Lordy, did we have a great Speakers Roundtable Toastmaster meeting last night or what!? We should have put signs out on Glenridge Drive and charged admission. Heck, we should have had a billboard up on I-285. But wait, let’s take a peek at the December 7th meeting schedule and see what we are in store for! Rui Li is speaking; total charmer, total joy. Paul Poodt, witty and laid back with a great accent is also a scheduled speaker. Finally, can you believe it, the Mad Martini man, Jon Schwartz or his alter ego will also be speaking. Bill Kovach will oversee the evaluation team which consists of Claudia Brogan as grammarian, Merrilee Morris as timer, and Donna Satchell as camera person. Hey, Sgt at Arms Keith Schroder, get out our check book and order us up some signs! We’re headed for another great evening of speeches.
Toastmaster for the evening, Steve Cohn, sprinkled in suitable quotes as he introduced each speaker. First up was Claudia Brogan and her speech, “A Community of Practice.” Through audience participation she introduced us to and defined “Community of Practice.” Working together and thinking together will help those in Public Health stay focused and use time and skills wisely. Claudia cited the seriousness of the H1N1 virus and the need to model and distill the information as a community of practice. We broke up into groups of three or four, and when she said “go,” we opened up little white boxes of puzzle parts. You guessed it, as little Community of Practice groups; we put our puzzles together in record time. Claudia asked several strategic questions based on our puzzle participation. It was all a set-up, but we dove in, had fun, and learned. Loved her final quote, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with a group.” Great job on the intro for your seminar, Claudia.
Speaker number two, Rich Hart, gave an ACL manual speech, “Humorously Speaking, Project 1” entitled “The Seed of Accountability.” While seated on a stool, Rich gave us a brief history of his resume at age 18. He then took us with him as he interviewed for a job with an elderly gentleman. “Well son, I see you are Jack-of-all-trades and master of none.” were the first words out of the interviewer’s mouth. Rich leaped from his stool, putting both hands on the table, and, calling the interviewer “Son,” proceeded to tell him “You bet I’m the Jack of all trades, I’m proud to still be learning, growing, and reaching.” He got the job! Rich wants us to know that there are three things that help us find what the unique things are that we want to master in our life. Those three things are individuals, opportunities, and environment. Rich delivered a great message in a well honed speech.
Yeah! A seven minute break and some of Vicki Willard’s awesome warm spinach dip and chips. If there were other edible items, most of us didn’t notice.
Toastmaster Steve let us know that the clown’s friends all went to his funeral in one car. He then introduced Vicki Willard as Ida Louise Clairborne, who presented “The Official Southern Ladies Guide to Hosting the Perfect Funeral . . . Dying Tastefully in the Mississippi.” Ida Louise addressed us new comers in Woodville. Mississippi on the importance of selecting the best schools and the best merchants, but suggested that even more important was the selection of a church. She highly recommended St. James Episcopal over the other churches. The church cemetery, it was noted, was conveniently located directly across the street from St. James. She then went on to discus your neighbors in the cemetery, not around it, but in it. Be careful picking your spot. Of course you’d want to be by the FFW’s. (Finest Families of Woodville) Nothing was sacred and down-home examples were paraded through each topic; from telling no lies in your obituary, to the proper selection of music, and flowers. We moved on to the reception and the proper foods to be served. “Pimento cheese spread is the glue that holds the South together.” In closing, Ida Louise brought us to the restorative cocktail to alleviate all that funeral stress. Amid the laughter, we all became experts in Hosting the Perfect funeral, in Woodville, MS at least.
Steve sprinkled in a Yogi quote, “If you don’t go to other’s funerals, they won’t come to yours.” With that, he called up the evaluation team headed by Rui Li. Paul Johnson recorded all three speakers one even using a personal video cam. Merrilee Morris found little to complain about as grammarian and much to rejoice in. Likewise, Rui Li felt Steve Cohn had done an outstanding job as our Toastmaster for the evening. She commented on the quality of the speeches and expressed her joy at being a part of the evening. Then it was down to club business, discussing and voting in four new members, packing up or eating up left-overs, picking up, and then heading home on a TM high!