December 14, 2010 - TM Meeting

Brentwood Evening Toastmasters
Meeting Notes
for
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Toastmaster for the evening: Susan Martin

OPENING
Sergeant at Arms, Manuel Glaze, opened the meeting and lead the club in the Pledge of Allegiance.

President, Suzanne Harrison welcomed everyone and announced the new memberships of Emiy and Autumn. She then introduced the Toastmaster of the Evening, Susan Martin

WORD OF THE DAY

Autumn Karrigan introduced the word of the day, Conflagration, and challenged fellow Toastmasters to use the word throughout the evening.

Conflagration - an extensive fire; a destructive fire

HUMOUR

Suzanne Harrison (filling in for Rachel Sumner) challenged club members with coming up with a synonym for the word synonym.

TABLE TOPICS

Lynn Blake lead the club in Table Topics as Tables Topics Master for the evening challenging each Table Topics speaker to share a story about a holiday favorite:

Favorite Holiday Traditions - Brian Clinch

Favorite Holiday Food - John Richardson

Favorite Christmas Song - Tim Stowell

SPEECHES
Speech #1) "The Toast" ~ Keith McLusky

Speech #2) "The Effective Evaluation" ~ Dasie Schulz

Speech #3) "Angels" ~ Cindy Kubica

EVALUATIONS

General Evaluator - Janet Schreibman

Evaluator #1) Mike Costa

Evaluator #2) Manuel Glaze

Evaluator #3) Skip Malone

Ah Counter / Grammarian: Emily

AWARDS
Best Table Topic Speaker - John Richmond

Best Evaluator - Skip Malone

Best Speaker - Cindy Kubica

The following members used the Word Of the Day, Conflagration, at least one time during the meeting.

Susan Martin

Janet Schriebman

John Richmond

Cindy Cubica

Tim Stowell

Mike Costa

November 30, 2010 - TM Meeting Notes

Brentwood Evening Toastmasters
Meeting Notes
for
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Toastmaster for the evening: Dasie Schulz

OPENING
Sergeant at Arms, Manuel Glaze, opened the meeting and lead the club in the Pledge of Allegiance.

President, Suzanne Harrison welcomed members and guests before introducing the Toastmaster of the Evening, Dasie Schulz

WORD OF THE DAY

Binosh introduced the word of the day.

TABLE TOPICS

Manuel Glaze lead the club in Table Topics as Tables Topics Master for the evening

SPEECHES
Speech #1) Allan Daniels

Speech #2) Keith McLusky

Speech #3) James Justus

EVALUATIONS

General Evaluator - Mike Costa

Evaluator #1) Suzanne Harrison

Evaluator #2) Rachel Sumner

Evaluator #3) Cindy Kubica

Ah Counter / Grammarian: Janet Schreibman

AWARDS
Best Table Topic Speaker - Yolanda (Guest and Visiting Toastmaster)

Best Evaluator - Cindy Kubica

Best Speaker - Keith McLusky

November 23, 2010 - Meeting Notes

Brentwood Evening Toastmasters

Meeting Notes

for

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Toastmaster for the evening: Suzanne Harrison

OPENING

Sergeant at Arms, Manuel Glaze, opened the meeting and lead the club in the Pledge of Allegiance.

President, Suzanne Harrison, read the club mission, welcomed members and guests, and announced the applications for membership by Mohammad Sabir, Binosh Mullassery-Padman, and Brian Clinch. The club voted to accept the membership applications and the three newest members of Brentwood Evening Toastmasters (B.E.T.) read the pledge of membership before the club.

WORD OF THE DAY

Jackie Houtz introduced the word of the day, Occupation, and challenged the club members and guests to use the word throughout the meeting.

Occupation: 1) a person's usual or principal work or business, esp. as a means of earning a living; vocation: Her occupation was dentistry 2) any activity in which a person is engaged

HUMORIST

New member, Binosh Mullassery-Padman shared a humorous story about a problem-prone carpenter that he remembered his father telling him as a child.

TABLE TOPICS

Janet Shreibman acted as Tables Topics Master for the evening, challenging Toastmasters members to think on their feet and practice their impromptu speaking skills during the Table Topics section of the meeting. Janet provided each speaker with a unique topic about which they were asked to give a 1-2 impromptu speech.

Table Topics Speaker #1)
Michael Moryc was challenged with reinventing Thanksgiving. .

Table Topics Speaker #2)
Cynthia Brown was challenged with describing her idea of the perfect Thanksgiving.

Table Topics Speaker #3)
Gary Karg was challenged with sharing a story about a favorite (or not so favorite) relative who he either had or would be seeing at Thanksgiving.

SPEECHES

Speech #1)
Jackie Houtz gave speech #3 from the Competent Communicator manual (Getting to the Point) entitled "How Four Words Changed My Life"

Speech #2)
Cindy Kubica gave a speech entitled "Ho'oponopono"

Speech #3)
Mike Costa gave a speech entitled "Married to a Nut"

EVALUATIONS

General Evaluator - Manuel Glaze

Evaluator #1)
Keith McLusky evaluating Jackie Houtz

Evaluator #2)
Allan Daniels evaluating Cindy Kubica

Evaluator #3)
Tim Stowell evaluating Mike Costa

Grammarian/Ah Counter - John Richardson

AWARDS

Best Table Topic Speaker - Michael Moryc

Best Evaluator - Tim Stowell

Best Speaker - Jackie Houtz

USE OF WORD OF THE DAY (WOD)

Those who worked the word of the day into the meeting included:

Jackie Houtz
Tim Stowell
Manuel Glaze

And that concluded another wonderful meeting at B.E.T. Good job, everyone!!

