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Sunrise Toastmaster Amelya Black won first place in the Division F Speech Competition April 9 and will represent the Division in the District 37 Speech Competition at the end of April. Congratulations, Amelya!
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With a swing of the gavel, President Kelsey Long promptly initiated the Open House meeting to begin. Kelsey advocated justice, equality and dignity for all. With the historic appointment of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman confirmed to the Supreme Court, we witnessed history. Kelsey shared a NYT article where black female law students at the Justice KBJ’s alma matter, Harvard Law School were interviewed, seeking their insights on the impact of this appointment. Kelsey shared an awakening quote that pointedly titled the article, “That’s why it’s extra imperative for people to be represented and to see ourselves and to know that we belong in these spaces.” Kelsey encouraged us to consider the spaces in our lives, think about what we can do and control to makes these spaces more welcoming to all people, leading us into our minute of silence in acknowledgement and support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Sharing a kind reminder and overview for our members and guest on our new club policy on flagging bias, Kelsey then turned the meeting over to the Toastmaster, Summer Murphy.
Summer enthusiastically welcomed 18 Toastmasters to the meeting, that incudes our guest speaker! Kicking off the meeting with brief introductions of name and tenure, with an engaged audience Summer shared “advocate” as her choice for the word of the day. She highlighted the meaning of the word as publicly supporting or fighting for someone or something you believe in, reminding us as Toastmaster Amelya Black has eloquently shared, “you have to speak your truth loudly, clearly and in public.” If you believe in something, advocate for it! Summer shared the agenda planned for the Open House and welcomed our guest speaker Linda-Marie Miller. The overview provided an extended speech by our Guest Toastmaster, dual Table Topics Masters and a move to the General Evaluation Team. Summer introduced the Speaker Evaluator, Toastmaster Savannah Murphy.
Savannah provided a warm welcoming Sunrise Toastmaster introduction for Toastmaster Linda-Marie Miller. In her speech, Linda-Marie shared how one person with a message and a voice can change the world. Linda-Marie’s humorous and nearly accidental journey entering Toastmasters and public speaking was captivating and engaging. In her speech, “The Power of Your Voice Can Change Everything,” we learned of her insatiable mind and her intention to use her voice to advocate. Awakening us to make 2022 the year to spark our voice, Linda-Marie reminded us to speak “loudly, well over the other voices out there.” With her natural competitive nature, thinking Paris was the prize, Linda-Marie landed on the virtual stage, advocating in front of 50 thousand people with a seven minute speech not intended to win her the title, but to advocate and allow a single voice for seven minutes to be heard! Catapulted into the spotlight, Linda-Marie inspired thousands with a message that punched you in the gut and spoke straight to your heart. With so much drive to take action, she started a non profit organization, One Shared Humanity; a world that works for everyone begins with you. To see Linda-Marie’s speech “Pretending Not to Know” and information on One Shared Humanity please click on this link. Linda-Marie closed the only speech of the day with a call to action: “Be that one person, and let that one person be you today”.
Table Topics was extended to 2 sections, allowing more participation from the club members to raise their voices. Toastmaster Tanuja Reddy hosted Table Topics for the first time with flawless execution. Tanuja challenged us to answer questions centered on our Word of the Day, thinking about the people who inspire us to raise our voice, to recognize the need and the desire for doing more, and sharing the importance of advocacy with each question. Toastmaster Angela Marsh led the 2nd Table Topics portion of the meeting; following the WOD theme, Angela shared mindful quotes and led encouraged Toastmasters to share their perspective on each, revealing the author if not already provided. During Table Topics, sharing quotes and provoking conversation, the Sunrise Toastmasters were encouraged to take the next step and advocate for others. We are grateful for our Toastmasters who participated, reminding us all that life is hard work, and we choose to advocate by using our voices and sharing our collective stories.
Kelsey lead the General Evaluation Team, introducing the first of the evaluation team with the inevitable task of evaluating the speaker. Savannah provided an excellent evaluation, sharing observations and feedback of Linda-Marie’s use of the balanced background, distance from the camera, the use of vocal variety, facial expressions and hand gestures. Savannah noted that the speech was structured well, organized and delivered with professionalism, and she voiced our collective opinion of how we truly enjoyed Linda-Marie’s speech.
The meeting transited back to the General Evaluator, and Kelsey expanded on her observations of the meeting. She shared that transitions were smooth, timing was spot on, introductions were concise and friendly and it was a great meeting overall. Kelsey also gave a note of thanks to those with new roles today and for Summer who who reached out and was in touch with the teams early on, in preparation for the meeting, making this a well-organized well-run meeting without rushing. Finally, Kelsey observed that the dual Table Topics shined; both Toastmasters were on theme which made for a cohesive meeting with impromptu thoughtful messaging. Kelsey passed it on to Toastmaster Tim Murphy, our Grammarian, who shared his report and included a few quotes that stood out from our fellow Toastmasters. Next, Toastmaster Renuka Korlipara gave the Timer’s report. This was Renuka’s first time as Timer, and she provided a concise report and incorporated the use of creative and clearly labeled notifications during the meeting which ensured a successful outcome.
The meeting transitioned back to the Toastmaster, Summer, who reviewed the roles for next week’s meeting and closed by thanking everyone for participating, making this another outstanding Sunrise Toastmasters meeting and extraordinary Open House.
“Great speeches are not written they’re rewritten.” -Linda-Marie Miller
The next Sunrise Toastmasters meeting will be an Open House at 7 am, April 15 EST on Zoom.
Roles for next week can be found at this link and below.
Toastmaster: Kerstin
Speaker 1: Kelsey
Speaker 2: John
Table Topics: Amelya
General Evaluator: Summer
Evaluator 1: Tanuja
Evaluator 2: Anu
Timer: Maria
Grammarian: Angela
Thank you, Toastmasters, and see you Friday morning!
Prepared and submitted by Kerstin Haase
