Our introspective VP Public Relations, Tim Murphy, opened the meeting by talking about the Juneteenth celebration in downtown Greensboro. He noted that while other festivals in Greensboro usually had community representatives from the city council, fire department, police department, etc., that kind of supportive presence was not apparent at the Juneteenth celebration. Tim then led us into our usual minute of silence in acknowledgement and support of the Black Lives Matter movement before turning the meeting over to the day’s Toastmaster, John Doggett.
We had 13 members in attendance. John chose balance as his word of the day, emphasizing the importance of maintaining balance between all the things that take up our time and attention in life. John then led a quick round of introductions where everyone briefly told about their current life balance.
The first speaker of the day, Summer Murphy, presented an encore version of her Feedback and Evaluation project titled “More Not Sad Things.” With enthusiasm and humor, Summer described several things her life that spark joy, including the Great British Baking Show, bird feeders, coffee, and Sunrise Toastmasters. She then reminded everyone that even when the world is full of troubles and woe, it is important to take time to remember the “not sad things.” Amelya Black served as her evaluator, noting that Summer’s facial expressions, hand gestures, and effective pauses made her talk engaging for her audience.
Greg Sutton was the second speaker and delivered a talk about “Navigating ADHD.” In his speech, Greg used vivid descriptions and personal anecdotes to bring his audience into the world of a person dealing with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Greg then explained what ADHD is and the effects it has had on him throughout his lifetime. Finally, he asked us to be mindful of people in our lives who may have ADHD symptoms, and of the help that’s available. Greg’s evaluator, Dave, gave him kudos for having a good balance of facts and anecdotes, and for capturing for his audience “the essence of ADHD.”
Anu Parvathaneni served as Table Topics Master, and introduced topics which two members would expound on, one on the pro side and one on the con side. Our members were up to the task, debating the virtues (or lack thereof) of Tik Tok, Starbucks and Cable TV.
Maria Leon served as the General Evaluator, and gave a thorough review of the meeting. We had no bias flags raised today. Kerstin Haase served as the Timer, and reported on times for the prepared speeches, Table Topics responses and speech evaluations. Angela Marsh served as Grammarian, and gave a report on the filler words and phrases she noted for each member.
*************
The new slate of officers for Sunrise Toastmasters will begin their one year terms on July 1, 2022:
President: Amelya Black
VP Education: Summer Murphy
VP Membership: John Doggett
VP Public Relations: Greg Sutton
Secretary: Kerstin Haase
Treasurer: Dave Burr
Sergeant at Arms: Tim Murphy
************
The next Sunrise Toastmasters meeting will be at 7 am, July 1 EST on Zoom.
The roles for that meeting are as follows:
Toastmaster: Dave
Speaker 1: Renuka
Speaker 2: Alvin
Table Topics: Kerstin
Gen. Evaluator: John
Speaker 1 Eval: Savannah
Speaker 2 Eval: Maria
Timer: Norris
Grammarian: Tanuja
Invite someone you know to start their journey toward becoming a better communicator and a more effective leader at Sunrise Toastmasters!
