VP of Education, Abdulrahman Ahmad, opened the meeting with a reflection on the profound influence of racial inequality as a social issue forcing for change in the society to speak up and demand a better world for us. As we gathered, Abdul reminded us that our voice matters as our speeches and stories contribute to a larger narrative.
Abdul then directed us to maintain a minute of silence in support of Black Lives Matter movement. He pointed us to the fact that at Sunrise Toastmaster we are challenged by unconscious bias, however, we have not seen any bias statements in a while. He alluded us to hold up a peace sign if we do see/hear a bias statement and reminded us that we can make a difference with one voice at a time.
Toastmaster for the day, Tina Joe, introduced the roles for the day, and then the “Word of the Day” (WOD), “Transformation,” meaning, “a complete change in the appearance or character of something or someone, especially so that that thing or person is improved.” She shared her journey thus far on detoxing of her mental, physical, and spiritual life, and took pride in her ongoing endeavors of her Day 5 of fasting, walking 3 miles each day, and living off planned meals to bring transformation to her life.
Stiles Burr introduced first speaker of the day, Tim Murphy, to deliver his pathway completed speech, “What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been” highlighting his transformational journey with toastmasters since starting in 1990 until today. Remembering the week of 9/11, Tim shared the quote, “No pancake is so thin that it doesn’t have two sides,” that persuaded him to give a speech about the other side. As emotional as it was, it prepared him to explore all aspects of his speeches, be it learning from pathways or delivering three different types of speeches in different situations, to exploring different educational systems on Toastmasters during its transition.
Using sports metaphor, Tim shared how his ability to practice over the years, just as when practicing basketball, attempting many foul shots when nobody is guiding you, yet line up your wrist perfectly to take a perfectly straight short, and practice over and over to just make that exact shot, prepared him to present at any situations. Comparing his foul shot to trying speeches in weddings, funerals, eulogies, etc., to presenting speeches on the fly or throwing the ball in the moment, to somewhere in the middle, Tim’s journey reminded us to do the best we can by practicing the best we can using our muscle memory, just as he did at his 40th reunion speech.
Stiles commended Tim on his exception delivery using imagery, and his transformational journey as a person, as a speaker, and his journey since, be it going through different education systems, plugging away two pathways concurrently, or building on his previous skills including the heckling part of his speech he applied at his school’s 40th reunion speech. Stiles appreciated Tim’s effort in helping us all relate to his journey and highlighting the need for us all to take those foul shots as many times as we can until we master them!
Summer Murphy then introduced second speaker for the day, Kendra Hiatt, to present her Level 1 Dynamic Leadership Pathway – Writing a Speech with Purpose, titled, “Limping Ain’t Easy.” Kendra’s speech was about the impact polio had on two people in her life and the influence their journey had on her perspective of life. Using the stories of her neighbor, Mitch, and her son-in-law, Michael, Kendra shared her firsthand experience of observing them and the way they handled their challenges despite the adversaries they faced. She felt lucky to have them in their lives as they taught her how to face challenges with confidence and be mindful and considerate of others’ requirements. They taught her to focus on what could go right versus what could go wrong.
Summer applauded Kendra on her first exceptionally successful speech, and offered insights to what she saw, what she heard, and what she felt from Kendra’s speech. From looking relaxed, with good lightening and clear background to well-dressed, Kendra had a clear voice, good articulation, with no filler words, and gave an interesting speech on a fascinating topic. Summer found Kendra comfortable and showcasing her positivity to Mitch and Michael’s story as a reminder to living a proactive life, choosing to look at the positive, with a what could go right mindset!
John Doggett then led the table topics on various topics including innovation, mindset, bad to good strategies, technology, etc., and more, and urged members to use the WOD, Transformation, into their speeches. Members were creative and to the point, and some used their vivid imagination to expand on the topics.
General Evaluator, Hema Kellett, highlighted the flow of presentations revolving around transformation and the general ease with which members included the WOD into their speeches. Commenting on the smooth flow of events, Hema congratulated all speakers on their overall successful and engaging presentations.
Timer, Abdul, gave a quick overview of speech times for all the speakers. Grammarian, Norris, praised members with clean speeches, while also pointing to occasional use of ‘ahs,’ and ‘ums,’ as fillers, and commended participants on referencing the word of the day into their speeches.
Toastmaster Tina Joe praised all speakers on their participations and reviewed the roles for next week before transitioning to Abdul for closing. Abdul officially adjourned the meeting with his closing remarks.
The next Sunrise Toastmasters meeting will be at 7 a.m. EST on September 20, 2024. If you would like to join our meeting as a guest, contact us for the meeting link.
Toastmaster: Saraswathi
Speaker 1: Stiles
Speaker 2: Hema
Table topics: Tina Joe
Gen Evaluator: John
Evaluator 1: Savannah
Evaluator 2: Abdulrahman
Timer: Kendra
Grammarian: Open