B.E.T. Buzz - Released Nov 9th 2010

Please click HERE to view the latest issue of the B.E.T. Buzz.

November 9, 2010 - Meeting Notes

Brentwood Evening Toastmasters

Meeting Notes

for

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Toastmaster for the evening: Keith McLusky

OPENING

Sergeant at Arms, Manuel Glaze, opened the meeting and lead the club in the Pledge of Allegiance.

President, Suzanne Harrison, read the club mission, welcomed members and guests, and announced that the evening's meeting was an open house for members of the church. There were three guests from the congregation: Bob, Anita, and Tom. Two other guests visited the club on the evening of the 9th, including one second time visitor - Autumn.

Suzanne then introduced Keith McLusky as the Toastmaster for the evening. Keith did a marvelous job of explaining his role as master of ceremonies or facilitator for the evening, and followed this education theme throughout the evening in order to inform our guests and members of the purpose for various roles.

WORD OF THE DAY

Mohammad assumed the role of Word Master for the evening, for the first time since becoming a member of B.E.T. He challenged all club members and guests to interject the word throughout the meeting, when appropriate.

Momentous: a term reserved for those extra special, important, or memorable moments in life.

HUMORIST

Janet Shreibman shared a humorous anecdote about an insightful and compassionate third grader who wanted to spare his teacher from embarrassment.

TABLE TOPICS

Jackie Houtz acted as Tables Topics Master for the evening, challenging Toastmasters members to think on their feet and practice their impromptu speaking skills during the Table Topics section of the meeting. She provided each speaker to share a challenge to share specific aspects of their Toastmasters experience with the group.

Table Topics Speaker #1)
Tim Stowell was challenged with sharing what brought him to Toastmasters, what he was looking for from Toastmasters, and why he decided to join.

Table Topics Speaker #2)
Dasie Schulz was challenged with sharing her experience with Toastmasters and what it has done for her.

Table Topics Speaker #3)
James Justice was challenged with sharing a memory of a momentous club meeting, Aha moment, or funny occasion associated with Toastmasters.

SPEECHES

Speech #1)
Manuel Glaze gave speech #7 from the Competent Communicator manual (Research Your Topic) entitled "A Case for Ross Perot"

Speech #2)
John Richardson gave his Ice Breaker Speech, speech #1 from the Competent Communicator manual entitled "Today is Day Five"

Speech #3)
Mike Costa gave a speech to fulfill the assignment for Beginning Your Speech, from the the advanced speaking mannual, Best Speaker Series.

Speech #4)
Allan Daniels gave a speech to fulfill the assignment for Make Them Laugh, from the the advanced speaking mannual, Humoursly Speaking: "Thinking Thanksgiving Thoughts".

EVALUATIONS

General Evaluator - Gary Karg

Evaluator #1)
Rachel Sumner evaluating Manuel Glaze

Evaluator #2)
Michael Moryc evaluating James Justice

Evaluator #3)
Srimanth Brindavanam evaluating Mike Costa

Evaluator #4)
Susan Martin evaluating Allan Daniels

Grammarian/Ah Counter - Gary Karg

AWARDS

Best Table Topic Speaker - James Justice tied with Dasie Schulz

Best Evaluator - Michael Moryc

Best Speaker - John Richardson for his Ice Breaker Speech. Congratulations, John!

USE OF WORD OF THE DAY (WOD)

Once again members of BET made a terrific effort to use the WOD. Excellent work!! Those who worked the word into the meeting included:

Keith McLusky
Mike Costa
Jackie Houtz
John Richardson
Michael Moryc
Susan Martin
Srimanth Bridavanam
Mr. Anderson (visitor!)

(Sorry if I missed anyone)

CLOSING

To close the meeting, President Suzanne Harrison thanked James for giving an educational presentation (Giving Effective Feedback) post meeting. She reminded everyone that the new issue of the B.E.T. Buzz has was out and then solicited feedback about the meeting from our guests.

Good job, everyone!!

October 26, 2010 - Meeting Notes

Brentwood Evening Toastmasters

Meeting Notes

for

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Toastmaster for the evening: Allan Daniels

OPENING

Sergeant at Arms, Manuel Glaze, opened the meeting and lead the club in the Pledge of Allegiance.

President, Suzanne Harrison, read the club mission, welcomed members and guests, and lead the club through the induction ceremony for new member, John Richardson.

We had three very welcome visitors who dropped in to observe BET in action: Miguel, Autumn, and Janet.


MICROPHONE NIGHT

In an effort to help club members become familiar with microphone usage and to provide an opportunity for practice using either a hand-held, cardioid and wireless microphones, Rachel Sumner (VP of Education), gave a brief introduction to the importance and proper usage of the two types of microphones.

When Rachel was finished, she introduced Allan Daniels as Toastmaster (Master of Ceremonies) for the evening.

WORD OF THE DAY

Janet Schreibman introduced the word of the day, challenging all club members and guests to interject the word throughout the meeting, when appropriate.

Xenophobia: exaggerated, irrational fear of the unfamiliar

HUMORIST

Mike Costa shared a humorous anecdote about the man who wanted to replaced the 710 cap that fell off his car and got broken. - - Not sure what a 710 cap is - write it down and turn it upside down ;-)

TABLE TOPICS

Michael Moryc acted as Tables Topics Master for the evening, challenging Toastmasters members to think on their feet and practice their impromptu speaking skills during the Table Topics section of the meeting. Filling in for Lynn Blake, who had last minute conflicts, he provided each speaker to share a memory about a specific topic.

