In the meeting’s opening remarks Vice President of Education, Kerstin Hasse, underscored the need to remain vigilant against the racism that persists, stressing the progress that has been made, and everyone must continue working to identify and confront racist attitudes and behaviours.
In recognition of the Black Lives Matter movement, a moment of silence was observed. VPE Kerstin then introduced the bias flag as a tool for personal growth in our ongoing journey to become better speakers.
The meeting was then turned over to the Toastmaster of the day, Summer Murphy. Summer began by introducing the “Word of the Day” (WOD), which was “ephemeral.” She explained that ephemeral refers to something that is short-lived, transient, or fleeting in nature – describing things that exist or are useful only for a brief period before disappearing or ceasing to exist. Summer then invited all attendees to take a moment to introduce themselves to our amazing guest, Kendra Hiatt.
Toastmaster Tina Joe introduced our first speaker, Toastmaster Tim Murphy. Tim’s speech recounted Sunrise members who used their Toastmasters-honed speaking and leadership skills to advance their careers. He closed by talking about one of our current members, Abdulrahman, who was recently chosen to deliver the Engineering Graduate speech at the graduation ceremony, sharing a short clip of the end of the speech and the thunderous applause that followed. All the members were very moved by Abdulrahman’s accomplishments.
Tina Joe evaluated Tim’s speech, highlighting the excitement of hearing about Sunrise members’ accomplishments, and noting that speech was well-suited for the audience, as both current members and guests could take away great insights.
Toastmaster Anu Parvathaneni introduced our second speaker, Toastmaster Dave Burr. After admitting it was difficult to follow Tim’s emotional talk about one of our members’ success, Dave delivered a captivating speech, describing in vivid detail the therapeutic massages he receives for leg and back pain. Guiding the audience through the procedures, he painted a picture of the calming setting and atmosphere of the massage session. His evocative words allowed listeners to almost feel the tranquility of the experience!
Anu evaluated Dave’s speech, highlighting that his descriptions made the audience feel almost immersed in the experience, and commending him for delivering speeches two weeks in a row!
Toastmaster Kerstin Haase led an engaging table topics segment, prompting the audience to share insights about aspects of life that are ephemeral and things they wish could last longer. This interactive exercise aimed to hone participants’ ability to think quickly, communicate effectively, and respond confidently in the moment.
Toastmaster Savannah Murphy served as a General Evaluator, providing comprehensive overall feedback on the meeting, and noting that there was a missed bias flag. Toastmaster Norris Bass served as Timer, while Toastmaster Anu, Grammarian, offering valuable language feedback.
Toastmaster Summer smoothly handed over the meeting to Toastmaster Kerstin. Kerstin then proceeded to wrap up the meeting and officially adjourn the session.
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The next Sunrise Toastmasters meeting will be at 7 a.m. on May 24, EST. If you would like to join our meeting as a guest, contact us for the meeting link.
The roles for the next meeting are as follows:
Toastmaster: Saraswathi
Speaker 1: Tina Joe
Speaker 2: Anu
Table Topics: Dave
General Evaluator: John
Evaluator 1: Abdulrahman
Evaluator 2: Kerstin
Timer: Tim
Grammarian: Hema
