In the opening remarks, Sergeant at Arms Savannah Murphy shared the story of demonstrating resilience and the power of focusing on positivity in the face of adversity.
In a show of support for the Black Lives Matter movement, the group observed a minute of silence, muting microphones and turning off cameras to honor all victims of racial injustice.
The meeting was then handed over to the Toastmaster of the Day, Kerstin Haase. Kerstin introduced the Word of the Day (WOD), which was “hero,” a term she defined as someone admired for courage, achievement, and nobility. The room then buzzed with introductions, as members warmly welcomed guests Kim Robinson and Kehinde Eniola, sharing their own inspiring Toastmasters journeys.
Toastmaster Tina Joe introduced Toastmaster Anu Parvathaneni, who delivered a thought-provoking speech about America’s forgotten history, current responsibilities, and hopes for the future.
Tina Joe evaluated Toastmaster Anu’s speech, commending his exceptional delivery. Tina provided constructive feedback, identifying areas where the speaker could further strengthen her speech.
Toastmaster Abdulrahman Albazie introduced Toastmaster Tim Murphy, who delivered a speech called “Flooding the Zone.” Tim explored the research behind his speech, revealing a significant conflict between his initial knowledge and what he discovered later.
Abdulrahman evaluated Tim’s speech, commending his great eye contact and gestures that helped convey the message effectively.
Toastmaster Summer Murphy led a table topics session, challenging participants to respond to “hero” questions! The exercise aimed to foster quick thinking, effective articulation, and confident on-the-spot communication skills among the attendees.
Toastmaster Stiles Burr served as a General Evaluator, providing comprehensive feedback on the meeting and commending the exceptional performance of participants. Toastmaster Dave Burr delivered the Timer report, ensuring each segment adhered to the allocated time. Toastmaster Norris Bass, served as the Grammarian, offered valuable linguistic feedback and shared resonating quotes with the group.
We were all so delighted to hear that Kim Robinson, a familiar face to us all, is thinking about joining our group officially! Welcome to the group, Kim! We’re incredibly excited to have you with us!
Toastmaster Kerstin smoothly handed over the meeting to Savannah to wrap up and officially adjourn the meeting.
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The next Sunrise Toastmasters meeting will be at 7 a.m. on May 9, 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: Tina Joe
Speaker 1: Kendra
Speaker 2: Summer
Table Topics: Anu
General Evaluator: Savannah
Evaluator 1: Norris
Evaluator 2: Dave
Timer: Kerstin
Grammarian: Stiles