Table Topics Speaker #1)
Brian Clinch was challenged with sharing the memory of his first crush.

Table Topics Speaker #2)
Suzanne Harrison was challenged with sharing the memory of her first car.

Table Topics Speaker #3)
Dasie Schulz was challenged with sharing a memory of either a favorite television show from childhood or a favorite class from high school.

SPEECHES

Speech #1)
Manuel Glaze with "The Truth About America"

Speech #2)
Srimanth Brindavanam with "So Near, Yet so Far"

Speech #3)
Rachel Sumner with "How to be a Distinguished Club with Toastmasters"

Speech #4)
Cindy Kubica with "Tornado Safety"

EVALUATIONS

General Evaluator - Jackie Houtz

Evaluator #1)
Carrie Hodges evaluating Manuel Glaze

Evaluator #2)
Skip Malone evaluating Sri Brindavanam

Evaluator #3)
Susan Martin evaluating Cindy Kubica

(Rachel Sumner's assignment did not require evaluation)

Grammarian/Ah Counter - Suzanne Martin

AWARDS

Best Table Topic Speaker - Suzanne Harrison

Best Evaluator - Susan Martin

Best Speaker - Srimanth Brindavanam and Cindy Kubica tied for best speaker

USE OF WORD OF THE DAY (WOD)

Once again members of BET made a terrific effort to use the WOD. Excellent work!! Those who worked the word into the meeting included:

Suzanne Harrison
Allan Daniels
Michael Moryc
Mike Costa
Cindy Kubica
John Clinch

(Sorry if I missed anyone)

Good job, everyone!!

The Visionary Leader - Highlights from Education Series

THE VISIONARY LEADER
(notes from a presentation given by Keith McLusky on 10/12/2010)

“ To be a leader, others must want and agree to be followers.

Leaders fall into different categories; a team captain is a leader, an airline pilot is a
leader.

In the business world, leaders are rewarded for guiding their companies into broader,
more profitable ventures. This requires a vision of the future and concepts of how to
attain that vision. Toastmasters International has its own vision of the ‘ corporation’ and
serves its Toastmaster members with that vision in mind.

Vision takes many forms; we can envisage our team winning, we can fantasize over our
next vacation, but true vision is longer term and requires the skills of a real leader in
order to fulfill that vision. This leader is worrying over/excited by what will happen in
three years, not the next three months.

A leader cannot achieve everything him/herself. Competent managers must be selected
and persuaded to become a part of achieving the goal/vision. Together, they will
determine a strategy and work to implement it. The leader will be involved in the
creation of the strategy, but will allow the managers latitude to set and achieve their own
goals within the overall objective.

People have not only to be motivated, but to feel respected and a meaningful part of the
total exercise.

So what characteristics must this visionary leader have? He/she must be realistic in
setting goals; the vision must be clear and easy to understand. The goals must represent
a challenge, so the participants can feel satisfaction at having exceeded their ‘ comfort
level’ . The vision will not be overly specific – a vision is not to achieve $2,000,000
in monthly profit, but rather, say, to create a company admired for its morality, for its
support of environmental protection………

A visionary leader will always talk about the vision, explaining the intrinsic benefits
to all who participate. He/she will be enthusiastic and encourage others to share their
enthusiasm. The leader will be involved – not in overseeing every team member’ s work,
but in reviewing regularly and sharing insights from the progress.

A vision is not ‘ set in cement’ ; it will adapt as conditions require – and the consequent
strategies will modify also. But the commitment to the vision remains.”



(This is one of the presentations from the Toastmasters International “ The Leadership
Excellence Series” . A script is provided, but speakers are encouraged to create their own
presentation, based on the concepts in the script.)

November 9th Educational Series "Giving Effective Feedback"

Upcoming Educational Series "Giving Effective Feedback"

On Tuesday, November 9 at 6:30PM James Justus will be leading the next session in our Educational Series - "Giving Effective Feedback"

James Justus is the Area Governor and an active B.E.T. member. He will be offering suggestions for providing effective feedback to others on their performance.

The presentation begins promptly at 6:30 PM in the room across the hall from our usual meeting room. All members and guests are welcome.

On the evening of November 9, B.E.T. is also hosting an open house for members of Forest Hills Methodist Church.

We hope to see you there!

B.E.T. Buzz - October Release

Read the latest issue of The B.E.T. Buzz, published by B.E.T. VP of Public Relations, Michael Moryc.

Please always remember that Michael encourages submissions of news about personal and professional successes for inclusion in upcoming newsletters. Please let Michael know if you have any exciting or interesting news you would like to share in The B.E.T. Buzz.

If you haven't already clicked on of The B.E.T. Buzz links above and you would like to read the latest newsletter simply click here.

October 12, 2010 - Meeting Notes

Brentwood Evening Toastmasters

Meeting Notes

for

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Toastmaster for the evening: Rachel Sumner

OPENING

President Suzanne Harrison called the meeting to order at a few minutes past 7:00 p.m. and lead the club members and guests in the Pledge of Allegiance. She also welcomed our guests and announced that Mohammad and Binosh were our newest members.

