Speakers Roundtable, under the guidance of Craig Keyworth, had another wow evening of speeches and evaluations.  We were all eager to hear Ericka Butler once we read the title of her speech on the agenda; “Adult Birthdays:  A How-To Guide.”  How wonderful to learn that as adults we no longer are limited to a one kiddy day birthday.  That it is totally appropriate to celebrate the entire month!  Ericka gave us four good reasons to celebrate the entire month, starting with Age: nothing to memorize and you’ll never have to purchase a belated card.  Quality:  more events and more celebrations.  Convenience:  busy schedules-not everyone can celebrate a single time!  And lastly, you’ll be doing a Community Service: birthdays are a feel goodthing with public acknowledgement and a tidal wave of good wishes. Ericka didn’t stop there, she went on to explain how to break free of the one day celebration.  Communicate, put it on all the office calendars, and send out e-mails; Decorate:  put up balloons, streamers, signs, have a weekly birthday theme.  Finally, accessorize, wear a tiara, a birthday sash, and hang up or hand out your DMV photo.  Ericka even explained how to deal with Birthday Haters!  

Manola Robison took us into a more somber mood with her speech, “Ethics in Our Lives Today.”  This was speech number 7, Research Your Topic.  Manola opened with a statement from the Wall Street Journal, lamenting today’s lack of ethics, that there seems to be no standards.  Somehow good people making tough choices sometimes lose their moral compass.  She quoted Kidder and the four ethical dilemmas: 1. Trust vs. Loyalty, 2. Individual vs. Community, 3. Short Term vs. Long Term and 4. Justice vs. Mercy.  She backed up her statements with current facts, stats, polls, testimony, magazines articles, even quotes from the Georgia General Assembly in supporting the decline of ethics.  Amid all the research stats, Manola included a personal story and some humor. In closing she encouraged each of us to help in restoring our societal moral compass. 

Toastmaster Craig kept us on schedule with a five minute break, hardly time enough to devour the beautiful fruit plate Manola prepared or scoff up the cheese and brownies that had also appeared. 

Our final speaker of the evening was Linda Hall, a lady 30 years in the insurance industry.  Her speech, “Best of Both Worlds” opened with a John F Kennedy quote on how he had had the best of both worlds, “Harvard educated with a Yale degree.” Linda spoke of her creativity and people skills and how she was able to weave them into a career in the insurance industry.  She told of interviewing in New York in a sneaker and a high heel after blowing her knee while taking the train.  After 6 ½ years she left NY and headed south, with no job in her pocket, but youth and faith.  Her temp agency positions still leave her confused as to what her duties actually were.  She did, however, land a position with H & H which is an Insurance Brokerage Firm, only to find four former co-workers from NY already working there.  Linda took a circuitous route to use her creativity and people skills, but she’s found her calling in the insurance industry. 

Craig called Claudia Brogan up for her GE/Grammarian report.  She commented on our excellent use of the language, though she did catch a few ah’s and a double clutch.  She was pleased so many folks used the word of the evening, astute.  As GE she suggested that we always introduce ourselves when opening a meeting and welcome members and guests into our space.  A thorough report, Claudia.   Thanks to everyone, we had a wow meeting.   

Congratulations to President Shea Ellison on winning the evaluation contest this past weekend.  We were not represented in the Humorous Speech Contest as Kelly Vandevier was out of town. Please see the posted schedule on this web site for next week’s (August 16) meeting assignments. 

08/08/2011 Monday @ 6:00
Toastmaster: Craig Keyworth
General Evaluator: David Flach
Grammarian: Mimi Williams
Timer: Iris Grimm
Videographer: Shea Ellison

Speakers:
Linda Hall
Manola Robison
Ericka Butler

President Shea Ellison called the meeting to order, led the Pledge of Allegiance, and introduced our Toastmaster for the evening, Cindy Cannon. Cindy dispensed with a theme due to the fact we had four speakers on the schedule. She did treat us to one joke before introducing us to our first speaker, Dwayne Smith. We learned from Dwayne’s introduction that he considers every speech a work in process.

