Brentwood Evening Toastmasters (BET)

Meetings are from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm

on the 2nd, 4th, and 5th Tuesdays of each month.


@

Forest Hills United Methodist Church at 1250 Old Hickory Blvd in Brentwood, TN.

(BET is not affiliated with the church and is open to any and all individuals interested in self-improvement and effective communication. Through the open generosity of the church BET is able to hold meetings in one of its classrooms.)

Monday, August 25, 2025

 

BET Meeting Minutes

August 12, 2025

Presiding Officer:

Jesus Mendoza

 

Theme:  Ice Cream

 

Roles & Responsibilities:

Opener:  Jesus Mendoza

Toastmaster:  Kianush Dixon

Word of the Day:  Chris Goldman

sublimity - a state or quality of being sublime

Humorist: Alex Dabich

 

Table Topics:  Rick Dixon

Table Topic Speakers:

1)  Rachel Mitchell - 1:08

2)  Chandler Telfer -1:55

3)  Runsha Ninawe - 1:09

4)  Alex Dabich - 1:02

 

Speaker(s):

1)  Lydia Underwood -  Visionary Communication #1-4 Evaluation & Feedback; "A Sustainable & Ethical Framework for Design" (requested 5-7 min) 6:37

2)  Kelli Dixon  - "College Experience in Leadership" (requested 5--7 min) 6:39

 

General Evaluator: Kristen Williams

Evaluator(s):

1)  Willy Baumgartner - 3:40

2)  Chandler Telfer - 2:35

Ah Counter/Grammarian: Janet Schreibman

Timer:  Mike Costa

 

Club Business:

  • ·        Minutes approval tabled for July 29 meeting and for August 5 officers meeting

Members Present: Rick Dixon, Kianush Dixon, Kelli Dixon, Kristen Williams, Alex Dabich, Chandler Telfer, Janet Schreibman, Lydia Underwood, Jesus Mendoza, Mike Costa, Michael Lin, Pratysuha Pogaru, Rachel Mitchell, Chris Goldman, Runsha Ninawe

 Virtual Attendees:  Willy Baumgartner, Tasha Sanders

 Guests: Sam Dixon, Bobby, Tasha Sanders

 Word Users: Rick, Chandler, Janet, Kianush, Kristen, Jesus

Monday, August 11, 2025

 

BET Officers Meeting Minutes

August 5, 2025

Presiding Officer:

Jesus Mendoza

 

Attending:

Jesus Mendoza, Kianush Dixon, Rick Dixon, Chris Goldman, Janet Schreibman, Mike Costa, Kristen Williams

 

The following topics were discussed:

1. Officers reviewed goals on our Distinguished Club plan:

  • Chris and Jesus to connect with Willy to review Educational section and club status thus far with projected goals
  • ·       We currently have 25 members including 4 new members -- mentors need to be assigned to each new member. Currently Michael Lin, Pratyusha and Runsha need mentors. Responsibility: Willy
  • ·       Dues were paid on time
  • ·       New officer designations were reported on time
  • ·       We had 3 officers attend initial TLI training; hope to have at least one more officer attend a TLI makeup session to give us required minimum number of 4 officers attending.
  • ·       Deadline to submit plan is August 31. Responsibility: Jesus

 

2.               2.    Need to reinforce member recognition of accomplishments. Responsibility: Officers

 

3.   Need to purchase more "Icebreaker" mints in order to present to new members after delivering their first speech. Responsibility: Mike

 

4.   Suggest speaking to church staff about their interest level in inviting their membership to a BET open house. Also want to inquire about the possibility of requesting a larger meeting room. Responsibility: Janet

 

5.   Plan to focus a September or October meeting on "Moments of Truth" presentation. Responsibility: Kristen

 

6.   Need to stress importance of making members more aware to RSVP their attendance and confirm role acceptance on Easy-Speak in advance of meeting. Responsibility: Jesus, Willy, Janet

 

7.   In order to allow more member participation, we can separate Ah Counter and Grammarian roles; we can also assign a member to open each meeting.

 

8.   The club must submit their proxy vote for the Annual International Meeting by August 13. Chris to check whom from District 63 plans to attend the business meeting in person or online so we can enlist he/she as our proxy. Jesus to complete and submit appropriate paperwork to do so.

 

9.   Regarding public relations, we need to encourage members and visitors to follow us on social media. Suggest posting link signage on the white board at meetings and reinforcing it in all communications by creating a signature with links for all social media. Also, consider updating BET website. Responsibility: Kianush

 

10. Need for Sergeant-at-Arms to take possession of outdoor sign. Responsiblity: Rick

 

11. Need to discuss with Susan about new officers getting information access to email and Zoom accounts. Responsibility: Kristen

Sunday, August 10, 2025

 

BET Meeting Minutes

July 29, 2025

Presiding Officer:

Jesus Mendoza

 

Theme: Summer-Ween

 

Roles & Responsibilities:

Opener:  Jesus Mendoza

Toastmaster:  Willy Baumgartner

Word of the Day:  Kristen Williams

monstrous - badly or imperfectly formed; extremely disturbing or repellent; unusually large

Humorist:  Salman Farabi

 

Table Topics: Rachel Mitchell

Table Topic Speakers:

1)  Kristen Williams - 1:41

2)  Chandler Telfer -  1.36

3)  Salman Farabi - 1:18

4)  Mike Costa - 1:16

 

Speaker(s):

1)  Rick Dixon - "A Little Piece of You" (requested 5-7 min) 6:33

 

General Evaluator: Kelli Dixon

Evaluator(s):

1)  Janet Schreibman - 3:59

Ah Counter/Grammarian: Kianush Dixon

Timer:  Jesus Mendoza

 

Club Business:

  • Minutes approved for last meeting on July 22
  • TLI (leadership training) makeup sessions are: 8/2 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and  8/6 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. We need at least one more officer to attend makeup session.
  • Club Success Plan goals need to be submitted by August 31
  • Officer meeting to be held August 5 on Zoom
  • Club meeting dismissed early for a social at Cinco de Mayo

Members Present: Chris Goldman, Janet Schreibman, Salman Farabi, Jesus Mendoza, Kristen Williams, Janet Schreibman, Willy Baumgartner, Rick Dixon, Kianush Dixon, Kelli Dixon, Mike Costa, John Travisano, Alex Dabich, Lydia Underwood

Guest(s): Becki Baumgartner, Tim Baumgartner, Michael Lin, Pratyusha Pogaru, Terence Mclow, Sam Dixon, Runsha

Virtual Attendees: Sam Dixon

Word Users: Salman, Kristen, Chandler, Rick, Rachel, Runsha