Do to a last minute work obligation that kept the scheduled Toastmaster for the Evening from attending the meeting, Rachel Sumner volunteered to fill the role and did a phenomenal job of ensuring adequate last minute changes to the schedule to make sure that every role was adequately covered.

WORD OF THE DAY

Jackie Houtz introduced the word of the day and challenged fellow toastmasters, and guests, to use the word as often as possible throughout the meeting.

The word of the day was Retrograde, an adjective or verb meaning a backwardor direction; retiring or reverse; inverse orreversed (as order).

HUMORIST

Tim Stowell shared a humorous anecdote about a man who after telling his friend he had broken his arm twice in the same place was wisely advised to "Stay away from that place."

TABLE TOPICS

Susan Martin acted as Tables Topics Master for the evening, inviting Toastmasters members to think on their feet and practice their impromptu speaking skills during the Table Topics section of the meeting. She provided each speaker with an international, national, or local news headline and a purpose for their 1-2 minute short speech.

Table Topics Speaker #1)
Manuel Glaze was challenged with addressing the families of the Chilean miners as they anxiously awaited the arrival of the first trapped miner as he about to be extracted after two months underground.

Table Topics Speaker #2)
Allan Daniels was challenged with addressing the Supreme Court in opposition to the church protesters who interrupted the funeral of a fallen marine with a war protest.

Table Topics Speaker #3)
Brian Clinch was challenged with addressing the Titans football team and coaching staff about their win against Dallas the previous weekend and the implications for the upcoming games on the road.

SPEECHES

Speech #1)
Carrie Hodges with "A Paradigm Shift"

Speech #2)
Allan Daniels with "Repeat After Me"

Speech #3)
Dasie Schulz with "A Learning Vacation"

EVALUATIONS

General Evaluator - Suzanne Harrison

Evaluator #1)
Srimanth Brindavanam evaluating Carrie Hodges

Evaluator #2)
Michael Moryc evaluating Allan Daniels

Evaluator #3)
Mike Costa evaluating Dasie Schulz

Grammarian/Ah Counter - Kieth McLusky

AWARDS

Best Table Topic Speaker - Allan Daniels

Best Evaluator - Mike Costa

Best Speaker - Carrie Hodges

USE OF WORD OF THE DAY (WOD)

Once again members of BET made a terrific effort to use the WOD. Excellent work!! Those who worked the word into the meeting included:

Suzanne
Rachel
Carrie
Dasie
Mike
Michael

(Sorry if I missed anyone)

Another terrific meeting!

September 28, 2010 - Meeting Notes

Brentwood Evening Toastmasters

Meeting Notes

for

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Toastmaster for the evening: Mike Costa

OPENING

President Suzanne Harrison called the meeting to order a minute or two past 7:00 p.m. and lead the club members and guests in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Suzanne also shared a quote from the International President of Toastmasters, Pat Johnson.

“As we mentor and support one another in our club environment, we share our own personal greatness. Toastmasters International is in the education business and we change the lives of men and women around the world, one person at a time, one assignment at a time, each time we receive feedback in the form of applause or a suggestion for improvement. My fervent wish is that we spend some time recognizing and acknowledging our own personal greatness. Remember that your greatness will be unique to you.”

HUMORIST

Mike Costa, also the Toastmaster for the evening, pulled double duty and shared a brief joke.

WORD OF THE DAY

Rachel Sumner introduced the Word of the Day.

Paramount: Chief in importance or impact. Adj. – significant, supreme, superior; noun – leader, ruler, overlord

TABLE TOPICS

Allan Daniels was the Table Topics Master for the evening, presenting fellow Toastmasters with an opportunity to give impromptu speeches about various types of tables. This portion of the meeting helps members practice off-the-cuff speaking.

Table Topic Speaker #1: Brian with Sitting Around A Table
Table Topic Speaker #2: Rachel with a Gaming Table
Table Topic Speaker #3: Janet with a Head Table

SPEECHES

Speech #1: Skip Malone – “Who Stole My Church”

Speech #2: Keith McLusky – “Where we Come From”

Speech #3: Gary Karg – “I Slayed the Dragon”

Speech #4: Srimanth Brindavanam – “the Power of Positive Thinking”

EVALUATIONS

Evaluator #1: Dasie Schulz evaluating Skip Malone

Evaluator #2: Mike Costa evaluating Keith McLusky

Evaluator #3: Rachel Sumner evaluating Gary Karg

Evaluator #4: Suzanne Harris evaluating Srimanth Brindavanam

Grammarian/Ah Counter: Allan Daniels

General Evaluator: Michale Moryc

AWARDS

Best Table Topic Speaker: Rachel Sumner

Best Evaluator: Mike CostaBest

Speaker: Keith McLusky

USE OF WORD OF THE DAY (WOD)

Once again members of BET made a terrific effort to use the WOD. Excellent work!! Those who worked the word into the meeting included:

Mike Costa
Sri Brindavanam

Gary Karg

Dasie Schulz

Allan Daniels

Rachel Sumner

Michael Moryc

(Sorry if I missed anyone)

Good job everyone!!

September 14, 2010 - Meeting Notes

Brentwood Evening Toastmasters
Meeting Notes
for
Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Toastmaster for the evening: Sri Brindavanam

OPENING

President Suzanne Harrison called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and lead the club in the Pledge of Allegiance before read the club mission statement to those in attendance.

Welcomed Guests included: Sid, Beverly, and Vicki.

Suzanne welcomed our guests and lead the members of BET in inducting new member, Janet Schreibman.

