Bravo and hats off to Steve Cohn for stepping into the Speakers Roundtable Toastmaster position as back up for Kelly Vandever. Not only did he organize the evening’s program, but he tied it together with facts and insight into the Pearl Harbor attack of sixty-eight years ago. Before recapping Monday’s meeting, there are some club announcements to make: 1. There will not be a regular toastmaster meeting on December 21. Please do not go to the Glenrige site on Dec 21st expecting top notch speeches and evaluations as you will be terrible lonely and sad. 2. However, members and guests are invited to celebrate the holidays at the home of Vicki Willard on that evening, December 21st at 6:30 pm. Please RSVP and coordinate with Vicki what you plan to bring to the party. vickiwillard@att.net You are requested to bring your own bottle of cheer! Vicki and Wendell reside at 755 River Gate Drive, Atlanta, GA 30350. 3. Thus it is written, thou shalt be prepared to share a 3 minute personal story of Holidays past. The preceding has been the obligatory Toastmaster three (3) points for TM members and guests to assimilate.
Steve Cohn opened the evening with information on the Pearl Harbor attack. This included the famous quote of Isoroku Yamamoto, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” How no one had asked the big question, “What’s in it for me?” Grammarian Claudia Brogan word of the evening altruistic fit beautifully with Steve’s theme.
Rui Li presented a persuasive speech from the Advanced Manual. The speech title was “The Nail Game.” Rui had attended a training session in which the 24 attendees had been divided into six groups and given boards with a nail pounded into the center. She placed a replica on the table in front of us. Their mission was to put seven more nails on the board without touching the board. The instructor said it could be done. Rui believed it could be done and even though most participants threw up their hands, she and one remaining group member met the challenge, succeeding in a manner different than the instructors. Rui used power point to show us her solution and the joys of her success. She then discussed External Belief (some authority figure said it could be done) and Internal Belief (you believe you can do it). Internal Belief consists of positive self talk, research, motivation, and reinforcement of successes. In spite of a lot of workmen noises invading our meeting area, Rui Li stayed focused and got her message across to us.
Jon Schwartz as Viny took us back to 1958 with his speech “Howard the Trader.” His folks moved him to Clearwater, Florida when he was 7 years old. Howard the Trader had his origins there auctioning off surplus items. They could watch his home shopping on UHF TV or go for .50 hair cuts where there was a mile of chairs and precision wasn’t a priority. Then, after the hair cut, Viny could watch The Howard the Trader program live. He admired Howard’s sharp business head and his smooth, positive attitude. Viny’s grandfather came to visit and also had an attitude when he saw a man selling watch bands “borrowed” from him. In the end, Viny wanted us to know that we choose our attitude and that changing your attitude can cause a dramatic change your life. This theme and story definitely has keynote potential. It was not only entertaining and but also informative.
Following a 10 minute break with a wide variety of foods, we returned to our seats to hear two table topics speakers Steve had preselected. We knew who’d been selected because they were slaving away at the front of the meeting room while the rest of us gorged ourselves on goodies.
Dropping facts like “400,000 Americans died,” and “16% of the Polish Population died,” Steve introduced Donna Satchell and her topic, “Sacrifice is:” She spoke on National Sacrifice, Community Sacrifice, and Family Sacrifice. A great off-the-cuff job, Donna!.
In a similar vein, Rich Hart was next up with “War is:” Amid the worker’s racket outside our room, Rich shouted out that war was the refusal to communicate and resolve problems in a peaceful manner. War in Rick’s final analysis is unnecessary. Hat’s off to Rich for meeting the challenge.
Bill Kovach called on his evaluation team for their reports. Claudia gave a thorough grammarian report noting that most of us had loved the word altruistic to death! Merrilee Morris gave the timer report. As GE, Bill found the meeting had helped us all refine our speaking craft and also define ourselves. Steve closed with how we had come together during WWII, that Winston Churchill had called it “Our Finest Hour.” We’d enjoyed a somber, memorial like evening, yet it was woven with fun and fellowship. Thanks Steve, thanks, Bill, thanks speakers, thanks evaluators, God bless us everyone! See you at Vicki’s