Dwayne’s speech, “The Itzy Bitsy Spider” transported us all back to kindergarten as we shamelessly sought to out-sing each other via this tune. When we finished Dwayne asked what we had learned from this little spider. He referred to the spider as a small creature, big teacher. We learned of the spider’s perseverance and then we learned of Dwayne’s perseverance. He was on a Toastmaster winning streak, taking the title in Tall tales, winning in humorous and then going after the big one, International Speech Contest; and loosing. All of his expectations went whooshing down the rain spout when he came in second. He quoted Henry Ford saying “Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.” He spoke of the sun as hope and the bright belief that we will succeed. Perseverance is a key to winning; and yep, he did!

Craig Keyworth’s opened his speech, “Communicate Persuasively for Best Results” with a question, “Who here tonight had communicated persuasively within the last month, week, day.” We learned that all communication had some level of persuasiveness, verbal, non-verbal, body language or gestures, and appearance. How do we communicate a message to an audience effectively? Craig told us that during his talk he would discuss various elements that would help us improve our ability to communicate persuasively. He then spoke briefly on: audience, active listening, logic and emotion, objections and resistance, and lessons learned. Craig spoke persuasively on getting the best results through skilled persuasive communication.

Following an eight minute break and a nice variety of refreshments, we returned to our seats to hear Richard Kirby ask, “What Color is Your Career Book?” Richard has a five minute slot to present his latest book, Fast Track Your Job Search (and Career) to a group of career guidance professionals. Richard suggested it was hard to compress a book two years in the writing into five critical minutes, but, alas, a wonderful opportunity. Who does it help? Clients and community. Who benefits? Unemployed and underemployed. Those seeking job satisfaction. What’s in the book? Functional pieces of all you need to know. Where is it applicable? Primarily in the private sector. When is it needed? How is it structured? What are the myths? And there’s an exercise to help you determine what you are going to do. Richard used vivid power points and also passed out a colorful bookmarker to the audience with information about his book. Persuasive? Yes!

Our president, Sgt at Arms and General Evaluator, Shea Ellison, returned to the lectern to call on his team. Donna Satchell gently made us aware of our improper use of the English language. Mimi Williams was pleased to report that all speeches and evaluations fell within their designated times. David Flach, our videographer recorded speech pixels galore. We finished about five minutes early due to the fact that our fourth speaker was a no-show. This was an extra special evening as some folks who’d been absent due to work schedules and traveling returned to the fold. Great evening!

Please see the posted schedule on this web site for next week’s (August meeting assignments.

We had a great meeting tonight with three awesome speakers.

I opened the meeting on time as the Sgt@Arms, introduced myself as the Club President, and later came back up as the General Evaluator.

Cindy Cannon served as our Toastmaster of the day and did an outstanding job.  She tested a story she is planning to use as she embarks on regional training for Toastmasters International this fall.

Donna Satchell was our Grammarian who introduced the Word of the Day “convoluted”… however it was after Dwayne presented an absolutely Outstanding 5 – 7 minute speech!  It was one of the BEST speeches I have ever had the pleasure of seeing and hearing.  It is easy to see how Dwayne is a “World Champion” speaker.

Mimi Williams served as our Timer and David Flach was our camera operator – with Richard Kirby assisting.

Craig Keyworth presented a his upcoming speech he will be doing at an upcoming IT conference.

Richard Kirby told us about his new book and he received excellent evaluation that will help him improve when he performs at an upcoming conference for college placement officers at an upcoming event.

Our special guest speaker was unable to make it.  We were really looking forward to helping her improve as she prepares for the District International Speech Contest.

Next week Cindy, Manola, and Ericka are schedule to Wow us.

Have a great week everyone!

Shea Ellison
Presideent
Speakers Round Table