Announcements included the 1st and 2nd place winners for the Area 40 Contest that was held on Saturday, September 11th.

Humorous Speech Contest:
1st Place - Lourdes Thomas (Nissan)
2nd Place - Gary Karg (B.E.T.)

Evaluator Contest:
1st Place - Lynn Black (Nissan)
2nd Place - Susan Martin (B.E.T).

Srimanth (Sri) took his place before the group as Toastmaster for the evening.


WORD OF THE DAY

Suzann Harrison introduced "Fulsome" as the word of the day.

Fulsome: effusive, lavish, abundant.

HUMORIST

Mike Costa introduced some humor into the meeting by sharing a couple of short anecdotes: "Common sense is not always so common" and "Compliments of McDonalds."


TABLE TOPICS

Michael Moryc challenged fellow toastmasters during the impromptu speaking portion of the evening by presenting them with a scenario and asking them to respond.

Mike Costa had to tell the club about a bumper sticker he had on his car or would consider putting on his car and why.

Rachel Sumner had to tell the club about a celebrity encounter.

Skip Malone had to tell the club why he had decided to purchase a house in the middle of a swamp.

Dasie Schulz had to tell the club about her life as a mirror.


SPEECHES

Speech #1: James Justice - Why Me?
Speech #2: Janet Schreibman - Ice Breaker
Speech #3: Donna Brown - A New Journey
Speech #4: Manuel Glaze - A Thought Starter About Autism


EVALUATIONS

Evaluator #1: Dasie Schulz evaluating James Justice
Evaluator #2: Susan Martin evaluating Janet Schreibman
Evaluator #3: Skip Malone evaluating Donna Brown
Evaluator #4: Michael Moryc evaluating Manuel Glaze


AWARDS

Best Table Topic Speakers: Rachel Sumner
Best Evaluator: Michael Moryc
Best Speaker: Janet Schreibman


USE OF WORD OF THE DAY (WOD)

Once again members of BET made a terrific effort to use the WOD. Excellent work!! Those who worked the word into the meeting included:

Sri Brindavanam
James Justice
Janet Schreibman
Donna Brown
Manuel Glaze
Allan Daniels
Susan Martin
Sid - One of our guests used the WOD! Way to go!

Good job everyone!!

Visitors Always Welcome at B.E.T.

B.E.T. members enjoy having visitors!

Everyone is welcome! If you have been thinking about attending a Toastmasters Meeting and just aren't sure where to start, please know that you are always welcome to sit in on one of our meetings!

You can visit as many times as you like, and join if and when you choose to. No pressure!!

Meetings are held the 2nd, 4th, and 5th Tuesday of every month @ 6:30 p.m.

Hope to see you there!!

August 31, 2010 - TM Meeting Notes

Brentwood Evening Toastmasters
Meeting Notes
for
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Contest Master for the evening: Lynn Blake

Rachel called the meeting at 7:05, announcing that the meeting format would be different from usual because August 31, 2010 was the slated date for the club Humorous Speech Contest and Evaluator Contests.

Rachel also welcomed B.E.T.'s honored guests for the evening Don Bittick, Lisa Lewis, and Joe Mortellaro.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Rachel made a few announcements about the upcoming area, division, and district contests.

Area Contest: September 11, 2010

District Contest: September 25, 2010

Fall conference: October 15, 2010

Education Nights begin again on October 12th. Sessions will be held every 2nd Tuesday at 6:30 in the classroom across from the meeting room at the church.

CONTEST

Lynn Blake presided as Contest Master for the evening.

Cheif Judge - Donna Brown

Judges: Srimanth Brindavanam, Allan Daniels, and Dasie Schulz

Humorous Speech Contestestants: Jackie Houtz and Gary Karg

Evaluator Contestestants: Michael Moryc, Susan Martin, and Manuel Glaze

Guest Speaker: Joe Mortellaro

RESULTS

Humorous Speech Contest:

1st Place: Gary Karg

2nd Place: Jackie Houtz

Evaluator Contest:

1st Place: Susan Martin

2nd Place: Michael Moryc

August 24, 2010 - TM Meeting Notes

Brentwood Evening Toastmasters

Meeting Notes

for

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Toastmaster for the evening: Cindy Kubica

OPENING

Acting President Rachel Sumner called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m., welcoming club members and leading the club in the Pledge of Allegiance. On behalf of club president, Suzanne Harrison, Rachel thanked the club for high participation in the summer sessions of leadership training through TLI.

Rachel also provided a reminder about upcoming speech contests:

Club Contest: August 31, 2010
Area Contest: September 11, 2010
District Contest: September 25, 2010
Fall conference: October 15, 2010

Rachel then introducing the Toastmaster for the evening, Cindy Kubica.

Cindy extended a warm welcome before giving a brief overview of her duties as Toastmaster, and then introduced a meeting theme. The theme for the August 24th meeting was The Facts of Life. Cindy announced that members would be asked to share one fact of life that they had learned with the group when they first took control of the lectern throughout the evening.

WORD OF THE DAY

Susan Martin shared her Fact of Life, "Your hair never does what you want it to," before provided the word of the day:

Benevolent - characterized by or expressing goodwill; charitable

HUMORIST

Jackie Houtz did an amazing job of incorporating the meeting theme into her humorous story, providing the club with three well delivered Facts of Life:
1) We all started out in life the same way
2) Boys love their toys
3) Nothing in life is impossible

TABLE TOPICS

Carrie Hodges challenged individual team members to exercise their skills at impromptu speaking. She provided each Table Topics speaker with a horoscope from the previous day's paper and asked them to explain how the horoscope fit with what actually happened to them that day.

