VP of Public Relations Savannah Murphy opened the meeting with insights about systemic racism and how it can go beyond individual acts of prejudice or bias and encompasses the deeply ingrained structures and practices that disadvantage certain racial or ethnic groups while privileging others, leading us deliberately to our minute of silence in acknowledgement and support of the Black Life Matter movement. Savannah explained and dispelled any doubts about the bias flag, encouraged us to use it to support our journey, and transitioned the meeting over to Toastmaster Dave Burr. Dave chose redux as the word of the day and asked members to introduce themselves to our guest, Maria, and share a redux or revival.
Toastmaster John Doggett introduced our first speaker, Toastmaster Stiles Burr. Stiles shared a speech tilted ‘Self Help Books Don’t Help,’ taking us through a personal experience where self-help books did not provide the desired help or results, and personal growth and development are highly individual journeys, and what works for one person may not work for another. “Get yourself away from the manuals and live your life,” said Stiles. John provided feedback, encouraging growth and improvement. Unique talents!
Toastmaster Tina Joe introduced our second speaker, Toastmaster Karen Rhodes. Karen indulged us with a speech titled ‘Back to Reality,’ about conspiracy theorists and how they question the official versions of events and often seek to uncover hidden motives. They may interpret patterns, coincidences, or inconsistencies as evidence of a broader conspiracy and may rely on anecdotal evidence, speculation, or unverified sources to support their claims. Tina shared feedback, highlighting strengths and areas for improvement. Keep up the fantastic work!
Table Topic Master Toastmaster Norris Bass led an engaging question-and-answer session, helping develop members’ ability to think quickly, organize their thoughts, and deliver coherent and concise responses on the spot. Amazing questions, Norris!
Toastmaster Abdulrahman Albazie served as the General Evaluator, reflecting on the meeting, aiming to encourage growth and recognize the efforts of participants, and leading the team in sharing feedback and reports. Toastmaster Angela Marsh delivered the Timer report. Tina voluntarily took on the Grammarian role, providing feedback on the use of language and grammar. Incredible team!
Dave reviewed roles for next week and transitioned the meeting to Savannah to close the meeting.
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The next Sunrise Toastmasters meeting will be at 7 a.m. on October 6, 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: Abdulrahman
Speaker 1: Kerstin
Speaker 2: Angela
Table Topics: Greg
Gen. Evaluator: Dave
Evaluator 1: Renuka
Evaluator 2: Savannah
Timer: Norris
Grammarian: Anu
