelearning.com, follow him on Twitter http://twitter.com/stevecohncsp, or follow his blog, It’s Not Rocket Service at www.stevecohn.wordpress.com

Bill is an ATM-G, successful past Area and Division Governor, CL, one of the original members of Speakers Roundtable and a past president of the club.

A professional speaker and mentor, Bill is a respected resource in the business world and the Trade Show Marketing Industry.  He brings over 30 years of business executive and successful “Insider” experience to his audiences and clients.   He’s a  firm believer in the fact that personal growth fosters business growth.

Bill is a member of National Speakers Assn., Board Member of NSA-Georgia, American Bonsai Society, EACA, TSEA and other associations.   Visit Bill at http://www.KovachCommunications.com, Ecademy, LinkedIn or Twitter

The SRT Visitor Guest book has disappeared. Hopefully someone has it safely in their possession. Just let the VP of Membership (Kelly or Steve) know where it is.