Alan Daniels had a horoscope that read, "Mistakes will happen. When they do, remain mindful." Alan entertained club members with a humorous discussion about his horoscope, wrapping it up with his Fact of Life: "My jokes are so bad that they are occasionally funny!"

Michael Moryc's horoscope read, "Things that are not in their popper place will tend to fall into disarray." Michael shared the irony of this horoscope by explaining the state of affairs in his home office, and the difficulty he has had unpacking and reorganizing following the May flooding.

Mike Costa's horoscope read, "Stick to what feels safe for now. When it is time to take a risk you'll know it." Mike confessed that he felt his horoscope was actually speaking about his future because his daughter recently went off to college and there have been many changes occurring in his workplace.

SPEECHES

Speaker #1: Gary Karg - "Growing Up Gary"
Speaker #2: Srimanth Brindavanam - "Big Paws"

EVALUATOR

General Evaluator: Rachel Sumner
Evaluator #1: Dasie Schulz, evaluating Gary Karg
Evaluator #2: Matthew Job, evaluating Srimanth Brindivanam

Grammarian/Ah Counter: Janet Schreibman did an excellent job of listening, recording, and reporting. This was her first time on deck as the Grammarian and Ah Counter.

AWARDS

Best Table Topics: Michael Moryc
Best Evaluator: Matthew Job
Best Speaker: Srimanth Brindavanam

USED WORD OF THE DAY

Club members made excellent use of the Word of the Day. Those who interjected it throughout the meeting included:

Cindy Kubica
Jackie Houtz
Michael Moryc
Srimanth Brindavanam
Matthew Job

GOOD JOB!! :-)

CLOSING

Before the close of the meeting there was a brief discussion about the use of the word podium in reference to the lectern. Podium refers to something a speaker stands up on, while lectern refers to a stand on which the speaker places papers. Although podium and lectern, according to Webster's, are now interchangeable we in Toastmasters are trying to improve our speech and our speaking habits. As such, we should be mindful of using the word lectern when referring to the stand upon which we place our papers when we present a speech.

Rachel closed the meeting early, declaring summer break!

August 10, 2010 - TM Meeting Notes

Brentwood Evening Toastmasters

Meeting Notes

for

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Toastmaster for the evening: Matthew Job

OPENING

President Suzanne Harrison called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m., welcoming two new guests and all members. She then lead the club in the Pledge of Allegiance before turning the meeting over to the Toastmaster, Matthew Job.

Matthew extended a warm welcome before giving a brief overview of his duties as Toastmaster.

WORD OF THE DAY

Cynthia Brown provided the word of the day:

Oblivious - unaware of; not paying attention to

HUMORIST

Manuel Glaze injected a bit of humor with a well delivered joke about a doctor, a minister, a lawyer and a professionally courteous shark.

TABLE TOPICS

Mike Costa expressed his creative side, and encouraged the evening's Table Topics speakers to do the same. He provided each speaker with a quote and a challenge. Each Table Topics speaker was given 1-2 minutes to present their impromptu speech. This exercise allows members to practice impromptu speaking.

Susan Martin was challenged with telling the club who she would send the following quote to and why: "A diplomat is a man who always remembers his wife's birthday but never remembers her age." ~ Robert Frost
Susan dedicated the quote to her husband who always remembers her birthday and NEVER reminds her that she's just a little bit older than he is.

Suzanne Harrison was challenged with telling the club who in the room she would send her assigned quote to, and why: "When I was younger I could remember anything, whether it happened or not." ~ Mark Twain
Suzanne Harrison dedicated her quote to our own Mike Costa, who she proclaims can spin a story with expert creativity.

Jackie Houtz was challenged with telling the club what celebrity she would share the following quote with: "You are only young once but you can be immature all of your life." (sorry I did not catch the source)
Jackie dedicated her quote to her brother. She admitted that is, technically, no celebrety although he may never admit it, himself.

James Justus was challenged with telling the club who he could NOT dedicate his assigned quote to. James announced he could not dedicated his Tennessee Williams quote, "You can be young without Money but you cannot be old without it.", to any of his cash-strapped clients, but that he might be able to get away with sharing the quote with colleagues in the financial planning industry.

Manuel Glaz was challenged with telling the club with whom he would share his assigned quote, "At age 50 everyone has the face he deserves."
Manuel decided he would share his quote with any president, making the point that no matter what we do or who we are, we know it better than anyone else the moment we see our own face looking back at us in the mirror.

SPEECHES

Speaker #1: Skip Malone - "Up the Creek"
Speaker #2: Dasie Schulz - "The Underrepresentation of Women in Executive Leadership"
Speaker #3: Allan Daniels - Coach Allan

EVALUATOR

General Evaluator: Michael Moryc
Evaluator #1: Jane Gaither, evaluating Skip Malone
Evaluator #2: Susan Martin, evaluating Dasie Schulz
Evaluator #3: Donna Brown, evaluating Allan Daniels

Grammarian/Ah Counter: Jackie Houtz

AWARDS

Best Table Topics: Suzanne Harrison
Best Evaluator: Susan Smith
Best Speaker: Dasie Schulz

USED WORD OF THE DAY

Club members made excellent use of the Word of the Day. Those who interjected it throughout the meeting included:

Matthew Job
Mike Costa
Susan Martin
Allan Daniels
Jackie Houtz
Michael Moryc

GOOD JOB!! :-)

BUSINESS

Suzanne reminded everyone of the upcoming Toastmasters Leadership Training course.

