Our conscientious President, Kelsey Long, opened this week’s meeting by reminding us all to keep in mind the people of Ukraine and offer up hopes of peace to the universe. Kelsey then led us into our usual minute of silence in acknowledgment and support of the Black Lives Matter movement before passing the meeting over to our Toastmaster of the day, Greg Sutton.
This was Greg’s first time serving as Toastmaster and he chose courage as his word of the day, pointing out that courage is not the absence of fear but the willingness to face it. We had 15 people in attendance, including fourteen members and one guest, Maria Leon. Greg invited everyone to introduce themselves and tell about something in their lives that required courage. It was an uplifting exercise, reminding us that everyone faces difficulties and we are often stronger than we realize. After introductions, Greg turned the meeting over to the first speaker, John Doggett.
John gave a Level 1 feedback presentation titled “Keeping It Light.” In his talk, John spoke about some of the more humorous times in his life. His audience was laughing out loud as John told us of hiding company vehicles from team members who were getting lunch, pranks involving glitter and blue chalk shooting out of truck air conditioning vents, and his definitive relationship with bees. His evaluator, Kelsey Long, expressed appreciation for his light hearted stories during these somber times. Kelsey also noted that John drew his audience in with his “life of stories” and allowed us to get to know him better.
The second speaker of the day, Norris Bass, started a new Persuasive Influence pathway, and delivered his Icebreaker speech. In his talk titled “Love Yourself First,” Norris shared the story of becoming the head of his household at an early age, and having to put the needs of others before his own. He talked about his life journey of learning to love himself so that he is better able to show love to others, using an analogy of the airline safety instructions to secure your own oxygen mask before helping others put on their masks. Summer Murphy, who served as Norris’ evaluator, said that he showed courage in sharing such a personal journey with the group. She also noted that Norris‘ anecdotes and analogies helped to make his speech relatable.
Nereida Sutton served as Table Topics Master. Honoring Women’s History Month, Nereida asked people to talk about women who made a difference in their lives. Members and guests spoke about the courageous, powerful, spontaneous and nurturing women who have impacted their lives.
Anu Parvathaneni served as the General Evaluator, and provided a review of the meeting. Kerstin Haase was the Timer this week, and reported on times for the prepared speeches, Table Topics responses and speech evaluations. New member Tanuja Reddy served in her first Toastmasters role as Grammarian, and reported on filler words and other grammatical notes.
The next Sunrise Toastmasters meeting will be at 7 am, March 18 EST on Zoom.
The roles for that meeting are as follows:
Toastmaster: Alvin
Speaker 1: Nereida
Speaker 2: Tim
Table Topics: Savannah
Gen. Evaluator: Summer
Speaker 1 Evaluator: Amelya
Speaker 2 Evaluator: Kelsey
Timer: Renuka Anu
Grammarian: John
You have the courage to become a better speaker and a more effective leader. Join us at Sunrise Toastmasters and find your voice.
