Our thoughtful President-Elect, Amelya Black, opened this week’s meeting. She started with an impassioned reminder that, although some of the events that have sparked a new awareness of systemic racism have been distanced by time and other issues, those events should continue to be an impetus for change. Amelya then led us into our usual minute of silence in acknowledgment and support of the Black Lives Matter movement before turning the meeting over to this week’s Toastmaster, Kelsey Long.
Kelsey chose “season” as her word of the day, and encouraged us throughout the meeting to think of bad times as transient seasons that will help us to be grateful for the good seasons. We had ten people in attendance, including nine members and one guest, Greg Sutton, and Kelsey had everyone introduce themselves and share with the group their favorite thing about the fall and winter season. You could almost feel the coziness as members described the beautiful fall leaves, hot cocoa, crackling fires, and playing in the snow. After introductions, Kelsey turned the meeting over to our first speaker of the day, Summer Murphy.
Summer presented a Level 5 project from the Visionary Communications pathway. Having spent the last year trying to develop a vision she could then take steps to implement, Summer shared that vision with the group today: to make life less difficult for people who are marginalized by society because of their gender identity. Summer noted that loving and appreciating people for who they are will not be a problem for her, but tackling the bigotry and hatred will be challenging. Summer also thanked all of her fellow Sunrise Toastmasters members, acknowledging that they have all inspired and guided her on this journey to find her vision. Her evaluator, Tim Murphy commended Summer for telling her audience why she cared so her audience could then care about what she had to say. Tim also noted that she did a great job of pausing and giving people a chance to reflect on her words as she spoke.
Our second speaker, Savannah Murphy, gave a Level 3 presentation on Vocal Variety titled “Prerequisites to Accountability.” In her talk, Savannah described her journey to build the tools she needs to hold people she interacts with accountable for their words and actions in a productive and emotionally safe way. Using the training she has been working on for the past couple of years, Savannah explained how she now has the prerequisite emotional tools to strengthen her relationships by holding friends, family and acquaintances accountable when they do something that hurts or offends her. She also noted that there is kindness in asking for accountability, as it shows trust and a willingness to work on the relationship. Her evaluator, Karen Rhodes, applauded Savannah’s outstanding vocal variety, gestures and facial expressions. Karen also noted that Savannah’s dramatic presentation and pauses were very effective at getting her points across to her audience.
Nereida Sutton served as Table Topics Master, and shared a series of photos, asking participants to share what the person or animal in the photo was thinking. Members and our guest, Greg Sutton, gave humorous responses, speaking for demanding toddlers, nervous couples, bored horses, confused Batman co-stars, and conniving Hobbits.
Alvin Powell served as the General Evaluator, and gave a thorough review of the meeting. Dave Burr was the Timer this week, and reported on times for the prepared speeches, Table Topics responses and speech evaluations. Amelya Black, serving as Grammarian, noted that “so” was the filler word of the day and something to be aware of when we are speaking.
The VP Education, Savannah Murphy, has completed the schedule of roles for the remainder of the year. Please check the schedule so you have time to find a replacement for any scheduling conflicts. Also, note that we will not be meeting the Friday after Thanksgiving.
The next Sunrise Toastmasters meeting will be at 7 am, November 19 EST on Zoom.
The roles for that meeting are as follows:
Toastmaster: John
Speakers: (1) Kerstin, (2) Dave
Table Topics: Alvin
Gen. Evaluator: Amelya
Evaluators: (1) Anu, (2) Kelsey
Timer: Nereida
Grammarian: Karen
This is the season for you to join us at Sunrise Toastmasters where we are helping each other advance our communication and leadership skills each week.