TLI will be conducted again on August 19th from 5:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. and the club will pay the fee for any member interested in attending. (If interested in attending please contact Suzanne Harrison)

Humorous Speech and Evaluator contests are scheduled as follows:

Club Contest: August 31, 2010
Area Contest: September 11, 2010
District Contest: September 25, 2010
Fall conference: October 15, 2010

Area Governor, James Justus announced that the location for the area contest had been chosen: 404 BNA Drive

Don't forget to check out the latest edition of The B.E.T. Buzz, our official club newsletter.

If you are reading these minutes you have the link to our new blog which can always be found @ BrentwoodEveningToastmasters.blogpost.com.

Watch your e-mail for a Twitter invite to begin following B.E.T. tweets. Be sure to sign up! And remember - if you need help setting up your twitter account Dasie is available to help you get started. Once we have a few followers we plan to begin announcing last minute changes to the schedule and opening speaking slots so that individuals can let Rachel know immediately, via e-mail or phone, if they are interested and available to step up and fill last minute openings!

Michael encourages everyone to go to the B.E.T. website and sign up for roles at upcoming meetings.

CLOSING

Before closing the meeting, President Susanne Harrison requested feedback from the two guests in attendance.

President Suzanne Harrison adjourned the meeting at approximately 8:15 p.m.

The B.E.T. Buzz - August Release

Michael Moryc, BET's VP of Public Relations, has published the latest issue of The B.E.T. Buzz.

The news letter is available for online readers and can also be downloaded or printed - Just click HERE to retrieve the document.

ACORN AWARD

The ACORN AWARD is a District 63 marketing incentive award earned by those Toastmasters who invite 25 or more people to a Toastmasters' Meeting. All the Toastmaster has to do is INVITE people to meetings, the first step in recruiting new members. The person invited does not have to attend - merely be invited. The award will be presented at the Fall Conference for invitations extended between July 1 and September 30 and presented at the Spring Conference for invitations extended through April 30.

B.E.T. encourages guests to visit as often as they like and join when they are ready. Guests are an important part of every meeting.

Return the form no later than 10/1/2010 for Fall Conference or or no later than 04/1/2011 for Spring Conference. Submission instructions are included on the form.

Click here to download or print submission form.

Member Achievement Record

At the July 27th B.E.T. meeting, Rachel Sumner provided members with a copy of the Member Achievement Record, which can be used to set individual goals for completing Toastmasters manuals and earning achievement awards along the road to self improvement.

If you haven't already completed your Member Achievement Record and returned it to Rachel, please click the link above and print a copy now. Fill in dates for the assignments you want to complete in the next twelve months. Writing down your goals and setting realistic dates for accomplishing them, is the first step to achieving them!!

Once you've completed your form, return it to Rachel for safe keeping. If there's anything stronger than a goal you've set, it's one you've shared with someone else!

July 27, 2010 - TM Meeting Notes

Brentwood Evening Toastmasters
Meeting Notes
for
Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Toastmaster for the evening: Cynthia Brown

OPENING

President Suzanne Harrison called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and lead the club in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Allan Daniels and Jackie Houtz were inducted as the newest members of B.E.T.

Michael Moryc and James Justice were presented with Advanced Communicator Bronze (ACB) awards for completing advanced manuals.

Suzanne then turned control of the meeting over to Toastmaster Cynthia Brown.

Cynthia welcomed all members and guests to the meeting and explained the clubs renewed commitment to respecting time constraints before introducing Michael Moryc, who introduced the Word of the Day: Espoused.

WORD OF THE DAY

Espouse: a devotion to a particular belief or cause, or declaration of support for a given idea or belief. Speakers and audience members were challenged to include the word espoused throughout the meeting, when applicable.

HUMORIST

Gary Karg entertained the club with a clever wordplay joke about a bus driver who infringed upon a McDonald's trademark with his version of the big mac.

TABLE TOPICS

Gary Karg, filling in as back-up humorist for the evening, provided three members with a zoo exhibit for which they must act as zoo keeper and entice the audience to visit their exhibit by explaining how it would make them feel like a kid again.

Myotonic Goats - James Justus
Cirque Equinox - Keith McLusky
Barnyard Sand - Susan Martin

SPEECHES

Speaker #1: Matthew Job – "Fantasy Football"
Speaker #2: Mike Costa – "Patience, Time is All You Need"
Speaker #3: Jacki Houtz – Icebreaker Speech
Speaker #4: Rachel Sumner – "Your personal Plan for Achievement in Brentwood Evening Toastmasters"


EVALUATOR

General Evaluator: Srimanth Brindavanam
Evaluator #1: Skip Malone, evaluating Matthew Job
Evaluator #2: Allan Daniels, evaluating Mike Costa
Evaluator #3: Manuel Glaze, evaluating Jackie Houst
Evaluator #4: Donna Brown, evaluating Rachel Sumner

Grammarian / Ah Counter: Susan Martin

AWARDS

Best Table Topic Speaker: Susan Martin
Best Evaluator: Skip Malone
Best Speaker: Jackie Houtz

USED WORD OF THE DAY - Espoused

Keith McLusky
Matthew Job
Mike Costa
Allan Daniels
Susan Martin

BUSINESS

President Suzanne Harrison extended a thank you to all all the officers and members who attended officer training at the Toastmasters Leadership Institute held in downtown Nashville on July 24th

Those who attended TLI on July 24th: Michael Moryc, Rachel Sumner, Suzanne Harrison, Cynthia Brown, Jackie Houtz, Dasie Schulz, and Susan Martin.

TLI will be conducted again on August 19th from 5:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. and the club will pay the fee for any member interested in attending. (If interested in attending please contact Suzanne Harrison)

Humorous Speech and Evaluator contests are scheduled as follows:

Club Contest: August 31, 2010
Area Contest: September 11, 2010
District Contest: September 25, 2010
Fall conference: October 15, 2010

Feedback was received from this weeks guests. Two guests were in attendance.

Area Governor James Justus promoted the Presidents Distinguished Club and Five Star Club award programs.

CLOSING

Suzanne Harrison closed the meeting at a few minutes past 8:30.

July 13, 2010 - TM Meeting Notes

Brentwood Evening Toastmasters

Meeting Notes

for

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Toastmaster for the evening: Michael Moryc

OPENING

Suzanne Harrison called the meeting to order at 8:01 p.m

Welcomed Allan Daniels who inducted the officers for the 2010-2011 year.

• President - Suzanne Harrison
• VP Education - Rachel Sumner
• VP Membership - Cynthia Brown
• VP Public Relations - Michael Moryc
• Secretary - Dasie Schulz
• Treasurer - Mike Costa
• Sergeant at Arms - Manuel Glaze

Allan Daniels also thanked the officers for the fine job done in the 2009-2010 year and congratulated the club for reaching the highest toastmasters club honor of President's Distinguished Club in 2009-2010.

WORD OF THE DAY

Jibe – to be in harmony or accord; to agree

“The news report does not quite jibe with the eyewitness reports.”

“The suspects’ stories don’t jibe.”

Inserted into the meeting by:

• Mike Costa
• Matthew Job
• Susan Martin
• Allan Daniels

HUMORIST

Mike Costa shared a funny story about the backseat driving habits of his wife and daughter, and used the word Jibe!

TABLE TOPICS

Isami Watanabe gave a brief explanation for the purpose of Table Topics and the value they add to the Toastmasters experience by providing an opportunity to practice “off the cuff” speaking.

The Table Topics challenge was for speakers to select a car specifications sheet and photo from a few provided by Isami, and to come up with a marketing pitch to try to convince the audience to purchase one of the vehicles.

Table Topics Speakers included Matthew Job, Cynthia Brown, and Manual glaze. All participants qualified for the vote by staying within the 1-2 minute time frame allotted for each speaker.

SPEECHES

Speaker #1: Keith McLusky – “The Great Toastmaster”

Keith’s assignment was to graciously accept an award.

Speaker #2: Carrie Hodges – “The World’s Second Most Widely Used Product”

Carrie was fulfilling the requirements for Speech #6 in the Competent Communicator Manual.

Speaker #3: Cindy Kubica – “Zoo-ology”

Cindy’s goal was to practice a portion of a speech she uses in her role as a professional speaker. Her goal was to give a presentation that was fun, informative, and thought provoking.

EVALUATIONS

General Evaluator: Mathew Job (used the word Jibe)

Evaluator #1: Cynthia Brown, evaluating Keith McLusky

Evaluator #2: Gary Karg, evaluating Carrie Hodges

Evaluator #3: Susan Martin, evaluating Cindy Kubica (used the word Jibe)

AWARDS

Best Table Topic Speaker: Manuel Glaze

Best Evaluator: Gary Karg

Best Speaker: Carrie Hodges

BUSINESS

President Suzanne Harrison took the lectern to close the meeting with business. She thanked the 2009-2010 club officers for achieving the top honor of President’s Distinguished Club & thanked Keith McLusky for his mentoring throughout her first year as club president.

There were two motions to vote:

The club voted to induct three new members at the next meeting. Please welcome our newest members:

• Allan Daniels
• Jackie Houlz
• Janet Schriebman

The club voted to pay the enrollment fees for members and officers who wish to attend TLI (officer training).

Suzanne also shared a letter received from Sangeeta Sindhi Bahl who visited B.E.T. on April 13th and was recently elected the 2010-2011 President of Toastmasters Gurgaon Distric 82. Sangeeta was impressed with the protocol for welcoming guests at B.E.T. and expressed an interest in instituting the same process in her own club. She also extended a warm thank you to the B.E.T. members for their hospitality during her April visit.

Susan Martin had a question about the schedule for upcoming contests and Suzanne Harrison offered to provide that information by the next meeting.

Rachel Sumner encouraged everyone to review the schedule that was being passed around the room and sign up for roles at upcoming meetings. She also encouraged new members to choose a time slot for their Ice Breaker speech.

August 27, 2010 Toastmaster is Cynthia Brown and the General Evaluator is Srimanth Watanabe.

The meeting was adjourned at or around 8:30 (sorry, I forgot to note the time)

THEME NOTES:

Michael Moryc, as Toastmaster for the evening, invoked a theme of “Weird tings you would never just know…” and shared mysterious and odd facts with the group during transitions throughout the evening.

Did you know that a ducks quack never causes an echo?

Did you know that you can lead a cow up stairs but never down?

Did you know that each year an average of 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens?

Did you know that the electric chair was invented by a dentist?

Did you know that an ostrich eye is bigger than its brain?

Did you know that women blink nearly twice as often as men?

The July 13, 2010 - B.E.T. Meeting Notes are now in a printable format and available for viewing online.